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Heidi H

Looking for the Consummate L.A. experience? Look no further.

5.0 of 5 bubblesReviewed Oct 8, 2018
I found this place by Googling something like Magical Places. I'd heard of the Magic Castle, but wasn't aware there was a hotel on the property. Cheers to creative web searching, because OMG. It isn't just that they greet you with a flute of sparkling lemonade at check-in. It isn't even just that they hand you a list of all the free snacks on offer, and tell you that you can get as many as want, and they don't judge. Maybe it isn't even the free soft serve ice cream bar, or the complimentary soda fountain. It's all of it. It's the happy bright yellow that is reminiscent of the 40's...the yellow that compliments the blue pool, and reflects all of that lovely light into the blue sky above you. Its the Popsicle hotline at the pool, where you press a button, and boom, a cheerful Magic Castle staff member appears, bearing a rainbow of flavors to choose from. It's the turn-down service where you get free slippers. And if you happen to have a bag of dirty laundry hanging out in your car, bring it, because they will wash it for you. All of it. For free. Did I mention that if you want coffee, you simply walk down to the desk, and they make you up a tray with a silver pot to take back to your room? Yes, this is also free. Hollywood Boulevard is about a three minute walk away. So when you get tired of all the luxurious indulgence and want to people watch or just take a stroll, you don't have far to go. I hesitate to submit this review because once I do, this place will probably be booked for years. And well, it should be. You won't find amenities like this anywhere else. You really won't. And it's not just all the free stuff. The people who work there will absolutely reaffirm your faith in humanity. It's that good. The music is good. The people are amazing. The rooms are spacious, the beds could not be more comfortable. This place makes me proud to be a native Californian, and especially makes me happy to live in San Diego, so I don't have to get on a plane to go back there soon. This establishment is completely family friendly, but do yourself a favor...grab a few friends, reserve one of the spacious 6-person suites, and just enjoy the hell out of yourself. This place is one in a million. And you don't have to be a millionaire to go.
Date of stay: October 2018
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HotelManager, Owner at Magic Castle Hotel, responded to this review
Responded Oct 9, 2018
Heidi H,

Wow...thank you so much. I just read this review to our staff. I really appreciate the time you took to write it, but most of all, I'm just happy that you enjoyed the hotel so much. We love when our guests use the amenities and really get something out of it.

We try to do things differently here and our goal is always to have people leave feeling as though they got a good value, and feel a need to return. For us, it's not about just trying to get people in the door, it's about giving them a great experience while they're here.

Thank you again for this lovely review!! Please come back again very soon.

Sincerely
Darren
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
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Reviewed October 5, 2018 via mobile

As a family of four we stayed at The Magic Castle Hotel for one night and absolutely loved it! We had a one bedroom suite which we found to be extremely clean and tidy with heaps of room for us all. Great location, only a few minutes walk down to Hollywood Boulevard. The staff were amazing; very friendly and helpful to any needs we may have had!
This hotel was our family’s favorite after traveling for 3 weeks in the USA. Besides offering a free laundry service, you can get free snacks, chocolate, soft drink and ice cream!! The kids did not want to leave! The hotel just has a great energy/vibe about it and was a great place to stay to end our holiday. Would definitely stay again, but hopefully for longer next time!

Date of stay: October 2018
Trip type: Traveled with family
Thank michrolly
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
HotelManager, Owner at Magic Castle Hotel, responded to this reviewResponded October 9, 2018

Hello....

Thank you so much! We're so happy that you and your family "loved" the hotel so much! That's the goal!
I'm so glad everyone loved what we include in the rate.

I do hope you will come back again soon and stay longer. We're a great base for Los Angeles....right in the center.

Sincerely,
Darren

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Reviewed October 4, 2018 via mobile

If you are looking for a family stay in walking distance (3 min) to the Hollywood Walk of fame this is the place to consider for you and your family. Friendly service, ice cream and soda on tap is great to come back to at the end of your day.

Date of stay: September 2018
Trip type: Traveled with family
Thank lydisene
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
HotelManager, Owner at Magic Castle Hotel, responded to this reviewResponded October 9, 2018

Thank you so much. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Most of our guests love being so close to Hollywood Blvd, but like coming back to our courtyard for free ice cream and popsicles even more.

Please come back soon.

Sincerely
Darren

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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Reviewed October 3, 2018

Where do I start? Our room was dangerous, owing to an electrical fault in our en suite. We informed reception straight away, who sent a maintenance man who could not fix it.He said we needed to move rooms, as the fault was particularly dangerous. We later spoke with the Front Office Manager Brianne Willis, who was extremely combative toward us, considering that we were not complaining, but simply letting her know of the problem. She told us that we could not move rooms, as there was not a similar room in our price range. She then sarcastically said "You don't spend all day under the shower anyway", which we found incredibly unhelpful, as an electrical fault in a shower can be deadly. Later that evening as we were about to set out for the evening, Brianne called after us and asked if we had thought about moving rooms anymore. Considering there were no other rooms available for us, this basically meant that she wanted to move us to another hotel. I guess that's what we get for raising an issue. The hotel was filthy, and the floor in particular was disgraceful. The carpet in the halls and stairs were dirty and full of holes. A nasty accident waiting to happen. The toilet was filthy, and the showers were covered in black mould. There were gaps between the bottom of the window and the window sill, meaning that anyone could have broken in had they wanted to. The air conditioning unit was extremely noisy and kept us awake. Owing to the extremely thin walls, we were kept awake most nights by noise coming from other rooms and the door to our room did not close properly. The whole place is in desperate need of a revamp, and an attitude adjustment, we can not understand how this motel/hotel scores so well in reviews some one needs to look into it as we did not see anything that supports these reviews.

Room tip: Do not visit this hotel it's awful.
Date of stay: September 2018
  • Trip type: Traveled as a couple
    • Sleep Quality
    • Cleanliness
    • Service
9  Thank abonehill
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
HotelManager, Owner at Magic Castle Hotel, responded to this reviewResponded October 4, 2018

Hello,

I have to say, given the complete story, I’m very surprised by this review and feel it’s a misinterpretation of what happened. On September 8th at 5:40pm, (which was a Saturday), Brianne called me while I was driving to let me know that as you were on your way out to dinner, you had reported earlier that your bathroom light switch was warm to the touch and you were very upset about it. She also told me that our in-house maintenance staff member responded right away, but wasn’t able to fix it himself. Brianne told you that we’re going to do everything we can do to get it fixed right away. I called our contractor, who at 6:03pm…just minutes later on a Saturday evening sent me a text letting me know that his electrician was on his way. By the time you got back to your room that night, the light switch had been replaced and was fixed.

Brianne absolutely did not tell you that we couldn’t move you to another room because there wasn’t another room in your price range, nor did she tell you that you don’t spend all day in the shower anyway. Brianne would never be dismissive as you describe. Brianne and I have met about this review and we both clearly remember the details. She told you that the hotel was completely sold out, which it was, and she was offering to move you to another hotel (on us), if you would be more comfortable. Not only does our internal system show us being sold out that night, this is also my memory of the night. We would ALWAYS, move a guest to a different type of room, regardless of what they paid, if there was an issue with the room they were in...always.

We tried numerous times to make these issues right with you, including giving you a very generous credit on your bill, apologizing, pressuring our contractor to get an electrician here right away on a Saturday night, and offering to move you to a different hotel.

All exterior carpets in the hotel are brand new, since you were here. Admittedly, they needed to be replaced. They look great now.

The most egregious part of your comments, is your insinuation that our reviews aren’t real. Our reviews are real. Our strategy over the years, has been to blow our guests away with an amazing and unique hotel experience. I’m the first to admit that we’re not for everyone, as is the case here, and that’s fine. But we’re good and well-intentioned people who truly want to do a great job for our guests and create lasting memories for everyone. To read this review, knowing what we try to achieve every single day, is disheartening to say the least. I wish you would have loved us, and I’m sorry that we failed you in that regard.

Sincerely,
Darren Ross

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Reviewed October 2, 2018

It really depends on your demographics whether you'll enjoy this hotel or not. If you are on vacation and have kids then this location will work. If you are older and don't like stairs and stained carpet then rethink your potential reservation. Our room was probably clean but when you looked at the carpet it looked pretty groatey. My wife has difficulty with stairs so the constant different levels were awkward at best. The employees were extremely nice, the breakfast was sufficient and the ice cream machine and goodies were a bonus. So ... depending on your circumstances the rating may add up to very good. We did stay somewhere else for the same film festival the following year, however.

Date of stay: November 2017
Thank Douglas R
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
HotelManager, Owner at Magic Castle Hotel, responded to this reviewResponded October 4, 2018

Hi Douglas,

Thank you for your review. I'm happy to say that all of our exterior carpets were replaced recently and all but 3 rooms as of this writing, no longer have carpet at all. We've updated to the hardwood look (vinyl planks), they look pretty amazing.
Also, anyone not wanting a lot of stairs....please let us know and we'll do our best get you one with the least amount of stairs possible.
We hope you'll come back very soon!

Sincerely,
Darren

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Reviewed October 1, 2018 via mobile

After being recommended by a couple of people we know and all the hype about this hotel we thought we were in for a great time. We were greeted at reception with a cool glass of lemonade and nice hospitality. We were given room 113 which was at the rear of the hotel.
Upon opening our room door we were shocked to see the state of the room. It was dark and depressing, the windows backed onto a outside wall which was awful. There was dirt on top of the fridge, kitchen cupboards and appliances from 30 years ago and paintwork that was grubby all around. Mould in the bathroom and vents that were rusty. There had been a few pieces of furniture added which seemed like new additions but unfortunately didn't cover up the state of place.
We weren't offered another option as they were fully booked but we were recommended another hotel down the road. We swiftly exited and checked into another hotel, 4 star luxury for the same price!
I can't understand the raving reviews about this hotel what we were offered wouldn't even be close to 1 star rating.
Ok so I get that the enticing free soda, chocolate etc is a bonus for people travelling with kids but would you really want to fill your kids with crap every day?
Maybe we drew the short straw on this one the unluky 13 in our room number should have been a giveaway it was a dump, sorry I can't be positive about this one!
The only positive.....a full refund from our travel agent.

Date of stay: September 2018
Trip type: Traveled with family
Thank PMW31
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
HotelManager, Owner at Magic Castle Hotel, responded to this reviewResponded October 2, 2018

Hello,

This is obviously a very upsetting review to read, and I'm so sorry that this was your experience. I wish we could have switched your room and you would have spent the night with us.
There is no excuse for one of our rooms not being perfectly clean, and for that I apologize.
Magic Castle Hotel is an older building and a unique hotel. Housekeeping is enormously important for us, and we definitely fell short with your room.
With regard to our free snacks and parents "filling their kids up with.....", I would say that most parents don't actually do that. Our free snacks are here for convenience, and it's meant as a fun amenity, like so many of our amenities.
I'm glad we were able to help find you another hotel that you were happy with.
Please feel free to contact me directly should you want to talk about your experience.

Sincerely
Darren

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