I wish we had read the reviews before booking this place. We were passing through OC on a business trip, and reserved a room for one night online. The low price should have tipped us off...
We felt like leaving as soon as we got there, but figured since it was only for one night it wouldn't matter.... in reality we should have slept in the car.
Upon arrival, they require you sign a document with a whole list of 'rules' to be obeyed or there would be penalties to pay. We stay at a lot of hotels on business, and never have problems as we are model guests. We even put up with a lot and don't complain. But I was a bit suspicious nonetheless. And rightly so, as my credit card was charged over $500 extra after we left. Repeated calls back to the hotel went unanswered.
They keep telling us the Manager is not there today. Messages on his/her answering service are not returned. We have yet to hear the explanation for the extra charges, even though we left the place in better shape than the way we got it. (btw, and we don't steal towels or anything else from hotels... that's lame and we don't want their stuff). We now sincerely beleive they routinely rip people off as often as they can.
As for the condition of things, we must agree with the other negative comments about the hotel:
The two elevators are verrrry slow and shaky. No bellhop service to take our luggage up. The hallways are hot and smelly. The carpets are old and stained, and the walls look like they haven't been painted in years.
The room was dirty and musty smelling. Dirty carpets and floors (our feet turned black). Mold in the bathroom and stagnant water was in the tub. The bed was uncomfortable and worn out. The thermostat kept resetting itself to 85 degrees. TV remote did not work, nor did the alarm clock. I asked for a wakeup call and never got it (checkout is at 10AM).
The balcony is too small to sit on, overlooking a dirty swamp between the hotel and the nearby 'island'. Noise from the nightclub on that island goes on till about 3:00AM, with people yelling, screaming and carrying on. Taxis buzz in and out to shuttle crowds back and forth throughout the night.
The view of the sunset was nice, but with all the noisy seagulls, birds and smelly swamp it was not worth it.
The staff is nonresponsive and of no help.
So if you still think this might be a nice place to stay, take your chances. When they bill you over $600 for a nights stay at this dump, don't say we didn't warn you.
We will never be back and recommend that the place be avoided at all costs.