The Ocean Beach Hotel Hotel - Page 1

The *best* thing I can say about this place is location, that is, to the beach. It is right close to the pier, across the street from the lawn and beach (warning: pet restricted during certain times of the day...24-hour open-access leash-free Dog Beach is about four long blocks away) and the particular corner seems to be a thoroughfare for white Rastafarians, heavily pierced and tatooed tweens, alcoholics and post-high school dropouts who seem to enjoy aimless gathering on weekends and bonfire tripping on Saturday nights well into Sunday morning. It was noisy, but the crowd for the most part was harmless....well, there was a heavy police presence about and I'm sure a few episodes of "Cops" could be filmed there for amusement's sake.

The Hotel itself has a nice away-from-the-circus courtyard and private parking, but the rooms are in dire need of maintenance. Our room -- No. 103 -- I swear had a bullet hole close to the door inside the room. The paint was peeling in big patches from the walls, the dresser was missing knob-pull hardware, the grungy bathroom tiles had big gaping holes at the wall and the toilet was so close to be practically under the sink so that you were nearly forced to rest your arms on the sink rim, and the private outdoor patio was rather decrepit and seedy (dead plants, chunks of broken wall, very soiled flagstone and wrought iron seating, dried up fountain and some sort of seating ledge streetside over/across the wall for constant late-night drifted chatter) and so noisy that my dog was actually AFRAID to go out. Couldn't find the blowdryer. The beds, though, were very luxurious and comfy and there were fresh towels daily...Needless to say, we didn't hang out much in the room. Massive TLC to the interior would improve my opinion. How about some paint and plaster to this room?

My dog loved San Diego, though. Dog Beach rocks. The weather is perfect. The people, too, scary as they appeared at this section of Ocean Beach, were very friendly and outgoing. Very convenient for take-out dining as Newport Avenue towards the beach is all about seaside eateries. Watching the grunion run was amusing...and there's no shortage of surfers and wanna be beach bums. People-watching is fab!

This is NOT, however, someplace you want to take your family (w/kids) or a date to impress them. Your mother will disinherit you if you stick her in the room I was in. I have been in cleaner and better appointed Motel 6's...and for the price (two nights was close to $500 for a one-dog/two-bed room in June '08), it was a total RIP OFF.

It's got a beautiful courtyard, but the rooms are small & there is a very limited number of outlets, I had to unplug the microwave to plug in a hair dryer, no outlets in tiny bathroom, toilets are extremely close to the sink. The bathroom had mold on ceiling & walls. Accommodations state hair dryer & WIFI, when I got ready the next morning, there was no hair dryer & no information on using the internet, had to go to front office with wet hair to get a hair dryer & then found out all you need to do it turn on computer for WIFI, not very customer oriented. The bed was made daily & the bathroom had fresh towels each day.

If you love to have a staff curse at you and call you names when you ask for a cab, then this is the place to go. The late night front desk cursed at us when we asked her if she can call a cab for us. It was unneccesary, but we brushed it off because there wasn't anything we could do about it.

This hotel has a very nice web site. This is a problem, because it is very misleading! It paints a surreal picture of a nice, cozy hotel right on a beautiful beach. What I found when I got there was completely the opposite. Not to mention, the scary area where the hotel is located. I felt like I was driving through a ghetto.

I checked-in, then I checked out immediately after I saw the room. Granted, it was clean, but you could not change your mind in the bathroom, which I'm quite certain had been converted from a closet. The mini-blinds did not work. There was no deadbolt on the door. I certainly would not have felt safe had I stayed.

Don’t even get me started on the "beautiful beach". Disgusting, dirty sand that I wouldn't set a chair on, not to mention the "characters" I saw walking around the area. Yes, the Pier is very long. But I would be afraid to get too many people on it for fear of it collapsing. It's pretty run-down and clearly has not been maintained. I guess that money has gone to fund the web site for the area as well.

The Ocean Beach Hotel is perfectly located right across the street from one of the best surfacing beaches in San Diego. The balcony rooms provide excellent views of sunsets and sunrises. The rooms are attractively decorated and extremely clean. The patio is perfect for weddings and special events.