La Ensenada

For $320 for two nights, I expected a decent room and a working way to get into it. That wasn’t what happened. Online check-in gave us a code that didn’t work, and after two hours on hold, we were told to use the hotel’s master key. We opened the door to find someone asleep in our room, which was a frightening safety issue. We were moved first to a small room with ants in the bed and rags on the floor beside it, then to a larger room that looked nothing like the photos. It was dull, with damage poorly patched and painted over. I also had to keep the master key all weekend because the manager left it with me. She didn’t seem concerned about the service or the room quality. The photos must have been taken by someone very talented, because the rooms themselves were awful. I’ve stayed in nicer Motel 6s. This was the worst hotel experience I’ve had, and I’d avoid the place.

The refund took months of chasing, and in the end I received only £90, less than I’d asked for. I stayed in early August, followed up every week, and kept hearing that the complaint was being investigated and someone would get back to me. Nobody did. I eventually got tired of pursuing it. The hotel doesn’t seem to care about its guests or the service it provides. The complaint was about a week-long stay made miserable by renovation work in the room above us. Drilling and hammering sounded as if the builders might come through the ceiling. They wouldn’t move us until our last night, when we were leaving the next morning. The room itself felt cold and bare, with plain white walls and cheap, noisy laminate flooring. The actual rooms looked nothing like the attractive photos. They didn’t clean during the stay. When we asked for a cleaning, we were told we should have given 24 hours’ notice, a rule nobody had explained, and we were due to leave the following day anyway. The pool area was tatty and run down, there were no other facilities or food options, and traffic on the main road sounded like it was in our room. I wish I’d paid a little more to stay somewhere else.

Trenton at the front desk was helpful, and the location is good. Beyond that, this felt like a bare-bones budget hotel. The place has an old smell, and parts of the stairway molding are missing. In the room, the sprinkler heads were rusty, the shower drain smelled awful, and a big gap under the door let in hallway light. The doors and walls did nothing to block sound. Hard hallway floors carried every footstep, even late at night, and being on PCH made the outside traffic noise worse. The concierge wasn’t always in the lobby, so I couldn’t get help with the smell or light. I was disappointed this is a Marriott. The quality felt poor throughout, worse than Motel 6s and Residence Inns I’ve stayed in. They should audit the property, check the management and facilities work, and invest in improvements like soundproofing, sealants, and removing the rust.

On an earlier stay, our room smelled like cigarettes. We told the office, and all they offered was to try spraying something to cover it up. This time, we booked an anniversary trip to revisit the place where my partner and I met and vacationed before. As we were getting ready for bed, we found dirt, stains, or dark smudges on the sheets and comforter. We messaged staff through Chat and went to the front desk during its stated operating hours, but nobody was there. It seemed they’d gone home early. Nothing was fixed, and nobody followed up. It was a real letdown for a trip that was meant to be special. Unfortunately, we won’t return.