Foghorn Harbor Inn

The patio and room were clean, and the bed was so cozy. I booked the romantic suite with a patio view, and it was more spacious than an upgraded room at any hotel I’ve stayed in. The playground out on the beach of the bay was a delightful surprise too. Great value for the price. I usually prefer hotels to airbnb because I like the hospitality and face to face interaction. Michelle and Luis were exactly the kind of welcoming, helpful people I mean. They were shining examples of what customer service should look like. Great stay, and I’d recommend it to anyone wanting something different from the average hotel chain. Even if you aren’t looking for that, I’d still highly recommend it. Will be back 100%.

The room I got was old and had issues, even though it looks like they’ve renovated a couple of rooms and parts of others. The worst part was the strong chemical smell throughout the room. It was so bad I slept with the patio door open my first night in LA. When I shut it in the morning, the smell came straight back. After it eased a little, I could smell it on the pillows and blankets too. I don’t know if they were just old or hadn’t been cleaned, but I really didn’t want to use them. The AC and mini fridge were old, the AC rattled even when it was only on fan, and the small TV froze every time I tried to use it. I won’t stay again and wouldn’t recommend this place. I’d avoid it if possible.

We tried to get a refund and moved to the hotel right down the street for barely more money. It was 100x better. This might be the worst "hotel/inn" I’ve stayed at, and it was nothing like the listing. There was almost no soundproofing. Even with the windows closed, I could hear people talking outside and every car at the intersection. My room faced the street, and the windows were extremely thin or didn’t seal well. The floor was sticky and so filthy that 30 seconds of walking left my feet black. The AC was about 2 feet from my head and very loud, with a rattle every few minutes. There were no towels, probably just a cleaner’s mistake, so I had to dry off with a basic hand cloth. Hot water took about 5 minutes to come through. There wasn’t a convenient outlet, so I had to unplug the TV on the other side of the room. No basic desk or chair either, so don’t expect to work unless you sit on the bed. The blankets and pillow smelled bad even though they looked clean. I’m relatively short, 5'10 at best, and the shower head hit the back of my head, so expect very low shower heads. There was about a 2 inch gap under the door letting in loads of light all night, and it felt weird that somebody could technically look under it. There was no breakfast, even though it was advertised.

The location was convenient, and having tea and coffee available 24 hours a day was nice. Still, I wouldn’t recommend this place. We could have had a decent stay, but the lack of basic comfort and communication made it really disappointing and spoiled part of our trip. Breakfast was listed as included, but no one told us the hours at check-in. When we asked, they said it was available until 9 AM. Both mornings we came around 8:30, there was no breakfast at all. We also had no hot water in our room for two days, so we couldn’t shower properly. No one could help because the manager was never onsite, and now we have to spend time trying to reach someone who will most likely not respond. We booked for four adults, but the beds were tiny and very uncomfortable. We brought our dog, and at check-in no one explained the pet fee or deposit, only that everything would be charged to the card later. The room had just two towels for four people and no spare toilet paper, just one half-used roll.