Room wasn't ready, staff was dishonest My room wasn't ready until 5pm (2 hrs after check-in) & I was told multiple times they would call me when my room was ready. I returned to the front desk 3 times to check, and they lied and said someone had called me to notify me. I never received a single phone call. This was supposed to be a fun hotel stay with my niece, and instead we had to linger around the hotel waiting for a call that never came. The staff could have been honest and said they forgot, but two different employees lied to me and said they called me and spoke to me, or that they had tried. They offered nothing to offset the inconvenience and unprofessional dishonesty. I am a reasonable and level-headed person, but I couldn't believe how casually rude the staff were about me not being able to check-in until 5pm.

Best Hotel Experience Ever !!! We are Platinum Members and over the years have stayed at countless Marriott owned properties. We’ve had very good experiences, good experiences, and once in a while a not so good experience. This is only the 2nd time we felt the need to post a review. My wife and I had a challenging day. Flying from Philly, our connecting flight from Denver to John Wayne Airport in Orange County was cancelled, as were many Southwest flights that day. We were lucky to get a flight into Long Beach 6 hours later and got a cab to our rental car which was at John Wayne Airport. Our car reservation was cancelled due to showing up more than 2 hours late and we had to pay a lot more for the car than the original reservation. We showed up at a Fairfield Inn for a two night stay right before midnight, went to our room and it was dirty and it smelled musty. The carpet was old, worn, not vacuumed, and seemed like it was never cleaned. The bathroom seemed to be partially wiped down and the shower had mold. I went to the front desk and was told the hotel was sold out so we couldn't change rooms, and the reason the room was dirty was they were short staffed and only had 2 people who cleaned all the rooms, as if that was a reasonable explanation. We have been experiencing short staffed hotels and this seems like the norm these days but this was the worst. It was after midnight and we were exhausted so we decided we would chance sleeping in the bed and figured we'd find a good hotel in the morning that we could check into early and shower; we weren't going to chance using the shower. In the morning I didn't want to take any chances so I only checked Marriotts, JW Marriotts, and Westins. After going through the reviews, I chose to call the Westin South Coast Plaza. Before booking, I called to make sure there was a room available for a very early check-in, I got Brenda on the phone, explained our predicament, and she assured me that there was a room available to check in right away, I booked it online then called back to make sure all was good. I apparently booked a King Bed and we needed 2 Queens. She did not have a 2 queen room available and I didn't know what to do. I asked to speak to a manager and she told me he was in a meeting but he'd call me as soon as he got out. Soon after I got a call from Gene, the Director of Front Office Operations, who already knew our situation and told me they were having a 2-Queen room cleaned and it would be ready upon our arrival. I was impressed. When we got there the Hotel was Beautiful and Steve checked us in. He was very personable and happy to be of service as was the person next to him helping another guest. It made us feel really good about being there. I asked if I could speak with Gene, if he was available, so I could thank him. Gene came right out and I thanked him. He was a pleasure to speak with and I told him we had a really good feeling about his hotel due to the interactions we’d had with him and his staff. I asked if they were short staffed and he said no. Surprised, I asked how was it that they were not when it seemed to be an industry-wide problem. He smiled and first explained that the “good feeling” I was having was something that they strive for, and that they treat all their employees and guests as family. So after closing due to Covid, they immediately started planning for re-opening and planning to bring all their employees back so they could open and provide the level of service they previously had. Due to the family atmosphere, almost every employee returned. After going to our room and finding it spotless and beautiful we immediately extended our stay to 3 nights. On Sunday we were walking out of the hotel and there were two guys greeting people as they came in. One was Gene, and other was Anthony, the hotel manager. Here are the two highest ranking people greeting people on a Sunday. I was totally impressed. Anthony already knew of our troubles with the previous hotel and I thought they must stay on top of everything that goes on. It is no wonder that the hotel is Beautiful and our room and bathroom and the whole place was spotless! Anthony said, “Anything you need let us know, you’re part of our family now.” Well, we feel like we are! And every employee we encountered seemed to be like Gene and Anthony; they seemed to genuinely love doing their jobs and being of service. We walked away from each encounter with an employee feeling good. The morning we were checking out I had gone down to get some coffee and muffins. As I'm walking through the lobby toward the elevator I passed an employee bending down to pick up a small candy wrapper from the floor. The next thing I see is him quickly walking past me and he hits the elevator button, then goes in and asks, “What floor?”, he hits the button, then says, "Have a Nice Day!" and exits the elevator. I spotted his name tag as he exited. It seems Mark spotted me with my hands full and was happily being of service. As the elevator went up, I thought to myself that this is how a hotel should be run! At the Westin South Coast Plaza, they only hire people who want to be there, they train them, they lead by example, and treat everyone, Employees and Guests, as Family. Marriott should use this hotel as a model of how to run all their hotels! Right out the front door is a walking bridge to the best Shopping Mall in Orange County, South Coast Plaza, plenty of excellent restaurants within walking distance, and John Wayne Airport is about 7 minutes away. Combine the Location with a Beautiful Hotel and the Best Customer Service Ever, and we can't wait to return! Thank You for our Best Hotel Experience Ever!

Always love this place Very close to the airport. I’ve been here a few times and it’s always clean. Staff is great...anyone we’ve come into contact with has been kind. Beautiful pool area with tons of seating and a nice fitness room. The restaurant is good and has options for kids too. Having the mall nearby is convenient when you need to kill sometime before a flight. Will definitely be back!

Please careful staying at this hotel. I will never stay there again My experience with this hotel was very bad. My car was vandalized (keyed along with 5 other cars) after paying for $40 parking to the hotel and a total of $540 spent in your hotel for the one night... I'm told by your hotel managers Diana and Matthew that the hotel will not cover the damages. The hotel is the one that told me where I had to park and also charged me. The South Cost Security department even said the hotel is responsible. When requesting the corporate number, I’ve been giving two disconnected number to the corporate office to file a claim. He’ll the hotel didn't even offer to comp my stay. Don't waste your money with this place..

Clean, convenient and great customer service! From the moment we arrived Stacy at the front desk took amazing care of us. I was there with my sister and nephew and she made sure we had adjoining rooms. The view was beautiful and the beds were extremely comfortable. The hotel is across the street from one of the largest malls in the world, South Coast Plaza. There are lots of restaurants at the mall and nearby. The hotel provides a coffee machine in the room and has a Starbucks downstairs too. Overall, it is a good hotel and I would recommend it.