I wish I could give more stars! My husband and I spent the night on our 35 year anniversary after picking up my mom’s ashes. My husbands first visit to Santa Monica and her last visit to her favorite beach. To say it was an emotional day is an understatement. Upon arriving at the hotel Stephen Brown checked us in. His kindness still brings me to tears. I will never forget him! The manager who’s name I didn’t get. Was also so wonderful! Greeted us and said to let him know if they could do anything. Later that evening a knock on our door with Fruits, wine and the kindest note signed by all of the staff. This goes over and above any customer service. These are the most wonderful people who turned a very unhappy day into one filled with kindness that will stay in my heart forever! If you are staying in the Santa Monica area this is where you need to stay!

Excellent experience; A true JW Experience! The property is just off the beach with a bit of an obstructed beach view. It is quite a small property so you will be remembered by the staff. I felt at home right away by Vidal and others at the front desk. The rooms are spacious and well-appointed with a refrigerator and USB outlet. The breakfast is excellent as well as the complimentary coffee and tea service. We had several meals on the outside deck which is heated. The concierge has free bike rentals (with helmets) and helped me with several tricky issues. There is also a hidden starbucks only a few blocks away.

Good location and building, absentee service What a mixed bag of a stay: We are Bonvoy Gold members and requested early check-in at 1pm through the Bonvoy app. After a delay at the airport, we arrived at the hotel around 2pm. The valet was helpful but the front desk was not -- they didn't mention our Gold status or our app-based check-in, said check-in time is 4pm, and offered to call us when our room was ready. We changed our clothes in the lobby bathrooms and went out to explore Santa Monica. Around 530pm, we called the hotel to ask about our room. It still wasn't ready and they again said they would call when it became ready. Around 8pm, we walked back to the hotel and asked for our room. At this point, the front desk person said it had been available since 5pm. When she said that, my phone simultaneously buzzed with a message from the Bonvoy app saying my room was "now" ready, so I suspect differently. They waived the $35/night resort fee because of our wait. The next day, the room was not cleaned. The front desk said that JW Marriott only cleans rooms every third day. (Not true of any other JW Marriott we stayed at this summer and the hotel's website before and during our stay says that the the Santa Monica Le Merigot cleans rooms daily). We asked for fresh towels and Nespresso pods for the coffee maker in the room and these were delivered. The room was a spacious king and the bathroom looked recently updated. The valet out front gave helpful recommendations for nearby coffee shop and the most direct route to the Pacific Coast Highway.

Wonderful! Where do I start? Our trip was wonderful, especially because of the staff in the restaurants - Alberto, Edwin and Edwardo. The were kind and provided excellent customer service. Another perk was complimentary water. This was very appreciated. As a Platinum Elite member, I highly recommend this hotel!

Worst experience ever This is a two-star hotel disguised as a five-star experience... This has been our worst Marriott, no, hotel experience ever… We’ve been staying in this hotel for 3 nights. We are Marriott Gold members and indicated in advance that we’d like to check-in early, at 11 am. Also, we’ve asked for a quiet room on the highest floor. After arriving, the woman at the first desk told us that there is no option for early check-in, we won’t be able to get our room before 4 pm… We were hanging around in the lobby for about 2 hours…exhausted and waiting for any notice from the hotel that we can move into our room some sooner… After flying from another state, no options to change clothes or to refresh, this was duper disappointing. (BDW, we tried to contact the management via the application on Marriott’s website, but kept getting the message that the app is not functioning…) After about 2 hours we got a text that our room was ready. We moved into our room, and got shocked … We got a room on the 2’nd floor from the six, just above the bar. The room was super outdated, the bathroom looked like a public bathroom (issues on the bathtub fixed with duck tapes), and thanks to the adjacent door to the neighboring room, we heard every single word, conversation and noise of the people next door. The phone was only working in speaker mode, the legs of the ottoman’s were broken. There was no indoor dining menu (probably because of Covid), so we checked the hotel’s website. The menu published online was not even close to reality…way less options, technically, no options at all. We finally ordered two burgers…as it turned out for $30 each… without any customization options and way subpar compared to the price. There was no cleaning for the 3 days of our stay, so we place our trash in front of the door, after bugs started appearing in the room. Last morning we’ve asked the front desk to order a taxi for us and they have refused… but offered a phone number we can call. Overall, for $600+ per night, this was very disappointing and ridiculous. Way subpar to Marriott. We love Marriott and after staying at Marriott in many different countries all over the word we believe this disappointing experience is only specific to this place, not to Marriott in general. We’ve complained to the hotel management, but we only got a super general response; the same they responded to many other guests who complained online over the past couple of years. For sure, we will never ever stay at this place again… This has been our very first time in LA and we regret that we couldn’t spend more time to research our accommodation in advance… Szilvia