Hotel Shangri La Santa Monica

Great location in Santa Monica

Another magnificent visit!

This was a last-minute staycation for my wife and I, staying only one night. We decided that we would get one of the nicest and most expensive rooms available as a little treat to us. We live only 45 minutes north so it was a little getaway for the weekend for us. We paid $950 For our room thinking that it would be a real luxury suite. We saw pictures of it prior to booking and of course the pictures made the room look spacious. However, when we arrived it was obvious that it was not spacious and it was not as elegant as we had perceived, especially for $950. When we arrived it was nice that they offered us champagne or water but that was immediately followed by the realization that on top of the $950 they charged us an additional $25 as an amenity fee. That was a bunch of crap but Since we were already committed we decided to just roll with it. Our room was not ready until after 3 o’clock but we stayed by the pool and had some appetizers and a couple of drinks that cost over $100. We had dinner at the hotel restaurant later in the day and did not have a good experience there. I ordered a steak and it was tough. My wife ordered salmon and it was very dry. Of course the food was very expensive and I am not usually one to complain about price for food. We told the Manager about our experience with dinner and at least he split the bill in half to make us feel a little better financially at least. We spent about $1200 for an 18 hours stay at that resort felt ripped off.

Wow! What a great experience. This hip, little boutique hotel right on the water near the Santa Monica Pier couldn't have been any better for us. The staff was amazing. We were handed an envelope that included thank you note as soon as we stepped up the front desk to check in. We got 5 premium upgrades, including being moved up from a 1 bedroom suite to a 2 bedroom suite, all thanks to our "elite status" with Expedia/Hotels.com. The free bottled water and complimentary glass of champagne upon arrival helped take the edge off our travel day as we looked out over the ocean and enjoyed all that newfound space. The roof top bar is cool, too. Thumbs up from us!

Booked a room here for 3 nights. Room smelled so strongly of cleaning fluids and bleach we could not stay in Room. Triggered migraine. I booked another room at Le Meridian which as a normal hotel room and had good service. This place has all outdoor hallways painted battleship grey and is a real dump with tile floors. I asked to speak to a manager at the hotel and they said they did not have one available and would not the rest of the day or evening. Hotels .com offered no support and siad they was nothing they could do except keep my money the silver support group out some other country said they would give me a $250 credit which they did not follow through on. Very difficult to compalin to Hotels .com . You complain and someone in another country tells you that is too bad -we take money not give it back. Sorry you did not like it........ sucker....we have your money.