Name: Laguna Riviera
Address: 825 South Coast Highway, Laguna Beach, CA
Telephone: (888) 608-6346
Rating: 4

Laguna at its Best

Liked: Beachfront - gorgeous landscaping - efficient staff with friendly, sweet personalities
Disliked: I wouldn’t change a thing

Needs a lot of fixing...

Liked: The location is the main reason to stay here, as it's right on the beach and on the main drag for stores and restaurants in Laguna Beach. The hotel has a walk way directly down to the beach and they have umbrellas available for the sand as well as beach chairs. While it's pricey, the valet parking is good with in-and-out service. I will say the other best thing about the place was the people working there, who were cordial and accommodating and working very hard to make sure you were taken care of. The bed was comfortable.
Disliked: This is clearly a place in transition and refurbishment with some very unusual choices. First, my room looked nothing like the pics of what I purchased. There was one small table, a cheap slotted one that was only 2'x4', and one padded chair. There were three end tables with so much on them that you couldn't place anything else. Other than the bed, that was it. The Wi-Fi was terrible, and it constantly kicked me off the system. When I alerted the front office, they responded that it was working well in their office; this never improved during my visit. So, getting any work done was impossible. No TVs (I tried using my computer to replace this, but the Wi-Fi was so bad it wouldn't stay streaming). No coffee makers (they said they had a pot in the office in the mornings), but there was no table or dresser in the room to place them on anyway. The bathroom was the remodeled part of the room, and the shower was very nice, but it took five minutes for any hot water to show up, and then, of course, it was scalding. The lighting for the bathroom was on a motion sensor, so the lights turned off both days when I was taking a shower. The toilet seat was a cheap plastic. The room I was in was upstairs, with no elevator that I was shown (I say this because there may have been one, but I didn't see it). These kinds of things can be tolerated in a lesser-cost room, but for well over $ 400+ a night, plus resort fees, they're ridiculous, regardless of the proximity to the beach. I won't be staying here again.

Beach Relaxation

Liked: Great location right on the beach with beautiful views and nice seating areas. Relaxing comfortable clean room with nice amenities.
Disliked: I would have liked to have had a coffee maker in my room, and my room did not have the features, nor the views shown on the booking photos.