Warning to those in wheelchairs
I was excited about coming back to this hotel after a nice stay last year, so much so that I organized a trip down South with my wheelchair-bound father and his caregiver based on the availability of a 2-bedroom accessible suite. This was my first mistake! Apparently, when this hotel "confirms" a room it isn't the same as "guaranteeing" a room. And even then, it's not guaranteed. 1-2 days before our flight, I received a call from the Mariott ADA desk (kudos to them) that the 2-bedroom accessible suite wasn't available for the reserved dates. He put me on hold to confer with the hotel and when he came back to the phone said that a 1-bedroom accessible was available, and emailed a "guarantee". He said this was a firm "guarantee". While I was a bit upset because this meant I wouldn't have the option of staying in the suite and would incur the additional cost of another room, I was glad that at least the other suite was available. When we arrived at the hotel the next day, however, we were informed by the front desk that the accessible suite wasn't available until the next day :(. This meant that my ailing, 85-year old father had to come down from his room later that evening and use the public bathroom by the hotel bar so that he could have a toilet with grab bars. To be fair, the Manager was apologetic and charged for a 1-bedroom while putting them in a 2-bedroom for the night (and slightly reduced the rate for the remaining days), but this is unacceptable for a hotel of this stature and price point. The Manager promised that the accessible room would be available in the morning, and that by the time we finished breakfast the next day my dad's and caregiver's bags would be transferred to the new room. The next day at 12noon the room still wasn't ready so we went out for a couple hours. When we returned at 2pm I asked the front desk if their bags had been transferred to the room. The employee looked at us like we'd done something wrong, asking where we were and saying he'd called the room because it was past checkout time and put the bags in storage. In the transfer, some medical equipment of my dad's was lost and I had to throw out several dairy food items that had gone unrefrigerated. Needless to say, this wasn't a good way to start a vacation! Had I known weeks before while planning the trip that this was going to be the situation, I would have organized the trip differently, either making alternate hotel arrangements, or going to Palm Springs before Los Angeles so that we could be there when the 2-bedroom suite was available. If you require an accessible room or are traveling with someone who does, I recommend calling the hotel directly to obtain a guarantee for the room. Then I recommend crossing your fingers. Other than that...it's a nice hotel with modern furnishings, in a good location in-between downtown and the beach, with a yummy breakfast and social hour.