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4.0
#2 of 2 resorts in Dana Point
Location
Rooms
Value
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Elevate your Orange County escape at Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort & Spa, where our beach-chic hotel provides awe-inspiring views of the Pacific Ocean. Seek new adventures with our prime location near Doheny State Beach, Dana Point Harbor and Laguna Beach, perfect for a day trip. Throughout our resort, enjoy a casually sophisticated setting across our rooms, restaurants and full-service spa. Following a day of pampering, make yourself at home in one of our renovated rooms with deluxe bedding and modern amenities. Many of our accommodations feature balconies to take in a sunrise or sunset. When hunger strikes, order room service or visit OverVue lounge for tapas and cocktails. Take advantage of the California sun in our dazzling pools, where you make a splash and relish the coastal breeze. Planning an event? Our indoor and ocean-view, outdoor venues create elegant settings for conferences and celebrations alike. Embrace the vacation mindset at Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort & Spa, a beacon of beauty and luxury.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travellers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
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The Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort & Spa garners appreciation for its cleanliness and the attentive aspects of its staff, yet some guests have had mixed experiences. While the rooms are often found to be comfortable with stunning views, issues with noise and expectations of luxury are noted.
The hotel's prime location and beautiful scenery are well-regarded, though the atmosphere and high costs for amenities, including mandatory valet parking, have left several guests feeling the value doesn't match the price. Service quality and the hotel's atmosphere receive varied feedback, ranging from praise to disappointment.
Location
Picturesque
Atmosphere
Unwelcoming
Rooms
Basic
Value
Expensive
Cleanliness
Mixed
Service
Inconsistent
Amenities
Underwhelming
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Came here for the first time with our 18m baby and she had a blast! The resort is beautiful with great view and we especially love the kids pool. The whole resort is very kids friendly and there’s plenty of space for her to walk around and explore. The front desk made us feel very welcomed upon arrival and they offered free bottles of water. You can actually request more during the stay if you need to.
The room is clean and spacious. Our room is next to the kids pool on the first floor which is convenient. There’s an activity room for the kids to do some drawing and watch tv on the first floor next to the pool.
The kids pool is under 2 feet and our baby had such a great time there. I loved that she can stay in the water without a floatie. This is her first time in the pool and she absolutely loves it. There’s plenty of beach towel at the entry of the pool and you can order some snacks and drink by the pool as well.
The only recommendation I will add is the menu selection. The whole resort has very limited food selection. Even the in room dining, the menu is about the same as the poolside menu. That’s very unfortunately since it’s very convenient to dine in the room with a baby.
The breakfast buffet is great with plenty of selection and not to mention the great view! Buffet price is $39 per person. There’s hot food, cold plates, egg/waffle station, pastry and large selections of fruit.
Overall we had a wonderful time with the family and will definitely be back in the future.
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Date of stay: August 2022Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I have never stayed at this place (too close to where I live) so I am only reviewing their breakfast buffet. It is very good. Food is fresh, fruits are juicy and flavorful and the juices are mostly freshly squeezed and not out of a carton. Omelettes are made to order and the choice of items available for brunch is extensive and everyone will find something they like. I believe I paid $30 per person for the buffet but it well worth the price. Outdoor seating provides nice ocean views.
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Date of stay: August 2019
Value
Service
Sleep Quality
Room Tip:Great breakfast buffet
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from LCMRS, Staff at Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort & Spa
Responded 20 Jan 2020
Thank you for your review. We are so glad you joined us for breakfast and we are glad that you enjoyed it. We hope to see you back again!
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My wife and I enjoyed our quick getaway. Staff was extremely conscientious and considerate. We needed our room serviced before regular rounds. Five minutes after our call 4 members of the house cleaning team appeared and had the room sparkling in 10 minutes. Room is modern and very clean. We had the pool/resort view. You will get a great view of the harbor and ocean with the ocean view rooms. Hallways are clean. Location is great. You can easily get to Laguna Beach for more action. Dana Point is a bit more quiet and reserved. Pool areas were great especially if you have a family. Very much a relaxing resort feel. We would go back again if our future plans bring us to the Dana Point area.
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Date of stay: September 2021Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Laguna Cliffs, Marketing at Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort & Spa
Responded 9 Sept 2021
Thank you for your 5 star review. We are delighted to hear that you and your wife enjoyed your getaway! We appreciate your compliments regarding our friendly staff and the resort grounds. We hope your travels do bring you back to Dana Point in the future. We'd love to welcome you back.
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9/25/2021. On our way to the hotel at 5:00pm, I tried to check in with the app. It wouldn't let me check in until 5:45, even though the check-in time was at 4:00. We got to the hotel and I made this known to the front desk. The gentleman took on inordinate amount of time checking us in and said that they were having "technical difficulties" (no internet) on the south side of the hotel, where our assigned room was. So he put us in a different room, which I assumed would be as good as the one we booked, a "resort view" room. Well, he put us in the worst room on the entire property. It did not have a resort view, but a wall view, which worked to prevent any light from coming in. It was like being in a dark cave. The room was $1,095.95. We had a dinner reservation to get to so didn't bother calling the front desk. Later that night, we caught three mosquitos in the room before going to bed. In the morning, I found three more in the bathroom. They must have come through the gap in the door (which was evident by the light that came in from the corridor), because we had the slider closed the entire time (other than when we went out to investigate the wall). The front desk should have at least asked whether we would have preferred no wifi or a cave room. I could have done without wifi for a night! When we checked out, the hotel system didn't even have us in the updated room, but our original room, which was couldn't have been worse than the terrible room we were given. I made my complaint about the room assignment and the mosquitoes. No effort was made to right the wrong for their terrible judgment, just a "oh I'm sorry about that." Good business practices? Absolutely not.
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Date of stay: September 2021
Location
Service
Sleep Quality
Room Tip:Avoid Room 130
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Laguna Cliffs, Marketing at Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort & Spa
Responded 11 Oct 2021
Thank you for your feedback. Your review is very important to us. Thank you for taking the time to share your comments regarding your recent stay at our Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort & Spa. Please accept our sincerest apologies for the mosquitoes that inadvertently entered your guestroom. As you can imagine, it is our daily intent to ensure each guest’s stay is enjoyable, relaxing and a memorable experience. Pursuant to your report, our Front Desk team requested for Ecolab (an independent pest control company) to assess this situation. Ecolab informed us that extreme heat and humidity in our region over the past few weeks has caused an increase in mosquito activity. Please be assured this is not the norm for this area and this was an isolated incident. We certainly appreciate your constructive feedback and hope your travels will bring you back to our resort in the future so we may ensure your next stay is a truly memorable one.
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My husband booked an Ocean View Full Balcony room (their highest category of room) for a quick Valentines celebration. We arrived early as we had booked a couples massage at the Spa. The front desk staff were very friendly and got us into the room early (2:00 vs 4:00). Here is where everything went wrong, our “Ocean View” room was blocked right in the middle by a 6’ pillar (see photos). We attempted to call front desk but the phone was dead, the bellhop called on his phone to see about a replacement room. Ellie, his supervisor, refused to move us to a comparable room and noted that all Ocean View rooms had obstructions, this most certainly is not the case (again see photo). I would like to point out that we are Marriott Bonvoy members - our brand loyalty made no difference. We did not use points but paid full price for this room, our only concession from Ellie was the Resort Fee was waived. Will I stay or recommend this property absolutely not, I will steer visiting friends to Monarch Beach Resort or the Ritz.
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Date of stay: February 2020
Value
Rooms
Service
Room Tip:Beware of Ocean View rooms
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from LCMRS, Manager at Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort & Spa
Responded 18 Feb 2020
Thank you for taking the time to share your comments with us. As a Marriott Bonvoy member you are one of our most valued guests and I sincerely apologize that your guestroom's design did not meeting you expectations. We have 378 guestrooms at our resort with many angles towards the ocean, therefore a guestrooms appeal is always open to interpretation. Your guestroom is categorized as one of our “ocean view” guestrooms and while we hope the layout of our guestrooms and their view will meet every guest’s expectations it is not always possible. As you can imagine, it is our daily intent to ensure each guest’s stay is enjoyable and relaxing and I regret this issue put a damper on your stay. Once again, we appreciate you taking the time to share your comments and hope you will continue to choose our Marriott properties during your future travels.
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We were told that we couldn’t get a new room (even though we hadn’t used ours and had just checked in) because they didn’t have personnel to clean another room. Checkin is at 4pm and that’s when we asked for the new room but they said since it was already 4pm they didn’t have any more rooms left because fully booked. Seemed impossible that everyone was already checked in by 4pm when that’s when checkin technically starts and we saw people checking in at 5:45 and many other times after 4pm. Since they didn’t have to clean our room since we hadn’t used it yet and they wouldn’t have to clean another already clean room they could move us so we knew it was a lie. For such an expensive hotel it seems crazy that they wouldn’t let us change rooms. We’ve never asked to change rooms before but know it’s a common occurrence. It seems one of the least things they could do when someone goes out of their way to ask. On top of this, we were in town on a conference and were told the resort fee was waived for us. While this sounded great, turned out “waived” isn’t the correct term. They didn’t charge us but also didn’t give us any amenities. Waived would mean we didn’t have to pay but still received the amenities. We did get internet for free but where is internet not included these days? They apparently generally make you pay for it here which is ludicrous, especially for the price you pay to stay here. We have a friend who is a manager at a different Marriott and said they actually waive the resort fee but still get all amenities. He also said there is always something that can be done when a customer asks and it’s a reasonable request such as ours so he’s astounded they denied our request.
The pools are small and only have attendants for part of the day. We tried to get drinks but were told the rum punch was expired and the pina colada they made tasted awful. We had to call to order the drinks since the bar wasn’t staffed.
The chef left the hotel restaurant so be aware of that and eat elsewhere. The food was terrible and they were still charging the same prices that they did when the acclaimed chef was there. The lobster wasn’t fresh, the risotto was flavorless and not cooked properly, and you have to order sides or your steak literally comes with just a steak even at $120. They don’t even bring you bread.
The only positive is that the bathroom is nice and they don’t have single use plastic shampoo etc which is amazing for the environment.
We stayed somewhere else the last night of our trip that was a third of the price but so much nicer. We were so excited to stay at Laguna Cliffs Marriott and were already planning to come back but after this experience we’ll never be back and will spend our hard earned money elsewhere.
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Date of stay: September 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled on business
Room Tip:Save your money and stay somewhere else.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We had a gift certificate for the spa. We called the hotel and asked if the gift certificate could be applied to the room charge, and a very friendly staff member told us "absolutely." We booked.
So, we arrived at check in, presented our gift certificate, and were told it could not be applied. We recounted our conversation from when we booked. Still no. Spoke to the manager. Still no - "the spa and hotel are separate." Even though we could clearly see that it was very low occupancy at the time, they were not willing to work with us. So, we left. Very frustrating.
But we very much enjoyed our stay at a rival hotel that is actually ocean front in Laguna.
DISCLAIMER: This happened in Oct 2019 but I cannot select that far back.
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Date of stay: October 2020
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Ellie Apostolova, Guest Services / Front Office at Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort & Spa
Responded 11 Dec 2020
Dear William C, Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback about your experience last year. I was very sorry to hear about your frustration for not being able to use your certificate. Some certificates are issued for specific services only and may not be interchangeable. While I do not have much information about the situation as it has been a year, I would be happy to answer any questions, or look into the matter further. Sincerely,
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We stayed here in June 2022 as we were having our house in San Clemente repiped. We had a fabulous experience and loved how quiet our room was. We opted for a no view room which was great because the rooms with views overlook the pools which can be a little loud if you’re by the kids one! Loved how close this hotel is to Dana Point Harbor (just a short walk down the stairs). There are a lot of great food options nearby if you don’t want to stay on property. All of the staff we interacted with was top notch and we look forward to our next visit. The bed was so comfortable and the linens were phenomenal. Room was spotless and we had great Wi-Fi the whole stay.
Only negatives - $50 valet parking (no self parking on this property or nearby) and there are no Tesla chargers, which is quite surprising these days!
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Date of stay: June 2022Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Valet Parking is $46
2 pools - one for adults, one for families
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Here for a conference. We have been very impressed with the front desk staff (Ava and Zack)- consistently friendly, knowledgeable and helpful! Housekeeping staff is great as well ( they replaced our towels daily without requests from us, and the room was always cleaned thoroughly). Comfortable bed, nice pool. Thanks for a lovely stay!
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Date of stay: September 2022Trip type: Travelled on business
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This has a great location right above the Harbor & that's about the best things about it. It wants to be a resort but it feels like an old Best Western. It needs upgrades so bad we ended up checking out & staying at another property (we also had an ocean view & that wasn't even worth staying). There's valet parking & Resort Fees - which I have no problem paying if it feels like a resort which it clearly does not.
Would be a good place for a work conference but other than that - I wouldn't stay here or recommend it.
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Date of stay: September 2019
Value
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from EllieA211, Manager at Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort & Spa
Responded 1 Feb 2020
Thank you for taking the time to provide us your honest feedback about your recent stay. We do apologize that your stay with us did not meet your expectation. We strive to please all our guests and hope you will give us another chance in the future.
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I only saw valet for the hotel and some street parking by the park as you drive uphill to the hotel. I would imagine the availability of the street parking is dependent on the park usage. When we stayed there the Ohara Festival was going on at Doheny State Beach (at the base of the street that leads to the hotel) so there were zero parking spots all the way up.
I think that is up to the hotel. I think it would be great Customer Service if they gave you a full refund. Good luck. I myself canceled three trips in the next three months just to be safe.
There are more places to choose from in the Dana Point area.
PRICE RANGE
HK$2,125 - HK$2,981 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
laguna cliffs marriott hotel dana point, marriott laguna cliffs, marriott dana point, dana point marriott
LOCATION
United StatesCaliforniaOrange CountyDana Point
NUMBER OF ROOMS
378
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
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