I booked with AMEX Fine hotels. July 16-18 . Definitely not what I expected for over $600/nt hotel. The rooms are a good size the bathrooms are very very tiny. I was upgraded to an ocean view room, on the top floor. I would have preferred a room with adequate AC though. This was a downgrade. Remember the top floor, Heat rises ,therefore the AC will continue to run because it will never cool down the room temp to what the thermostat is set to if the hotel doesnt have adequate hvac. Management called to tell me no other room would be different and the lowest temp is 68. I wish my room temp achieved 68 degrees but it did NOT so the AC continued to run never reached the set temp of 68, stayed in mid to high 70s. I did ask that they let me know if another room was available early enough so that I could find another hotel my second night and workout something so I didnt have to Pay for another night here. I spoke with another person at the front desk besides management , so 3 people total . They didn't call me until 1pm the second day which left me no time to find another hotel or to check out in time to not pay for a second night here. It's been the worst 2 nights sleep I've had . After just reading reviews I guess the AC was down last week and probably not fully restored. This is something they should bring to your attention before you book especially if you have medical conditions. Can't enjoy the ocean front because you have to keep the blinds closed or else the room temp goes up to mid 80s. It's much cooler outside than it is inside the room. No one was of help on this matter. I will make sure this isn't one of the hotels I refer people to stay at in the future. This is not a fine hotel or a luxury hotel, worth half the cost charged. They do have a nice gym facility and spa. I used all amenities To be able to give a review. Massages were $50off if you were a guest at the hotel, and my massage was great. I tried out all 3 restaurants. Food was great and service was great in 3/3 restaurants. The bungalow is more of a trivia bar lounge area. Service was ok. all servers at the restaurants were very polite and respectful. Food was good. They opened at 5pm. I got there at 6pm and they didn't have chicken skewers in the menu. No noise to deal with inside your room. In the common areas it is always packed and there are always events going in. So it can stay busy. Get to the pool early or else you won't get a chair. There is no direct beach access at this hotel,resort fee does not include free beach chair and towels. To walk to the beach, 15minutes. It's not directly "across the street" from beach although on a map it looks to be. Overall, everyone is polite. My AC issue was never resolved or compensated, but I was proactive in discussing this issue with a few people at the desk. Can't wait to go home so I can get a good night's sleep lol. I recommend eating and drinking here, but not sleeping here. Try Hotel Proper.. and coming in Sept will be the newly sold and renovated loews hotel, renamed Regent hotel.

We enjoyed our stay at the Fairmont in Santa Monica after a week of work in Marina Del Rey. The staff was incredibly helpful, even checking us in at 10am, Friday morning. We dropped our bags in the room and quickly made our way to the concierge desk where they put us on bikes and we were off to explore the neighborhoods. The housekeeping staff couldn't do enough to ensure our comfort and that we had everything we needed for a comfortable stay. The wait staff and the bar staff were incredibly friendly and helpful sharing local tips for things to do and places to go. The pool situation is challenging. It's clear that many people get up early, put things on chairs to reserve and don't come back for hours on end, leaving guests to decide to enjoy with no chairs or leave entirely. With someone at the gate checking room keys I would suggest that they let guests know that if they are gone for more than 30 minutes their stuff will be moved and the chairs become available for waiting guests. This is an easy fix - please consider instituting immediately. The gratitude you'll receive will far outweigh any guest backlash; they should understand. We took advantage of the free car service the hotel provides to take us to dinner a couple miles away. The driver asked us if we'd been affected by the elevator situation but we weren't aware yet that the guest elevators were not operational. For the entire weekend the guests and staff of the hotel shared two freight elevators. Not once did I see frustration from anyone, rather everyone seemed to take it in good stride with a sense of humor. The staff did yield to the guests which had to make their days and tasks long and drawn out. After dinner we enjoyed sitting on our balcony and were surprised at how loud the nightclub was, but it was the weekend so we understood. Then we went into our room to go to sleep. The nightclub followed us too. I called the desk to ask when the music would end and was told that unfortunately it would go until 2am. It was only 11pm. We endured the thumping and screaming for those three hours waking up multiple times. Had we known about this perhaps we would have requested a room on the opposite side of the building. Fortunately it was me and my wife but we remarked how terrible it would be for a young family with children with no recourse - just lay there and endure it. I would suggest alerting your guests to these kinds of things as it only elevates your customer service and experience. Overall we really did enjoy our stay and would come back should our plans take us back to the Santa Monica area.