Kacee

It sounds like they have improved their upgrade practices.

A month ago, they refused to upgrade us at check-in to an open Lanai Suite. I referenced this in my Hilton survey and also gave them a negative T/A review (addressed to the overall poor service). A manager subsequently left me a voicemail but we were unable to connect in person.

Troopers

Just returned from our stay. Overall, very pleased with the property and wouldn't hesitate to stay there again. Some thoughts/info:

• The complementary cruiser bikes are very convenient to visit the pier and 3rd St Promenade
• Breakfast can be a wait; food is quite good though. Servers did inform us of the wait; and they were very friendly, apologetic and worked their butts off
• My GF loved the Frette linens, robes and slippers (slippers available on request) and the Bottega Veneta bath products (generous sized bottles)
• Surprisingly, diverse crowd and quiet at night (unlike La Peer)
• Boxed water and immunity boost drinks/shots available on request
• Outdoor chaise lounge chairs are really comfy. Wish there was a hottub
• The Peloton bike did not have a shoe cage; bring your own clip-in shoes

pazza2000

Nice to see more positive review, especially re. elite treatment

TheBigMan

Got a stay for 5 nights at the end of July, are there any recent experiences people have of staying at the hotel?

EPPanda

I'm staying for 2 nights this weekend - will report back on Monday.

milesforhire

I'm staying there in August. Interested to hear your experience with the F&B credit after Hilton's "enhancement".

EPPanda

As promised:

Had a 2 night stay booked via certificates for Friday arrival, Sunday departure. We traveled with another couple who also had a 2 night stay booked via combination of certificate and points. Both groups are Diamonds via Aspire. Received check-in notification in the app on Thursday, there were 5 rooms available, all "Oceana King Studio Suite" standard rooms. We didn't complete check-in but our friends did and chose a standard room, 218. On Friday morning, checked the app and there was only 1 room available, but it was marked as a "Seaside Oceanfront One Bedroom Suite", 106 at the SE corner of the property. Confirmed and processed check-in via the app. In the preceding days, we saw Lanai suites still being sold, but on Friday morning they were only selling standard rooms. Front desk agent confirmed no Lanai suites available.

The standard "Oceana King Studio Suite" and the "Oceanfront One Bedroom Suite" ended up being almost the same other than the shape of the room and the balcony/ocean view from our room. We were expecting more of a differentiator given the "Suite" vs "Studio Suite" designation, but still enjoyed the room all the same. Our bathroom was a bit more cramped than the standard room, but we had a larger bedroom/living area. I don't have pictures of our room as our son immediately laid claim to everything, but our friends took pictures of their standard room which I've attached. There was a bit of noise in our room as it was in the corner next to the stairs, where the door slammed quite loudly every time it was opened. Overall, I did like that it was offset from the pool a bit and more "private" compared to the Lanai suites on the perimeter of the pool.

Breakfast in the restaurant wasn't too busy when we first arrived around 8am on Saturday. We each had an entree and had a few additional pastries/add-ons. Service was a tad slow but the restaurant was filling up quickly and there were also orders coming in from the pool area. We provided our room numbers and asked for a split of the bill, but the next morning I received a folio which had the full charge on my room. Our friends stopped by the front desk and resolved it without our involvement, an updated folio was sent which reflected the change. On Sunday morning, we ordered room service around the same time which was delivered quickly (~10 minutes). There is a $5 tray charge on the folio for this, but no issues with the $50 credit applying. We felt portion sizes were quite decent and the food was "good enough". Probably wouldn't order it without the credit, but it was nice to get some extra time at the property. From what I've seen, the recent change to breakfast is a bit of a net positive at the Oceana as it was previously a $22 credit per person.

We did not try the pool, but it was quite busy every time we went by with almost all the chairs taken. On Friday specifically, we saw about half the people stay out by the pool from morning until night. We opted instead to go down to Santa Monica Beach, the walk down is easy enough but the walk back is a bit arduous. The property has 10 bikes + locks available for rental with a signed waiver. We didn't make use of these but our friends did take them out multiple times and had no problems with availability. Nice amenity that I would use if I came without young children.

Plenty of street parking available as long as you pay attention to the restricted times. We found parking on 2nd St behind the property as did our friends. On one excursion, we had to drive out to Palisades Ave for a spot, but there are also spots on some of the other streets. Any other questions, feel free to ask.

Eujeanie

So your friend's room 218 (pictured) did not have a balcony at all? (looks like just a very small window in the corner). Nice spacious room and bath.

Were all those bottles of water strewn about the room complimentary?

EPPanda

Correct, 218 did not have a balcony. A very small window along the NW edge of the property, direct view of the condo next door + slim view of the ocean if viewed at an angle. I believe balconies are only available on the SE edge of the property, and the SW edge for some of the rooms on higher floors.

2 bottles were provided in the room, and 2 bottles were provided to us when we entered the lobby with our luggage.

Eujeanie

Thanks. Where did you eat dinner in the area?

Kacee

The pictured room looks quite a bit larger than what we were assigned, but equally dark and cave-like.
Ours (219, on northern side of building) had a small balcony, but it was very small and very very close to the adjacent building, so not particularly pleasant or useable.

EPPanda

We did not eat dinner in the area, but we did have coffee and snacks nearby. Demitasse, Sidecar, and a farmer's market taking place near the 3rd street promenade.

We were actually offered 219 on the app, which we thought of taking since it was next to our friends in 218. We decided against it as the floor map did show it to be quite a bit smaller than 218.

whitecastle

Given the same 95K per night cost, any recommendations whether to pick the Oceana or the WA Monarch Beach for Dec 24-26? I'll be traveling with my GF the entire week and we'll be going up to Ventana Big Sur for a few days before stopping in Santa Barbara and finallying heading to LA or SD for Christmas. Learning toward the WA as this will allow us to explore SD area since we've never been there while we've been to the Santa Monica area twice before.

Eujeanie

What is your starting point (you said "up" to Ventana so it doesn't sound like you're starting north of there, e.g. the Bay Area). That sounds like a lot of driving for one week, especially if you take PCH a lot of the way (rather than the 101). There are so many interesting places to stop along the whole coast you just can't go by the time/distance maps. If you want something interesting, look up the Elephant Seals at Ano Nuevo. We loved our stop there.

If you want to skip Santa Monica because you've been before, then skip it. And if you're looking for another high end Hilton property have you considered the Del? And since your profile doesn't give a location we have no idea where you are ending, either. Flying out of SAN?

I've always broken down our CA coast trips into "north" or "south" (and "middle" - SB I consider middle) we've never tried to do it all at once. Have you been to Carmel and Monterey? You only mention Big Sur so really have no idea if you've done them before.

Edit: Never mind about the Elephant Seals - they are 2 hours north of Big Sur (unless you're coming from the north??). I knew they were somewhere, couldn't remember, but winter IS the time to see them.

whitecastle

Thanks for the response and suggestions. Yes, starting in SF and then spending 3 nights in Ventana Big Sur, 1 night in SLO, 1 night in Santa Barbara, 2 nights in Encino with friends, and then have two nights on Dec 24-26 that I'm trying to figure out a special stay for. Flying out of LAX early on the 27th so have a hotel booked near the airport for 26-27.

I looked into the Del but from recent reviews, it seems that the hotel is pretty worn down with ongoing construction also happening. From what I also see, only the Victorian rooms are available at 95K/night and non of the recently renovated rooms.