Flew in with my wife and 9 month old baby today early in this morning. We’re celebrating our 10 year and were excited to stay at a ”Luxury Hotel”. Arrived at 9 AM(check in’s @ 4:00 PM) hoping we could check in earlier, or at least drop our bags and go do something while we wait if we couldn’t check in till later this afternoon. When we first arrived we were greeted right out of our Uber, brought to the front to check in where the receptionist welcomed as well. However, everything started to take a downward turn when we gave him our information. As soon as he looked us up he ask, “oh did you book through a 3rd party?” We said yes we did. I then asked if there were any upgraded rooms available, said it our 10 year anniversary and I wouldn’t mind hearing about any suits that may be available. With disgust on his face he looked us up and down and said “not for free”.. lol I said “of course! I am just wondering what that would look like” After 5 minutes of silence and him looking on the computer he came back with a “we have a Panoramic view suite, for JUST an extra $489 a night.” I said oh, no that’s alright we’ll just stick with the room that we have. I asked if they had a timeframe on when we could check into the room. He said “it shouldn’t be much longer if you’d like I can give you resort keys to walk around or go sit by the pool. ” We said, great we’ll go eat breakfast and come back. We ate at the Aveo Table+Bar on the 3rd floor(pretty good for breakfast). After we sat by the pool for a while waiting. After 2 hours we decided to go back up and see if our room was ready. Walk up to the same guy as before, and said, hey is our room ready by chance? He said oh we use a different system as house keeping so I’d have no idea I’d have to call them… slightly confused I ask if he wouldn’t mind? That way we could know if we should still hang out close or if we should call an Uber to go somewhere else. He said, “well… check ins not till 4 PM so we’ll text you when it’s ready. Confused and a little bit frustrated we walked away, after being told 2 hours prior that “it’s shouldn’t be very long until your rooms ready”Decided to just walk down past the pool and go to a near by park to try to keep our 9 month old occupied and happy. 2 and a half hours went by without a text. Now closing in on 5 hours from when we arrived and checked in we decided to go up and see if maybe the phone number on file was wrong, or if for some reason they just didn’t notify us. To avoid starting the conversation over from scratch I approached the same guy and said, “hey it’s now been almost 5 hours, did we maybe miss a text or give you the wrong number”… He quickly fired back with, “No, as I told you before check ins not till 4, your room hasn’t been completed”.. my first thought was to fire back with “oh I thought you couldn’t see that from your end because House keeping uses a different system”.. lol Long story short, time has continued to pass as I’m sitting here in the lobby writing this Novel. I hope someone reads this and that it deters you from booking. This place wants to be the Ritz sooo bad.. the whole back door view is a complete copy of the Ritz in Kapalua, Maui! 😂

This is my first time staying at this hotel, and it's to celebrate my birthday. I messaged the hotel via the Hilton app to let them know about my birthday celebration during this stay. Upon check-in, they upgraded my room from a garden view to a pool view. I didn't expect much from the upgrade. On the first night, I had dinner at Bourbon Steakhouse. The food was good, but the drinks were expensive. I ordered a glass of Insignia wine 2006, knowing that restaurants typically mark up wine prices by double. However, this restaurant marked it up by four times, resulting in one glass of wine costing $328. The retail price for a bottle of this wine is about $360. In addition to the wine, I had one mixed drink, two glasses of wine, an appetizer, and a ribeye cap. After adding the tip, my bill came to $1080. I've dined at 3 Michelin-starred restaurants before, but I've never paid $1000 per person. The next night, I went down the street and enjoyed good Italian food. I ordered a bottle of Opus One 2016 for $406, and my total bill was under $600. On Sunday, I went to the on-site restaurant, Aveo, after 12 pm. The waiter handed me the breakfast menu, and I asked why, since it was already noon. He apologized and then went to speak with someone. Upon returning, he informed me that lunch starts at 2 pm. I was confused because on Saturday, I had lunch at noon, and they served it then. Their inconsistency was perplexing. I messaged the front desk to request a late check-out as a Diamond status member. Their reply stated that check-out at “2 pm would cost $200 and $300 for 2 pm. As a Diamond status member, the regular check-out time is 12 pm”. However, when I stayed at the WA in Hollywood in February, my late check-out was until 4 pm. Additionally, my room was not cleaned until 6 pm on Saturday. In the last six months, I've stayed at Conrad Tokyo and WA in Hollywood, and I've never experienced such poor service. While the hotel's location is nice, the staff needs to step up to the standard of the WA. I've previously stayed at the Ritz in the area and never had such a bad experience."

Very refined experience. Was waiting to see the renovation of the prior public spaces and mostly great with some glaring choices. But first everything from the beautiful refined rooms to the polished service and hospitality is 5 star. The check in was professional and courteous and the service at the Beach Club and 33 excellent. Now about that lobby. Needs a second opinion. Gone are the vibrant blues with taupes and textured surfaces. Now a heavier upholstery look and bizarre unfinished looking large vacuous spaces. The fireplace room was elegant but the low slung club chairs while stylish are not really comfortable. The entry way is now a cavernous hole and gone was the often used elegant blue leather large ottoman. The terrace room is also now a vacuous upholstered look that is at best unfinished looking. You be the judge below. But I still love this beautiful resort I just feel the lobby need a second designer to finish the unfinished look from the last elegant, vibrant and original iteration (pre worn look)

We had a great experience and a wonderful time staying at the resort for 5 nights to celebrate our 50th anniversary. Will definitely be staying at this resort anytime we come to Dana Point . Rooms , service , restaurants , everything was perfect. Highly recommended.

This luxury resort offers exceptional amenities including a variety of fitness classes, bicycles and walking tours, complimentary for all guests. Additionally, a dedicated lap pool and jacuzzi are provided for spa guests. Another perk is very special: access to a dedicated restaurant on Monarch Beach with complimentary use of beach chairs/umbrellas & boogie boards. Access is restricted to guests and local members making it exclusive. To reach the Monarch Beach Club, board the mini tram bus in the front of the resort. Several trams operate during busy times so wait times are minimal. We appreciated how the mini trams are outfitted like wood-paneled station wagons popular during the rise of SoCal surf culture. Employees exceeded our high expectations for a Waldorf-Astoria property. Special thanks to the following: Russell at the front desk greeted us warmly, oriented us to the resort and found us a quiet room. Jonathan, also at the front desk, gladly accommodated us as Diamond Members with a later check-out. Ashley at the Part-n-Parcel cafe offered nutritious and delicious plant-based offerings and a gelato "happy hour." Prices at this grab & go eatery are so reasonable we were able to buy snacks and smoothies without feeling gauged. Fitness instructors Alex, Cory and Kelly were encouraging and accommodated beginner levels with fun classes. Kinza at Concierge set us up with complimentary bikes so we could explore the surrounding public trails and Salt Creek Beach & Park. Tram operator Ron was upbeat and reminded us of tram times to ensure we didn't miss the last departure from the private and gated Monarch Beach Club. Laurie, who was at the front desk, went out of her way to help us. Finally, Allison, a manager-trainee, kindly helped with questions and ensured our smooth departure. This was our first visit and we plan to return!