This review is not for Viceroy but for Chuck, the very good & kind driver sent to pick me up from LAX .As a solo traveller and after a long international flight, I was reassured already a few days before as Chuck made sure to message me with his confirmation. This is especially reassuring for me. He treated me very well and as we had good communication, I also asked him to drive me back to airport. As I required special assistance, he really made my airport check in easier for me too. I will definitely have him drive me in his comfy Cadillac whenever I come to LA.

We stayed over a week for my special birthday getaway. We chose based on price, location, and the beachy boutique hotel vibe. . As a start, don't be fooled by the rates posted on this place. The resort fee is $40 per day, which is patently ridiculous. For $40/day, you get two mini bottles of water in your room when you arrive (you can call down to get more, they assured us), as well as a welcome glass of prosecco (or water). We were not given any info about the fitness centre, the bikes, or the supposed yoga -- just pool and restaurant hours. When paying $40 a night for resort fees, I want to feel I used every last corner of the "resort". . The Up-Front Bad: Of our 8 nights, we contended several days without A/C (and no transparency from the hotel about what was going on -- topped by a refusal to send a fan to our room, then later, telling us all the fans were booked out so we were out of luck). We experienced a continual lack of water glasses in our room (housekeeping would remove our glasses and not replenish them or the water bottles, so we had to call down every afternoon to get water glasses delivered just to be able to drink any water in our room). Add to this that there is not a kettle or coffee maker in your room, so your morning caffeine fix requires going down to buy an over-priced cup of tea or coffee from the lobby every single day. That's $14 a day just for two hot caffeinated beverages, as a start. . Room: We paid top dollar for a lovely "junior suite" facing the ocean on the top floor. Even being on the 8th floor, the road noise from Ocean Ave and Pico Ave is so loud, it can be intolerable to have your sliding door open (especially challenging when the hotel has no A/C working) -- particularly on weekends. You do not have a patio/balcony, as advertised -- just a slider that opens to a railing. It's a nice open feel, but they did oversell it as a balcony. The views to the beach and pier (and sunsets) are splendid from the top floor and presumably the 7th floor as well. The bed was comfortable and there was plenty of space to unpack, as well as a couch and two chairs for lounging. We also found the bathroom nice and spacious, but the showerhead was mysteriously basic for such a huge luxurious shower. Food & Drink: Food was good. Drinks were pretty good. But drinks are pricy at $20/each, so hit happy hour when you can for some good deals. Room service (a few breakfasts) was fairly fast and mostly accurate. Food from room service and in the restaurant was great on all occasions and they have some fun group sharing options that seemed pretty cool. Staff: they were either super kind and responsive, or completely disinterested -- just depending on the moment. When they were good, they were friendly and gracious. When they were bad, they were dour and even cross. Restaurant and lobby bar service was friendly but sporadic -- sometimes exasperatingly slow, other times checking in on us 5 times in 20 minutes. . Pool/Patio: The poolside chairs are numerous and though it is a small area, it is well planned to maximize space. You can pay to rent a cabana either by the pool ($$$) or on the restaurant patio ($$). Negotiating for a better price is worth some time, but you'll be put off in the furthest reaches of the patio. Cabanas offer couches, chairs, TVs and heaters. Rental includes a bottle of prosecco (or bucket of beer) and a charcuterie board. Our board -- while delicious -- was delivered before we had even actually had time to settle in, with us having no input to what we were looking for -- we were told "chef is sending you some food" and out it came. However, the overall cabana experience is quite fun and would be great for groups of 4 or more to split the cost. We found the cabanas were rarely used (despite the front desk telling us they were booked up). The overall restaurant patio is massive and seating suits both small and large groups. There is ample lobby seating and indoor restaurant seating, and the outdoor patio features both restaurant tables and fire tables and lounge seating galore. . Would I recommend staying here? Not so much. The lack of basics (working A/C or a fan, water glasses, coffee/tea capability in room) seems arrogant for the high resort fees charged. On the plus side, the location offers a short one block walk to the beach, just 10 minutes walking to the pier, and access to plenty of Santa Monica within a 20 minute stroll. But so do a lot of hotels. Our future trips to Santa Monica likely won't center around the Viceroy. I felt the resort fee was a gouge, and the lack of room basics underlined how much of a gouge it was. I also resent the lack of empathy for losing night after night of sleep due to the non-working AC -- and the refusal to just send a fan to our room seemed callous. I see now that other guests who had this issue negotiated a savings on resort fees, but we didn't fare so well.

Principal benefit of this hotel is location. Short walk from the beach and short walk from the town. Everything else is decent albeit a bit pricey for what you get. Pool area a bit scruffy but extensive outdoor seating for drinks etc. Definitely stay again.

What an incredible two nights spent at the Viceroy. This place is BEAUTIFUL and is so close and convenient to the beach, amazing food, lounges, and events going on. You will not be disappointed from check in to check out I was treated with such genuine care and absolutely loved interacting with the staff at the Viceroy. We had a King partial ocean view room which was gorgeous. We got an opportunity as well to take the bikes out on the board walk (So much fun!) and have some of the delicious food at the restaurant. The weekend wouldn't have been the same if it wasn't for one amazing employee. A huge shout out to Adam Schieber, the guest experience manager who made my girlfriend's birthday weekend beyond special and helped us out with where to go in the area. He was the absolute best and made our stay there memorable as he elevated our experience and interacted with the guests so well! We only hope when we return, the sun will be in Santa Monica so we can enjoy all that the Viceroy had to offer as the pool and day beds looked amazing. Can't wait to be back again soon and thanks again Adam!

Location of hotel was great for Santa Monica Pier and the pedestrianised - 3rd St Promenade Area, we did walk to Venice Beach and Canals (35-45mins each way) the hotel does have cycles for hire and lots of places along the way if you wished to use this option. We ended a long West coast tour at this hotel and it was meant to be a relaxing end only to be woken every morning 7am - 7.45am with Union protestors banging drums, shouting through loud hailers etc right outside the reception! It was VERY disturbing, disappointing and disruptive to our holiday. We were told at check in (not beforehand) that we may hear some protests but they didn’t say it would be every morning and at such an early hour and high volume. We didn’t bother complaining as frankly what could we do? At checkout the hotel offered us a free breakfast but we were literally checking out that second at 11am to go to the airport. Think they could have knocked a discount of the room price or offered a free breakfast each morning in advance- perhaps if id gone and complained they may have offered something but being British (stiff upper lip etc) we just got on with our trip(just a bit earlier each morning, much to the teenagers annoyance)! So that was annoying that they didn’t approach us sooner or make an apology for the noise. We were there for 4nights after-all so paid a hefty fee. Note there is a resort fee too(it was included in our booking) plus car park fee if needed. The room was booked via booking.com from UK as an Ocean View room, we could see the ocean but it’s very much a partial view across a BUSY & NOISY road and a block of houses and hotels! We were on 5th floor (of 8 I think) and had balcony windows but couldn’t be opened as road outside was super noisy. Plus in the morning we were right above reception and the protestors!!! When windows are closed (two sets) in room noise is okay to sleep at night from the road noise, but def not the protest noise - bring ear plugs!!! Comfortable room otherwise in terms of beds/bathroom facilities. Did have a fridge too, but only two small bottles of water provided at check in (we were 4 in room)! No other water provided. Pool area was nice, compact but heated. Restaurant- again didn’t use but seemed busy in evenings. Safety - 24hr security guards on doors, so safe but note there is a very large homeless problem in this area, as being from UK it was a little overwhelming and we didn’t like being out too late (especially once dark) as it can have a little bit of an edgy feel - I suppose we’re not used to seeing it, but note Santa Monica is a rich area. It’s certainly not an area we will return too but for location the hotel couldn’t be faulted.