Balboa Bay Resort

We had some issues with our stay. Overall, it was quite disappointing. The Concierge really made a mess of our trip. It was also annoying have to call for our room to be cleaned each day. We could not get the coffee machine to work and my parents could not get the one in their room to work either. We were told there was construction in the reception area. However, there was construction all over because we could not enjoy our room through the day and neither could my parents who were quite a ways down the hall due to the excessive noise. The s’mores were an absolute joke. It would be nice if you showed people what they were getting prior to booking. The one person there that did help us out was Jeff in valet.

First, I want to say that I almost never leave negative reviews. Sometimes a place is just "not for me" and in that instance, I just let it go and don't return. However, because I feel that the service I received at Balboa Bay was subpar and they have been unresponsive to my directly reaching out, here I am. I recently spent 5 nights at the hotel while helping move my adult daughter to Newport Beach. It was a good base location and the rooms were spacious, clean and comfortable. The hotel felt a bit more "mid" than I was expecting, but I suppose its location is the draw. The restaurant staff and valet staff were all friendly, prompt and great. Check in was frustrating, as only one gentleman was working the desk and he spent a long time helping future guests peruse various room options they were planning to book rather than checking in waiting guests. Not a huge deal, but for a 4 star hotel we were surprised to not see more employees around. Our stay went fairly smoothly until the last day when the air conditioning broke in our room. When I returned to the room early evening I promptly reported it to the front desk and they said they'd send an engineer. I left for dinner, and upon returning about 10:30 pm, the AC was still broken. I called to the front desk and they said it would be another hour or 2 before an engineer could get to my room, as he was working on other rooms. They admitted that mine was not the only room whose AC wasn't working, and it became clear that this might not get resolved anytime soon. They suggested I shut off the unit entirely so that it wouldn't continue blowing warm air. As I was already ready to go to sleep at that point after spending all day moving, I requested to move rooms. They said no other rooms were available (which I was skeptical of because the hotel did not seem fully booked, but who knows). I spent a hot, sleepless night and the next day the AC still was not working, and I still had received no updates. Upon checkout, the woman assisting me had zero knowledge of the fact that my AC wasn't working. I asked for a credit on the room rate for my last night, as I wasn't given the option to relocate to another room. In fact, had they let me know earlier that the repair wasn't going to probably be done anytime soon, I'd have checked out and stayed elsewhere. But again, I never received any ongoing updates or communication about the issue. She disappeared into a back office and returned to tell me that they were giving me a credit equal to 1/4 of my nightly room rate, not including fees. I expressed that that did not seem satisfactory for a supposed 4 star hotel. She said she would go back and ask the manager again. I left for breakfast, and when I went back by the front desk, she still had no answer for me. Never did a manager come out to speak with me, nor offer any sort of apology for the inconvenience and discomfort of no working AC. Upon returning home, I immediately emailed the manager reiterating my experience and explaining that this is unacceptable for a hotel of this supposed caliber. Working air conditioning is a basic expectation for a 4 star hotel, and if no alternative room could be provided, greater compensation should have been offered. I have received no response to date- not a peep. I also left a review detailing my experience on the automated survey that the hotel emailed me and again, I have not heard anything back from management. I have never stayed at a hotel where management has been totally unresponsive - both on site and via email. Totally unacceptable for the rate that this hotel charges. Honestly, totally unacceptable anywhere, regardless of how many stars a hotel has. I booked through my AmEx platinum card instead of my usual Virtuoso travel agent since I was trying to reach my annual AmEx statement credit for booking through them. Bummer, because it would have been nice to have my usual agent advocate for me (I have, of course, communicated my negative experience to her so that she is made aware before booking other clients). And my $100 credit that was supposed to be a perk of booking through AmEx also was not credited to my final bill. All in all, this was a very disappointing way to end an otherwise nice week. I was hoping to find my "go to" hotel when visiting my daughter in the future but this certainly won't be it. They clearly don't value their guests.

This is a wonderful So Cal Beach resort. Ive been here many times and it just gets better and better. The overall customer service has really improved, everyone is helpful, friendly and considerate. The Bay-View rooms are the best, beautiful views of the bay, boats and Lido island. Very relaxing atmosphere. There is a great pool, with pool service which was outstanding. A+O restaurant has a very good menu and again the service and attention to detail was amazing. I want to give a shout out to Rami at the reservations/hospitality desk, it was quite busy when I checked in and he handled all of the guests in a timely manner with a smile on his face and the utmost professionalism! I also want to acknowledge Lou in the resort boutique, very helpful, good knowledge about the store's products and a true delight to talk to! Wonderful get-a-away as always and can't wait to return after the renovations are complete, it's going to be spectacular, I'm sure!

Beautiful location. Atmosphere and rooms were nice. There was a water issue but the staff was very accommodating for the inconvenience of lack of water during the repair.

Unfortunately, our overall experience fell far below what we expected from a property of this caliber. From the moment we arrived, we experienced a noticeable lack of hospitality and attention to detail. From wandering the property with three large bags trying to locate the lobby, to disappointing service during a celebratory dinner at A+O, there were numerous service failures throughout our short 48-hour stay. However, the experience that stood out most was our terrible interaction with Elizabeth W. at the pool bar. Once we finally made it to the pool (after struggling with unclear signage and a room key that would not open the pool entrance), there were no available lounge chairs. It was difficult to tell whether chairs were occupied or simply had abandoned towels on them, so we settled on one of the shaded couches nearby. After approximately 10 minutes, despite several servers walking directly past us, no one acknowledged us or offered service. My husband eventually went to the bar himself and ordered two drinks along with chips, salsa, and guacamole. He returned with the drinks, but after another 20 minutes, the food had still not arrived, so he went back to the bar to check on it. The food was delivered about a minute later. By this point, we were ready for another round of drinks, yet we continued to be completely overlooked while multiple servers passed by. I finally went to the bar myself. After waiting while approximately five employees finished chatting behind the counter, Elizabeth W. asked how she could help. I asked if there was a reason we had not been receiving service. She asked where we were seated, and when I explained we were on the couches around the corner, her responses were, in order: “Sometimes it’s hard to see if people are sitting there.” I explained that multiple servers had walked directly past us without acknowledging us. “Sometimes people sitting over there are on business calls.” I let her know that I had not been on a call at any point. “We have a new server today, so he probably didn’t realize you needed anything.” At this point, I had heard three explanations, but not a single apology. Elizabeth eventually brought our drinks to us. When she arrived, instead of apologizing, she asked, “Are you okay? You seem upset.” I was honestly taken aback. I told her I was simply surprised by the level of service we had experienced. Rather than acknowledging our concerns, she began arguing with me, insisting that a server had brought us one of our drinks about 20 minutes earlier. I explained that this was incorrect—those were the drinks my husband had personally gone to the bar to order after we had initially been ignored. Only after offering a fourth explanation did Elizabeth finally apologize before walking away. While disappointing service can happen anywhere, this was probably the most severe lack of customer service I have ever encountered.