Zane Grey Pueblo Hotel — Attraction in Avalon

This was my first stay at this property, although I had self-toured the hotel during prior trips to Catalina. Despite the spate of recent negative reviews on TA, my stay was very pleasant with no major issues. And like another recent reviewer, I too have also stayed at Mt Ada, the pricey B&B located in the hills on the opposite side of Avalon from Zane, and perhaps the hotel that compares most easily to Zane. Part of the hotel was once the Catalina getaway home of author Zane Grey, who was also an avid fisherman and member of the Tuna Club of Avalon.||||The hotel, which opened 3-4 years ago, is just down the road from the historic Chimes Tower, which rings every 15 minutes but goes silent at night. The hotel is comprised of: 1) a new 4-level entry building which houses the lobby, breakfast room, and rooftop event patio. 2) a new 3-story building with 8 ocean view suites all with balconies, plus a rooftop deck. 3) the historic building, a renovation of Zane Grey's circa 1926 Catalina home, which now houses 8 rooms and suites, plus a 3-bedroom penthouse. Between the 2 buildings is a gated pool and deck. There is an additional large patio area with firepits. Both buildings are accessed via a single elevator from the lobby to the 5th floor. From there, one must climb stairs to the upper floors of the new wing and to the penthouse, and down a few stairs to other historic wing rooms. The 2 accessible suites are on the ground floor of the new wing. There is also an original stairway down to Chimes Tower Road, which is a popular road for golf cart rental folks to drive. A wooden staircase from the 5th level to the lobby appears unsafe and is blocked off above the breakfast room level.||From many hotel vantage points, one can see the cruise ships that dock in Catalina several times a week and greatly increase the island's crowds.||||||I specifically wanted a room in the historic building, and booked the Honeymoon Suite. This large one-room suite has a king bed, large living room with an original intricately mosaic-tiled fireplace, a kitchenette of sorts with a microwave and minifridge (but no sink, dishware or utensils of any kind), a TV-viewing area with 2 comfy leather easy chairs, and a large bath with separate tub and shower. What appears to be an original door opens onto a large terrace with 180-degree views of all of Avalon plus the harbour, ocean and the historic Casino. ||A few other rooms in the historic building have ocean-view balconies, and the penthouse has 4 balconies/terraces, one facing each direction. There used to be a sitting room with a restroom and original fireplace just inside the entrance, with copies of Zane Grey books on the mantle, but this space is being converted into another guestroom. ||The new building's suites all have balconies with views of the ocean, Casino and Chimes Tower.||||Some prior TA reviews had complaints about the hotel staff, but I found all I encountered to be friendly and helpful. Like Mt Ada, staff is not abundant but accommodating. Sylvia primarily was at the front desk, although she did pick me up from the Catalina Express dock. Lucy (a 40+ year Catalina resident) was seen everywhere, including the mini-office in the historic wing. The hotel has 2 golf carts but one driver, usually Ricardo, sometimes Daniel, who drive folks to and from the boat or helicopter docks or to the downtown drop-off spot just outside Bluewater Grill. When a lot of folks with a lot of luggage all arrive at the same time, several trips are needed. ||Sherry was the usual staffer in the breakfast room. Breakfast is complimentary and included coffee, tea, orange juice (not fresh-squeezed), commercially prepared muffins, English muffins and bagels, fresh whole fruits, yogurt and cereals plus accompaniments. During the week, hot items include scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon and potatoes (tasty but I think prepared from frozen). On weekends, the hotel ups it game by providing an omelette and pancake station. With just one staffer making the omelettes and pancakes, plus restocking everything else, there can be waits for food, so I made sure to arrive early. During my stay a huge bachelorette party booked the penthouse and several other rooms. I was expecting the worst, but fortunately they did their carousing downtown. ||||Zane compares decently to Mt Ada. Mt Ada is more costly, but has more inclusions: boat or helicopter dock pickup in a Mercedes van, your own golf cart to use for the length of your stay, made-to-order breakfast and lunch daily, evening cheese/charcuterie, 24-hour Butler's Pantry with various edible and drinkable treats. There are only 6 rooms, so there are less guests. You are literally staying in the decently maintained but not renovated original William Wrigley Jr. Catalina home. ||Mt Ada is much further uphill than Zane, which is just a 5 minute walk downtown (more time needed to come back, uphill). And I was told Zane is in the process of trying to get their own transportation van, which apparently is a long and arduous process on the island.||||I would gladly stay at either property again, and most...

I booked this hotel directly over the phone as I wanted to chat about my options for rooms that were available. I was talking to a young her girl, I knew the second I arrived who I booked with. Her voice and demeanor totally fit her when I saw her. She suggested a pricier room because of the view- as this was a special occasion, both mine and my daughter’s (20) birthday— I splurged. ||I called two days after booking and gave the front desk staff my time of arrival from the Catalina Express as I had some questions about bag storage. They actually told me that they would pick us up (such a nice touch!) and that we could leave our bags and also grab breakfast and if our room was ready check in early— if not just leave the bags and explore the island. I have been there several times but this is my daughter’s first trip. ||We arrive on island and nobody is there to pick up. I call— several times. Straight to voicemail. I call another online listed number and a male picks up “central reservations” I politely ask “are you at the hotel?” He says “central reservations” agitated. I again, ask- “I am so sorry, are you at the hotel?” Again, “CENTRAL RESERVATIONS” I said that I didn’t know what that meant and that I was trying to reach the hotel directly but it keeps going to voicemail and he says “it means I’m in central reservations” I say, “I’m sorry, please don’t be so rude- I arrived and nobody is here to pick me up and nobody is answering at the hotel- maybe you have another phone number for them?” He gives me another number as my daughter notices a golf cart pull around with the hotel name- he’s holding up names but none are ours, I walk over and explain and he tells me I’m not on the list but get in. ||We head to the hotel to check in, she says she didn’t have our arrival time listed and they must’ve dropped the ball -bummer nothing about our birthdays is mentioned either and not that I was expecting anything elaborate but I stay a lot of places… they could’ve actually just said “happy birthday” lol. I’m actually surprised that for what I paid this is the most unassuming front desk area ever. They tell us to put our bags in a closet that kinda smells musty— ok. Our room isn’t ready, we change and the driver drops us in town. ||Pro here: the transportation to/from town is free from hotel and they are very friendly— CARL though was a stand out! So knowledgeable and kind!! ||After calling to check many hours later our room is ready— we head back and well, the view is wild. It’s a beautiful view. The room is fine… but the view is gorgeous. So that night is when things just go reallll bad. We start to hear what sounds like scraping of furniture. Turns out to be wild sex complete with screaming. When we go down to complain the second time (front desk did all she could here) they give us another room (honeymoon suite) but this room is actually worse than ours. The walls are so thin it actually sounds like the people are in the room having a conversation. We can hear them vaping— like actually inhaling/exhaling. We don’t even put our bags in the room bc we just planned on sleeping there as they told us the people above our actual room were checking out the next day. At approximately midnight I think we just gave up and went back to our original room to get some sleep it was just so so bad! The next morning they told us they had problems with them the night before as well… so why not tell us? Ugh. Next night, we get ready to go to sleep after a late birthday dinner and what do you know— people in that room and more sex- these guests were not as wild as the previous night though! Luckily they only lasted a good hour … then they were just up all night back and forth. ||I have never had such a terrible nights stay and for the amount of money that we paid it’s pathetic. ||When we checked out early this morning she didn’t even say “good morning” “how was your stay” literally NOTHING. She just put our bags on the golf cart and drove us to the boat. I don’t know if she didn’t want to know or if she was just rude but I’m not sure I have ever complained about a hotel before this was by far the worst hotel experience I’ve ever had— coming from someone whose exhusband once booked Hooters in Las Vegas....

We recently spent two nights at Zane Grey in the "Honeymoon Suite" (Rm 107), after spending the previous two nights at Mt. Ada on the other side of the bay. Both have incredible views and both are positioned (and similarly priced) as luxury inns, so the comparison is interesting. The facilities and physical amenities at Zane Grey are quite nice - beautiful views, a nice heated pool, several decks with nice seating, etc. The hotel was recently remodeled and expanded, so the rooms themselves are also nicely decorated. But it is when you go beyond the physical property to the service and details where Zane Grey starts to fall well short (particularly in comparison with Mt. Ada).||For example: At Mt. Ada, we were personally greeted and given a tour of the property upon arrival, complete with history of the home, the Wrigley family, etc. At Zane Grey, you check in via a bare bones lobby like you would at any other chain hotel, and if you didn't know anything about Zane Grey, you won't learn anything during your stay. The name seems mostly to be a marketing device now, as significant remodeling likely made any historical references obsolete. Our suite was nice at Zane Grey, including a microwave and mini-fridge, but no other amenities - no corkscrew, no glasses, no anything. At Mt. Ada you have 24/7 access to the "butler's pantry", with complimentary beer, wine, soda, ice cream, cheeses, etc, and a complimentary coffee and mimosa bar was set up outside the guest rooms each morning. At Zane Grey there is no restaurant or beverages, as such. Mt. Ada includes full breakfast and lunch each day, prepared by a chef onsite to order. Zane Grey has a basic "chain hotel" style free breakfast (scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and generic mass-produced pastries).||But the biggest difference is service. At Mt. Ada you are treated like family, by name, and with lots of interaction throughout your stay. At Zane Grey, the staff is mostly disengaged - pleasant, but no sense that you are anything other than one of 30 or 40 guests staying in a couple dozen rooms. The exception was the cart drivers, who were seemingly always ready to take you to town or pick you up, and went the extra mile (literally and figuratively). (Aside: At Mt. Ada you get use of a golf cart, so aside from arrival and departure when you get a ride to town, you can come and go on your own).||My overall sense is that Zane Grey is a beautiful property with good intentions, but they just need to pay more attention to the little details that make the experience feel like something more than a typical hotel stay. Have some Zane Grey books or information or artifacts in the rooms. Spend the extra few dollars to have some helpful items in the rooms like corkscrews, bottle openers, cutlery, etc. Invest a bit more in training the staff to be more service-oriented. Consider having a bit better food and beverage service available (I realize this may a permitting/license issue). If you went to the trouble to add a "North Tower" with lots more rooms, be sure you have the staff and processes in place to keep a special and historic feeling for the property. Otherwise, it becomes just another expensive hotel and not something truly memorable.||Would I stay again? Tough call at the price point. It really depends on how things evolve - if they choose to just focus on becoming a "hands off" hotel with a pool and a view, probably not. If they work out the kinks and lean into the uniqueness and history of the property with more attention to detail and service, I'd be happy to...