14 West Boutique Hotel — Attraction in Laguna Beach

DO NOT STAY HERE.

Update 5/1/24 - I found out from my bank’s fraud department that I’m not responsible for the additional $285 fees the hotel tried to impose! Woo! Word to the wise, don’t stay here.

Update 3/4/24 - The owner replied to this review yesterday with a ton of false information, one of which being that either me or my guest elbowed a window and broke it. Quite incredible considering neither of us left with a bleeding, bruised, or injured elbow… Regardless, I still never received a call back from anyone in upper management so I just called and spoke with the front desk woman that I spoke with two days ago. I explained that the owner replied to my review but that I haven’t heard back from anyone in upper management, and she said, verbatim, “As he should.” She then said that I have nothing to dispute, that I will not be receiving any of the evidence that they promised to provide me before charging me, and that no one from upper management will be calling me back. She continued to say that I also trashed the hotel room (first time hearing of this and completely false) and that I should be embarrassed. I then said that I didn’t feel comfortable with the way she was speaking to me and I asked to speak with a manager. She then said that she’s going to hang up now, and then did. I’ve legitimately never received such poor customer service in my entire life. No joke. And I’m still trying to process the way I was just treated. Save yourselves from having to go through this experience and stay somewhere else; it’s not worth it. Since this now seems to be the form of communication with upper management, I will continue to post updates and post reviews on every online site that allows it. Stay tuned!

Original Review 3/2/24 - I was overcharged a $285 fee for my stay on 1/13/24. I was told while I was checking out the following morning that my guest had broken another room’s window two rooms down from where we were staying. They mentioned that they have video proof that it was my guest and that I would be charged an additional $250 fee. I said that I want to see the video proof before being charged and they agreed to send it to me. The following day I was not charged $250, but rather $285, and I never received anything from them besides a copy of my credit card receipt. It is now 3/2/24 and I’ve called 7 times to speak with a manager. Each time I’ve called I’ve spoken with someone from the front desk that’s taken my name and phone number, and says that they will pass my information on to a manager. I’ve never heard back from a manager. But I just now received a call back from the front desk person that I spoke with a few minutes ago and she said that they’re not going to go through the video footage and share it with me. She said that she personally saw it happen and that it’s in a police report. This is news to me… so I then said that I’d like a copy of this police report that they have outlining witness statements and she said she’d have to ask her manager and that he’ll get back to me. In the meantime, I will be reporting this hotel to the BBB and I will continue to post regular updates...

"14 West" is located on PCH. It is not on the view side of S Coast Highway; the beach is located across the street. Given this: the walk from the hotel to the beach is short. (The hotel also has some beach accessories available for rent.) It's also an easy walk to PCH (x) Forest Ave, where there is a concentration of bars, restaurants and shopping.||If you are on S Coast Highway, arriving by car, look for the Ralph's grocery store. Turn onto Cleo St. You will see the hotel's parking lot entrance, on your left-hand side, before you reach Glenneyre St. There are a number of short-term parking slots near the hotel lobby; but I would avoid using those, for a number of reasons.||Parking is $35/day, plus taxes ($39.99 total).||Staff at the front desk found my reservation easily, and the check in process was fast. This is a smaller hotel; there might be only one team member at the desk. If there is a surge of activity, there might be a bit of a wait.||With reference the room assigned to me: The carpets were clean; there were no obvious stains or tears. The furniture was clean, without significant bumps or bruises. The TV worked well. The bedsheets were not plush; but they were spotless, with no signs of excessive wear. I have experienced better mattresses in hotels at this price point; but the mattress here was reasonably comfortable.||The bathroom is where you might see the most wear and tear; but the bathroom here was very clean. The towels were not plush, but they were clean, hefty and in good condition. There was a shower (no bathtub).||The hotel room was well maintained, but its decor was a bit dated. Based on the room's layout, my guess is that the hotel (as we see it today) was designed in the 1970s. But I also suspect the original structure is even older. The room had a window air conditioner. It was a bit loud; but it worked well. It also had a space heater (no central heating).||All in all, it was a good stay.||Other random notes:||It is interesting that they installed key card locks; but they have reverted to using keys (maybe for maintenance reasons).||You might hear footsteps from the room above you.||If you are in your room during pool hours, you will hear activity.||There are table lamps on the nightstands besides the bed. You turn these lights on by tapping the left side of the base. I learned this by accident, while searching for on/off switches.||You are paying a premium to stay in Laguna Beach, versus a comparable hotel in a neighboring city, as close as 15 min (car ride) away. However, I was attending a reception, and the venue was a block away from this hotel.||I booked my room using a travel aggregator. Room prices can vary wildly, based on...

The name and title of this place is very misleading, this place to me is nothing but a motel. They allow animals to stay here, so expect the smelly not very clean space. If you choose to stay here , always wear slippers because they don’t clean the carpet properly. I stayed in this motel on a last minute decision because I thought I’d be spending less staying here instead of staying at casa loma near downtown Laguna, I was wrong. This motel charges for everything including maid service. The room I stayed in is like a dungeon, it’s not clean. They xharhe for maid service but the sheets were filthy and unwashed, they just tuck the sheets nicely to appear presentable. By the time we came in our room and checked it out, we found the comforter to have a stain and learned that this motel allow animals to stay. The comforter in one of the small beds was smeared with dog feces. I didn’t want to complain right away because I was informed earlier that there are no rooms available and that would mean , me looking for a different accommodations, I was just so tired, me and my sister slept in one of the beds and placed the comforter on top of the tv cabinet. We layered towels that we bought, on the bed so we can sleep, we both got four hours of sleep because we felt disgusting. I would give this place half a star or one leg of a star if Google allowed me. I’m crossing this motel off my list for recommendations because I’d like to keep my reviews honest and refined. This is not a place I will recommend for anyone, for some people this motel is absolutely fabulous, for me I’m more accustomed to fair exchange and barter. As for the matter of billing, check it out, it doesn’t even add up to the end total. I’m just going to wait for my next billing cycle and see what else these guys charge me for and go from them…… very unsanitary conditions and unfair transaction. I’m not recommending this place, it is not worthy. They should charge 60 dollars per night that what I think this motel is worth per night. Then they can charge for this and that and so on. My decision is firm will not give this place a third chance. Oh the breaky they serve in the morning, I don’t like to share food with flies. The public bathroom near the lobby is filthy. Walk to the beach but all the negative that came with it. I’d rather sleep at the beach before I pay again that much money. 10 thumbs down for this...