Catalina Island Inn — Hotel in Avalon

My wife and I stayed at thishotel, recently and it was a pleasant and easy check in. The stay and room was wonderful. We unfortunately had to leave a day early due to high winds, unpredictable high water tides, & possible cancellations of boat rides. We couldn’t be stuck on the island until the everything was back to normal so we left a day early. Our original timeframe was check in 01/06/25 @4:00pm and checkout 01/08/25 @11:00am.

On the day of 01/07/25, Due to the locals after walking around informed us that sandbags were being given to them due to the winds and water tides and possible floods, and if we were not settle for a couple days there is a possibility of being on the island for awhile, it alarmed us and we called Catalina Island Express to confirm if cancellation would be possible on our original departure date and time back to Long Beach doc. & they said yes and were able to do same day reschedules and/or refunds. After weighing the risk with my wife and we decided it was most safe and best to leave early.

I spoke to Lola at the front desk, and sought out a possible full day or partial day refund or even a credit towards a future stay, but she said basically said no due to checkout and booking through a third party. I explained to her even though I booked through a third party, they just did the booking, another lady at the time of check in on 01/06/25 physical took the payment at her desk and after being visibly upset about the answer and expressed concern she advised the she had to speak with a manager about it. She explained she would leave notes and explained the early departure is due to unpredictable weather conditions and check out at 3:00pm. (We found out about everything at 2:30pm)

I agreed, our departure boat time had been successfully rescheduled and we able to leave the island. I called and followed up with the decision on 01/08/25 around 12pm and the same answer I got yesterday was the same answer that day, and based on the stuttering when asking questions about th manager and why and things of that nature, it had appeared a possible discussion may have not existed or was just blown off.

The decision remained and felt it was unfair being it’s my first time at the hotel and the island itself we had to cut our ship short due to unpredictable weather conditions and possible being stranded, and my request doesn’t seem unreasonable. All I asked for was either a full day or PARTIAL day refund of 01/07/25 and/or if not a refund at least a credit for the day I could use towards coming back and booking in the future but no accommodation is simply unprofessional, unfair, lacks customer service.

I would never book again due to the experience and I also felt the room was un truthful even though it was still nice, I chose the room with the fire place and according to the pictures on their website it would lead you to believe it’s outside on your private patio and it’s NOT it’s a small lit flame IN your room under the tv. The patio is just two lounge...

Do not go here expecting a service and room you would usually expect for the price you are paying. A room for over 300 dollars for them is a small room. It is also not in a fancy corridor as one of the images advertises. Moreover, the service at the reception was minimal. They had no interest in our stay and were passive when we asked for suggestions of things they would recommend on the island. Finally, don't be fooled by the images they put up on the website... They do not show that their breakfast is a wall in the reception area. (They just show a nice little breakfast package on a surface) You would expect for the price you pay a night here that you would get a proper breakfast space.

Also expect a lot of stairs (no elevator) if you have a room on the top floor. While this is no big deal, the minimum that should be offered is a helping hand when you arrive to carry your things up.

A room with a view is a view from inside the room not from the balcony. What I mean by this is that if you are hoping to spend time on the balcony, yes you have a view on the sea but you also have a significant view on the grocery store roof below you. It is also very noisy as the fans of the grocery stores are running all the time. Finally the balcony is not entirely privatised. At least not our room. A building adjacent to the hotel is looking write onto your balcony. As a result you won't be wanting to spend any time outside on the balcony. Finally they say that you can get privacy with the private patio rooms however from all the balconies above it you have a perfect view into the patios unless they use the awnings.

These are all things that are relatively normal for a basic hotel.. However for the price this hotel asks for their rooms it is not acceptable. Even if the island is pricey; this is way over budget for what they offer. Finally since I only stayed one night, I did not want to argue with them on the spot and waste the little time I had on changing rooms or arguing. Therefore I wrote to them about my disappointment after my visit and they had the audacity to say that I didnt "do my homework", and that all the descriptions and pictures show exactly what to expect. I care to strongly disagree as the images and text only highlight 30% of the hotel. That percentage is the only good angles and views of the building and the latter are all very deceiving images.

I apologies for this review but I think it is fair for people to know what to expect for their money. It's not the usual service and amenities for a room priced at over 300 dollars. Usually a room at that price in many parts around the world are 3-5 star hotels with exceptional servicea...

I recently stayed at the Catalina Island Inn and it was horrible, to say it nicely. The hotel has great bones and could be beautiful, but time has taken a toll and there hasn't been much effort to maintain it.||I booked this hotel for a stay in early August as most other places didn't have availability. The price was high, even by Catalina's standards, at $500 per night for a basic room, but the reviews were pretty good so I thought it would pan out okay. Boy, was I wrong!||To start, the hotel has filthy, damp, stinky carpeting throughout. The walls are dirty and the hallways are musty. The hotel rooms (we had two) were the worst though, with the smell being even stronger and the carpets even dirtier. The furniture is dated and the bedspreads were dirty. The bathrooms were the only decent part of the room, although there's no shower door and they don't have proper shower heads so the water sprays all over the floor (even if you aim the shower head at the wall). When we turned on the air conditioning, it was clear the vents had not been cleaned in a very long time as they were covered in black residue. Thankfully the windows opened so we could breathe some clean air.||You hear every footstep from above and the rooms next to you. You hear every voice as people walk by and it sounds like they're using a megaphone. ||That's not the worst of it though. On the first night, there was a domestic dispute at 1am outside a room across from one of ours. A man was loudly banging on the hotel room door and yelling for a woman to open it. She repeatedly opened it, yelled at him, and then slammed it. This went on for about 20 minutes. The man was finally able to get in the room and got physical with the woman, as they continued yelling at each other. This finally stopped around 2am. ||The next morning I called the emergency phone number listed on the wall near the office (which was still closed at 8:30am) and left a detailed voicemail, explaining how unsettled I was by what had happened, indicating it was a domestic dispute, and requested a call back. I followed up with a text but never received a call or text in response. Later that morning, I alerted the front desk employee about what happened, and she gave a half-hearted apology. After our stay, I received a survey from the hotel and submitted a very detailed account of what happened. To date, I still haven't heard from anyone and it's been 1 1/2 weeks since our visit.||In summary, Catalina is wonderful and we've always had great accommodations, but Catalina Island Inn was hands-down the worst hotel...