Glenmore Plaza Hotel — Hotel in Avalon

Catalina Island on the offseason is not the best time to visit if you want to do tourist attractions. Between the chilly rain and lighter schedules our short vacation was a lot of hanging out and not a lot of packing it in. Thankfully our hotel was cushy and comfortable!

The Glenmore Plaza Hotel is a lot nicer than I had expected from the information I saw on Expedia. The reservation I had was for the ‘Deluxe King’ which turned out to be the Errol Flynn suite. The room is huge with a beautiful breakfast nook and bay windows. Fantastic, clean and relaxing.

AND THE BATHROOM!

The bathroom in this suite is gorgeous with a deep jet bathtub and a massive walk in shower with a ceiling mount rain head and another side spray. The entire bathroom is decorated in real marble, the shower has a marble seat that I recommend you throwing a towel down before you shock your booty with the cold.

The california king bed is comfortable but the damp weather made it feel like I was permanently cold while I slept--I gave the jet tub a good workout. Other in-room amenities are microwave, cube fridge, DVD player (there are several DVD rental places on the island), heat/ac, and the most gigantic TV I have ever encountered in a hotel room which is connected to cable service. It was no less than 60 inch and probably could have been seen from the beach.

There were problems with noise due to the bar a few doors down the street and our suite being on the streetside. I was awoken at 1am by a screaming man pounding on the door down the way to wake up whomever was in the room to let him in. Those were not the best impression on night one--a Saturday. Sunday was quiet though and the hotel was silent like a mouse, I am pretty sure the interruptions the night before were likely related.

Another issue was the in-house wifi. We could never even see the hotel’s modem as an option on our devices. This proved a problem and we had to use our cell service personal hotspots. In the end we reasoned that we were on vacation and it wasn’t that important to get online. If you plan to remote commute during your stay I suggest you make alternative arrangements for wifi.

Avalon isn’t very large and the hotel is centrally located on Sumner Ave. When the weather isn’t poor you can walk the entire town within a few hours. There is Mr Ning’s Chinese Garden across the street with incredible service and good food. On Sumner you also can find a drug store, liquor store, bar, Antonio’s--the best pizza joint on the island, and a walk up coffee spot at Lloyd’s. A block over is the Catalina Island Museum, a Von’s grocery, and the best gluten free/vegan fare to be found on the island at Cafe Metropole.

We will definitely be going back. Not just because the hotel room was to our liking but the night manager Jack was friendly and helpful. His tip to avoid the local ‘cabs’ and shuttles due to their exorbitant fees helped us save money. Plus it was great to hear some stories...

PLEASE STAY AWAY !!!!! If you are reading this review please listen for your own good. This is by far the worst hotel and the worst customer service I have ever experienced. I am never a person to write a negative review but the way my boyfriend and I were treated at this hotel was beyond HORRIBLE!!! The hotel room was not clean, sheets were dirty, and the pictures were very deceiving. What made it even worse was the bad smell the hotel room had. What made the stay horrible was the customer service. First, was the call to the front desk because the water from the shower was not heating. I waited about 30 minutes and had my boyfriend call the front desk to make them aware of our issue. Instead of the front desk man helping with our problem he said " No one else has called about this problem" and then hung up. The water was not even somewhat warm is was cold. My boyfriend then called again and the front desk man had a nasty horrible attitude about the situation. My boyfriend and I were shocked about this encounter, but unfortunately this was only the first of multiple. Then the next day I had a family member pass away and needed to leave the Island immediately. My boyfriend asked the old man working at the front desk for help and information about getting back to the mainland ASAP. He also asked if there would be the possibility of a refund for the hotel. This is where is started to get ugly. Instead of helping us the old man simply said " I am sorry about your loss but this is not my problem". He was not sympathetic whatsoever and we could tell he did not to be bothered at all. My boyfriend pleaded with him to help us find the nearest ferry back to the mainland. He kept explaining that this was a family emergency and we really needed the help. The worker did not care and continued with his nasty attitude. After several minutes he just passed a pamphlet and was really no help at all. Then shortly after we checked out and he told us we had no outstanding charges. Well, three days pass by and they charged my boyfriend $300!!!!!!!! My boyfriend was arguing with them that this was an incorrect charge and had to argue with his bank. After several days of arguing and inconvenience the hotel refunded him. Overall, this is the worst experience at a hotel we have ever had. They way we were treated when we had an urgent family emergency is something I'll never forget. I will never understand how a worker could treat us so horribly and why he did. PLEASE TAKE YOUR BUSINESS SOMEWHERE...

PLEASE STAY AWAY !!!!! If you are reading this review please listen for your own good. This is by far the worst hotel and the worst customer service I have ever experienced. I am never a person to write a negative review but the way my boyfriend and I were treated at this hotel was beyond HORRIBLE!!! The hotel room was not clean, sheets were dirty, and the pictures were very deceiving. What made it even worse was the bad smell the hotel room had. What made the stay horrible was the customer service. First, was the call to the front desk because the water from the shower was not heating. I waited about 30 minutes and had my boyfriend call the front desk to make them aware of our issue. Instead of the front desk man helping with our problem he said " No one else has called about this problem" and then hung up. The water was not even somewhat warm is was cold. My boyfriend then called again and the front desk man had a nasty horrible attitude about the situation. My boyfriend and I were shocked about this encounter, but unfortunately this was only the first of multiple. Then the next day I had a family member pass away and needed to leave the Island immediately. My boyfriend asked the old man working at the front desk for help and information about getting back to the mainland ASAP. He also asked if there would be the possibility of a refund for the hotel. This is where is started to get ugly. Instead of helping us the old man simply said "|I am sorry about your loss but this is not my problem". He was not sympathetic whatsoever and we could tell he did not to be bothered at all. My boyfriend pleaded with him to help us find the nearest ferry back to the mainland. He kept explaining that this was a family emergency and we really needed the help. The worker did not care and continued with his nasty attitude. After several minutes he just passed a pamphlet and was really no help at all. Then shortly after we checked out and he told us we had no outstanding charges. Well, three days pass by and they charged my boyfriend $300!!!!!!!! My boyfriend was arguing with them that this was an incorrect charge and had to argue with his bank. After several days of arguing and inconvenience the hotel refunded him. Overall, this is the worst experience at a hotel we have ever had. They way we were treated when we had an urgent family emergency is something I'll never forget. I will never understand how a worker could treat us so horribly and why he did. PLEASE TAKE YOUR BUSINESS SOMEWHERE...