Les Artistes Inn — Hotel in Del Mar

Les Artistes Inn is a charming, eclectic, boutique hotel experience. From the moment I walked through the door and heard the Mediterranean music playing in the open air lobby, I forgot I was on the main drag of a California beach town and instead felt like I had teleported to an old world Spanish hacienda.

The inn was designed by the owner, who is an architect. Each room is unique and inspired by a famous artist or style. Our party stayed in the O’Keefe and Zen rooms. The open air lobby and courtyard captures old world charm with fountains, seating, and beautiful plants.

The location was ideal, with the inn just steps away from the main street and within walking distance of the beach and lots of great restaurants.

Despite the charm and creative design, the Inn is not for the traveler seeking standard, modern amenities. The room was nice because if it’s theme and design, but requires some general maintenance. The handle on the door to the bathroom didn’t latch, the tile work and grout on the floor and in the shower are overdue for repair, the walls need a fresh coat of paint, and the mini fridge froze our food (there was no way to adjust the temperature settings ourselves).

On the plus side, the water pressure was fantastic and the sheets were really nice. Based on previous reviews commenting on the dirty linens, I packed a set of sheets just in case the ones in our room were dirty, but I was very pleasantly surprised to find that the sheets were quite nice and in excellent condition.

This small Inn is run by just three employees, all of whom were abundantly hospitable, thoughtful, and proud of their work. We enjoyed chatting with them and hearing about the inn’s history. They were always available to answer questions and provided great customer service.

Overall, we enjoyed our stay very much and would recommend it to anyone looking for a unique place to stay in a vibrant beach town. The location and service were great, and what it lacked in updates, it accounted for in charm and creativity.

Will you find a spider awaiting you in the shower? Possibly.

Will the doors creak and the handles stick? Almost certainly.

However, if you can embrace the quirks, you are bound to have an enjoyable and...

This is difficult hotel to review because I believe that different people are going to have wildly different opinions of this property. If you’re an experienced international traveler or someone who prefers a typical boutique style hotels then your experience will probably be better than most. On the other hand, if you prefer staying at large hotel brands like a Hyatt, Hilton, or similar property than this hotel may not be what you’re looking for.

The rooms are generally spacious and bright. Unlike most other hotels, each room is different both in decor and layout. The effort to make each room have its own character keeps it interesting. On the other hand, the various materials and finishes in each room can lead to odd layouts, inconsistent storage space, and difficulty cleaning to a “sterile“ standard. It’s likely you’ll find a little dust in the corners and areas that may not be 100% clean. I wouldn’t characterize this as “disgustingly dirty“ but some people may not find this acceptable. Heat/air conditioning consists of small in wall or in window units so your mileage may vary as it relates to climate control.

I found the location to be very good as it’s right on the main strip in Del Mar and within walking distance of quite a few shops and restaurants. As a bonus, parking at this location is free which is very much appreciated in an era where hotels frequently charge exorbitant amounts for parking on site. City Hall is also immediately across the street which also has a free underground parking garage.

I found the service to be very good as the people who checked us in and out were kind and thoughtful.

Overall this is a decent property with nice people in a good location. My recommendation to the hotel would be to review your current cleaning and service standards/expectations, adjust some of the rooms decor to make cleaning easier, and potentially increase your cleaning staff to meet...

We were literally put out on the street because we asked for clean towels!! Extremely not clean !!!!Let's talk about a hotel that wants an extra $50 cleaning fee for my emotional support dog. As soon as we arrived, the woman at the reception neglected us as much as she could. Yes, I understand that you are alone on shift, but when you talk to us and in the middle of a conversation you slam the window in our face (3 times! ) this is overkill. She just decided that answering the phone and chatting on the phone was more important than us. We couldn't get into the room for 20 minutes. And after that she refused to let us in because of the dog. This is an pet-friendly hotel!!! This has never happened to me before! I understand that if my dog(corgi) suddenly does something (which has never happened, and we travel constantly), then I will pay. But paying for cleaning, which is not there, is ridiculous. She said that I could not pay if I quote "I would be in a wheelchair"!!! The room is terribly dirty (photo attached), there are a lot of dead insects on the floor and live spiders everywhere. One spider was sitting right on the towel! And all the towels are stained! (Photo attached) when my husband asked for new towels, he was given even dirtier ones!!! And the manager and that woman laughed and said, "maybe you need a new hotel." Unacceptable! And they kicked us out!!! Because they don‘t have...