The Kinney Venice Beach — Hotel in Los Angeles

The hotel is clearly a former motel that's been given a face lift. It has a very "cool" vibe from the outside and in the lobby, and its proximity to walk to Marina Del Rey or Abbot Kinney can't be beat. Lovely walk, felt safe and secure, enjoyed drinks at Gin Rummy across the street as well.

However the room itself was disappointing. When we got in there was a very sort of musty unpleasant odor. We're not fussy people, so we figured we'd just air the room out. That's when we found out the windows don't open (they do but they have this metal bar that's screwed/welded on that prevents from opening more than an inch). So we just had to live with the smell a few days. I'd called down to the front desk asking about getting the windows open and they sent someone up who just said yeah unfortunately they don't open. I do feel like either having someone come in to either try and improve the smell or switch us to a different room would have been better customer service. We also were disappointed by the fact that the hot water in our room would last a few minutes and then would go cold for a few minutes before getting hot again, so showering wasn't super fun. We did find the beds quite comfortable, however.

Looking it up on previous years' maps view on google, I can see it used to be a Holiday Inn Express and at one point a Best Western, and that is exactly what it felt like. Since these issues we had are fundamental to one's comfort I'm not sure I would recommend the hotel to others. The location is really convenient as is having parking included, the staff was pleasant, and the re-do is a nice surface treatment—but the foundation of having hot water and no bad smells are a lot more important than cool murals. Especially when spending $250-300 a...

Unfortunately I had a number of issues with this hotel.

First of all, I was under the impression that breakfast was included as this was mentioned in some reviews and the hotel itself mentions free breakfast in the discoverLA website and some others. Turns out they don’t offer anything and in this part of town you’re looking at $75 a day to have breakfast somewhere decent.

Secondly, no free water in the rooms. I downvote any hotel that doesn’t offer free water in the rooms as it tells you a lot about how a place cares about its guests. They offer small Fiji waters for $5 each, clear price gouging.

The location is not very good. It’s in Marina Del Rey rather than Venice and is right at the very top end of Abbot Kinney on Washington Blvd. So you’ll be a 20-30 minute walk from Venice Beach.

Vending machines don’t offer any snacks so if you have jet lag there is nothing you can do at 3am - surprising that a hotel in ‘Venice Beach’ would not have considered this.

Car parking is something like $22 a day which if you add that to the breakfast means you’ll be paying an additional $100 a night to stay here. Better off going to a 4 star hotel.

Finally the check-in experience was uncomfortable. Their system went down and I’ve seen some other reviews saying the same thing. The lady wanted to write down my card details and when I refused to let her do that she wouldn’t supply us with room keys. She walked us up to the room, let us in and left us without a room key until I left a card for incidentals. The weirdest thing is there is no minibar or any other amenities on offer so I believe the chances of incurring incidental charges are zero. Very strange and unsettling.

Rooms are alright but all other aspects of the experience are...

A cute and clean boutique hotel with limited frills that gives you a solid level of quality for reasonable prices (at least compared to your other options on the west side, which are either far more expensive or far dingier). Stayed here for business which was totally acceptable; not quite as ideal for a romantic or family vacation getaway.

Highlights: clean rooms with personality (the style is not bland, overly outdated, or depressing), very friendly staff, a mini-pool and jacuzzi. Your immediate neighborhood (within a block) is a mixed bag, but the hotel is in close proximity to Venice Beach and a number of solid food and drink options within a 5-10 minute walk up or down Washington. It's also just a 15 minute walk or 5 minute bike ride to Abbott Kinney. There's also some small outdoor fake-grassy areas with hammocks or lawn chairs that are nice for outdoor lounging/working.

Things to look out for: -Close proximity to the always-busy Washington Ave. Little sound-proofing means if you want a room with any kind of view, it'll also come with a lot of noise. If you want to avoid this, you'll probably end up with a room that has a window facing the hallway, meaning making a choice between no sunlight or no privacy. -Bathrooms are a mixed bag. Mine was clean but a bit outdated, with a shower that looked beaten up and had low pressure. -Bikes are available which is great, but I don't think charging $5/hour makes much sense when there are cheaper Lyft/Uber bikes all around the area. This should be free. -Need more in-room snacks/drinks than their basic coffee machine. At least 1-2 complimentary water bottles is not too...