Beachcomber Inn — Hotel in San Clemente

We travel to SoCal annually and I’ve always wanted to stay at the Beachcomber.|This year we finally took the leap to try it and see if it may just be a our new weekly getaway hotel.|Unfortunately that didn’t work out. The day we were set to arrive, SoCal was under a blizzard warning in the mountains and travel was not recommended. National weather service said not to head through the mountains to the coast. It was devastating and unheard of. ||While we understood that the booking was not refundable, we called the hotel and explained our worries with traveling in that weather warning. Instead of suggesting different routes or options, or even allowing us to check in a day later or a day the following week, we were met with rudeness and belittling even though he admitted he had availability. ||Rather than a simple “I’m very sorry to hear this, let’s see what we can do” or even a “I’m sorry, we do understand but your room is not refundable”, we instead got “we have your money already, I don’t care if come or not”. “This is your problem, not mine”.|I wish I was making this up, but my husband, myself and the booking company were all treated like garbage by the owner. What a dreadful person.||So not only did we not get to make it to San Clemente, we were out $420cdn, and it saddens me that such a condescending and disrespectful owner is the one profiting from the back luck of extreme weather. A blizzard warning for SoCal is unheard of!||Sure the place is cute and has an amazing location, but this owner offers no understanding if anything arises, even a death in the family. Book these non refundable rooms with caution. Dealing with this owner/hotel is not...

The place is okay, but pricey for what it offers. You need to be okay with the pot smoking, as the smell of it was all over the property. The staff rent to their friends, and you might end up with a houseful of people in the room next door, smoking pot and partying. We arrived late and were weary from a long drive, but very happy to have found what looked like a cute place to stay. We stepped outside to have a cigarette. The wind was heavy and was blowing every direction. The party house next door came out within seconds and complained, so we moved far out into the lawn. The next day, we had a $250 charge on our credit card for smoking too near the building. We contested it, asked them to reverse it, explained the situation, and they refused. So, for about 20 seconds of smoking outside too near the building, we were fined $250. Cannot leave anything but a poor review for...

Updated review 2024: Unfortunately, our recent two visits have not been up to par. We had to check in over 30mn late on our 27th anniversary due to staff at lunch and rooms not being cleaned by 3PM. Two days later, we decided to take our son and cancelled a longer booking for less money, in exchange for a more expensive, shorter stay, for more room. To our disappointment, we found a kitchen with food splatters, a broken stove, the lamp shade taped on, and no working heater during cold evenings & nights. We received a meager apology with excuses upon checkout. Very disappointing. Thus, we cancelled our stay in May.

Past review: Everything about this place is great...the staff, the view, cleanliness, everything!

Only drawback is the rooms are always booked far in advance making availability...