The Volare, an Ascend Collection Hotel — Hotel in San Clemente

I was beyond excited for my five-night stay at The Volaré. This trip was extremely important to me — a rare chance to disconnect, relax, and recharge. I planned it carefully around my needs, even calling twice in advance to confirm that the hot tub was working because hot water therapy is crucial for some physical health issues I deal with. I booked in complete confidence based on the hotel’s advertising and the assurances I received.

Sadly, my experience fell far short of what was promised — and what I paid for.

From the moment I arrived, it was clear that two major amenities heavily promoted on their website — the trolley service and the hot tub — were either unavailable or not functioning properly.

The trolley service, in particular, was a major selling point for me. It is featured prominently across their website as a key amenity offering guests easy access to the beach, shops, and restaurants without needing to drive. At no point is it disclosed that this service is seasonal, only running during the summer months and weekends. This was a critical detail for me — someone with physical limitations who booked specifically to have easy, accessible transportation throughout town. I planned my entire five-night trip around not needing to rely on my car or navigate parking.

Discovering upon arrival that the trolley was not operating during my stay was not just a minor inconvenience — it completely altered my ability to experience San Clemente the way I had intended. Instead of effortless access to the beach and downtown as advertised, I was now faced with limited mobility and unnecessary physical strain that I deliberately sought to avoid by choosing this hotel. Had the website been transparent about the seasonal operation, I would have booked elsewhere without hesitation.

As if that disappointment wasn't enough, the hot tub — the other crucial amenity I confirmed twice beforehand — was equally unusable during my stay.

When I first checked it during the daytime, when the sun was strong and it was warm outside, the water was hot — and I was thrilled. But when I returned in the evening, dressed in my swimsuit and towel and ready to finally relax, I found the hot tub cool — barely even warm, completely unsuitable for therapeutic use. Standing outside freezing in the wind with aching muscles was the opposite of the relief I had counted on.

I immediately notified the front desk, who said maintenance would address it. The next day, I was told it was still being worked on. Throughout my stay, I repeatedly explained that the issue seemed related to a timer or programming problem: the hot tub would heat during the warm daylight hours but fail every single night — the very time it is most needed.

Night after night, the situation repeated: Each evening I would prepare to use the hot tub, and each evening I found it cold again. Despite multiple reports and assurances that "management is aware," no one followed up, no one fixed the problem, and no one offered any meaningful resolution.

The bottom line: The two main reasons I chose The Volaré — the trolley and the hot tub — were either falsely advertised or completely unreliable. This wasn't just an inconvenience. It fundamentally changed my ability to enjoy my trip, to relax, and to manage my health as I had so carefully planned.

Before escalating this further, I am giving The Volaré an opportunity to correct the situation. I booked this stay in good faith based on their advertised amenities and their verbal confirmation. Instead, I spent five nights struggling through an experience that felt careless, misleading, and completely dismissive of the needs of...

This facility, the Volare Resort, is not as advertised - this is not a resort. This location should NOT be a part of the Ascend Hotel collection. It was a basic low-end hotel. There is no fitness center, no conference rooms and no restaurant. (although they still have a sign displayed on the sidewalk advertising the restaurant as open.) The service at the front desk was mediocre at best as no one seemed happy to have to work. The entire building smelled musty, like a locker room, and the windows to the outside were frosted over so you couldn't even look out. The back patio was chained off and there was no easy access to the pool. Even though, I brought my swimsuit, I didn't bother to go out there because it felt dirty and unappealing. I saw a hamper to put used pool towels but never saw where you could actually get any pool towels to use. My 2 bedroom suite was just a typical hotel room with another bedroom at the back. There was no "living area" to use as a shared space. You have to be in the front bedroom to access the coffeemaker and mini fridge. There was no attention to detail like in a typical resort. My bedroom curtains wouldn't shut completely because they were torn on both ends and couldn't be re-hooked to the hangers. There were exposed power cords hanging in plain sight behind the TV. The fire alarm went off for about 2 hours. There was no fire, the fire department came and gave the all-clear but they couldn't figure out how to turn the alarm off. So we sat in our rental car out on the street waiting because the noise was deafening. The elevator became non-operational during the fire alarm and they couldn't get it restarted so they had to call out a technician which also took hours. The computer in the "business center" which was the lobby was not set up to print so I was unable to get a hard copy of my boarding pass. The man at the desk told me all that was required was to install a new driver for the printer which wouldn't take very long but they were all too busy to take care of it and it had been that way for months. There were spiders in the bathroom. They had the street-level parking lot blocked off due to "construction" but I never saw anyone actually working. It made it difficult to maneuver vehicles through the driveway. The underground parking felt creepy and unsafe and I was grateful that I was not alone. The air-conditioning appeared to have an automatic shut-off after a certain period of time and it would cut off in the middle of the night and then get too hot in the room. I would need to get up and reset it around 2 or 3 AM. There were loud banging noises that occurred every morning around 5:30 AM that also woke me up. This is an older building and minor cosmetic updates have been made in the lobby and the bathroom. The rest of the facility is very dated. I did find a vending machine for bottled drinks and a small "convenience" store that you could purchase packaged food items but no one told me that those things were available or where to find them. I also found out as we were leaving that we could have used a "gym" that was a 10-minute drive from the hotel since they no longer had a fitness room. I don't know why anyone would want to use something so inconvenient but maybe we would have tried it, if someone had told us that they were offering that as an option. I have never been so disappointed with a property and I'm not sure how willing I will be to try any Ascend Hotel properties...

We stay here at least 3 times a year! While we love the location and the hotel this time was a bit frustrating. We were upgraded to a newly renovated room ( 237)The room was nice but it did not have a few amenities we were told it would ( phone , microwave and refrigerator). Also we booked a two night stay. On our second day around 9:30 am someone was knocking on our door ( in which we we did make sure to put the do not disturb sign on since we had not gone to bed until 6 am that morning ). We ignored the knock at first thinking it was house keeping until the lady said, “front desk” . We opened the door and the lady proceeded to tell us that they needed us to leave the room by 11 am so that they could show the room to someone out of town . She said we could either leave the room and come back or go to another room . She told us she would give us 10 min to decide. As a paying guest and with a do not disturb sign up this was not ok. I had to then get dressed ( because I could not call the front desk since we did not have a phone in the room ) and go to the front desk. I had an important work meeting that this would impact ( this was a weekday reservation ) so there was no way I was packing up a room and getting out that quick. When I told her at the front desk she was telling me we needed to because they had to show the Room. Why were these out of town people not told you had PAYING guests in the room and it’s occupied . Another gentleman at the front desk told me not to worry about it and to stay . That’s what we did! To inconvenience a paying guest so early in the morning is not ok. If this was something the hotel didn’t know about you tell them it’s occupied and sorry. We were not treated nicely until the gentleman stepped in. I’m sorry but this was not acceptable. For our troubles a comp or nothing was offered. This experience lowered my rating on this hotel we frequently visit each year multiple times and have been doing so for the past 8 years. To treat your paying customers this way and to try to inconvenience them for a last minute out of town visit, is not putting your customer first. Unacceptable all around. How safe is it not to have a phone in the room? What if a security issue was needed and we needed to contact 911 or the front desk or need something further. A phone should be ( and never have I seen it not) be put in the room. I’m very upset and very disappointed on how this is...