Rest Haven Motel — Hotel in Santa Monica

I think this Motel deserves great ratings. It was the least expensive option we could find that was within walking distance of the beach, and we weren't expecting it to be great, but it was clean and the bed was very comfortable, and they even had an A/C, which we weren't expecting after reading the reviews! They let us check it at 10am, well before the 3pm stated check-in time, and we even got to meet the owner, who recommended some good places to eat.

It's an old building and it's not as sleek as the modern hotels in the area, but if you want a comfortable, clean place to sleep after walking around Santa Monica all day, it's perfect. I liked the building design and the patio out back, too. It was all very pretty with flowers and tile everywhere. There's even free parking right outside your front door! That's worth quite a lot in the area if you want a place to park a rental car.

Honestly, it's a nice area. I don't understand Katherine's review at all. She gave the hotel two stars because she saw a few homeless people in a big city. First of all, the Motel has nothing to do with homeless people. You should know what to expect when traveling to a place. Second, it's not like the streets were crawling with unwashed masses of people begging for money. I think we saw, like, two or three people who looked like they might be homeless on our whole trip and none of them bothered us or even asked for anything. I don't think you would be able to go to any city and not spot at least a few people who look a bit rough or seem to be talking to an imaginary friend. I felt completely safe and unbothered the whole time we were there. We were able to walk to Santa Monica Pier and Venice beach, and there must be about 100 great restaurants in that area. You really can't get a better spot...

This place is great! Just what I needed-a clean room with just enough ammenities. Nice flat screen tv with lost of channels and a fridge. A budget motel so there is no coffee, breakfast, etc. But there are plently of places to eat in the general vicinity. The pleasant management is what made this place extra nice. LInens and towels are basic. Only soap and shanpoo provided. Bring conditioner. They have an iron and blow dryer available if you ask. The rooms sleep anywhere from 2-4 people. Make a reservation as this place fills up because of the good price. If you are to show up late, call. This is a mom & pop type of place so there is not someone answering the phone or in the office 24/7. Show them respect and they will show you respect. If you get there early, you may get to choose from available rooms. I have also gotten there super early, like noon, and they cleaned the room I was going to be in first so I could put my stuff inside and take a shower ASAP. Not a fancy place but clean, inexpensive and friendly. The rooms off the lovely courtyard are the nicest and quietest. The ones in the front building have more external noise, mostly on weekends, from nearby bar and Jack in the Box. But the windows are newer and do a decent job of filtering out any noise. I always bring earplugs and use them everywhere, especially at the chain hotels where the maids are super loud in the hallways talking and vacuuming early in the morning. Not here! You can sleep in here. Let them know the night before if you want your room...

First, let's start with when you get there the office is locked. You have to ring a bell and talk to them through a glass teller window, like a bank which brings me to the location. It's behind the fast food place, in an ally, far from a good area, in my opinion. Next, I walk inside, and ended up paying fifty more dollars then the current night's price. Since I booked it in advance, I figured whatever, I'll just pay it. I'm only here for the night anyway. So, I head to my room and open my door and immediately am disgusted from the smell. To me, not trying to be harsh, but I feel like the place was really run down and had a rodent problem so they covered it up with some bad remodeling. Me and my wife are getting settled in, and my wife was a little chilly so we turned the heater to 70, next thing we know it's getting too hot. The heater is still running, I get up to check and it showed it was 79 inside. Obviously, in response, I turned it off. The next problem was the WiFi. I'm pretty sure they have it in the office, not the rooms, with a cheap router, since my room wasn't far away. But neither mine, or my wife's Galaxy s9, could get signal. My laptop could only get one bar, but I couldn't get anything to load. We ended giving up and went out for the night. Last thing I'd like to point out, the size the mattress. I'm not sure what size it was, but it was a little small in the frame and didn't at all feel like the queen they...