Shutters on the Beach — Hotel in Santa Monica

I had been waiting 20 year to stay at Shutters on the Beach and finally did spent 4 nights there from 5 to 9 July with my daughter (almost 13). My advice: run way from this hotel unless you can are are willing to treat yourself with a full / clear high floor ocean view.||||Let's start with the positive: ||1 - location! location! location! Shutters has by far the best location in LA at least if you are year for a break||2 - property maintenance: the property is very well maintained with no scratches or stains of glass you unfortunately notice in some 5 stars hotels. I am not sure how they do it but congratulations!||3 - atmosphere: from the 2 foyers running in the lobby if you are an early rise of in the evening to the deco, you feel more in a big family holiday house than in a hotel. That is a real plus||4-staff in general (American type service) with a special mention for Rosane or Rosana (not sure about spelling) at front desk who cares a her job and your stay - bravo||||Now the negative:||1- Room: although the room is spacious and nicely decorated (we were staying in room 240 if I am correct - a Superior 2 double beds - no ocean view) such a room in a 5* hotel is a shame and totally unacceptable. Located on ground floor, cars parks 3 meters from your window is at best what you see - just like a motel but worse. So you you end living in the dark, ie with shutters/blinds closed just to avoid the horrible view and every looking into your room - that was a first in my entire traveling experience. I do even know how such type of room case be allocated to any client but as a matter of coincidence, the room had been allocated to us (from Europe), I would assume on the basis that we would not come back so, who care...||When we checked in, Rosane/a knew about the room and told me to come back to her the next day to see if she could upgrade us, without saying more-she looked embarrassed.||2- we went to front desk the next day. Rosana/a was not around but another staff offered us a different room (234) , slightly larger with a small terasse in front of it and an sofa bed instead of the 2 twin beds in our previous rooms. I did accept it. Unfortunately, same floor same issue - no view except the base of the pool and you cannot leave the shutters/blinds fully open because you are like in an aquarium.||Rosan/e asead us the next day how it went and so my disappointment - could not wait to leave the place - she said she would talk to her manager revert. She did not and I do not blame her for that. Again management probably thought we were leaving two nights later going back to Europe, so why bother.||3. Sofa bed was speaking every time my daughter was rolling in her bed - awful!||4- Swimming pool: normally the best place to relax. Well - not at shutters. First, Unmbrellas are fixed and cannot be inclined - so although the visual effect when you pass pass is great, umbrellas are COMPLETELY USELESS and you end up roasting no matter where you stay (given there are on 2 sun beds that can somewhat be placed in the shade). Second, a group of 2-3 kids kept jumping in the pool for about 10 minutes with the intervention of their parents (of course!) and any member of staff - unacceptable . ||||Being a five star hotel is much more than a nice, well located and well maintained property. It is about the experience. Shutters is not five stars. Nothing was mentioned to us at check-out and the fat invoice was charge in full to us. I did not say anything at the time as I did not want to embarrass the state and wanted to have a unbiased understanding of how Shutters cares about its guest - I now know.||||If you are lucky enough to travel the world, go the Connaught (London), the Omnia (Zermatt), the Constance Halaveli (Maldives), most four Seasons Hotels where you will experience a true 5* stay. There are some examples of places you wish you never leave unlike Shutters you wish you never entered.||||Now, if you envisage to come to LA/Santa Monica, just follow the tips below:||- don't stay at Shutters. There are a few mored modest hotels a street away where you will spend 50% less on your night. Spend to money you saved to indulge yourselves with nice breakfast or evening drink at the Shutters to benefit from their facility. And because there with be money left, rent a proper umbrella straight on the beach.||- if you hover wants to stay at Shutter, break the piggy bank of your kids and book a high floor ocean view room - no negotiation. ||- if you go to the pool and you have the terrible experience we had, start making a video immediately and go see a member of staff - if they don't make it stop immediately, sue the hotel - your legal fees will be largely covered + you will do a great favor to all guest coming after you. Indeed, we leave in a world where the victim is the one keeping silent and swallowing it. Well, not when you pay the rates of Shutters. Being a lawyer myself, I am still considering suing Shutters - plenty of legal grounds for it - just from them care about people who work hard to get there.||- do not follow Condé Nast, Forbes, Telegraph etc blindly as these guys are given the best rooms and red carpet treatment every time they visit a hotel so their experience might be very different from yours ...... You do spent over USD 1000 an night to stay in a dark room, to be roasted a the pool because of useless umbrellas and bother by screaming / jumping kids in a kids club type of...

WARNING: if you are a woman traveling alone, do not stay at Shutters. ||On my last night there, an older, white male employee unlocked and opened my door and started to come into my room without my consent. ||When I reported this frightening and startling breach of privacy and breach of trust, the white manager, Tyler, scolded me for “making a serious accusation.” Then he said, “Mark [the employee] has been here for 25 years and knows how to make a delivery.”||Um, no. Mark started to walk into my room without waiting for my permission, without hesitation, and without identifying himself as a hotel employee. ||Around 8pm, he knocked on my door, very loudly - it was jarring -and I said “hold on” but about three seconds later, I heard the “click” of the door unlocking from the outside as he swiped his master key and opened my door.||I raced towards the door holding my sweatshirt over my naked chest and yelled “whoa, whoa, whoa!” ||But he didn’t stop. ||He jammed his arm through the crack in the door, yelled “delivery!” and held out a plastic bag.||He never identified himself as a hotel employee; I was not expecting a delivery; he didn’t stop or back up or shut the door when I yelled “whoa, whoa, whoa!”||I thought some man had got a hold of a master key and was barging in to hurt me. I am hypervigilant about this kind of thing from past experiences and I thought I was going to have to fight him off. ||I stood frozen in my room then called the front desk and reported what happened. I was shook. Then I called room service and asked them to take away the dinner they had just brought because I felt like I was going to throw up.||When the room service man, I think his name is Inez, came back to take away the table he could see I was really upset and crying. He asked me "what happened?" and was genuinely kind and concerned but I was too upset to talk. A female housekeeper, Lisa, heard us and she came over to comfort me. She called George, the night manager, to come up to talk to me. ||George came up and was very apologetic. I called him an hour later when I could talk. He said I should speak with Tyler, the director of room ops, in the morning. George said he was comping my dinner. ||I was awake most of the night with a footstool barricading my door.||In the morning, I went to the lobby to talk to Tyler. He could not have been more dismissive, flicking his watch to check the time every 10 seconds while I explained, for a fourth time, what had happened. "I understand you're seeking compensation." was what he said to me. Not, our employee was out of line, or, how can I help you? || I can afford to stay at their hotel.||What I cannot afford is a full on PTSD-triggering incident and breach of contract over their duty of care then being dismissed and talked down to by a young white guy with no compassion or sincere desire to hold the employee accountable and take responsibility.||Before I checked out at 10am, I spoke to Tyler again. He was just as dismissive. Again he said “I know you are seeking compensation.”||Again, I explained that it's a real problem that male employees feel emboldened enough that they can unlock the rooms of female guests and come in whenever they feel like it. ||I have never experienced this before and I have been staying at hotels for 40 years. ||I said to Tyler that I was very concerned his employee did not follow guest protocol of knock, wait 8 seconds; knock, wait 5 seconds; then knock, wait 3 seconds before entering a guest’s room. [One of the Shutter's employees told me that is their standard protocol before entering a guest's room.] ||Tyler refused to concede that Mark did anything wrong. “I can comp you the resort fees and give you a $200 credit to the hotel.” He said. His disregard for me and disinterest in what had happened actually shocked me. ||Two days later, Tyler has not comped the paltry resort fee. And, to add insult to injury, I have been overcharged for a room I did not stay in. ||So, ladies, be sure to use your dead bolt 24/7 when you stay at Shutters. ||What a shame because it is such a special place. Aside from Tyler and Mark, all of the Shutters' employees I interacted with, like Myles (front desk), Anthony (front desk), Inez (room service), George (manager), Lisa (housekeeping) and Eric (valet) were genuinely warm,...

I had been waiting 20 year to stay at Shutters on the Beach and finally did spent 4 nights there from 5 to 9 July with my daughter (almost 13). My advice: run way from this hotel unless you can are are willing to treat yourself with a full / clear high floor ocean view.

Let's start with the positive: 1 - location! location! location! Shutters has by far the best location in LA at least if you are year for a break 2 - property maintenance: the property is very well maintained with no scratches or stains of glass you unfortunately notice in some 5 stars hotels. congratulations! 3 - atmosphere: from the 2 foyers running in the lobby if you are an early rise of in the evening to the deco, you feel more in a big family holiday house than in a hotel. That is a real plus 4-staff in general (American type service) with a special mention for Rosane or Rosana (not sure about spelling) at front desk who cares a her job and your stay - bravo

Now the negative: 1- Room: although the room is spacious and nicely decorated (we were staying in room 240 if I am correct - a Superior 2 double beds - no ocean view) such a room in a 5* hotel is a shame and totally unacceptable. Located on ground floor, cars parks 3 meters from your window is at best what you see - just like a motel but worse. So you you end living in the dark, ie with shutters/blinds closed just to avoid the horrible view and every looking into your room - that was a first in my entire traveling experience. I do even know how such type of room case be allocated to any client but as a matter of coincidence, the room had been allocated to us (from Europe), I would assume on the basis that we would not come back so, who care... When we checked in, Rosane/a knew about the room and told me to come back to her the next day to see if she could upgrade us, without saying more-she looked embarrassed. 2- we went to front desk the next day. Rosana/a was not around but another staff offered us a different room (234) , slightly larger with a small terasse in front of it and an sofa bed instead of the 2 twin beds in our previous rooms. I did accept it. Unfortunately, same floor same issue - no view except the base of the pool and you cannot leave the shutters/blinds fully open because you are like in an aquarium. Rosan/e asked us the next day how it went - could not wait to leave the place - she said she would talk to her manager revert. She did not and I do not blame her for that. Again management probably thought we were leaving two nights later going back to Europe, so why bother. Sofa bed was speaking every time my daughter was rolling in her bed - awful! 4- Swimming pool: normally the best place to relax. Well - not at shutters. First, Unmbrellas cannot be inclined - so although the visual effect when you pass pass is great, umbrellas are COMPLETELY USELESS and you end up roasting no matter where you stay (given there are on 2 sun beds that can somewhat be placed in the shade). Second, 2-3 kids kept jumping in the pool for about 10 minutes without intervention of their parents (of course!) or any member of staff - unacceptable . 5- stay chug in FULL!

Being a five star hotel is much more than a nice, well located and well maintained property. It is about the experience. Shutters is not five stars.

Go to the Connaught (London), the Omnia (Zermatt), the Constance Halaveli (Maldives), most four Seasons Hotels where you will experience a true 5* stay.

Now, if you envisage to come to LA/Santa Monica, just follow the tips below: don't stay at Shutters. There are a few mored modest hotels a street away where you will spend 50% less on your night. Spend to money you saved to indulge yourselves if you still want to stay at Shutter, book a high floor ocean view room if you go to the pool and you have the terrible experience we had, start making a video immediately and go see a member of staff - if they don't stop immediately, sue the hotel - your legal fees will be largely covered + you will do a great favor to all guest coming after...