Montage Laguna Beach — Restaurant in Laguna Beach

Oh Montage, I love you but I hate you. We got married at The Montage in November and it should have been a beautiful day. Unfortunately our special day, one that took so much planning, was negatively impacted (I won't say ruined although at the time it certainly felt that way) by Montage. It turned out that incorrect dimensions and measurements of the reception site were provided to our wedding planner by the Montage which necessitated last minute changes in the placement of our lounge and bar that negatively impacted the overall layout of our wedding. It sounds like a small error but it ended up causing thousands of dollars of rentals and florals to essentially be wasted and left in the dark. Not only were those items and areas wasted or left in the dark, our guests also had no idea all wedding that there was a firepit which meant that they also had no idea that the s'mores dessert station that we paid for even existed. The hotel also refused to allow us to check out 30-60 min past STANDARD check out time the next morning so that we could briefly attend our farewell brunch and say goodbye to our guests. We were flabbergasted and instead had to rush to shower and pack up everything wedding related, along with all of our luggage and pack our cars. We showed up to our farewell brunch late, our car packed full of breakable items, with wet hair, disheveled, and both very upset. I have to say that the callous manner in which we were treated upon our departure was nothing short of shocking. They even forgot to give us our take away wedding cake, which we had paid an extra fee for. We picked it up a few days later after they located it. As an I Prefer member I've actually never been denied late checkout at any Preferred brand hotel in the world. At worst we have been given limited late check outs due to sell out status. I truly expected better from the Montage brand, especially considering that this was OUR WEDDING!!! We did not feel like valued patrons being wished well by the venue that we, as Laguna locals, loved to frequent for meals and subsequently chose as the venue to celebrate one of the most important events of our lives. Lastly, I was sick the day of our wedding tasting and couldn't really eat or drink. While that certainly wasn't their problem, they didn't help provide a work around. We, along with our wedding planner and the Montage coordinator, were each served mini portions of each dish, along with one regular sized portion, so that we could all have a taste and also see what each dish would look like at the wedding. Montage staff not only did not alert us that we were able to eat the regular portion dish, they also did not offer to box up anything for us to take home. So all of my mini portions plus 3 full size appetizers & 2 entrees went in the trash. It wasn't until later when I saw an influencer who also got married there leaving with bags and bags of food after her tasting that I realized that we had been shortchanged...It would've been nice for either our planner or the coordinator to inform us of how the tasting worked. What a HUGE waste of food. We had even paid an extra 150.00 for my SIL to attend. This influencer also went back for a separate second tasting of entrees, which was not offered to me but would've been appreciated given my inability to eat at the initial tasting. There's additional failures but I'm out of room. Suffice to say, I guess I wasn't the type of guest that receives "luxury" treatment. These issues were outlined via email and sent to our planner, the in-house coordinator, and hotel management. The response from the coordinator was "sorry" along with a waived fee of ~600.00. Evidently we were short meeting our food and beverage minimum...Which is a whole other issue since we were dissuaded from ordering more food by both the coordinator and planner. We never received a response from hotel management. These issues, along with the lack of sufficient service recovery, are just not acceptable for a self labeled ultra luxury...

This is a beautiful property but the service is the worst we've ever encountered.

My family had the pleasure of staying at the Montage Laguna the evening of February 21st. Arriving, it's a beautiful resort and such welcoming service.

Everything was going smoothly until approximately 1A.M. when we were awoken to loud power tool sanding or grinding/sawing (maintenance) either above or below us. It continued on/off for 40 minutes.

We decided best to contact the front desk but unfortunately no one picked up. After 2 attempts to call, at 1:40 AM, my husband ended up changing and walking down to the front desk hoping to find someone to help us. The front staff was very prompt to resolve and the noise stopped.

We sent an email sharing our experience to the Armando Campos, general manager. No reply. We called following up and were given a $250 food credit from our bill from the front desk but all we wanted was an email reply so he could change the process for a future stay. He kindly did on March 11 and generously offered a room discount on our next stay. Amazing.

"Please let me know when you are ready to comeback as I would love to offer you a special rate, and provided you with the memorable experience you and your family could not received to its fullest on your previous stay."

June 27 we reached out to book and no reply. We followed up with a phone call to learn Armando left the company and to email the correspondence to MLB reservations. Again no reply.

We called again one week later on 7.16 and told to email the correspondence to the new GM Victorio Gonzalez. We did and once again no reply.

As our reservations were planned for winter we decide to wait until their summer rush was done and call back. We called Aug 23 and told that they would pass this story to MLB Reservations team (Management) we would receive a call back. No call back.

We called again Aug 27 and told in our notes it says we'd get a 25% discount on best available rate and acknowledged they failed to contact us with this information.

Elated I said I would call back with dates and cc to book. I even received a voicemail on 8.28 with the same message.

8.29 I called the phone number left on the message and told they have no notes about this in their system and it would be unlikely I'd get 25% my reservation as they have a 20% package now. It would likely be 5%.

But they transferred me to another person anyway. Who then said that they took my notes down and someone would call me back. I shared that we have been told that before and no one gets back to us so he transferred me back to the main line where we remained waiting for a pick up for 10 min.

The entire experience was horrible. We had never asked for a discount in our original email just acknowledgement of our feedback. And were pleased that they wanted to make it right. We simply thought that someone would honor the make good only to be treated horribly for 2 months straight solidifying how little they value people.

We wanted to feel better about the experience because the property is so beautiful and we really wanted to try again, but it didn't feel right returning after being treated so poorly.

Our mistake for trying so hard to get a better experience in the end. Every single attempt solidified the same outcome.

It's 100% not...

My Honest Review of Montage Laguna Beach from 2003-2025

You know how sometimes it takes a while to know what you want to say and how to say it? Well, after I processed everything, this is my honest review of Montage Laguna Beach.

I've been a loyal patron of Montage Laguna Beach since it opened in 2003.

Pros: I've been coming to Spa Montage since it opened in 2003. I'm so grateful to Spa Montage for over two decades of being my exclusive destination (up until 2024) for a moment of rest and renewal.

I'm so grateful to Spa Montage for being a part of my journey. (Love and Gratitude to everyone who works at Montage Laguna Beach, who made every visit (since 2003) a perfect day!) Thank you for always being there to ensure that each visit is as special as the last! I always had a perfect day!

You'd be hard pressed to find a jewel like Spa Montage Laguna Beach in SoCal or anywhere in the world. They have gorgeous spa facilities both indoor and outdoor. The indoor facilities have a World Class whirlpool, sauna, steam room, and cold plunge. I believe these facilities to be the best in the world. Same with the outdoor spa facilities. Spectacular ocean views from the spa pool, where you can lounge all day.

Cons: I've noticed that under new ownership, the quality of Montage LB is not the same. Both in 2024 and 2025, I've noticed the quality of the food has been downgraded. You can definitely get better food elsewhere in the OC, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica.

I also noticed when we stayed last summer 2024, for my Mom's 90th Birthday, that the quality of the hotel's Front Desk was definitely not what we experienced on all our previous vacations at Montage LB. Even though I have been a loyal patron since 2003, and it was my Mother's 90th Birthday, Montage LB's Front Desk made no effort to have our rooms ready on arrival. Just the whole way it was handled. We will never stay at Montage LB again. I'm not spending $10-20 K for a hit or miss vacation.

Montage LB had always been my exclusive luxury destination since 2003. These poor experiences at Montage LB/especially from the hotel's Front Desk, forced me to open my eyes and consider other wonderful luxury destinations that get it right every time. To be honest, our Summer 2024 Trip for my Mom's 90th Birthday, left me feeling that Montage LB does not appreciate our business, or my loyalty...and what made Montage LB so special once upon a time, was what Alan Fuerstman said in Forbes Magazine, "So we embedded that into the ethos of how we would deliver service. Much less scripted, highly personalized, and with a clear focus on creating memories and experiences that would bond our guest with our hotels."

That's exactly what I was hoping to create for my Mother on her 90th Birthday. This is not the place to celebrate someone's...