Holiday Inn
The Crowne Plaza Redondo Beach and Marina Hotel is a wonderful place and extremely relaxing. While not right on the popular Manhattan Beach, it's close enough and is within easy walking distance, or even bike ride away. As a Platinum member I was offered my choice of a 500 bonus points, a complimentary 4-hour bike rental, or two dinning options. I opted for the bike rental and proceeded to ride the entire trail from Redondo to the Santa Monica pier and back. The hotel staff are fantastic, there are plenty of great restaurants and bars within a short walk, and even more within a short drive along with plenty of shopping districts up and down the many miles of beach. Next time you're in need a beach getway in the LA area, I'd highly recommend staying at this hotel.
PS. High-speed Wi-Fi is complimentar to Platinum Elite PCR members at his property (at least it was when I stayed here in January 2010).
Sunset as seen from my room at the CP Redondo Beach, and yes I was upgraded to a very nice room. The staff at the hotel know what they are doing and know how to treat loyal PCR members.
Sunset on Manhattan Beach with the famous sand vollyball courts, just a five minute walk up the beach from the hotel.
Famous Southern California sunset. The picture doens't do it justice.
After reading the favourable reviews and having a fantastic stay at the Park Lane the month before we were looking forward to our stay. Although the first day was totally unacceptable the guest services manager Marta did all she could to make the rest of our stay fantastic. The hotel is in a fabulous location and the room we had had 2 balconies overlooking Paris which was a great place to take in the sites and people watch. Despite the shaky start both my husband and I would stay again.
Clean....rec'd an upgrade...was noticed as a priority member. Was able to check in early and stay late.
Breakfast the usual fare, we did not partake.
Missing the roll away cot, had to call at 10:30 pm, even after I requested at 11am.
Missing the extra towels--listed as 4 people in room only 3 towels...(requested this on my reservation)
The shampoo that was in the bathroom was 1/2 used when we checked in (I threw it out-we had some).
No extra pillows like requested on my reservation also.
Used pool at 10:15pm last nite and towesl (dirty) were over flowing to the floor and timer on Hot tub broke, never went off after 15 mins.
Very friendly staff!
Keep striving for perfection, you are doing a good job!
Date of Stay: 14th February 2010
Number of Nights: 1 (including 15 nights parking)
Type of Room Booked: Executive Double Room & Double Room
Type of Room Provided: Double Room x 2 (adjoining and interconnecting)
Rate: 1st Room: £130 per night / 2nd Room: 25,000 PCR Points
Benefits Offered: Executive Lounge access extended to my children.
General Review: This hotel always leaves me disappointed. Despite being a very regular guest here, and emailing my request in advance to Guest Relations, there was an issue checking in! This hotel is simply not geared up for family travel at Frequent Traveller / Executive level, and quite frankly gives the impression that it doesn't care. My room was downgraded so that we could be adjacent/interconnecting with the boys. Apparently NONE of the guest rooms on the Executive floor are interconnecting or adjoining or have anything other than a King size bed in them. In the past, there has been a welcome note from the GM, a bottle of wine in the room to cross recompense for the downgrade, a basket of fruit, water, chocolate, and sweets for the boys. This time - nothing. Two basic two double bed rooms.
The club lounge has recently been updated. In fact it opened refreshed during my last stay, so it was good to go back and see how it is coping! The lounge is open until 2200 hours, and we noted that the wet bar is closed at 2130 to permit the staff time to clear up. In terms of canapes - well, crisps is as good as it gets - and even they are served with tongs and a plate - that's a challenge! The wet bar includes wine and spirits, along with bottled beers and soft drinks. Breakfast in the morning was Continental with a selection of fresh fruit, cereal, breads, juices, ham, cheese yoghurt and smoked salmon.
During our stay, we allowed our children to have room service and watch a movie. Well done to the Chef for creating an excellent room service menu for children which is very reasonably priced. My oldest son thought he was very clever being allowed to sign the "chit" for the room. This of course, permitted my partner and I to eat in the restaurant. Given that it was Valentines Day, you would imagine the restaurant to be packed out... No! Empty. We ordered... or tried to order our main course. There were 6 main course dishes on the menu - 3 were not available. So we ordered what was left - One Grilled Spiced Chicken and One Lamb Shank (The vegetarian was Mushroom Risotto, which didn't appeal even if it was available) A three course meal for two with wine was a very reasonable £70.
As we were flying late on 15th, I took the boys swimming. A great Leisure Centre. Child Friendly and very welcoming. One thing they MUST address though is that there are no "spinners" in the changing rooms. Now who stays at an airport hotel and flys off the next or same day? Oh, everyone... so that must mean that no one wants to travel with sopping wet swimming costumes/shorts. They offered us a plastic bag, so that we could pack our dripping wet shorts in our suitcase before we travelled. Clearly someone hasn't walked through the guest experience here!
I completed a review of the hotel, however nearly three weeks on, and I am yet to receive a response, despite requesting one. It does make me feel that the GM considers that all of his guests depart after one night, so it doesn't matter if the hotel is not runnng smoothly! Having a captive audience with most people staying immediately prior to a flight should not mean that standards can drop or there is no need to review guest needs. I am staying here again on 8th April, so will write to say if the experience improves!
Rate: 1st Night CAD$169 Luxury Weekend Rate / 2nd Night CAD$239 comp with RA Free Night Voucher
General Review: This is an amazing InterContinental. Every visit runs smoothly. Check in was a breeze. The receptionist was extremely knowlegeable about Royal Ambassador Status and all of the benefits. 30 minutes after arriving to my room there was a telephone call from the Concierge offering their services and wishing me a nice stay.
The leisure club / spa was very quiet - we were the only people in there. Children must be accompanied in the pool. There was a steam room in the changing rooms. Sadly the Jacuzzi was out of service - being cleaned.
The hotel is located adjacent to the CN Tower, which is about a 5 minute walk. A great place to visit for a panormaic dinner - if you can cope with ascending some 400+ metres into the sky using a glass floored lift!
