Hotel Joaquin 985 North Coast Highway, Laguna Beach, CA 92651

"The staff, especially the bartender, was so friendly immediately. The view from the deck where you eat breakfast and can get drinks is beautiful. And breakfast was yummy. Our room was Jardin on the ground floor and very nice. Great shower and comfortable bed. An easy walk into Laguna along the path along the sea. The idea was great for a luxury hotel but we were let down by some things. We stayed in motels most of our trip which score the same. There was no kettle in the room. They delivered coffee to the room in the morning but we weren't asked ahead of time of milk preferences so needed to wake up and ask the bar for lactose free milk. Heater was confusing/not working correctly and was stressful going to sleep that night. Pool not heated. We chose this hotel due to its heated pool. When we arrived they told us the heater was not working and didn't offer any compensation. We were really disappointed as we would have chosen somewhere else and this was our last night in California. The place is amazing though, but for a luxury property they should have told us ahead of time or been prepared to offer us something for the inconvenience."

"Stayed only one night but so enjoyable! Perche is a lovely room with a soaker tub and shower in-one! Had a light dinner at the bar and a fantastic breakfast (that was included in the room rate). Kevin, the bartender, made some great drinks and we chatted extensively about our love of Steely Dan. The records/record players in the lobby and guest rooms is a wonderfully original touch! Too chilly and rainy for the pool this weekend but with the heated pool, it was so tempting! Coffee and tea in thermoses delivered to our door early morning was so nice!! Very friendly and attentive staff. Can’t wait to return for a longer stay! Great location- a short drive or decent walk to get to restaurants and shops in Laguna Beach. So close to the beach! Thank you for a lovely time!"

"Title: A low-end motel disguised and priced as a premium boutique hotel. The positives: The staff is polite and that’s where the positives end and troubles start. I have no idea how and why this establishment is considered as a hotel where everything about it says a roadside motel at best, even the sign pointing to the parking spot says “Motel Parking”. We were going to stay for two nights but decided to leave early since we could not get any sleep at night. Keep on reading. We reserved our room through Expedia under the condition that we will pay for our room at the hotel. But to our surprise, our credit card was charged days before our arrival. We let this one go. When we arrived at the hotel, there was no one at the front desk which was nothing but a pedestal with three books and a laptop stacked on top. I had to go around the corner to the bar to find someone to help us. We were given the Citron room and got lots of surprises. The room was really small and dated; no T.V. or phone. There was a rather large gap between the door and the frame that let air and light through, and of course a very noisy air conditioner unit mounted to the ceiling. With no phone, the only way we could get service was to walk up to the hardly staffed front desk. Later we were told that we could have texted for service (what !!!!). At night, we could hear every move of the person(s) upstairs, including all the details associated with using the bathroom (let your imagination go wild a bit) After a night of literary no sleep, we decided to take advantage of the included breakfast. As I mentioned, the staff was very kind and accommodating; but, to our surprise the poached eggs dish we ordered came with cold eggs, hardly warm tomato sauce, and overly toasted (burnt) bread. I have no idea how this could be possible unless the food was not freshly prepared. Our attempt to change rooms did not work out well. We were given the choice of a room similar to what we had or an even more expensive one. Note that we were paying nearly $390.00/night for an extremely subpar room. Once we got an agreement to checkout early, the hotel decided not to honor the rate given by Expedia. The new charge was going to be around $419.00. It took multiple calls to Expedia and the hotel to finally remedy the issue while the hotel ended up charging us twice on our two credit cards. Of course the changes were reversed; but, what an ordeal."

"Disappointing experience :( This hotel is very pricey, and doesn’t deliver on the details at all. My *guess* is they are having staffing issues due to do the labor shortage, but the service is really lacking. Example: We received a text asking us if we had checked out a day before our stay was supposed to end, causing to panic our reservation was incorrect. It was just a mix up by reception. Then we were asked if we wanted service to our room. We responded that we did, and despite this, our room was never serviced. Our room was noisy (could hear loud footsteps above us and voices outside) all day and early morning. This would all have been acceptable had the cost not been $700+ a night PLUS a resort fee. My review would be different if it were priced as a 3 star hotel, which is ultimately what this is. I felt robbed"

"We've stayed here in the past and loved it. Unfortunately our most recent stay was disappointing. Upon check in, the staff was disengaged and we did not receive our welcome drinks. Dirty dishes/cups left out throughout the day around the property, the pool towels were never restocked and we did not receive our AM coffee either day. One of the snacks in our room was expired. Staff was not friendly except for the bartender, Kevin who was awesome! We wish everyone was as friendly/welcoming as him. He genuinely seemed to enjoy his job and went above and beyond to help guests. Our room was spotless and the overall aesthetic was on point. There was just a lack of attention to detail throughout the property and a low level of service for this price point. We expect more for the price of the rooms/resort fee. I tried emailing 2 separate email addresses after our stay to share feedback & hopefully receive some sort of response but have yet to. Coming from someone who has worked in 4 hotels, I hope management takes our review into consideration and trains staff on customer service/how to ensure guests have a great experience!"