Balboa Inn |
Reviewer's Name: |
Steve Hancock |
Reviewer's Email Address: |
steve00000000@hotmail.com |
Date(s) of Stay: |
9/14/01 - 9/16/01 |
Disney Resort: |
Disneyland (California) |
Location: |
Santa Ana Area |
Ease of Disney Park Access: |
About 20 minutes up the freeway. 55 to the 5. Easy
drive. |
Complimentary Park Shuttle Available? |
No |
Park Shuttle Comments: |
n/a |
Address: |
105 Main Street, Balboa, CA 92661 |
Phone Number: |
949-675-3412 |
Facility Type: |
Hotel |
Accommodation Used: |
Suite |
Accommodations Review: |
Our trips often include going to Balboa area and then also
to Disneyland. There is a little Inn wonderfully located in
the center of it all that we often said that we need to stay
there since it is right at the beach and not far to get up and
go to Disneyland for the day. We made reservations which was a
little confusing cause we were coming in very late at night so
the person I was talking to on the phone wasn't sure on how to
handle the reservation with pricing with half rates and such.
I made the reservation for a standard room since we weren't going to be in the room much and the standard was $169. When
we arrived at 1:30 in the morning we checked in. We were given
a room which they thought might be empty but said they have
had problems with that before. So we went to the room with the
worry that we might walk in on someone else already staying
there. We tried to open the door but couldn't. Maybe was
someone had it bolted? We don't know. So they gave us another
room again with the warning. We carefully peeked into the room
to make sure no one was there. The room was very cute. A
little small if more then 2 adults. If you have kids then you
need to get a family suite. The rooms are very nicely
decorated and the fireplace was a wonderful touch especially
on a colder night at the beach. Unfortunately trying to enjoy
it was tough when the toilet was not working and running all
night long every minute and very loud. We tried to turn on the TV
to tune the toilet out but the remote for the TV was not
working either. So we finally just buried our heads in the
pillows and went to sleep. We awoke VERY early to the
screaming of kids. The walls are thin. This of course is not
the hotel fault but a kid that was screaming crying for two and
a half hours took us too our limit. Plus the other kids from
the same family running up and down the halls screaming. I
took a shower in the tub with a very large crack that sank
down and water ran into it when you stepped near it. That was
it. I went down to the front desk to talk about all the
problems. I was told by the front desk person that she can't
do anything to help till a manager came to work which was
supposed to be from 11:00-5:00. We decided to get on with our
day then and leave the hotel and come back to talk with the
manager when he got in... At 4:30 we came back and I went
back to the front desk asking to meet with the manager. He
never showed up all day and they had no clue why or when or if
he would ever be in. This staff member was a little more
helpful and at least moved us to another room. She only had
suites left so that is where we moved. This was a very large
room with couches a fireplace and a Jacuzzi. These rooms
normally start at $295 (according to their website) We thought
we could definitely enjoy this room much better. We were
wrong. There is a bar right underneath most of the rooms that
plays VERY loud (and not very good) music till 11:00. At least
it was music which was better then the drunk people at the bar
yelling and being very obnoxious. When they started yelling
you quickly saw all windows to rooms closing trying to get
away from the noise. We had no warning of this music which
probably catches many by surprise. We then turned on the
ceiling fan since it was getting warm in the room with the
windows closed. The fan was not balanced so it was making all
kinds of horrible loud noises. That was turned off quickly. So
we decided to try the Jacuzzi and relax from this frustrating
stay. AAaahhh a Jacuzzi in the room... which of course as you
can guess does not work at all. On Sunday morning we checked
out and I once again complained and asked for a manager but
again there was none there or that would be there all weekend.
We were told that he has had some other stuff to do so to be patient
with getting a hold of him. To sum it up, careful if
you stay here. They are supposed to start large renovations
which should fix a lot of stuff, so if you do go there look at
a room first and try everything and make sure it is ok before
you give them your money. Hopefully the renovations will be
good, but if you still have problems don't expect too much help
as the normal staff say they do not have the authority to fix
much and the manager is too busy to be at the hotel to manage
it. |
Rate/Night (for your stay): |
$169.00 (standard room rate. was moved to a suite the
second night) |
# of Restaurants/Lounges: |
1 |
Restaurant/Lounge Review: |
We did not go into the lounge but you can hear it from
every room. It was definitely the less crowded of the bars and
lounges in the area. |
Amenities / Facilities / Activities Available: |
Pool, Hot Tub, Beach, Non-Smoking Rooms Available, Smoke
Detectors, Fire Sprinklers. |
Pool Description/Comments: |
Did not use the pool |
Other Comments: |
There is a pizza place called BJ's pizza right across the
street. The pizza here is very good but the main reason to go
here is the dessert. It is called a Pizzookie. They make a
chocolate chip cookie in a small pizza pan and when it is very
hot from the oven the put 2 huge scoops of ice cream on it.
This is something for 2 people to share and is so amazingly
good!!!! |
