Seaport Village Inn, Avalon, Avalon

I don't like giving bad reviews, so I'll begin with what I did like about this place: the service was excellent. Everyone was very polite and attentive. But I want to warn future Catalina visitors against staying here, because it is SO out of the way. It is a LONG walk down a hill to get to town, and a LONG walk back up when you're exhausted, and they do not offer rides down and up the hill unless you are coming to or from the boats. The rooms were very dingy and old, and we didn't have any hot water-so the jacuzzi tub that they charge extra for was useless (and they didn't know how to fix it). Their breakfast in the morning was better than the other hotel I stayed at, but if you are expecting luxury this is NOT it. I would hate for anyone to come to Catalina expecting a 4-star hotel, because after shopping around a few hotels, this one was not that much cheaper than the others that I saw, once I got there, were much nicer. If you are not worried about the cleanliness and quality of your room and are just looking for a place to crash at night, I would recommend something closer to town, because this is a long, tiring hike to get to.

My boyfriend and I came here for an anniversary get away. We picked this hotel as it came with a packaged deal for transportation to the island and also allowed us to stay for one weekend night only whereas most places on the island require a 2 night stay for the weekend. First off, the hotel room was rather small and less desirable. But if you think about it, you only stay in your room to sleep and shower so it was enough to fit those needs. The location of the hotel was absolutely gorgeous. Yes, you have to walk up a hill but if you take a bike tour, you learn that all the hotels are on a hill. This gives you a great beach view from the hotel location and feels remote yet convenient and close to everything. The best part about this hotel was the service. The front desk management were better than any 5 star hotel I have ever stayed in. The owner loaned us his children's bikes saving us money so we could tour the island for ourselves. The breakfast was small in choices but actually delicious and filling. On top of it, we had checked out early and yet they continued to serve us. They held our luggage for free until our ship departed. They also were willing to loan us towels for free to go to the beach instead of having to pay at some booth. And after running out of things to do and wanting to relax for a bit, they allowed us to get into the jacuzzi to soak and relax even though we weren't really customers of them anymore. They were extremely accommodating and I couldn't have asked for better service. After breaking down the price, I got the room for about $50 plus tax. It was the best $50 ever spent!

Was not impressed one bit with the accomadations but the people were extremely nice.

We have been coming over evey July 4th week for 15 years. Most of the time we have stayed at the Hotel MacRae, right in front of the beach in the middle of town. Don't forget this is an OLD resort town. After last years bill of $2100 for a small room in front with a beautiful view, we decided to check another place. We were told to check-out SVI by a local friend. We are a family of 3 with a 12 year old. We always stayed at the MacRae with friends, who also rented a room. It really comes down to how much do you want to pay for the room size, maid service, location, etc. Well, at the SVI, we got a large room (as large as some rentals) with kitchen, refrigerator, separate bedroom, large Murphy fold down from wall bed, kitchen table w/ 4 chairs, couch, no dresser, large closet, but no A/C. At the Mac Rae you had a king size bed that almost took up the whole room, a table w/2 chairs. No dresser. At the SVI our friends stayed at the ajoining room that had a door between the units and was almost the same size that we had at the MacRae. BUT, we paid $1500 and our friends paid less than $800! And that included the boat trip, which saved us $150, and our friends $50! But the negative items mentioned by the other reviews are true, BUT, the staff treats you like family. It's alot quieter than at the MacRae, which is above a karaokee bar. Lots of college kids come over for the weekend. (They provide ear plugs in the rooms). Will we go again to the SVI? Absolutely!

We thought about renting a vacation rental, but decided we would much rather have daily maid service and free breakfast and we are soooo glad we did. We had a huge room, plenty of room for our family of 6. We were welcomed by Raul and his staff. The location was excellent and we have already booked for next year, which if you do during your stay you can get this years rates. Say Hi to Raul when you visit.

The staff was very accommodating to our diving needs, they brought us and our gear down to Casino Point and came and picked us up. The manager, Raul, was very friendly and gave us excellent suggestions for lunch and dinner on the island. We will definitely stay here every time we visit.

Being limited travelers - my experience may not account for a whole lot - but - let me just tell you that from the moment I booked our 3 days 2 nights trip online and printing our tickets for the Catalina Express conveniently at home - the experience was nothing short of marvelous. We were meet at the dock by Jorge and taken to the Seaport Village Inn - along the way Jorge pointed out points of interest and places where we could also get deals for all the site seeing we wanted to do. Raul the mgr was on site and greeted us warmly and was most accommating. Our package deal was very reasonable and the room was nicer than I expected at the rates we paid. We also rec'd exceptional deals for all the things we did. Overall our trip was less than $350.00 !! We live near CA Disneyland but we will be recommending Catalina Island to our family and friends who come to visit us from various parts of the U.S. of A ! We hope to return someday sooner than soon.......

Excellent bargain---nice view in our room, nice breakfast, not a bad walk from town, but best of all was the manager, Raul, very accommodating. Shuttle picks you from boat. Murphy bed not too comfortable and hotel needs some cosmetic work which is ongoing, but all in all, would book again. Also has a nice jacuzzi which we used.

The first impression that I received from Catalina Island was the staff from the Seaport Village Inn in Avalon. Mr. Raul Alvarez, the Guest Relations Manager, answered my call quickly then came down in a shuttle bus to pick my husband and myself up. He was friendly and made quite an impression on us. Denise at the Front Desk was also very charming. Every staff member was great. I cannot say enough wonderful things about the staff. My room was great. I had a private balcony, a jacuzzi and a kitchen in my room. The complimentary breakfast are served between 6:00 a.m. -- 10:00 a.m. My recommendation is that if you go to Santa Catalina Island, stay at the Seaport. I will be very surprise if you do not like it. It was a total island experience. Even when I complained about service at a few of the restaurants that my husband and I visited (Poor service), Raul very nicely stated that it was probably for some very rare reason and stated that service on the Island as a whole is generally great. I was surprised that he went out of his way to let me know that service is great on the entire island and that he was sorry that we had any problems. I say make him the public relations Manager of the entire island. Because of the staff at the Seaport Inn who gave us information on the entire island, our trip was memorable. This was our first trip to Catalina Island and thanks to people like Raul Alvarez, it will not be my last.

Judging by the price, and the online explanation, my girlfriend and I thought we were on our way to a semi-luxurious hotel on Catalina for her birthday weekend. For $657 for two nights - well actually we got 2 tickets for the boat over at a whole 0% discount!!, so it turned out to be $$559 for the room - so I don't think it was expecting too much to have a nice room. What we found upon arrival was a mediocre room - the "Studio Suite". The "complimentery champagne" was sitting in a plastic container of warm water, the carpert and furniture looked long overdue for replacement, and the A/C controls were actually a remote mounted behind a piece of plexi-glass with a small wooden dowel to push the controls with. When I asked for some towels and more soap (only one tiny disk of soap was in the room), I was asked to bring it up to the room myself. My girlfriend called down for an iron, and the attendent said "I will see if I can find one", and then twenty minutes later, she had to call a second time for someone to bring it up. Considering that Catalina is overpriced to begin with, I could see paying about $150 a night for the room/service that we received... but $279.50 - that is outrageous! We will not be going back or recommending this place