Surf & Sand Resort, Laguna Beach

What a great way to spend our 27th wedding anniversary. This was better than our honeymoon trip to Hawaii. We were in room 417 which is just 15ft above the sand. At high tide, the water was under our balcony. Weather was good, we woke up to sunny skies. The only complaint was the sound of the waves can be very loud at night but what do you expect when you are right on top of the beach. The hotel gives you foam ear plugs but we did not use them. The rooms are a bit on the pricey side but we got a deal since it is winter. Make sure you negotiate with them since our 'resort fee' was waived and we got a food allowance. This might only be during the winter but ask anyway. Downtown Laguna Beach is just 1 mile away so there are plenty of places to eat from fast food to fancy food. We had lunch at a place called The Cliff which is over looking the beach. I read some other reviews of this place and was suprised they had problems. We had an issue of our room not being service by 4pm but called the front desk and they cleaned it up pretty quick. I would love to come back to this place. Just make sure you get a beach view. It looks like most rooms are a beach view but apparently there are some non-view rooms. The only reason to stay at this place is the view of the ocean, don't settle for anything other. Even if you don't have a view, there are stairs to the beach from the property and they provide chairs.

Due to some problems with our wedding, we were offered a complimentary room for 2 nights and a reduced rate after that. We accepted their offer and booked a two-week stay. We checked in to our first room, which was not facing the ocean. This room type is not listed on their website, so we had no idea that our view would be the parking lot. Our upcoming complimentary nights were in an Oceanfront Towers King room (OTK), and we were told we could stay there, if there was availability. We knew there was availability, based on reservation searches on the website and phone calls to the reservations desk. I contacted Pamela Hopkins (assistant to the VP of Hotel Operations), with whom I communicated prior to our stay, and I copied Joanna Bear (assistant manager). I shared with both our frustrations, and I asked if we would be able to, as we were originally offered, stay in our OTK room for the duration of our stay, since it was available. My first email went ignored; after a 2nd email, Pam said she would look into it the morning of 7-30. Through the evening of 7-29, when I searched for availability online, four different oceanfront room types showed up. On the night of 7-29, we stopped at the front desk to inquire keeping us in the OTK room. We were told that rooms were still available. Lisa Silva overheard our conversation and told us that no rooms were available. It is frustrating to hear a manager lie to us about availability, when rooms were available. That night, no more than a couple hours after I just heard and saw multiple rooms were available, the online reservation system indicated that the OTK room was not available. I thought it odd, so I asked a friend of mine to call reservations the next morning, 7-30, before we stopped down to ask for room availability. My friend spoke with Heather, who told her that MULTIPLE OTK rooms were available. 15 minutes later, my husband went down to the front desk and spoke with Tammy, who said that NO OTK rooms were available. When he asked her why Heather would tell someone who called for a reservation for an OTK room 15minutes prior that multiple rooms were available if they were not available, she had no explanation. Heather was telling the truth (multiple OTK rooms were available) and Tammy was lying to my husband (saying that NO OTK rooms were available). Tammy said that a Seaview room was available for all but one day, but a Seaview room came up on the online reservations system, without restrictions, for the entire range. By end of day, we still had not heard from Tammy, so we followed up with a phone call and were told that we could check into a Seaview room for the duration of our stay. On 8-1, the front desk manager (Elaine) gave us our key with a smug smile and said, it’s on the first floor. The first floor Seaview rooms have very little view of the ocean (due to the solid wall on the patio) and are perhaps the loudest because of its location directly next to the pool and Splashes. On the morning of our checkout, we noticed that the 2 nights that were supposed to be complimentary were charged to us. We went down to the front desk and again met with Lisa to explain, and she told us there was nothing in her notes, so she was going to charge us for the nights and then IF she found out that it was supposed to be complimentary, she would issue a refund. She then made me unpack my laptop to pull up emails to PROVE that the complimentary nights were supposed to be complimentary. When we shared our feedback with the president of JC Resorts (Paul Reed) and the VP of Hotel Operations (Blaise Bartell), we received a reply, through an assistant (Pam), after telling her that I was going to post the feedback online. The letter was justification for all of the above rather than a sincere apology. We did not hear from the president of JC Resorts at all. Bottom line: try the Montage, St. Regis or the Ritz, but stay away from Surf and Sand.

We celebrated our anniversary here last year and it was awesome, this year, TERRIBLE! First, we requested early check in, but ended up getting there at the regular check in time and our room still was not ready, they made us wait 30 minutes to get our room ready. Second, we specifically requested a certain room months ahead of time, but didn't give it to us, we only got a smaller room with a crappy view and were told they were booked solid and someone had already been in the room we had requested for two weeks, yeah right! Third, we requested a second DVD player in the bedroom, just like last year, and after the lady at the front desk guaranteed us there was already one there, we dropped it, but when we arrived in the room, nope, it wasn't there and they told us they didn't have any extras. Finally, as a surprise, our boss called ahead of time and gave them her credit card to charge $500 of the room to, and they did not do it. Since it was a surprise, we didn't know about it until she asked us about it a few weeks later. It took a few phone calls and we were finally issued a credit. Imagine if we never mentioned it, they would have ripped us off $500!!!! We've sent bad surveys and complaint e-mail's and they never once called us to apologize! HUGE, HUGE, HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT!!!!!

Excellent. I loved the hotel except there were a lot of hidden fees. I booked an all inclusive package and was hit with parking fees of 42 buck a day and resort fees for 20 a day. Not a great value, but a lovely place to stay. we were upgraded to a tower room, that had views of the ocean. We even saw dolphins one morning right outside our window. The food was pricey, but good. Overall, I would say this is a great place to stay

We have been going ot the Surf & Sand for about 15 years.....it has steadily gone down hill as its popularity has increased. With some places, the owners re-invest in the staff and facilities as they grow but this place has made some very bad decisions in the opinion of friends we know and ourselves. Customer Service is non-existent. Although it is generally easy to get someone on the phone when you call the front desk, the usual answer is the person in charge is not in or they will see what they can do, And then nothing. Upon our last stay, which was an anniversary occasion, we made reservations far in adsvance for a specific room type and location. Upon arrival we were very happy (as usual) as we were excited to be in our room and see the ocean below our balcony. Within a very short time, we heard sounds as if someone was moving out or doing construction next door. Thinking it would be brief we ignored it ands went to dinner. When we came back the noise had grown and it turned out that the hotel had booked a wedding party on the surrounding rooms and they were enjoying their pre-wedding eve. Well, not to be spoil-sports we also ignored this...until 2am.......at that point we called the front desk (it may have been 1:am actually).....the noise grew until 3am and after many more calls to the front desk....once the party had finally ended at around 430 the couple in the next room decided to commence what we expected was not coming before the nuptials...anyway, this continued for not too long - maybe 30 minutes...because of the paper thin walls and refusal to move us to another room we endured as we did not want to change hotels at 5am......we checked out the next morning and have not been back since...paperthin walls...no one in chrge downstairs with any back bone..the staff in fact seems terrified to take action to meet hte demands of the guests who are complaining..we saw several other unhappy guests but they kept piling in at the front door.....seems its a 1 time hotel now as opposed to a twice a year hotel as it used to be.....hopefully things will change.......we would classify it as a glorified holiday inn on the beach.

Me and my boyfriend satyed here for 5 days and spent allot of money and had a few stolen items taken. When I called them when I got home and comfronted them with it they didnt seem to care and never got back to me. I am 100% sure one of the maids had taken a few things. I am very upset and its not replacable and they never have returned my calls.

Between the Two Weddings and the huge high schoolers everywhere, i felt like my anniversary weekend was in Fort Lauderdale. Room 442 smells, and you guys try to cover it up, with a room freshner? Seriously, i can't believe you rent that room out. There was trash on the ground outside of our room for a whole day. I mistakenly broke a bottle from the mini bar fridge and called housekeeping to clean it up. And they didn't come . Two hours later i had to call again, and by then, all the champagne had dried up? I went to go to the hot tub at 10am on saturday may 17th, and there were 6 adults drinking can's of beer in it. Disgusting. An entire class, some thirty high schoolers, unchaperoned were screaming and jumping in and out of the pool. That behavior also was being repeated on the "private beach". Very romantic Other couples were looking disgusted as well at the Spring Break feel of your Upscale hotel. I went to breakfast at splash at 10:58am on Sat. May 17th, and was told that they had just closed for a half hour. So the staff could eat. No other suggestions or help from the cocky little blonde hostess or the tall dark haired host. Not even an offer to get us coffee. She did suggest we leave the premises and eat down the street. (we took her advice later that night and cancelled our ressie at Splash) We waited for half an hour with no service downstairs, to return upstair and be seated next to a couple of empty tables that had not been bussed. It was a mess, the whole Splash interior. I guess when the staff takes it's break they are allowed to do so before cleaning the restaurant. The waiter that arrived seemed like a nice enough surfer dude who had never waited on a table in his life. You guys must be desperate. Bright side: Your Premises are beautiful, Gorgeous location. The concierge was great, loved the valets, great guys I didn't complain to the manager when I checked out, cause i was afraid i would blow a gasket. I just knew I would never come back or refer anyone to come there. But, the wonderful lady that checked me out, who asked if "everything was Ok with my stay" She, got an earful, and she apologized and took some money off of our bill. She said that the high schoolers only come in town for this one weekend this month. That helped, but you guys should be ashamed of yourselves. Your staff, is obviously overwhelmed, and cannot handle those kinds of groups. You are ruining your rep by inviting a huge group of high school kids like that, at your level of Hotel. It's cheesy and well you get the picture.... I will be posting this on the internet to help other couples avoid not ruining important events like anniversaries...etc. By thinking they are going to a romantic upscale honeymoon like atmosphere. AVOID: THE SURF AND SAND LAGUNA.

Stayed 1 night from Friday to Saturday. I had made a reservation for my fiancee at the Aquaterra Spa for a 5pm appointment, but was running late due to traffic heading to the hotel from LA. I called in at 4:30pm to postpone the appointment and was greeted by a very nice lady on the phone and who gave us till 6pm to arrive. The lady was easy-going and made it easy to adjust to our change of schedule. My fiancee enjoyed the massage and the spa most greatly. Check-in was at 4pm, but we didn't arrive until 5:30pm, but the check-in process was quick. We were taken to our room by one of the bell staff and he was very nice and explained to us where everything was. The Catalina suite was nice, so was the view of the ocean from the sun deck. Winds were low and the sunset was beautiful. The bell staff told us that we should make a reservation for the Splashes restaurant early since it was a Friday night and could become packed during dinner. We made reservations at 6:30pm from our room for a 8pm reservation for 3, arrived at the Splashes restaurant on time and was told to wait at the downstairs lounge. We were finally seated at about 9pm. (Outside seating) The view again here was excellent, 6 feet from touching the splashing waves. The food was excellent, as were the desserts. With the heaters working, it was comfortable. Sadly for us, out of all the heaters, ours broke half way through our meal and they didn't have any replacements available. It had gotten really cold within a few minutes. We were thinking about ordering some hot cocoas and desserts in-room for the night, but when we called at about 10:30pm, the in-room dining was closed. The information pamphlet in the room listed that there was late-night dining from 10pm-Midnight. We called the front desk and they said late-night dining was only available during the summer. Nowhere on the pamphlet did it state in fine print or any other note visible that the late-night dining was only served in the summer. We tried using the coffee maker in the cabinet next to the mini bar, but to our surprise there was an old filter left in the coffee maker. The cups were also dirty. You'd think they would have the decency to clean it when the room was also cleaned after the previous guest. Who knows how long it has been there. We also checked the expiration date for the snacks before having any and most of them were left there and had already expired. The hotel was listed with a 4-star rating, but in my overall opinion of our stay, the rating was misrepresented. It feels more like a 3-star resort. Again, the location and view was excellent if that is what you are looking for, but if you are looking to enjoy a clean place to stay overnight and service for your money, I would not recommend this hotel for stay. The cleanliness and service needs considerable improvements in consideration to their hotel guests. In my opinion, the time/money that I spent for the one night here at The Surf & Sand Resort/Hotel was not worth the value. I did not mind the rate for the room, if the hotel staff had put more effort into the consideration for details of the hotel. It was my first time staying here and my first impression of this hotel was not a good one. I may return for the spa and/or the Splashes Restaurant, but I would rather be staying at one of the 5-star hotel/resort's for the same amount I would be spending here.

After a dismal stay at the Del, the Surf and Sand was a breath of fresh air. From the moment we checked in the staff couldn't have been more friendly and professional. We had a really nice one bedroom suite. A short hop down the stairs to the pool and beach. Great service on the beach. Chairs, towels and umbrellas at your beck and call together with drinks and food service to match. What a great place. Dinner in the dining room was great, good menu, tremendous food matched with good wine all at reasonable prices. I almost forgot to throw in the amazing view. The pool side lunch was quick, the food was fresh, tasty and lots of it. Great for a family with small kids who are hungry after a morning at the beach and pool. The town of Laguna is a really fun place to hang out and the town shuttle makes it easy to get around. The Surf and Sand is a must if you are staying in Laguna. About a quarter of the price of the Del in San Diego yet about 3 times the value and service provided.

the hotel was fabulas and we cant wait to go back they are very helpful in the hotel. the rooms are very clean and the room service is execelent.