I was apprehensive about booking the Ocean Lodge, due to some of the reviews posted here, but as it was only for one night, I thought I'd bite the bullet.

I needn't have worried! The Ocean Lodge was excellent.

You can't ask for a better location in Santa Monica. It was spitting distance from the pier.

We arrived long before the advised check-in time and our room wasn't ready. The front desk clerk was very helpful, and got it turned around within an hour or so.

The room was clean and a nice size. It was much better than the motel-style exterior would indicate. The room was equipped with a fridge. And it had the best smelling soap!

The hotel didn't offer any breakfast, but complimentary hot beverages are available at times when the front desk is open. There is also a complimentary internet terminal located at the front desk which can be used during office hours. This is limited to a 15 session if someone is waiting.

I was very impressed with this hotel.

The room had dust falling from the ceiling fan, so my mom & I both got sick. We had to go buy medication and we looked for an air purifier!

There are no ocean view or particial ocean view rooms in this hotel.

There is no airconditioning in the rooms! You have to open a window &/or use the ceiling fans.

Some strangers knocked on our door at 3 am Tuesday morining & threw rubbish at our door. There was no one at the front desk, so we called the police.

Parking is horrible! We rented a med size car & it wouldn't fit in there tiny parking spaces without hitting someone elses car door. We had to sweeze past the other parked cars to get in & out of our car. And, there aren't enough spaces for all of the guest in the hotel. Sometimes, we had to park on the street & there was no one at the front desk to help us. Most people have to back out onto the hwy (which is against the law) in order to get out of the parking lot. Someone almost back into us as we where coming into the hotel; because you can hardly turn around to face front, in the parking lot.

There's a bar next to the hotel & the people come out load & drunk. And, there's constrction going on on the side of the hotel.

There is no one available to help you at the front desk between some time around midnight & sometime in the morining.
Our plane left at 6am. Since there was no staff availble, I had to sweeze our room keys under the office door window. To this day, I don't know if they ever recieved our room keys.

We will never stay in a place like this again! It's more like a motel, than a hotel!

My advise is, pay the $200 plus a night & go to a clean, secure hotel someplace else. Find a hotel with round the clock security & front desk service.
And if you have any kind of allergies, stay away from this hotel.

I stayed at the ocean Lodge and found it to be a home from home from Scotland. Where else can you be in striking distance of the world famous Santa Monica Pier and Venice Beach at those prices. Loved your wonderful weather and unfailing courtesy and great value. The Singing Chairs were special too!
Regards Doug Timmins
nameinlights@blueyonder.co.uk

We flew in to LAX from Houston and stayed at the Ocean Lodge Saturday & Sun nites. The location is really good, easy walk to everything that we wanted to see and do. We never got in our car, pd $10 to park it right by our room. Our room was 175.00/nite which is really high for such a small, old place but heck, this is Santa Monica and we learned that it was a bargain after pricing other area hotels. We had a suite which had a small bedroom with a double bed in it in addition to the double bed in the main room. very small bathroom and shower but clean enough....don't expect a spotless, modern room and you won't be disappointed. no A/C but ceiling fans and space fans and it was plenty cool for sleeping (even had to close windows before morning) felt safe enough and after spending a week in the hollywood, disney and universal areas, we took a family vote and headed back to santa monica for our last day and night before flying back to texas! we thought we'd try another hotel but after ckg prices, we ended up back at the Ocean Lodge and our room for that night was $150 since it was just a standard double room. anyway, it's a beach hotel in a great spot....the kids loved the pier area and we all enjoyed renting bikes and riding down the beach to Venice. great place to visit!