great retro motel feel. hasn’t been messed with. lots of original features. loved the colours. spacious. clean. peaceful. safe. daily room service (friendly staff). nice little kitchen. great bed and pillows.

wifi was annoyingly unreliable during entire 1 week stay. you’d expect decent wifi these days. location is okay. Santa Monica not really our cup of tea but close enough other stuff eg can walk to Venice (45mins) which we found ourselves doing a couple of times. otherwise can drive to some other nice spots quite easily. good access to Malibu. I’d probably stay here again if the hotel remained as charming as it is. otherwise would consider staying in Venice or silver lake.

The Cal Mar hotel is situated in a great location. Walking distance from the beach and downtown Santa Monica. It is not so much a hotel. A better description would be an apartment rental. Although not entirely up to modern day standards (the stove is a little outdated), the rooms are spacious and clean and leave nothing to be desired. It was the perfect relaxing end of our 4 weeks camping vacation. It's an quadrant of apartments with an inner courtyard. This courtyard and pool is the gem of this facility. It's quit and tranquil and peaceful. The staff was very friendly and helpful. We were sorry to go home.

The drawback is there is no foodservice of any kind. There is no possibility for breakfast within the hotel. And the nearest grocery shop is quite a long walk.

Great location...few minutes from the pier and beach

parking was a little tight

Great location! Very close to the beach and the promenade. Able to walk everywhere and scooter to Venice Beach, Muscle Beach. The room was SUPER clean! The building is dated but well kept! The check-in desk is simple, functional and easy to check in and out.

Hmmm..., we can hear all the voices of our neighbors and everyone who walked by our room to get to the steps to enter/exit their rooms. We got room #218 by the stairs and the other guests were pretty loud talking and walking in and out. Windows are glass panels so it does not eliminate noises. In any case, I don't think it matters because the other guests were loud. I got zero sleep because people walked in/out throughout the night on a Saturday night and the door opening/shutting is very loud.

great staff. very friendly pool great location very good

Location, location, location. It was just perfect as you can walk to the ocean in just several minutes, also shops and restaurants. The area around the hotel was quiet and clean. Our 1 bedroom apartment was a very decent size, had a kitchen with everything you might need to cook breakfast. There was heating too which was very handy in winter.

The hotel is obviously quite dated, however, I still think it’s great value for money in such a lovely location in LA

The accommodation was exceptionally clean and the staff were very professional. The rooms were spacious and having a full kitchen was a blessing. The pool was clean and heated. The location was excellent, a few minutes walk to the restaurants and to the pier/beach.

There is a back alley where bins are emptied VERY early in the morning, but I guess that is city living!

OMG, I would live at the Cal Mar Suites if I could! Do you all remember Veronica Mars' apartment in Neptune, CA? Same era, same feeling of early 1960's Southern California. This place may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it floated my boat. The staff was not only nice, but incredibly helpful. The pool was heated to perfection. They provide carports. You can walk to the beach, to restaurants, to shopping. I felt safe and even slept with the windows open at night.

No downside here for me--this was perfect. I can't wait to get back.

Size of room, having separate rooms (kitchen, bedroom, living room, bathroom) and room was very spacious, location was great and nice to have sofa to sit on plus a desk, access to washer/dryer, as well as "full" kitchen, blankets provided

Small bed, pretty lame shower, preference of location of some things in the room

I liked the location which was in the area I wanted to stay. It is on a more residential type street. It is close to the beach, about 10-15 minute walk to Santa Monica Pier. There are restuarants, nail shops, etc one block over. Parking stalls near sidewalk was different ($22 add'l charge), but my car was fine. I did hear people walking by when in bathroom or kitchen, but that wasn't a problem. The room had a stocked kitchen, pans, dishes, even ice trays in freezer. I only used the full size fridge and the one cup coffee maker with coffee packets provided. So nice. I had a room overlooking the pool. It had a ceiling fan and and standing fan (didn't need standing fan). I understand why they do a $100 deposit in case of damage or theft perhaps, but they probably won't bill me. Two closets were nice, one with shelves. Bathroom on the smaller side, but it was just for me so okay.

Shower water took a little time to get hot, but it is an older building. I felt at home though.