Best Western Plus Marina Shores Hotel

Excellent hotel. Great customer service, tasty free breakfast, very clean and a great location. When I vacation in this area again, I’ll definitely be staying at this hotel.

Recently updated. We got a suite room. Put the kids in the living room and hit a decent amount of privacy with the bedroom.
Breakfast was pretty good (pancake machine for the win).

Lotsa pros and cons here. Came from the valley, bunked a night with a family of 4. Here we go:
Pros:
Walking distance to the beach, don’t ask me which one, and minutes to dana point harbor (that place is boring as heck though)
Clean room, paid $ 15.00 for upgrade to mini-​suite, had an extra sofa/​pull-​out bed and separate TV.
Great balcony. Smoke would be great but none allowed (that’s cool prefer it that way)
Great partial view of the ocean
Have 4 fast food places right across; subway, mcd, jack, and del taco for cheapo junk food fix.
Easy to get into, I got a bit nervous from other reviews but no problem.
Plug-​in air filter (cool, a first for me in any hotel/​motel)
HBO and good channels, good tv, wifi also good but keeps disconnecting you.
Whirlpool bathtub for those that can plunk their ass down on hotel bathtubs. Not for me.
shower it self decent a little weak pressure but passable.
Ample towels
Very quiet night passed no neighbor noise.
Cons:
Butt-​tight parking spaces, and they charge $ 10.00, even for best western members. Auto– 1 star down. Hard to get out with a minivan backing up. You may backup your minivan into the lobby before you know it!
Terrible breakfast. Eggs if you can call them that were gross, I mean awe-​Ful. Ham steaks unchewable, and as usual lukewarn crappy breakfast potatoes like all best westerns. Only good thing is the pancake maker. And small room gets crowded quick. Mcdonalds across the way for a few bucks would be a better option. Unless you want just pancakes and some Yoplait strawberry yogurt with modified corn starch. Muffins are awful tastes like cough syrup.
Pull out sofa bed easily surpasses the worst «thing» I have tried to sleep in, just awful. You literally feel like you’re sleeping on a bed of quicksand sinking into the depths of shittiness. And ONE single sheet on it, wow.
Sink area was very small
Paid $ 190 for only one night including taxes and parking, and that’s after booking 6 weeks in advance. Kinda pricey but its the area. It will do.

Our room was very nice! The staff was SUPER nice. One of the major problems was that you could hear every single person walking, talking, running, etc. in the outside hallway. You could also hear your neighbors. Very loud and got pretty annoying.

After my sister (who booked our hotel room) contacted the manager, we were able to work things out. The manager expressed his concerns about our experience and acknowledged our disappointment with our prior experience. All things aside, they were able to accommodate our needs in order to make the rest of our stay a better experience.

Stayed here for a couple of days while our apt was being fumigated. Kenia helped us & was very helpful & professional. The room was very nice! Spa tub, balcony, two tv’s, soft bed. I will be back

Stayed two nights for a company conference. I am so in love with this hotel and we will be back next time I visit the OC. The property is pet friendly and they made us and our pets feel so welcome. The room had a balcony that overlook PCH, the decore was very modern and the room very clean. The breakfast area was very clean and all staff was friendly. Did not encounter one negative item during our stay. My only «complaint» if you even want to call it one, is there isn’t a pet area to walk the dogs to unless you go to the park a couple of blocks down.

We cannot believe how paper thin these walls are. The room itself is nice enough (we have a suite) but again, the walls are way too thin. If someone fills the bath in the room next door it is super loud so that we have to turn the tv sound way up… same goes for anyone talking outside room. Location is excellent, parking good but right spaces.

I had to stay here last minute, and had booked an accessible room, because I was so flustered. When I checked in, the manager Peter asked me if I needed an accessible room, of course I didn’t. So, he was so sweet and had upgraded me to a king room with Jacuzzi, and I burst into tears. I had some sad things going on in my life at the time and it’s so nice to know there are nice people out there. I used the Jacuzzi tub and it was exactly what I needed. The room was very clean. The only downfall is the hotel is right on Pacific Coast Highway so you can hear traffic, but I left the fan on all night, and that solved that. I will definitely recommend this hotel to my friends!

We always go here when visiting friends in OC for the night. I have to say, the lady who checks you in, her name is Diane; most friendly person you will ever meet, she is so kind and very helpful and our two small dogs love her every time they see her… keep up the good work Diane! Thank you…
All in all, great hotel, great views and pet friendly a plus!

The room was surprisingly huge and extremely welcome! The front desk staff was the first thing that made me happy, they were super helpful and straight to the point, which I like. I also bothered them multiple times throughout the mid hours of the night about random things in which they bent over backwards to help me. (The only vending machine wasn’t working) Kyle was one of the front desk men at the time and on his own accord, went across the street to the gas station JUST to grab me Cheetos in which I was asking for (from the vending machine!). So extremely nice considering I never asked him to do that!!! I’d be back in a heart beat, if I knew any of the other staff’s names that night if totally post them! Adoring this hotel. Will be back again :)

Great room, great location got a great deal. Rode down from the high desert and ended up in DanaPoint. Got a great room close to the harbor. Going to get a drink a burn a stogie, thanks ladies at the desk.

Great Place to stay, when your Son is getting married nearby

Great stay.
Good location, clean and good value.
Nice pool and breakfast.
Lots of places to get food around and close to the beach.
Recommended

We stayed in a room that specifically had a fireplace back in June. When we tried to use it late that evening (don’t judge me, I like ambiance) and it didn’t work. Upon checking out the next day, we told the front desk person that it was broken and she said, «oh.» Not even a sorry, rude. So my girlfriend emailed the manager and he has been awesome.
He let us pick another weekend to come and stay in an awesome room to make up for it. I at a cup cake in the bath while watching a football game midst a sea of bubbles– it definitely made up for it :)

The remodel looks decent enough but… There are some serious service issues
1) I called last night to complain about ants in my room — some just crawling around on the night table, some on our pillow, and the odd guy on the bedsheets. The lady said oh I’m sorry I’ll let them know that they should look into that… She didn’t offer to put us in a different room or anything. We were too tired and it was too late to get anything done. All night it felt creepy crawley and my wife got bit on the butt.
2) This morning I called the front desk 4 different times over an hour period and let the phone ring 20 times without an answer. So then I tried calling the main local number and still no answer.
A disappointing experience. I just moved in the area and I’m gonna have a hard time recommending this place to visitors.
——
⁹⁄₉. No credit has been issued yet

This newly renovated hotel is Awesome!
It’s Clean, Great staff and great complimentary Breakfast.
We stay here every year for the Doheny Blues Festival and will be back next year once again. We just Booked our rooms they are almost sold out for May 13 – 16 2016.
It’s so convenient to walk across the street to the fest.
I also stay here a few times a year when I have business meetings in OC.
Ask for Leslie La Berge for Corp rates.
She is awesome

Really nice room, the view on both sides of the hotel, one faces a wall but on an angle you can see beautiful trees, winter colors right now. The other side is PCH, it was NOT to noisy, view down the street and can see the Dana Point Bridge and some of the beach.
kitchenette with sink, refrigerator, microwave & coffee maker; a whirpool tub in the bathroom; a small patio balcony outside the bedroom; free & effective Wi-​Fi in the room; free parking for Best Western Rewards members; & complimentary Continental breakfast.
We both slept good, no complaints regarding our entire stay.
Let me mention, the breakfast was awesome, they had many options for me and that is a good thing since i have a gluten intolerance. They had hard boiled eggs, egg white patties and scrambled eggs, sausage patties and home potatoes, all cooked perfectly. They had every kind of toast, but gluten free but i didn’t expect that anyway. They had this pancake machine that my Alex loved!
They had dried cereal, tea, coffee (no flavored creamer, sad face) hot cocoa, milk and juices. Needless to say… we left full.
We would’ve loved to stay longer but we must be movin on. We will be back and we recommend this hotel.

The location and the rooms themselves are very nice! The halls leading to the rooms are not as on point at the balconies you see driving down PCH. But overall a very nice hotel!
My only stipulation is: I’m happy I arrived too late and too drunk to my hotel room to notice the white crusted stain on the headboard…
I’ve spent my fair share of nights in hooker motels, and I’m not saying I’m above that – but for the price paid for the room, I think I expected a «cleanliness is next to Godliness» complex :-)

Stayed here recently as it’s location was close to a wedding of a good friend of mine at Dana Point Harbor. This Best Western is right on PCH. But the entrance into the parking lot is via the side street. Parking for all guests is $ 10 but is waived if you are a part of the Best Western rewards club.
My only gripe of my stay here was at check-​in. When I called to make this reservation, I told the lady I spoke to that if at all possible, we’d like to check in a little earlier than 3pm (check-​in time) as we were attending a wedding around 5pm and it would give enough time for people to get dressed & ready. She said to call when we were in the area and it was a possibility that we could… Well, all are best laid plans in arriving early from LA were scrapped due to traffic heading down to South County and we didnt arrive until 2:30pm. I thought for sure we’d be able to check-​in as it was only a half hour until regular check-​in time. Wrong… The lady at the front desk told us and friends who arrived about 10 mins prior to us, with their own room reservation, had said the room would be ready in «15 minutes»… 3:00pm came around & we thought for sure our rooms would be ready. There was another wedding that was around that time & you could tell a lot of those guests were staying at Marina Shores too. I get it, I really do. It’s busy, it’s hectic… Everyone is doing their best. But my friends & I were patiently standing by near the front desk and in comes 2 different group of folks after us and she checks them in before us… C’mon now. Not cool cause now, I’m feeling overlooked and it was me who convinced everyone to check in to Marina Shores instead of the other Best Western Plus in Dana because I read the not so great Unilocal reviews about the dealings & friendliness of the front desk staff. Now I’m feeling like I made a mistake… A gentleman with glasses (Tom?) who was also at the front desk looked overwhelmed with phone calls & people walking up with all sorts of questions. So when the un-​helpful lady stepped away, we approached Kenya (sp?) and she looked up our reservation & told us it was ready. It was about 3:30pm. Less than 2 hours from the wedding. She was very helpful & despite it being a bit busy, managed to check both our parties in with a smile… Other than the start of our stay there, everything else was good. But you know what they say about first impressions…
The room was nice. The beds were comfortable. The AC unit was powerful & cold, just like how we like it. It was a humid summer day in Dana and we had to get ready for a wedding. The room I reserved had 2 queens beds. 2 guys & 1 girl had to get showered & ready in a bit of a hurry. My other friends were given a room on the lower level as they needed only one bed. They had a lot more room to walk around in & a view of PCH. They also had a separate area for their jacuzzi tub from the stand-​up shower and toilet room. Our room also had the jacuzzi tub but was in the same stall as the shower… Closets were standard. Iron worked… Typical amenities were fine.
Breakfast the next day is provided in a room past front desk. It wasn’t bad… I had scrambled eggs, some pieces of ham, & tried the pancakes from the pancake machine which werent terrible but the syrup was waaay to heavy & sweet. There’s cereal, some fruit & a variety of breads you can choose from. MIlk, fruit & juices were available. The ladies that worked the breakfast area were very nice.
Parking is first come first serve. There is parking all along the initial driveway you pull into when checking in. If all those spots are full you have to keep driving all along the length of the building & park down & under lobby level. Elevator back up to the lobby or the grand outdoor staircase.
Would I stay here again? Maybe. Those first moments were shaky & I didnt like it. I used my AAA discount. It was about $ 198 for one night. Save on parking & join Best Western rewards. Of course you have to present both cards upon arrival. Location is good. Lot of food choices around. Dana Point harbor is across the way. Doheny is nearby… And my beloved San Clemente is a short drive south along PCH…