The Portofino Hotel & Yacht Club, fun for the 4th of July!
Written: Jul 06 '04 (Updated Aug 19 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: views, customer service, price, lounge area, pre-check in option
Cons: can be expensive, high priced restaurant, no ‘fridge
The Bottom Line: This may not technically be a 5 star hotel, but with the experience I received, I give this hotel 5 stars!
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| cubmomma's Full Review: Portofino Hotel and Yacht Club |
OK, so I plan ahead. I mean, really ahead. Living in the Los Angeles area, I have found that you have to plan early. Let me take you back….
February, 2004. I am cruising down Pacific Coast Hwy to find a hotel for my family and I to spend the 4th of July (yes, it’s 5 months away!). I want the hotel to be in Redondo Beach, by the pier, so we will be able to see the fireworks show from our room/balcony. I chose the Portofino Hotel & Yacht Club. OK, so it’s only 5 minutes from our house, but hey, it’s right on the ocean. They offer full-front ocean views, partial ocean views, and marina views. There is no beach access, the closest is about 1/2 mile away. (But there is a great place called Seaside Lagoon in the shared parking area, only a 2 minute (yes, that's two minutes) walk from the hotel. For more information, you can check out http://www.redondo.org/depts/recreation/facilities/seaside_lagoon/default.asp )
Anyway, I called the hotel directly to book a reservation. Kristin, the reservationists, was so pleasant and helpful. She guaranteed me a full ocean view room with two beds for one night on the 4th of July at $165. Done deal. She faxed me the confirmation.
Now let me bring you to the beginning of June, 2004. I thought I’d call the hotel anonymously simply to inquire about availability and to "check" the rate. I was told that for the night of July 4th, the rate was $240 a night. I called again towards the end of June, and was now told that there was a three-night minimum at $199 a night. I guess the more they got full, the more things got changed.
Knowing this, I grew concerned. Would we get our full ocean view room bumped/downgraded to a partial or marina-view room for someone who was paying more? Hmm. Read on to find out.
Parking
Yes, it costs to park here. The fee is $15 for overnight parking. You are really not guaranteed a space, especially since it was the 4th of July, so parking early is essential. We noticed that around 4:00 PM, there was a big sign that said the lot was full! Yikes, I’m glad we parked early.
Lobby
This hotel has a very plush and welcoming lobby. The check in counter is nice and long, and has a green marble top. There are classy couches and chairs. There is a very open step-up lounge area right along the lobby. It had a fireplace, with a fire going, and very comfortable high back winged reading chairs. There were numerous couches and coffee tables, and even a chessboard set up along one of the many windows. Looking out one of the windows was a fantastic ocean view. Very cozy place indeed.
Check-in
We got to the hotel at 10:00 AM on July 4th. This was too early to check in, check in is at 3:00 PM (check out is at noon). But, the very helpful and pleasant employee said we could do a pre-check in and they would hold the card key until the room was finished being cleaned. So, I gave him my credit card, and was processed within 4 minutes. I then walked over to the Seaside Lagoon to play with my kids in the water.
The Room
Upon returning from Seaside Lagoon, around 6:00 PM, I went to the lobby to get my card key. No problems, it was right at the receptionist’s fingertips all ready to go. We took the elevator to the second of three floors to our room for the moment of truth….
Upon entering the room, I noticed how nice it looked. It was not a huge room, but it was very clean and was painted peach on the top, and light blue with stripes on the bottom with a white chair rail splitting the colors. To the right was a closet with an iron/board and three extra pillows. To the left was the full sized bathroom.
Walking further into the room, there were two double beds that had comforters of a festive array of different colors. Between the beds was an oversized side table with a phone, lamp and alarm clock on it.
Across from the beds stood an small round glass table with 2 wicker plush chairs, and next to that was a door for the adjoining room. There was an armoire that held a small 20” TV, three drawers for your clothes below, and a mini bar refrigerator. There is no other ‘fridge to put any food away that you may have brought with you. The TV has 22 “free” channels, movies that you can purchase and games you can purchase for the kids. The mini bar sold the usual snacks for $3-$4, but it also included unusual items, like a travel mug ($19), sweatshirt ($65), baseball caps ($18.50), bathrobe ($65), sunscreen ($17), and disposable camera ($9), to name a few.
Walking to the back of the room, to the sliding glass door, I pulled back the curtain, and…we had the most spectacular full ocean view ever! There was a large balcony that had two more chairs and a little round table on it. The balcony is almost right over the ocean! I was so happy!! The balcony rail is about 3 1/2 feet tall, but it has glass across the front to help keep out some of the wind, and because it’s glass, none of the ocean view is obstructed.
The Bathroom
The bathroom is a full sized bathroom with the tub/shower combo, toilet, sink, coffee maker w/coffee and built in hair dryer. What I thought was very cool were the little touches. They had oatmeal soap for the bath, and glycerin soap for the sink. There were full 2 ounce bottles each of shampoo, conditioner, bathing gel and body moisturizer, all different colors. There was even a glass container that held cotton balls, Q-tips and little flat cotton pads for makeup removal. All of these sat on a nice, large silver tray. There was even a smaller silver tray to hold the little glycerin soap.
…Now, I have to pause a moment to tell you about the adjustable shower head. It was great! It came out about a foot from the wall, and was height adjustable. When you turn on the water, it would “rain” on you. Both my kids (8 & 3) just loved this and want one of these for their bathroom at home! Now, on with the review…
I noticed that there were only three towels for the four of us, so I called housekeeping for three more towels. And before I could get out a few dollars for a tip, housekeeping was knocking at my door, left the towels, and left without her tip. (I left an extra tip when we checked out.)
The Restaurant
There is a restaurant called Breakwater right across the parking area that offers room service. We actually had dinner at this restaurant, but it was expensive. My baked Halibut was $33, my husbands braised pork was $28, and my kids dinners were $6 each. We also got the calamari appetizer for $8, which was delicious, and their tea is really good. Really, everything was delicious, but with tax and the tip we ended up spending $100 just for dinner, and that’s with no wine. Better to go across the street to the many other restaurants, like Cheesecake Factory, Bluewater Grill or The Crab Shack.
The Fireworks
My skeptical mind starting thinking, “Would we have a good view of the fireworks from our balcony?” The only answer I can give is WOW! We were so close, it was unbelievable! I should have known it was a good spot when we saw a lot of boats come and anchor in the harbor right in front of us. The fireworks show was a “Blast!” When it was over, all the boats starting honking their horns. What a great night! And how convenient, right after the show, we walked in from the balcony and we put the kids to bed.
The Running Toilet
After we came back in, I heard the toilet running. Knowing that no one had used it for half and hour, I called maintenance to have a look at it. I promise you, a man was there within 3 minutes of my call. He had the toilet fixed within 5 minutes, and was out of our room.
Check Out
This was very easy. I just gave the clerk my card key, told her we had a great stay, and she printed out my receipt.
Other Extras
The hotel has a pool, spa, fitness center, and a business meeting room. I don’t know if the room had high speed internet access. We didn’t use any of these features, so I cannot comment on them.
You can check out the Portofino Hotel & Yacht Club, or even book a room, on the web at:
http://www.hotelportofino.com
Or you can call them directly at:
310-379-8481
This is part of "The Great Hotel Write-Off" at http://www.angelfire.com/trek/greathotel2004/entries.html
©Sherri (cubmomma) 2004
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
cubmomma
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Member: Sherri
Location: Southern Calif.
Reviews written: 28
Trusted by: 26 members
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