Best Western Gateway Hotel

, Santa Monica, United States
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Best Western Gateway Hotel

, Santa Monica
3 star

Rooms: 122

1920 Santa Monica Blvd - Santa Monica - California - 90404 - United States Hotel Website | | 310 829 9100
318 Traveller

Reviews - Best Western Gateway Hotel

Historical Traveller Reviews of Best Western Gateway Hotel

Great Stay!

from SallyLJ
We stayed in this hotel for 2 nights on the way back from a world tour.

We found the hotel great, with nice spacious rooms, helpful staff, good food, facilities etc.

Having stayed in Santa Monica before, we knew that the hotel was out of the town area quite a bit. This suited us as we had a car and were jet-lagged after travelling. However, although there is a free shuttle bus, I would recommend that first time visitors to Santa Monica stay nearer to town!

I would definately stay in this hotel again and would recommend it to those who don't want to be in the thick of things / near the beach etc.

Good place for the money!

from A TripAdvisor Member
I spent two nights in this hotel and found it to be a good deal for the money. Unfortunately, my room was on the ground floor directly across from the elevator so it was very noisy. I would only stay at this hotel again if I could get a room above the ground floor. The rooms were kind of dark but had a good bed, shower, TV, etc. Very good central business location near the studios and UCLA. The desk staff was generally rude or indifferent but I don't expect much from the staff at a chain hotel like this. I rated it above average because of the price. It was $132 a night including parking and it's only two miles from the beach and major tourist areas. In terms of experience it's only average but when you factor in the cost of the average Santa Monica hotel room in February, it's a good deal.

Another GREAT stay at the Gateway Hotel in Santa Monica!!

from A TripAdvisor Member
We just left Santa Monica today and had another wonderful stay at the Best Western Gateway Hotel. This was our 6th time staying at the hotel for our southern California excursions. Our room had recently been renovated and had new everything!! It was so nice ..... for instance, our room had new a Kitchen Aid coffee maker (an excellent extra for those guests who wish to brew the perfect cup of coffee in their own rooms). They also provide a complimentary newspaper (LA Times) each day. Our room had a refrigerator.... Nice features!! The only minor glitch was this: on the final day of our stay the housekeeping staff had not made-up our room by 2:30 pm. When I called the front desk, they were very apologetic and came up to the room promptly to remedy this situation. However, during all of my stays here, the staff has always been very accomodating. The restaurants we visited during our stay were all within a short distance of the BW Gateway; these were (1) Tokyo Fast Food, (2) Hawaiian BBQ, (3) third street promenade food court (Mexican plates), (4) Paris Pastry, and (5) Uzen Sushi. All of these are within a short distance of the hotel. There is also a McDonalds nearby, a good donut shop, and a Savon drug store. I highly recommend this hotel to other travelers on business or leisure.

Staff could have been more helpful!

from ZoeHenderson
So I stayed at the Best Western with my boyfriend from 1st Dec - 6th. We had arrived from the UK that day and although the room appeared fine let me tell you the sink stank, it was horrid.

One of the days we did not get our room serviced and when i phoned to complain the guy at the front desk casually said 'are you staying with us for another night' on reply of 'yes' he just mumbled 'well you'll get it cleaned tomorrow' - i couldn't believe it, i mean i'm paying for a service right! That so wouldn't happen in the UK!!! Well i'd hope not...

All in all the room was reasonably priced for Santa Monica and was very close to where we needed to be but i think i'd probably stay elsewhere next time.

Be warned!

Never again

from A TripAdvisor Member
Not the best place to stay if you want to be around anything or if you are a smoker. The room was small.. But clean.. You where unable to smoke on the premises. So at midnight you had to go down out of the building in your sleep wear.
A very rude lady on the front desk..

Clean though a little far from all.

from Ralphcat62
We stayed at the Best Western in September 2005.My family and i found the service at reception to vary depending on who was there.Overall it was OK however there were a couple of female attendees who seem to simply go through the motions.One morning my wife wanted to post a card however "the lady who deals with postage isn't in" and therefore my wife had to return the following day",i thought selling two postage stamps and forwarding the card wasn't too difficult a task?
The rooms were clean and the carpet a little "tired" and would need to be addressed in the next couple of years.
The major hassle was its location.Having two children 10 and 13 ,on the first day we thought we would walk to the pier and the 3rd promenade.For my wife and i the walk wasn't an issue however for my son it was a an effort and then to walk around when we got there... it was too much.The hotel does have a shuttle service on the hour every hour from 9.00am to 8.00pm ...well and good if the service is always available.One morning we waited 15 minutes with no sign of the driver.The other hassle with this is the last pick up from the promenade is 8.00pm which means unless you want to catch a taxi,it means an early night for you.

Quiet Hotel in Surburbs

from Mooms77
Service was good at this hotel, free internet access was definately a bonus. Rooms were clean and tidy, although the hotel is quite out of the main town. Free hotel shuttle makes up for this, but you still will need to get taxi's late at night.

Another great stay at the Gateway Hotel in Santa Monica

from A TripAdvisor Member
We just had another great stay at the Gateway Hotel. Our room had a new A/C unit which was VERY quiet-- awesome! The rooms are equipped with Hamilton Beach coffeemakers-- a wonderful extra feature for those guests who wish to brew coffee in their own rooms. The refrigerator in the room was another great touch. The room was very clean; the only concern I had was that the cleaning staff did NOT replenish soap when they refreshed our room. But this is minor. During our two night stay, we visited the following restuarants: Uzen Sushi, Tokyo Fast Food, India Cafe, and Paris Pastry. All of the restaurants are close to the Gateway. We would highly recommend this hotel to other guests, and in fact we have already booked a 3-night stay in December!!

smells like pancakes...but enough about the guy at the front desk

from A TripAdvisor Member
If you're looking for 2 star experience with a 5 star attitude this is place for you. The service is rude, slow, but at least it's unhelpful. The location is great if you're in town shopping for a used car (There are dealerships o' plenty within walking distance) or looking to sample the hair and eggs at the iHop downstairs. I've had the misfortune of staying at this place a couple times and only because the Ambrose was sold out. On my last trip, I missed a connecting flight and called to cancel my reservation for that evening and was told it was past the deadline to cancel and I would be charged full fare. Sorry, I didn't think to call while at 38,000 feet or in the airport running to catch my connecting flight. bottom line: I wouldn't board my dog at this 'Best' Western. Stay at the Ambrose or Loews.

Courtesy of the American People

from Ronaldo72
"Oh! you don't want to spend your hard-earned cash on a holiday in America. Americans are loud, brash, often vulgar and that 'have a nice day' trash is just a con. They don't mean a word of it."

The travel agent was having me on, of course. He just wanted to see my reaction. I have to say I was taken aback at first but then, as he handed me my final documents and confirmed itinerary , I realised he was smiling from ear to ear and pulling my leg. (American readers will have to excuse my use of English as it's sometimes spoken over here in North East England).

Yes, I write from Tyneside in Northumbria, which borders onto Scotland, and where we're colloquially known as 'Geordies'.

It was to be my first visit to the United States and I'd elected to fly-drive from San Francisco to San Diego stopping off at Carmel, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, Los Alamitos and Fallbrook on the way.

I really didn't know what to expect. Would the immigration people frighten the life out of me as I landed at SFO, I wondered? Would driving on the freeways be horrendously dangerous, as a business friend had warned? Would I understand what some of them were saying? ("they have a funny way of talking over there, you know", I was told). Would they be off-hand and unhelpful if I got lost, I worried.

Within an hour, all concerns vanished. Yes, I was a bit scared when asked by Customs (very politely, mark you) to take off my tweed jacket and heavy shoes, place both forefingers on a gadget for printing and peer into a camera for Uncle Sam's record. But isn't that what all countries should be doing at airports and rail stations after 9/11?

Freeway driving at 55 mph maximum is not dangerous, I found - providing everyone is courteous to others and observes the maxim 'do as you would be done by'. And all did to me - except the one and only time when I missed an exit, braked a little too sharply and learnt to my innocent ears that indeed some drivers do have a funny way of talking!

That apart - and it was my fault and no-one elses - courtesy, politeness, considerate and respectful behaviour (whatever you want to call it) was shown me everywhere. I simply couldn't get over how polite and eager to please a visitor were the American people.

If I was to single out one section of the population, and it would possibly be wrong to do so, I would point to the young folk, the teenagers, every one exuding courtesy of the highest order. I left the country feeling considerably warm to all with whom I'd come in contact, young and not-so-young.

Of course the initial contact for a traveller is frequently the hotel reception desk. Nowhere could I have been more politely received than that at Carmel Mission Inn, San Luis Obispo's Holiday Express, the Peppertree Inn, Santa Barbara or at Bahia Resort, San Diego. (my stays at Los Alamitos and Fallbrook were at the homes of longstanding, dear friends).

You will note that I've not included Santa Monica in that summary. Of the many fine hotels in the Los Angeles vicinity, the Best Western Gateway hotel on Santa Monica Boulevard (Route 66) cannot be typical. It's disappointing for me to have to record that, here, the coldness and couldn't-care-less attitude of reception staff (one G..... in particular) left a great deal to be desired. Doesn't one poor experience like that tend to colour the whole of the holiday thinking? It can if you let it - and I'm not going to let it.

I'm dismissing that as a total one-off and recalling only those special moments when I smiled inwardly to myself at the generosity of warmth of the American people and how they can be so proud of their teenagers who, after all, are the role models of the future.

Well done America for bringing up such fine, courteous young people. Long may they continue to be an example to the rest of us.

Ron Taylor

Footnote to UK travellers to the US :- be wary of telephoning home, call charges can come as quite a shock to the system. If you must ring, when you arrive purchase a pre-paid calling card. See the web for best buys.

Top Local Tips for Santa Monica

Skip Venice Beach, discover Redondo instead If you're staying in the LA area and looking for a great beach, forget about Venice. Take a little drive south and see gorgeous Redondo Beach instead. Venice Beach is crowded and dirty. Bums, druggies and homeless people pester tourists and make the place feel unsafe. Redondo's beautiful pier is far less crowded and much nicer. Parking is cheap, convenient and plentiful and there are dozens of shops and restaurants surrounding the marina, pier and beach. It's cleaner, prettier, safer and more family-friendly than any of the other LA beaches we visited.

Restaurant at the end of the Santa Monica Pier You have to order a mexican meal with a fish bowl - very yummy and very reasonable price.

Visit Main Street Main Street has lots of great shops and restaraunts. Here is also Santa Monica Place a mall with a food court. Also visit Venice Beach for shopping and culture.

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Other names for Best Western Gateway Hotel

  • santa monica best western
  • best western santa monica
  • Address: 1920 Santa Monica Blvd - Santa Monica - California - 90404 - United States
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