This hotel's location is its best attribute. Some rooms face the ocean directly; others face in the opposite direction to the marina. A very few just face the pool. Next best is the staff: To a person, they were wonderful. The bellhop, who might have been new, refused a tip (with an honest smile on his face)! Some blessings: The views; the area around the hotel with beautiful grass, some rocking chairs to watch the boats go in and out; nice ping-pong table; pool and spa apparently constantly filled with children. Beautiful lobby with sweeping staircase and waterfall feature. The one-bedroom suite we had was enormous! Some curses: The continental breakfast is extremely limited, and the cheap toasters barely function. No air conditioning (in all fairness, it's often overcast and not very hot, though). No elevator. Rooms condition shows wear (like a carpet border coming off the wall). No restaurant on site; only one in easy walking distance; no room service. Surprise Gotcha Not Their Fault: If you don't have a vehicle when you stay here, you'd better come on a Thu-Sun. If not, (we came Mon-Wed -- big mistake with no vehicle), then you must either walk everywhere or take a cab. Almost everything (other than one slightly-above-average restaurant, the Jolly Roger) is a MINIMUM of one mile away. Thu-Sun, there are free shuttles. Mon-Wed, you and your feet are on your own. Overall a very nice experience.

We checked in,went into our 2bdr "suite" and there was nothing suite about it,it was disgusting! It was dark,dingy,one of the bed's sides was pretty close to the floor and the other was several inches higher.The carpet was FILTHY,frayed and old,the entire "suite" (NOT) was just gross.We walked straight back out to the desk and told them the "suite" was not acceptable and they didn't offer any other room just my money back which was a relief.The parking is a nightmare,my friend could not get her car out of the parking lot a very long truck had her blocked in on one side and the pillars holding up the hotel behind her.The desk clerk warned us that the parking would be full and to prepare for maybe not getting a parking space at all.It's a good location but thats the only good thing I can say.Beware

No AC! They put us in a room facing the marina (not the ocean) and it was hot, even with the windows open. Since we had to have the windows open, we then had to deal with the street noise and people running their cars below our window very early in the morning. There was one switch in the bathroom (light and fan), and that blew out hot air. Room was very musty. The reservation was prepaid by a travel agent. Yet when we arrived, they did not have record of payment, and i had to pay again. My travel agent is now getting copies of the bank checks to prove signature.

My husband and I chose this hotel because of the location. It is very close to Camp Pendelton therefore, it was an easy drive (approx 10min) for our son who is going to be deployed to get off an on the base within a reasonable time frame. I will list the positive things first. Great Location, Beautiful Views, 2 bedroom suites are available, kitchenettes, outside grills which are kept very clean,restuarants within walking distance, and the staff was very accomodating. Now the negative things: NO AIRCONDITIONING in any of their rooms. I was told that you only need air about 15 days a year! Well It was very hot while we were there! The 2 bedroom suites have 2 bathrooms as well, however one has a tub with no shower and the other one just has a shower. This can pose a problem for 4 people who only want to shower. The rooms are very dated and the carpeting looked very dirty. I was told that the are remodeling one room at a time. The beach is 1 mile away, you cannot access it from the hotel unless you walk or take a shuttle which is only available on FRI, SAT, SUN. The free breakfast in my opinion was horrible. They only serve bagels, cream cheese, (no butter) apples, oranges, and donuts. The donut case was very dirty, and I noticed it did not get cleaned every day because the same smear marks were always there. We went to the store and bought a few things for breakfast and they provide coffee and coffee makers in the room. This worked out best for us. I think the rooms are a little overpriced because of the information I listed above however because of the location and the fact that you can get 2 bedrooms I would probable stay here again.

This hotel was a little tricky to find since they are working on the harbor area and no real signs to the hotel or to the lobby (except very small, and easy to miss). The location was nice (on the harbor with the water on 3 sides), although I wasn't impressed with the town itself. It just seemed dirty and old. Well, a lot like the hotel. The lobby had nice staircases but no elevator. Then the people working at the desk each time were teenagers. Although nice, a little slow with everything. The only positive thing I can say about the room is that is was huge, like a small apartment really with full kitchen. The toiletries were nice as well. But other than that it was old, and smelled, the furniture was very dirty and gross. the wallpaper peeling, and floors very nasty. The next morning the "breakfast" consisted of help yourself old dry pastries, orange drink, coffee in styrafoam, and fruit loops. To give them credit they did have you submit a breakfast survey in which you can offer suggestions to improve. Also they seem to be doing a lot of work on the rooms. That morning (very early) they had carpet cleaners, people banging on the walls, workers shouting at each other, and basically all the sounds of all the people gutting the hotel. When I checked out early because I couldn't stand the noise any longer, I could see rooms that had acually been stripped and were getting new paint and flooring. It would have been better if the just closed the hotel for a month instead of ruining everyone's vacation. Anyhow, give the hotel a few months and maybe give it a try. If they can update and get new everything including air conditioning, it may be worth it. The view and location is great and the hotel has hope. Along with the city itself, they are redoing the harbor area and the visiting areas are improving. With luck and time Oceanside may be able to catch up with it's neighbors yet. (By the way Jolly Roger restaurant was fun to go to at night and hear karaoke from the locals)