I've been staying here for a number of years - normally at the beginning and end of my annual West Coast trip. The location is perfect - in a quiet residential area and just a couple of blocks from the ocean and one block from 3rd Street. As soon as you enter the premises you can tell that this was a 50s/60s apartment block. Very big and spotlessly clean rooms and friendly staff. The rooms are pretty dated and won't be to all tastes, but it's part of the charm for me. Parking is a very reasonable $25 a night.

Expensive for what it is (but that is only the case as a solo traveller), but Santa Monica is pretty expensive period. On my first stay of this trip my room was quiet and comfortable - helped in part by the carpeting. Upon returning, before heading home, my room had a solid wood floor which found a bit slippery. The room above must have been the same as I could hear every bit of movement.

Great location near beach and promenade, HUGE full apartments for much less than the price of one small room at other nearby hotels. Ok, this place is old and has VERY dated decor and fixtures, small bathroom, but it is oh so comfortable and clean and spacious. We come to Santa Monica a lot and always stay here. No restaurant, but near lots of coffee/dinner options.

Some rooms in the back can be very noisy with trash pickup early in the morning.

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 Although not entirely up to modern day standards (the stove is a little outdated), the rooms are spacious and clean and leave nothing to be desired.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 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.

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.

Cal Mar Suites is a block from the Santa Monica beachfront and a block from the fantastic Third Street Promenade which has lots of restaurants and stores and even a new Barnes & Noble. The rooms are kept very clean. There's a fantastic outdoor swimming pool which is immaculate and heated and very large, surrounded by palm trees and hibiscus and lots of other flowering plants.

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!