Residence Inn La Mirada Buena Park

I'll start with the positives since there are only two: Complimentary breakfast was good every day, and the staff were consistently courteous and personable. That's where the good ends. We booked a 2-bedroom/2-bathroom suite with a kitchen, ground floor, specifically for easy outdoor access for our small dog. From the moment we walked in, the room had a musty, stale odor. A closer look revealed just how neglected it was: a stained wall, dirty carpet, broken bathroom tiles, stained bathtub, holes in the curtains (bugs, possibly), peeling wallpaper, and an AC unit that barely worked (some photos attached). On top of that, the phones in both bedrooms wouldn't stop flashing with "message" notifications. When I dialed the number I was told would retrieve them, I got nothing but a busy signal. Front desk's answer: "must be something wrong with the phone system." That’s it! No fix offered. I ended up unplugging the phone just to make it stop. If we had the luxury of time, we would have checked, for instance Yelp first and seen the flood of 1-star reviews (it's honestly surprising this place has any 4- or 5-star reviews at all). Unfortunately, our house was mid-asbestos-abatement and about to undergo air testing and our Airbnb couldn't be extended. We needed a 2-bedroom/2-bath right away. This place fit the requirement on paper so we didn't have the option to shop around. Then, after booking, I learned I couldn't get my Marriott Bonvoy member rate (or even the AAA rate) by booking directly with the property. I was told, "If you want those rates, you need to go through Marriott's website." I'd been so focused on confirming they had a ground-floor 2-bedroom suite for our dog that checking the rate policy wasn't top of mind. Lesson learned, I guess. The most serious issue, though: my wife has a respiratory condition and is highly sensitive to bleach. We requested no housekeeping for exactly this reason, and were told it was noted. It wasn't honored, twice! Both times, she walked into the room, immediately started coughing, and said she could smell bleach and couldn't breathe well. We were fortunate it didn't escalate into an ER visit, but there's no excuse for it happening even once, let alone twice, after an explicit request. Bottom line: if you're considering this hotel, don't. We had a similarly poor experience at another Marriott property in Texas, and stays like this make me wonder what's happened to the Marriott name and the standards it used to represent.

Book through the hotel website and not a third party bc they WILL screw you over. We booked a month and a half in advance, never got notified that our reservation was canceled, and they did not want to accommodate us. At first they gave us the excuse that our third party had cancelled the reservation, but when we talked to them again, turned out that the hotel cancelled it for “maintenance.” I think it’s unfair that we were never notified, not thru email or phone and they were not accommodating. This place overbooks and screws you over.

Overall, our stay was decent, but there were a few issues that prevented it from being a better experience. The biggest problem was that my credit card was charged twice for the incidental deposit at check-in. I recommend checking your credit card statement carefully after you arrive. When I brought it to the staff’s attention, the only explanation I received was that they were “changing their credit card system in December”—even though our stay was in July. Unfortunately, there was no apology or acknowledgment of the inconvenience. The room was clean and comfortable, and the breakfast was very good, with plenty of food and a nice selection. The pool is quite small, and there were some stern-looking people around who did not appear to be hotel guests, which made the area feel less welcoming. I was also a little concerned about parking security. The parking lot is open, and I did not notice any security personnel during the night, so I’m not sure how secure vehicles are. Overall, the room and breakfast were the highlights, but the double charge and lack of customer service left a disappointing impression.