Recently stayed during the Easter weekend for spring break for 4 nights. The hotel was super busy but not too overwhelmingly crowded. Check-in was quick and easy.
The room: we booked a classic double queen room for about $200/night. It was a nice clean room but quite basic compared to some of the less expensive hotels we've stayed at (such as the Ayres). Room came equipped with a good size tv, coffee maker, mini fridge, iron+table, hair dryer, water bottles (that cost a ridiculous $6), ice bucket; bathroom had shampoo, conditioner, body wash -- all that were not good for me and my daughter as they all irritated our skins/scalps, but they all smelled really nice. Also provided were face soap and a really pleasant hand lotion that reminded me of the Jo Malone ones. Shower pressure was good. The light switches were a bit annoying because why do we need all the extra buttons/options. We just need the lights to turn on while we're doing our business. My negative one star is for the mattresses and pillows. My husband and I tossed and turned all night/every night because we were so uncomfortable. I even considered sleeping on the floor or arm chair next to the bed because anything would have been better than the mattress. The pillows were so flat, it felt like we were sleeping on nothing at all. I even took the pillows off of the bed my kids were sleeping on, stacked 4 pillows and still felt like nothing. I think I mostly was able to fall asleep because I was so exhausted from the days' activities that I just didn't care anymore. Other than that, the room was great, very good sound proofing as we didn't hear any noise at all and our room was near the elevator and ice machine (which were really loud and sounded like it was ready to explode), so we know there was quite the foot traffic passing by (also, we heard dogs barking as we were heading to the elevator but it was very low so that definitely shows how good the sound proofing is!). The housekeepers were sweet and prompt any time we needed something (ie extra towels, cups, etc). They even nicely folded my daughter's little blankie and put her plushies together (my daughter loved walking into the room and seeing them like that). Only thing I need to note in case anyone is looking for it, but there are no microwaves in the rooms.
Hotel itself was really nice. Plenty of waiting areas and dining options available. We didn't try any of the restaurants but did hang out at the bar a few times. Drinks were chef's kiss, all made to perfection. The bartenders checked each time to make sure they were to our satisfactions (we had a lot to drink during our times at the bar lol). We also had some bites to go with our drinks and those were also good (definitely recommend the chicken karaage with the cocktails!). We met some fun people, including the bartenders that kept it positive with good energy.
The hotel also has a pool, it was smaller than expected but still a good size for the kids. They provided towels and plenty of seating for moms to hangout poolside. The pool was slightly heated but it was kind of spotty in random areas. My daughter said it was mostly cold though. Note: do not try to enter the pool area from the back courtyard as that gate will not open, use the gate on the front side after passing the valet guys. Towels are towards the back gate, near the shower area.
Valet: it was $31/day. No self parking. The guys were prompt at getting our car to us even when they were shorthanded. I think there was really only one time where we waited a little longer than 5 minutes but we were not in a rush, so we didn't mind waiting. You can also schedule for them to bring your car up at a certain time so it's there for you when you're ready to go (we had scheduled for them to bring our car up at 6:30am for an early access trip to Universal Studios -- which btw is only 30 minutes away from the hotel-- and our car was out there waiting for us!). We did have a few concerns as my car does have a GPS tracker on it and a few times it did ping that it was not at the address of the hotel, it wasn't too far off or anything but I've never had it log in a wrong address before; the other concerns were that my dash cam was moved and a few times I received notification that my doors were left unlocked (I was able to lock it remotely through my phone). We just kind of summed them up to human error (accidentally pushing the cam, forgetting to lock the doors, and maybe car was parked in a different lot as we were told that sometimes when the lot is full, they will park a little bit further out), our car got back to us, without damage, so no big deal.
Overall, it was a great experience staying at Le Meridien and we will make this our go-to hotel every time we are in the area! read more