The Malibu Motel

We really enjoyed our stay at the Malibu M. The location is excellent. You can walk to the pier, restaurants, and the beach. We loved the remodeled rooms. The beds were cozy and the warm shower was really great after a long day at the beach.

We were given a key to a room already occupied. The new room floor sloped, the shower handle fell off, the noise from the highway was loud, the staff was uncaring and incompetent. We went next door for dinner, when we came back there was an incident upstairs involving shouting and 5 police officers. This place is a dump, it has been surface remodeled and not well. Better to drive further for something better.

I really like it here. Our room is clean, the staff is nice and they are very accommodating towards our needs ;)

Room was clean, bathroom was big, bed was comfy. Great room for the price and right across the street from the ocean. I would stay here again.

If I could give this place a minus star, I would. I stayed in room 102 Feb 16 — 18. My stay was awful due to not being able to sleep due to the horrible brightness in the room. I repeatedly asked to talk to the manager. Each college kid each day said something different. «She’ll be in this afternoon» «She doesn’t work on the weekends» and I reminded Clay that today was Thursday. The room is noting it said it was. Not balcony or patio and no ocean view. The worst part is the door has window which does have gray film on it but the light at night is so bright there is no way to sleep. In the morning the light from the sun brights up the whole room. I asked to move. I asked to talk to the manager. I was told I could get a 10% discount but never got a receipt. I have called, emailed and nothing. Just another college kid running the front desk. DO NOT STAY AT THIS MOTEL.

This is my first EVER review on Unilocal… if that makes any more of an impact.
I’ll keep it short and sweet. A drug addict stole my diamond necklace out of my purse and when confronting him at the motel the front desk did absolutely nothing. In fact the front desk told this drug addict my room number. This place is horrible disgusting and downright awful. Stay away. To make the story even better… it was my birthday.

I wouldn’t stay at the Malibu Motel if the room was free. It’s not every hotel stay that includes having to call the LA County Sheriff at 3:00am as you sit terrified in your room.
The motel’s website shows a very nice property. It looks like it’s on the beach and has nice views. Neither is true. It’s across Pacific Coast Highway from the beach and has no views whatsoever.
The day of our reservation, I received a call from the hotel asking me what time I would be arriving. I told the gal that it would be around 11:30pm. She said that she would be going home and would leave a note on the front door showing my name and room number and that our room would be left unlocked with the key inside. That didn’t sound particulary safe to me — leaving a room open and a notice on the front door. I asked «why don’t you just tell me my room number now and don’t leave the note for everyone to see?» She said that this is how they do it.
We arrived, found the note and parked just a few feet from our room. Besides the fact that it wasn’t the «third floor» room as we requested and paid for, we went inside and found an unremarkable room on the first floor at the end of dead-​end exterior hallway. There were two queen beds. No closet — just an industrial wire rack shelving unit on wheels. The room had just been painted and there was still masking tape on some of the wall fixtures complete with paint splatter. I guess no one quality-​checked the painters. The unit had a tiny and odd shaped bathroom — you won’t be able to see yourself in the mirror over the sink unless you’re under four feet tall. No hand towels. No hair dryer. There was a small stall-​shower with broken floor tiles that was so uninviting we didn’t really want to use it. The TV worked, the phone did not. The vertical blinds were well worn and bent to the point that they didn’t provide much privacy. But we were mostly concerned that the deadbolt on the front door didn’t work.
As other posters have observed, the most remarkable thing about this place is the noise. THE NOISE! The walls are paper thin. Not only will you hear every single car and truck whooshing by on busy PCH, you will hear every sound from the room above or next to you. We could hear televisions, conversations, people zipping up luggage, people walking up and down the steps, phone calls, bathroom use (I’ll leave those sounds to your imagination) and, of course, car after car after car buzzing up and down PCH. The rooms are literally a few feet from the highway. I’m not exaggerating — it was just like sleeping in your car on the shoulder of a freeway. It was that bad.
At about 2:30am, my daughter and I were startled to hear someone knocking wildly on our door. Then I remember that I was unable to lock the door! So I get up and walk toward the door to check the peephole. Of course, there isn’t a peephole. So I call out loudly «what do you want?» After about 5 or 6 seconds, a gravely male voice on the other side replies «you got a lighter?» I realize that the only thing between me and some homeless meth head is a thin door with a broken lock. My pulse races and I’m sure my blood pressure must have skyrocketed.
My daughter and I were petrified. I actually put my hands against the door to make sure it stayed shut and I shouted at the door «go away!» About 15 or 20 seconds later, I hear his voice again. «You got matches?» I shout back «no, go away!» We didn’t hear anything for a minute or two then I could hear him walking up and down the hallway. He seemed to be trying other doors.
My daughter and I are horrified and immediately decide to call 911. But when we pick up the phone, we were reminded that it wasn’t working. I notice there are two phone jacks on the wall. I switch the phone’s connection from one to the other and the motel phone miraculously lights up. I call 911, reach the LA County Sheriff’s Department and report the attempted intrusion.
As my daughter and I waited in the dark for the police to show up, I swear we could each hear our hearts pounding. It was terrifying. My daughter later said that it was the most scared she had ever been.
It took about 7 or 8 minutes but two LA Sheriff deputies finally arrive, look around, find nothing. They leave and we are left in a panic. We finally leave at 7:00am — exhausted, grungy, tired, wrinkled, achy, bloodshot and bleary-​eyed and totally spent. No one was at the front desk when we left so we dropped the room key in the locked mailbox. The little handwritten note showing my name, room number and message that my room was open was staring at us as a reminder. Can you imagine if that guy had gotten into our room BEFORE my daughter and I arrived at the motel? And then I wondered if he targeted our room BECAUSE of their stupid note! The motel’s practice of advertising your open motel room is insane, even criminal.
AVOID, AVOID, AVOID.

i know there are a lot of bad reviews on this site for this hotel, and i’m not saying they are unjust. the hotel was really really bare bones, which is fine if you’re into minimalism and maybe no heat as well.
i will say that the staff was super friendly and helpful. we checked into our room, and realized that there was nooooooo heat, like at all. they offered to give me an extra blanket, but then agreed to just update us to a unit with heating.
however once we carried all of our bags upstairs, we found that the heating unit was not installed/​or just plane old didnt work. so extra blankets it was.
also the walls are paper thin. i could hear my neighbors breath.
the location is great, but if you care about your accommodations, i would say maybe stay in ventura or the pallisades.

There was nobody there. Then the voicemail says go to a room number where nobody is there. But the door is open smh its a mess. It was an hour drive and then when you call expedia They phone tag with you for over and hour and u cant get your money back. Its a joke. I dont know. Its all crazy never again do not book a room here they are overpriced and are not secure

Just got here, and man, does this place completely suck! Room was completely trashed upon arrival, told the front desk they told us it wouldn’t be ready for another 40 minutes. Skip it!

Alright I have gone back and forth wether or not to write this review…
That being said. here it is.
They front desk girls helped me book my room it was about 3 weeks ago. No where else in Malibu was open even the super expensive places and I had work to do up there for 1 night. Before I left I figured I would stay for an extra night and just make a nice relaxing weekend out of it…
To the credit I give the Girls at the front dest so much props because they called someone else who they had a hunch had forgot to cancel. and she was right. So i was able to stay 5 miles from where my clients were having there event. On top of the they were also very sweet to me and even gave me a 10% off right when I booked. That was the plus side.
I had read all the reviews on this place and as you see they arnt the best… I am a relaxed person and didnt ask for much. But even I have my limits.
Good:
The floors that people complained about… really arnt that bad. You are next to a beach! so yea sand gets tracked in. Anyone who lives next to the beach excepts this.
The bathroom was nice. The shower didn’t have that much pressure but it was doable.
The towels where nice and felt new there was also shampoo, soap, and lotion.
Bad:
The Bed… good god. the mattress was so old or cheap or stiff… It looked like they bought the cheapest mattress at IKEA and didnt have a topper on it or anything to help out with how stiff and jagged it was. This made it difficult but not impossible to sleep…
The TV kept going out… in 1 day it went in and out about 6 times. just annoying especially because I like to sleep with my tv on.
THE WORST PART…
THE NOISE
The second night I called down to make it a late check out because i was like heck ill take a sleeping pill and go for a walk in the morning… But NO… For 2 mornings there was an ASS across the street revving the hell out of his Corvette at about 5 am, 6 am, and several other times. THIS WASNT JUST THE SECOND NIGHT IT WAS THE FISRT NIGHT TOO. Now I am from LA and lived in the noisy parts of Hollywood with helicopters and sirens going off ²⁴⁄₇ especially on the weekend. But right there on the PCH was the worst I have ever encountered.
It was like trying to sleep 10 ft from TIME SQUARE with all the windows open.
I tried to use the TV to drowned it out but it kept going out. I tried shutting the doors making it hot and stuffy in the room… But that didnt work either. The 2 nights I stayed I probably got a grand total of 4 hours of good sleep. I was so frustrated and tired by the second morning that I left not at late check out… not at regular check out but earlier then that. I was so tired that on the drive back down to San Diego I was pounding coffee to try and stay awake. But needed to pull over several times because i was dozing at the wheel. YES that Tired. Now I will say that my room was right on the street… so Some of the others may not be as bad but Between the Bed and The noise… OMG… If you look at my other reviews I have never givin a bad one like this ever… Honestly I didnt want to but it just didnt seem fair that I payed that much for a place to relax at… This was also my first treat to myself in years! I never Take that extra day…
I would feel a lot less slighted if I got some kind of refund. I stayed there I read the reviews… but Still I just cant justify this…
I Never go to Malibu anyway but if I do I think I would Opt to pay the 500 bucks for a room where I can Sleep…

I am basing my review solely on the fact that we used this motel for our wedding weekend and were able to book the whole place for approx. $ 200 per room average. The nearby places started at $ 600 on summer nights. The motel served its purpose. It is well priced and has beautiful ocean views. My only concern was the loud traffic from PCH, and the heat. The heat was exceedingly high during the weekend we stayed. Overall, the service was good, our room was clean, and as I mentioned, it was well priced for the area.

Can’t believe I came here. I should’ve listened to all the reviews. I thought people might have been a little high maintenance (given the area) and expecting too much, but this place is horrible. Arrived at 2:00 hoping for a early check in. The girl behind the desk stated that the room wasn’t ready yet but she would tell the housekeepers to work on our room so we would get in sooner. 2:45 rolls around and they still haven’t started working on our room. At 3:00 we walk to the front office and inform a different girl that our room still isn’t ready and its three o’clock. The girl (who is extremely rude and unapologetic) walks out and asks the housekeepers how much longer it’s going to be and then tells us the room won’t be ready for another 40 minutes. I then ask isn’t check in at 3:00 she says yes but the room isn’t going to be ready for another 40 minutes, no sorry or anything. We didn’t get into our room until 345 and had dinner reservations at 445. Can’t believe I wasted 230 dollars on this place. Not to mention the housekeepers didn’t even clean out the fridge and left a used Gatorade bottle inside. Horrible customer service. I will never come back here. I would rather spend double the price and go somewhere that was clean and has polite knowledgeable staff. Do not come here !!!
As of ⁷⁄₂₉ the manager Chris … Gave me a full refund for my stay was was very apologetic. The stay was still awful but I do appreciate his efforts to rectify the situation.

i should have listened to all of the warnings regarding this motel. they are all correct!
went on the 4^th of july weekend just for 1 evening and it was a painful experience.
pros: location (lots of nearby attractions: beach access across the street, pier, stores, restaurants, etc.), free parking, free wifi (slow connection though).
cons: extremely noisy PCH ²⁴⁄₇ (it does not stop), paper thin walls (you can hear EVERYTHING from your neighbors… we heard the loud tv that didn’t turn off until 4am, conversations, and yes even humping noises).
overall, struggled to get some piece and quiet rest. therefore, the next day was a struggle due to the lack of energy. i will pay extra the next time i stay in malibu so BEWARE!

Motel not a hotel so if you’re he flip flop beachhead kind of person this place is ideal for you if you’re a high heels oceanview person maybe this is not the spot for you. What I mean is this is a no frills glorious vacation spot a place to rest your head comfortably the room is clean. Walls could be repainted for a cleaner appearance but again a motel, so kinda expected.. the room is Roomy we were family of 4 no problem. the room has memory foam new bed flat screen TV cable with lots of channels old school original wood floors very beach weathered ideal for the beach vibe. the shower is very powerful with hot water ideal to clean the hair after the beach. bathroom is all new with nice fixtures including limestone flooring. The room has a patio also limestone floor. we took the chairs and set them outside and enjoyed the ocean view it’s a as partial view but enough to see the ocean. the pool was clean nice had furniture for you to chill with frosted glass for privacy you could watch the kids from the balcony of your room great for moms. the motel has no frills like coffee or continental breakfast but mcDonalds (5 min walk) Jack in the Box down the street
.cvs starbuks down the road. a great greens store with coffee right next store, and other good restaurants are down the way. next door liquor store and a cigar lounge. Hotel has Very friendly staff. I was on a state –cation and this was so worth my time and money. I will be back. My whole life wanted to stay in Malibu and this motel allows me to do that.

This was horrible. Dingy rooms… thin walls, horrible bathroom, no night time attendant or even a security number to call… the front desk leaves a note that says «for emergency call 911» way too expensive for what you get… which is nothing. There isn’t even a closet!

It’s not a shit hole but it’s not great. Phone doesn’t work. The television is fuzzy and looks to be a camera on the television which is not comfortable to know. No coffee maker only a small fridge. Bathroom needs to be scrubbed, smelled like piss and tiles very looked dirt. The window blinds are broken and one piece of the blind was hanging on the light on the balcony which there was no chair to sit on which doesn’t matter cause the plant cover your view. There was a lot of cigarette buds on the ground below the balcony. The mattresses fleet and looked like the haven’t been changed out in a long time. All around it looks run down. Didn’t try pool looks nice I guess. There is a little path that goes to a seating are that the view is wonderful and enjoyed but look like shit sorry but it was bad. Over all $ 130 was way too much for this, way too.

«Stayed for one night and will never return. I understand this is less expensive than most motels in Malibu, but it was gross, uncomfortable, and basically doesn’t even look like management is trying. They could do very simple things to make this motel feel „less expensive but still clean/​quaint“, but management is clearly making the choice to simply be cheap and gross:
— Wood floor was not clean; it was sandy, gritty, and dirty
— Bed is a simple thin mattress on a steel frame. No separate mattress + box spring, and very cheap and uncomfortable
— Bed sheets were torn and ripped. As I wrote earlier, this is a simple fix. Who looks at ripped sheets and thinks that’s okay to put on a bed?
— Linens and blankets were old, thin, and gross. Pillow was so flat it seemed like it hadn’t been replaced in years.
— No closet, which could be fine if the „closet“ wasn’t a rusty portable laundry hanging frame. The only thing I felt ok with putting on it was my shoes.
— Mismatched and cheap furnishings. Towels were mismatched and crusty, and „table and chairs“ were wobbly plastic backyard furniture pieces that seemed better sitting next to an outdoor plastic pool with a guy in a stained undershirt sitting in it drinking a beer at 9am
— With no air conditioning, we needed to leave doors/​windows open. Road noise was significant, including parades of loud motorcycles very early in the morning. And, if the road noise doesn’t wake you, the sunlight will since the blinds are old, in disrepair, and don’t block light. Don’t expect to be able to sleep in at this place!
Overall, this was a very disappointing experience and will not be staying again or recommending to anyone.»

Arrived in Malibu late and nothing seemed to be happening. Pulled into the motel and got a tiny room near the front. On the good side: the bed was good, room clean and a great big shower. On the down side, phone, TV, remote and clock did not work! Not to mention the blinds on the door and windows were broken and barely provided privacy. Went to the front office and they were closed! It worked in a pinch but I am not likely to do it again.

I love this motel and the whole 60’s vibe they have. Zoe was amazing and totally provided excellent customer service and was very professional when a check in issue came up and handled it like a champ.
This is the motel to got to when you want to stay in Malibu and not spend a fortune for an ocean view. Hardwood floors, new stone tile in the bathrooms and very clean and cute.
It’s very clean and updated. It’s right on the beach and I had an ocean view. The beds were firm, lots of pillows and huge, modern TV. You have to bring your own
blow dryer and stuff, but it’s a great little motel.
The only real problem with the motel is that the walls are very, very thin. You can hear every snort and snuffle from the next room if you don’t have the TV or a fan on.
They weren’t kidding. I had a jerk who would not stop talking loudly early in the morning and chain smoked in his room, even though the rooms were non-​smoking.
If I had been staying another day, I would’ve asked to change rooms but for one night, I could handle it.
You can get around Malibu in Taxi’s for $ 9 if you want to drink and not drive.
Hopefully they’ll do something about the thin walls, that but otherwise I loved it and will be back again.