Gateway Hotel Santa Monica

Decent location, short ride/bus/trolley to downtown Santa Monica or to downtown LA. OK breakfast, (only one flavor yogurt, pancakes, fruit, energy bars, cereal, no toast, tea/coffee/juice). There was little seating in the lobby. we took the stuff back to the room. Our room was in the back (x01, x02 stack) and was nice and quiet - except for the lead-foot upstairs, though they stopped early so we could get a good night's sleep. The parking exit was strange, took you down an alley to a side street.

They provide free breakfast. (tea, coffee, pancake, fruit.. milk, cereal..) which is very good for guests.

Breakfast was good and for those who prefer decaf, there’s a coffee shop across the street. What I liked the most was how the staff, with only one small exception, were so friendly and anticipated my needs. I woke up cold one night and took the coverlet from the second bed. When I returned to my room the next evening. The staff, without being asked, had given me an extra blanket. So kind and thoughtful. Similarly, the front desk staff made change for me to ride the busses and patiently answered all my questions.

Room is well located in the heart of Santa Monica, its a 35 minute drive from LAX airport, the Santa Monica beach is a 15 minutes bus ride and Venice Beach is also around 25 minutes. There is a bus stop just a minute away from the hotel (in case you don't rent a car like me). The rooms are decent sized, clean, airconditioned and well-equipped. The staff is really friendly, accommodating and helpful. There was no kettle for hot water in the room but the reception provided me one upon request. Also on the last day of my stay I hurt my back and needed to rest a little bit more before my long flight back to Switzerland, to which the lovely staff graciously let me check out later than usual and allowed me to stay until 130 pm with no extra cost. That was a really great touch and I cannot thank them enough as I was in real pain. Location is excellent with a lot of great restaurants, cafés, and groceries/pharmacies-7/11, Walgreens, barber shops at a walking distance. Highly recommended and I will definitely come back to stay here next time I'm in LA.

Spartan; but since I love granola (bars) and yogurt it was adequate. No orange juice, but some kid style fruit juice was only juice option. Coffee was ok. Bread options with peanut butter and jelly would be nice. Instant oatmeal was a no go as the ‘hot’ water was completely inadequate to cook it. They had a pancake machine that people seemed to like. Small, but clean, room; bed very comfortable. Staff was quickly responsive to cleaning room in pm as they didn’t get to it by 1:00 pm. Small stalls, but relatively safe parking with elevator access to all hotel floors was great. You won’t be able to park a large suv or pick-up truck in the small spots