THE CLIFFS RESORT - Shell Beach CA 2757 Shell Beach Rd. 93449 California Map

4.0 out of 5 Based on 387 guest reviews, Very Good

Based on 409 traveler reviews

Value

Rooms

Cleanliness

Service

Excellent

188

Very Good

121

Average

Poor

Terrible

Most Recent Traveler Reviews:

“Always have a nice time when staying at The Cliffs!”

May 19, 2013 Stacey M, Orange County, California | Trip type: Couples

I stay here 4 - 5 times a year and have grown to love The Cliffs. The resort itself is very nice and has some great amenities. They have a... more »

“Great view, leaking ceiling, poor management”

May 13, 2013 Alexis S, Berkeley, California | Trip type: Friends getaway

I would first like to start off with a positive note. The rooms are very nice and the view is beautiful. With that being said I was shocked with the... more »

I would first like to start off with a positive note. The rooms are very nice and the view is beautiful. With that being said I was shocked with the management at The Cliffs Resort. My best friend and I decided to venture down south and stayed there for her 30th birthday on April 27th, 2013. We had a blast wine tasting then went to dinner and returned with the hopes of watching a movie and doing nothing. We both settled into our beds and were looking for a movie to order and that is where it all went wrong. All of the sudden we heard water dripping and got up to examine what was going on. There was a massive amount of water coming through the ceiling light in our bathroom and it was leaking onto the floor and our carpet. Mind you my bag was sitting in front of the closet near the bathroom and got wet as well. We immediately put our towels on the bathroom floor and the carpet in hopes of not getting anything else wet. I ventured into the bathroom and retrieved all of our toiletries.
We called down to the front desk and they stated they were aware of the problem and were coming up. The manager, Lauren, came running up without her shoes on is disarray and said maintenance was working on the problem. I tried to get her to come into the room to examine the actual issue but she was too flustered and did not come in and quickly left. She told us we could go to the bar and drinks were on her while they solved the problem. My friend and I were trying to be very nice about the situation because we know this is not an everyday occurrence. We decided to walk down to the bar to kill time while they resolved the issue. When we walked past the front desk there were about 5 employees that assured us as soon as they figured out the next step they would let us know. We sat down and ordered dessert and drinks to try to make something of our current situation. After quite some time had passed we decided to go back to the front desk because no one came to retrieve us. The waiter gave us our bill and charged us for the drinks which should have been comped as we were told. We also told the waiter about our situation and Lauren sent us down for drinks. Mind you we didn’t even want to go to the bar. All we wanted to do was be IN our room watching a movie. When we walked up they told us everything was taken care of and that they were sorry for the inconvenience….well thank you for the heads up and getting us like you promised. As we walked down the hall near our room the carpet was still soaking. We went into our room and that carpet near the bathroom was drenched too. It was also apparent that the bathroom was just dried off and not cleaned from the questionable water in our bathroom. My friend and I were somewhat baffled at the situation. We sat there for about 15 minutes debating on what to do. We even called my sister who is a travel writer to make sure we were being reasonable. We decided that since we paid $400 for one night in a room that it would be reasonable to request a new room that did not have a sopping wet carpet. When we called down to the front they immediately told us they were at capacity. At this point my friend and I were pretty upset. We just spent a few hours outside our room and all of our plans were ruined. We both went to bed upset hoping that maybe we could speak to a different manager in the morning to resolve the issue. We BARELY got any apology.
The next morning we woke up and went to breakfast and then came back to get our bags ready before our scheduled massages. At this point we were so upset we thought about cancelling the massages because the hotel was very unaccommodating and we did not want to enlist any other services. We decided that we would give them a shot so we kept the appointments. Upon checking out prior to the massages we asked to speak to the manager. I had filmed the massive amount of water that was dripping from our ceiling. I showed her the video and explained the situation. I flat out told her my stay here was NOTHING what I planned it to be all because of the water mishap. She just looked at us and gave us a minimal apology. I thought that maybe giving management a second chance to redeem themselves would have a positive outcome but yet again we were disappointed. I work in customer service and understand that there are certain people you will never please but there are also people that just want losses to be recouped and they would gladly be a returning customer. My friend and I were the latter. We would have gladly returned for a do over. Yep…not an option. We barely got compensated for the disastrous night. All we got was a measly $100 off our $400 room which we barely spent any time in.
I discussed the events of the night to a friend whose father does this exact type of management. She was appalled at the lack of customer service that was provided. This is why I decided to post on yelp. If you are willing to pay for a room with a beautiful view then by all means stay at The Cliffs. If you are expecting the customer service aspect to accompany the room think again. I will leave the readers to come to their own conclusion. I do not feel the need to “bash” The Cliffs resort as I feel that my experience speaks for itself. Ultimately, I am extremely disheartened and disappointed at my experience and wish I could take it back. My best friend did not have the great time she expected for her 30th birthday.
On a side note, my friend did respond to the questionnaire on how your stay was. She wrote about her disappointing stay....no response yet. Ironically, it was sent out by Lauren. « less

Read management response to this review.

“Stayed for Business”

May 12, 2013 Fargo2013, Seaside, California | Trip type: Business

Our business meets here for a workshop every year in the spring and did so again this year (2103). We stay at the hotel, meet in a meeting room at... more »

“Stayed here multiple times...”

May 8, 2013 Skingh

I stayed in a ocean-viewing suite. It was awesome!! Got 1st floor this time (been on 2nd & 3rd floors before), and it was great. Big spacious room and really... more »

“Unimpressed”

May 6, 2013 Patrice224, Plymouth, Massachusetts | Trip type: Couples

I bought a Groupon for this hotel for just over $100 per night, and for that price it was adequate. The website quoted $400 for the same room on the... more »

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