Rachel H
Google
We stayed at The Ranch at Laguna Beach for five nights and unfortunately felt underwhelmed by the overall experience.
From the start, staff engagement was noticeably lacking. At most luxury hotels, you're greeted by name, and there’s a sense of personal attention. That was not the case here. We were surprised that even after several days, there was no recognition from the staff and there was no engagement at all from simply passing by staff. On occasion when we stopped by to grab water before heading out, we were questioned about whether we were actually guests at the property—odd considering the relatively small number of rooms and that we had been there for several days..
The gift shop staff were another letdown. The employees we encountered there lacked personality or any sense of hospitality, which added to the feeling that guest service just isn’t a priority.
Communication was also a problem. We had inquired about the farm tour multiple times, but received little information and no real accommodation or flexibility around the scheduling. When we tried to attend, we found the experience disorganized and not worth the effort.
We stayed in Building 8, directly facing the clubhouse—and that came with its own issues. One night, a wedding went past midnight, and we could hear loud guests returning to their rooms well after the event had ended. Sleep was nearly impossible.
The in-room amenities also were a let down. The TVs only offered basic cable, with no streaming options or ability to mirror content from our devices. In a resort of this caliber, that was unexpected and disappointing.
The advertised hike that supposedly overlooks the property didn’t actually offer any views of the resort, which felt misleading..
Finally, basic room service was inconsistent. We had to request body wash and hand soap multiple times. Even after repeated requests, the hand soap was never replenished—we ended up using body wash from the shower just to wash our hands…
All in all, while the setting is beautiful, the level of service and overall value fell far short of what we expected. We would not recommend staying here unless significant improvements are made to the guest experience.