Dana Point Marina Inn

*Overall 3.5 Stars*
The Dana Point Marina Inn has its strength in being centrally located to many amenities while being affordable. There is a Large size swimming pool for the kids to play in and plenty of lounge chairs for the non swimmers. In general the hotel shows signs of wear and tear, needs a floor by floor makeover with a more coherent theme. The staff at the front desk were helpful and upgraded my room with a balcony and harbor view, which was very nice at night. It’s worth mentioning the hotel is near two large shopping centers with restaurants, stores, as well as the marina.
Overall a good hotel in a great location, if the management were to invest the necessary time and money this place has to potential to really be something special.

Old hotel, old rooms and bathrooms.
Bad maid as even though it was a non-​smoking room, when we went in we found a old cigarette butt laying on the handle of a drawer. Burnt out bulbs in bathroom. Not cheap for what it is.

We’re locals from San Clemente and stayed here for two nights midweek while our house was being fumigated for termites. We have a 3 year old son, so paid the extra money for a Marina view room, which kept him partially occupied out on the balcony looking at all the boats.
The hotel is in a great location with many things to do within walking distance around the marina (Marine Institute, beach, shops, etc) and would be a great starting point for a trip to Catalina Island as the ferry dock is close by. There are also many choices for restaurants within easy walking distance from pizza to high-​end seafood.
Although the hotel is 30 to 40 years old our room was updated, clean and well maintained. We did notice some wood rot on the exterior balcony railing and siding which is probably hard to keep a handle on being located this close to the water.
We had a comfortable king sized bed and the room had a small sofa, desk and chair, flat screen TV (many channels including HBO), coffee maker and a small refrigerator. Which brings up our only small complaint, which was a lack of open electrical outlets. We did make a suggestion at check out that they install additional electrical outlets or outlet strips in the rooms as the most of the existing ones (especially near the desk) were already occupied with lights, tv and refrigerator. With so many accessories requiring daily charging nowadays (phones, ipads, laptops and cameras) several open outlets is a must especially for more than one person in a room.
Oh yeah, one other suggestion… as this is the Marina Inn, I think they should change out all the ugly pictures of the diving? ladies? in each room and install boat or sailing pictures in they’re place.
Overall we enjoyed our short stay and would recommend this hotel as it can’t be beat for this price range!

My husband and I have stayed here twice now. Every room as a harbor view. We especially like the 3^rd floor. It’s fun to walk about the marina, rent kayaks and eat fish & chips for dinner. Our room was very clean and even had our own private balcony which is nice to open up and sleep with a nice breeze and waking up and sitting outside enjoying the view. We happened to get in early so they let us check in 2 hours before check in time. So sweet! We didn’t use the pool or hot tub but it’s nice they have those enmities. Loved the comfortable king size bead with nice pillows. Thank you Dana Point Marina Inn for another 5 star experience. We will be back!

Why all the incessant bashing of this place? Just be GLAD it’s on the water, with free wifi, cheap and has free Continental Breakfast… something Motel 6 still yet to offer. At least the coffee doesn’t require a hike to the office. Okay, its a bit dated… but you’re ON the water people, freaking get over it… you cannot expect Marriott Courtyard, at this price point!
The fastest wifi is found only on the lower levels (1 – 2). Parking is tight, simply because for $ 99/​weekday stay… many people find it still beats sleeping in your car and bathing at the beach…

Terrible service. Lady who checked us in was unpleasant to talked to and seemed very bothered and just didn’t care at all. Not accommodating or understanding. Also not honoring our AAA discount.

Good for the price and location.
Free parking. Free continental breakfast.
Pool, Jacuzzi.
Slow, creaky elevator that adds some excitement.
Old school ac/​heat unit in the wall.
Some units with balconies.
Blackout curtains.
Tub/​shower.
Fridge, HD t.v., coffee maker.
The beds were ok… Not great, not bad.
Checkout time is 11. I asked for late checkout and they offered 11:30.
We were satisfied with our stay. Pretty basic, nothing fancy. Good for the price.

Cute little place that serves it’s purpose. Walking distance to shopping, restaurants, and whale watching cruises.
Room was clean, spacious and plenty of hot water!
Price was fine for a one night stay.
Thoroughly enjoyed and will plan on staying again in the future.

This is a tough one to review because although it has some great qualities to it, there are many improvements that can be made to increase maximum satisfaction from their guests.
Pros: Location– the marina is in a beautiful place surrounded by shops, activities and more. Don’t forget you are right by sweet beaches!
Cost– the price for the rooms is better than most
Tons of parking!
Cons: SLOWEST WIFI YOU WILL EVER EXPERIENCE IN YOUR LIFE. You are better off walking to the nearest library and digging through encyclopedias before you try logging into the wifi to ask google a simple question. If you plan on doing work at the hotel then you are out of luck as you will be better off sending a carrier pigeon instead of your email.
Walls are super thin. Some of the rooms are better updated than others.
This is my second time staying at this hotel and my opinions about it remain the same even after my second trip. It isn’t the best hotel around but you get what you pay for.

Great location and fine breakfast.
Unfortunately, the positives stop there.
The first room the sent us to, labeled «nonsmoking» smelled like a chimney.
We complained and were given a new room.
The second room, room 327, appeared reasonable and we accepted it.
However, as the evening went on, a certain smell began to «appear” —
CAT pee. It was on the floor, bed and pillows.
We complained but there were no alternative rooms available.
Sorry, Dana Point Marina Inn, we will not return.

Awful! Horrible customer service from every staff associate I had to deal with. Everyone was so rude from check in hostess to manager to cleaning staff.
The fridge in the room didn’t work and wouldn’t change me to a room with working fridge and on air fan said filter needed to be changed and Alex like they didn’t care. I would never recommend this place.

My husband and I stayed here this past weekend for a short visit to see some friends and it was an amazing experience! I booked a basic room which was not a harbor view. But when we arrived to check in they upgraded us to the suite with the harbor view for no added cost. The room was SO clean which Is a must for me! Also this is in such a great location. For the price of this hotel and location this was perfect and was way more than I expected. Definitely will be coming back.

I had to write a review because I was so skeptical about this booking, given it’s price, etc. But my family of four had a really nice stay this last weekend. Place is very modest, but it was quiet, clean and has a very helpful staff. The location was perfect since we needed to be close by for family plans, but the marina is right there. Worth taking the risk for.

The MARINA INN has been down to Dana point Harbor for years. My Dad was AirForce &would fly in to town& stay there in the 80s: When it had class which it doesn’t any more sadly. It is an excellent location however… BUT ever since the ‘current’ general manager TONY KASPAR has been running it– It seems to have spiraled downward. TONY Kaspar has brought a DIFFERENT feeling tho to the MARINA INN, that it NEVER had before… The feeling that one can RENT A ROOM BY THE HOUR! And honestly from what I’ve seen: I would be surprised if Mr Kaspar didn’t do just that. We will not spend another dime (actually we’ve spent thousands over the years) there again even though it is a good location. Most of the employees are OK but this general manager TONY KASPAR well his ‘services’ or ‘skills’ would be of better use at some flea bag motel on skid Row. And his attitude and demeanor speaks volumes seems like a ‘shadey’ character. And TONY is definitely LACKING IN Character. More than once after having to converse with Mr Kaspar I’ve had the sudden urge to take a shower to GET CLEAN because he seems like such a slime-​ball. NONE of my Dad’s friends or their families that once took their yearly vacations down there DO SO ANY MORE haven’t for years. The EXACT YEARS this poor excuse for a General Manager –TONY KASPAR has been running it– (running it to the ground probably) Whoever is on the board of the MARNIA INN or whoever HAS The authority needs to Remove, transfer or FIRE MR TONY KASPAR. This HAS been going on for years has brought the Marina Inn down to a new ‘low’ what was once a bright BEACON for Dana Point Harbor. and what was once a place that made childhood memories special: IS no longer. And that needs to change. Thank you for reading my review I spent some time on it because I felt it very necessary to let this be known… I even stayed there ONE last time to make sure that I was absolutely correct in my findings. I grew up in this area Dana Point I take pride in that and this is something that CAN BE CHANGED for the better FOR EVERYONE & Make the city of Dana Point & it’s Harbor a better place to visit ONCE AGAIN. Once this general manager Tony KASPAR is removed or replaced. Have a great day.;)

We always check the low ratings before we book. So to negate a few of those comments… yes we had air conditioning (GREAT AC which would negate any musty smell which is understandable this close to the ocean but we didn’t experience that at all) No, the room was not in DIRE need of repair (garden view room) maybe other rooms need to be updated, ours was quite nice. Breakfast was decent, nothing cooked but toasted bagels/​cream cheese and the usual packaged danish /​muffins, cereal, fruit bowl, juice, coffee etc lite fare. (⁷⁄₁₅)
Our room was extremely spacious, nothing at all to complain about, comfy beds, great fridge in room too. Hotel staff was really nice. Plenty of outside parking, nothing covered if you need that. For us, room rate vs quality = 10. We’re working so we’re not on vacation, good prices means a lot to us since it’s coming our of our salary for the evening (musicians). Location, we all agree, can’t be beat! We thoroughly enjoyed our stay here and would come back in a second if the prices remain on the lower side. Oh, and our WiFi was about an 8 on a scale of 10, we’ve seen MUCH worse.
BTW, hubby bought a sandwich and a wrap at the pizza shop next door, amazing! :)

Ok rooms. Bring your own wifi, as theirs is mostly unusable and slow. Well stocked snack and food machine, but was out of order entire 3 day stay. Police visited for some trouble on the floor beneath us late at night. Breakfast closes down at 9am? Really?
As others have said, room was musty and uncomfortable, furnishings were old, but in decent repair. Bathroom VERY small. For what we paid, WAY overpriced. By a factor of two. Loud early morning landscaping was unwelcome.
You can do much better. Ownership clearly leveraging the location, as it is a dump in a good location. Won’t return.

My girl friend and I wanted to check out Dana point harbor for the weekend. It was really good on the price of the room. Rooms were clean and beds are comfortable, for me it was everything I expected and more. They guy at the front desk Dano did an awesome job at welcoming and making me feel like I wanted to be here. Definitely can’t wait to come back.

The crew at the Inn are very professional and every time I asked for directions to a specific destination at the front desk I was given printed out directions. They were very charming.
The location is centrally located in the harbor so you can just walk to most of the restaurants and shops along the harbor.
Warning no bell service, but they do have bell carts.
Continental practice is included.
Nice job staff.

This would never have been my choice to stay at, but a friend recently got married nearby and made this her out of town guest hotel. I feel a bit bad for her because this is clearly not a place representative of herself. Since we are over an hour away and wanted to drink, we booked a room. For $ 89/​night it wasn’t badly priced for the area, but you get what you pay for. Our room was incredibly musty smelling. The décor is super aged and desperately in need of a face lift. The bathroom was very small and didn’t even have a trash can. Also, the walls are so thin you could literally hear a pin drop next door. Very, very noisy at 7am in the morning.
On a higher note, the employee who checked us in was professional and very helpful with directions to our reception destination. Parking wasn’t an issue and you can walk to a few restaurants.
I think this place could get a way higher asking price if they put the money in and did some sprucing. The location is probably what keeps it going.
If you need a place to stay in the area and are willing to keep your expectations low, this place might be okay for you. As for myself, I’d opt for the Marriott or Doubletree.

A dump in a great location. We got a $ 100 special and after a long day of sailing and partying, we didn’t want to drive. Its right next to the marina and we could even see our boat from the balcony.
The room wasn’t the worst, but it was pretty close. The walls were scuffed up and the gross tub reminded me of the apartment I shared in college with four other guys. Bring your own pillow, these were so hard we got neck aches. The fire evacuation card was missing from its holder on the door. The carpet looked new though and there was even a mini fridge.
The only reason I can imagine anyone staying here is because they have had too much to drink at the harbor or because their meth dealer met them here and they didn’t want to wait to go home to smoke it.