Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort & Spa

We especially loved the fact that we could borrow bikes and surfboards

Okay, so we love this place. However, this time on my July 24 birthday we were woken at 3:30 AM by super-loud and obnoxious hotel worker picketers! They banged loud drums and screamed over megaphones from 3:30 to 10:00 AM. Apparently sheriffs came, but couldn’t stop them. We got nearly zero sleep. Nothing past 3:30. Worst hotel stay I ever experienced.

The manager agreed to comp us for a future stay, which we will happily use. This place is class; but the workers that were striking were extremely rude, and inconsiderate over their guests. I now have significantly less respect for these workers.

They could have peacefully picketed, but they chose to be the most disruptive they could possibly be. Their misguided leadership should be reprimanded and/or terminated.

Certainly is a great hotel and fantastic location, but beware of the parking scam that will cost you $40 ($37 plus taxes) a day. It says "Valet Parking" in the fine print, but doesn't say that you MUST use the Valet service if you want to park in the adjacent garage. Check-in staff gave me vague directions of where street parking was located and lied saying "there's only about 10 spots and if they're taken you're out of luck." Gee thanks Marriott staff. In fact I had no problem finding a spot for free overnight parking on any of the days we stayed. If you choose to self park overnight, just be prepared for a very pleasant walk of 10 - 15 minutes. We did that and found much better ways to spend $200 than to give it to Marriott to valet park my car. This issue irritated me way more than it should have - but now it's off my chest!!
The other irritant was the noisiest room air conditioner you've ever heard and the fact that you could not have "fan on constant" all night, to provide some 'white noise' to cover the guests coming and going all night or the service corridor and elevator dinging. I should have asked to be relocated, but, after everything is all unpacked it is kind of a hassle.