Radisson Hotel Santa Maria in Santa Maria, CA

I was going to travel to visit family....I always stay at the Radisson in Santa Maria by travel plans changed so was not able to take the trip. A family member did go and stay there and had a horrible experience.His room was dirty, and the pool area was filthy...Green spa and dirty pool and area around pool. Some one who was staying there had gotten sick and no employee had cleaned it up. Glad I did not stay there. I was told they are under new management and the Hotel has "gone downhill".

False advertising and a horrible breakfast that they had the nerve to charge for. I stayed there because of the beautiful sparkling pool - but IT IS NOT HEATED AT ALL! I like the cold - swim in MN lakes, but this was really cold. The hot tub was sort of Ok - not hot enough and a bit cloudy... The "breakfast buffet" was WORSE than any of the complimentary hot breakfast I had - and this one was $20!!!! Cold eggs, cold sausage, cold bacon (bacon was good quality) no toast, no muffins or bagels etc. This was actually worse than most of the cold complementary breakfasts. And the restaurant was never open. The staff was confused or lying when they said it opened at 4PM. This is in an area where there are no close by places to eat AT ALL!! Ice machine inside was broken and the remaining outside one ran out. Front desk people were mostly nice (the women anyway).

Well, what can I say... I have been staying here almost 1 year at about 1 time per month and 1or 2 days at a time. The place has significantly declined in this time frame. I will tell of some incidents, starting with coffee. Perhaps the most annoying is the removal of the previously free coffee service in the breakfast area. Because of limited staff, you can no longer grab a coffee before running off to work, same with a warm-up. it requires a staff to do that. Wi-Fi is among the worst of all hotels I stay in for business, especially if you pay extra to stay in room 158. I have stayed in this room at least 3 times. 1 time, the thermostat was broken as well. Regarding the thermostat, I was told they "just got it fixed yesterday" and "someone will fix it today" and "I see no records of it being repaired by the AC vendor." Clearly the staff deals with these substandard small ACs in each room and have to make up lies to cover why they don't work. This last time, there are so many issues with this room, I feel it isn't worth listing them unless you like clogged sinks, etc. Why do I stay here again and again? it is across the street from my work site, and I am hopeful it will get better, but I really don't see that at all. Fun notes about the hotel: local people sneak into jacuzzi at night through side gate; if you need a quiet sleep, remember this hotel is on the runway and will be noisy; If you want to park, be early, like any hotel; this place must have been charming in its heyday.

This Radisson has always been our go-to place in Santa Maria. It’s convenient for us and frequently reasonably priced (definitely a premium cost over the Motel 6 and Quality Inn, but reasonable still). We used to have great experiences here. Rooms were clean, staff was friendly and it’s a safe place. We were excited when they became a Choice hotel, as we stay with them most frequently when traveling elsewhere. Our stay this weekend may be our last. Staff when we checked in were miserable. When we got to our room, we noticed the floors were more stained than we were used to, but that stuff can happen. When we opened the sofa bed, it was not made and there were no sheets in the room. Called and they were quick to bring them (hand them to my thirteen year old, not put them on the bed). So I was my own housekeeper and found that the mattress on the sofa bed was probably 15 years old and absolutely disgusting. About the same time, I realized our AC wasn’t working. When I called down for that, they said Maintenance was gone for the night but offered a fan. Being somewhat handy, I asked for batteries so that I could be my own maintenance guy and fix the thermostat. That was like pulling teeth, but we got the batteries. After this experience, I began to look around. And it was then I truly realized that our favorite hotel in Santa Maria has really gone to crap. Floors and mattresses were already mentioned. Room is definitely dated, but the wallpaper is peeling in some areas. The sliding screen door to our patio wouldn’t stay on the track and the screen has a 5 inch hole in it. The AC (from another room, as ours stopped working again) was so loud in our room that it woke me when it turned on and off. The pool is beautiful but the hot tub is rather green. When I look at other reviews and see our experience is consistent with that of other guests. I had already spoken to the guest services the night before, three times, and intended to talk with the manager in the morning. When I got to the desk, the manager (front desk manager maybe) was standing at her computer. I walked up in front of her, waited for about a minute and was not even acknowledged. Then I realized that whatever I had to say was likely falling on deaf ears anyway - so I walked out. We do pay a premium when staying at this hotel. For that we got miserable staff, a dirty, very dated room, did our own housekeeping, did our own maintenance and were completely ignored when we departed the next morning. That will be the last time that we pay a premium price for this location.

I was double charged for a two night stay because of a mistake in the reservation booking system (not through a third party, but a reservation made through the website of the Radisson Santa Maria). I didn't realize I had been double charged until I checked my credit card account a week later. I called the hotel. The front desk staff wasn't helpful and said I'd have to speak to the General Manager. He hasn't returned my calls. I called the 800 number for Choice Hotels (parent company) customer service and embarked on a frustrating odyssey of being transferred around, never getting any resolution, getting cut off, and all the time speaking with individuals for whom English is not their first language, who are likely based outside the US, and who clearly are not given any authority to do anything except file an internal "ticket." I filed a disputed charge claim with my bank (Wells Fargo) but they can only help me if the Radisson Santa Maria responds to their inquiries. Wells Fargo reports that has not happened. This hotel is an outdated, poorly managed property for which paying once isn't a very good deal. Paying twice to stay here is nothing short of a scam. Having both the hotel and their corporate parent work hard to ignore you until you go away is probably the worst of all of it.