Hotel Encino

It’s in a great place and should have been really nice.

The room smelt of cigarette smoke. The air con was so old and noisy we had to switch it off. Made a complete racket. The toilet was blocked when we got there. They did fix it. I’ve stayed in about 10 different hotels this trip and was the only one I wasn’t happy with and it looks nice! Staff very off hand and not welcoming.

OK if you are 40 or younger or get a river view room

Room 116 which is way in back in north east section. My 3rd and probably last stay there. Reservation said room with balcony and river view. When i got there they said no river view rooms available and they said the same thing the next few days. Bed was hard and not level, kind of a humpback. Toilet would only flush once every 15 minutes as is takes that long for the tank to refill. Window blinds were thin so not very dark in the room at night. They updated the TV to a nice flat screen with many channels though only about 6 in english. The TV remote did not work consistently. Maid service was good. Location pretty good for the price, a block or so from ocean, few blocks from usable beach. If you are over 49 you probably would not put up with all of the little problems with this place. If you get a river view room you can overlook most of them, otherwise i would pass. Air conditioning worked OK though loud which helped drown out the street noise. The shower had very hot water to my surprise though the toilet is located basically in the shower which is odd. Ceilings are nice and high. Free wifi, in the lobby only, which is nice. The lights in the room are not very bright making it hard to shave or put on makeup. Saw a gecko in my room once.