My wife and I visited Catalina Island for our 28th anniversary — our first time back since before we were married in 1997. We chose the Catalina Canyon Inn specifically for the pool, jacuzzi, on-site restaurant, and shuttle service. Their website is very nice and seemed like a perfect match for the occasion. Unfortunately, very little matched what was advertised.
Shuttle: The shuttle was not waiting at the Catalina Express port when we arrived on the last ferry Saturday evening which was unexpected. Four of us were left waiting in the dark for about 20 minutes until the other couple called the hotel. The driver was friendly and apologized, but this set the tone for the weekend. The shuttle was consistently unreliable throughout our stay. They tell you to call the driver directly, but he often didn't answer. You'd end up having to call the hotel instead, and the shuttle only seemed to come after someone went inside and told the front desk in person. At one point we waited 45 minutes. Some guests got frustrated and just decided to walk, but the hotel sits at the top of a steep hill — not a realistic option, especially for older guests like us. Their website suggests the shuttle runs regularly, but that was far from our experience.
Restaurant: We arrived at the restaurant at 7:30 PM Saturday and were turned away, even though their website says they're open until 8:00 PM. We had to rush down the hill to find dinner to-go in town before the shuttle stopped running at 8:45. It was a shame we didn't even have time to stay and eat on our anniversary or face having to trek up that hill. The next morning I mentioned this to the restaurant owner, who insisted they closed at 8:00 and that she was there. She then told us the restaurant closes at 2:00 PM on Sundays — so dinner there that night wasn't an option either. She was very friendly though I must say. On Monday we finally had breakfast before checkout. The food was mediocre and didn't match the glowing reviews at all. The prices were also odd — $12 for mozzarella sticks, $20 for nachos, but only $11 for pulled pork sliders, which you'd expect to be the pricier item. The pricing just didn't add up. While we were there, another couple was turned away at 1:30 PM because the restaurant closes from 2–4 on Mondays. We could feel their frustration.
Jacuzzi: The jacuzzi we were looking forward to was covered up and converted into a gazebo with chairs. At first we couldn't find it but yea. No mention of this on the website.
Room issues: The soap dispenser in the shower was empty. The front desk told us we can mention it to housekeeping, who didn't come until after 5:00 PM. We got the soap and a couple fresh towels. The towels themselves were thin and didn't dry well overnight so fresh ones were sorely needed to get at least one shower in with soap before we had to leave the next day. The TV didn't work at all, and the microwave was unplugged — though I was able to fix that myself. The hotel also doesn't offer complimentary coffee, which is standard at most hotels we've stayed at for half the price.
The good: The staff was friendly, the bed was comfortable, the A/C worked well, and the balcony was a nice touch. The room was quiet.
Bottom line: The website gives a very different impression than what you actually get. Between the unreliable shuttle, limited and unpredictable restaurant hours, missing amenities, thin towels, and no coffee, this was not the anniversary experience we hoped for. I'd recommend staying somewhere closer to downtown so you're not dependent on a shuttle and stuck with limited options. I think we need to redo our anniversary. It was a miss for sure.
