El Patio Inn Near Universal Studios Hollywood

First of all, we had to drive 2 miles to check in to our room since there was a “staff shortage.” We had to go to another hotel to get our keys. Secondly, there are only 2 electrical outlets in the room, and neither is near the beds. It was really funny to see the alarm clock sitting on the night stand with no place to plug it in. One of those outlets was being used for the fridge and microwave, so we had to unplug those in order to charge our devices over night. Lastly, and most shocking, was the design of the bathroom light switch! The switch was located on the wall right outside the bathroom, so you would flip the light on before you went in and closed the door. The problem was that when you closed the door behind you, it would rub against the switch and turn off the light. We had to get a family member to turn the light on once we were in the bathroom. On the plus side, the location is fantastic. It is just minutes from Universal Studios and Warner Brothers Studios.

Less than horrible. Dirty. Holes everywhere. Literally, no one on site to help. You wont get your deposit back even though several months have passed. It's not a good way to treat travelers. The pictures look nothing like the room. Illegal activities, so definitely don't take your children here unless you are okay with them being exposed to unseemly types and you're okay fearing what may happen to you or your family.

This property has a "charm" about it as it is in a "Hacienda" style. Many plants surround the property as well ! Rooms though a bit small were VERY CLEAN ! Located on Ventura Boulevard it is a GOOD location !

The EL Patio is here to get your money, and they get it any way they can. I had a horrendous experience at this motel. I don’t like the fact that I am about to lead into what they may interpret as trash talk, I assure you I am being completely honest. This was a bad experience and I solely blame the way this place is run and cared for. My reaction is completely justified, and I write this now to protect others from falling into this trap. Recently, the electricity was shut off at my apartment for a few days. One of those days, my partner and I decided we wanted to stay at a small hotel for the evening. We live nearby the El Patio, and we thought it looked kinda cute on the outside. It looks like an older motel, set back on a rectangular lot. They advertised having a free breakfast online which helped sell me on renting the room there, but after my credit card had cleared, and I received my non refundable room booking confirmation, in the fine print it stated that this rental did not include breakfast. False advertising if you ask me. Check in is at 3pm and check out time is 11am which is not a bad time for check out, but the people who run the El Patio, were knocking at our unit door at around 10:20 to see if we were done with the room yet. It wasn’t done in a friendly way. There is a sign in the office that states that they can charge up to $300 for a deposit which is well over the amount that all amenities present are worth. The deposit is not given back at check out, they hang onto it for three to seven days. During those three to seven days it’s to be assumed they detail your room after you leave and decide how much to take out of it. My singular experience of this process wasn’t a great one. They did take money out of the deposit, even though everything was left in the same condition when we arrived and charging people $50 to $75 for a small spot on the cheapest thinnest towels I’ve ever seen, is the complete opposite of what a hotel is supposed to be offering. Hospitality and relaxation are two wonderful things good hotels provide, this is definitely a motel, that even other reviewers have reviewed being hostile, cheap, overpriced, and uninviting. The rooms are maybe 300 square feet with two uncomfortable queen sized beds or a king bed, all with a uncomfortable thin polyester comforter and two small cheap unfluffy pillows, a small cheap table with two equally cheap flimsy looking chairs, single night stand and a very cheap and smaller lcd television hooked to the wall. The television has weak sound and is not a smart tv, the model is very dated but does have hdmi hook ups available for your devices or computer. There are three WiFi signals for each side of the hotel lot and all three signals are described on my computer as ‘weak risky insecure signals.’ After a few minutes of using their signal, I disconnected due to slowness, signal brown outs and the worry of security of my devices and used my own cell signal instead. The air conditioning unit was barely doing its job, leaving the room muggy. The curtains are roman blind style covered with cheap vinyl and cotton curtains. There is an additional window with privacy glass in the closet area. The room style screamed only three words; budget, cheap, and uninteresting. It reminded me of a convent with less style. It was not well cleaned, you could see evidence of food and debri in every corner and under the bed was a nightmare realm of dust bunnies. All rooms are non smoking. If they catch you smoking you forfeit the entire deposit. There was a ceiling fan making a lot of noise, and the main light was the brightest unflattering fluorescent lighting I’ve seen in any hotel. There was a small sconce with two much better less abrasive light bulbs between the beds, above one shared nightstand for all in the room. None of the lights were dimmable. Outside the bathroom is a small closet area with a small fridge and a microwave on top of it. There isn’t any real style, unless you count ‘budget’ as a style. Most rooms at the El Patio include a small ‘recently’ remodeled bathroom with an enclosed shower, sink, mirror and trash can. The paint was peeling in the bathroom, the shower was super slow draining, meaning we were ankle deep in water during the entire shower. The bathroom had one tube of shampoo, one small bar of hard soap, no conditioner, no body lotion. Their towels are some of the worst quality I’ve ever come across in my travels and apparently very important to this motel. During check in they have you initial several clauses in your rental agreement, one that states they will keep a part of or all of your deposit if they find any ‘spots’ or ‘dark spots’ on their towels or bed sheets. They even say not to use the towels to clean the bathroom floor. Did I mention that I’ve seen higher quality towels at the 99 cents store? I have. The extra clauses in the rental agreement were no joke and I’m sure added as an extra way of getting more money out of their guests and less of a protective measure. It was shocking and unfortunate to find out they took a good portion of our deposit because of what they claim were unusable towels and we seriously didn’t do anything to deserve that. This is my main point of why I will not be going back as I understand that a budget motel is a situation in which you get what you pay for most of the time. It’s when they get more out of you than you originally booked for that defines the integrity of the location. No one likes being told they owe money from their deposit, but it’s much worse when the deposit is used as a means for extracting more money from unsuspecting guests on a budget. The attitude of the people who run this place was my first warning signal that I was not in a good establishment. They were fully unwilling to help or accommodate me with anything I asked for and extremely focused on getting the deposit and having me sign their contract. My mother taught me that hospitality should always be given to everyone regardless of what they look like or what they do. I am always hospitable to every guest in my home, and I hold the same standards for businesses especially hotels. There are several hotels on Ventura Blvd, I suggest you choose another one and read as many recent reviews as you can to make your decision. Much love and respect, and safe travels to you.

I wouldn’t know about the hotel itself because I wasn’t able to go on the trip. Their accessible rooms only have one bed and we needed two, so I asked if they had a shower chair available. I was told a request was put in until a week before the trip when I found out I was to use a chair from the table in the room. And even though I backed out of the trip, they canceled on my friend that was still going, saying she couldn’t stay in a non-ADA room even though I was the one that needed the accommodations.