Hotel Maya in Long Beach - Aug 2022 Review

[Nike4000]

Recently, my wife, son, and I stayed at the Hotel Maya in Long Beach the night before hopping on the Carnival Radiance for a quick 4 day cruise. Several people have asked about the hotel, so I thought it would be worthwhile to share a review.

 

Getting to the hotel was "interesting" to say the least. We booked a limo through Lansky Enterprises to take us from LAX to Hotel Maya ($168 including gratuity for 3 adults with luggage and curbside pickup right outside baggage claim). Two HUGE thumbs up to Lansky, their service was awesome. However, the Hotel Maya is tucked away behind a few confusing turns and is not totally easy to get to. There were several times where I was looking at the GPS on my phone, while Calvin, our driver, was consulting the GPS on the dash, and they were providing conflicting directions. However, we did eventually get to the hotel after several laughs and a little guesswork.

 

Check in took 1 minute, maybe less. Very easy and straightforward. The woman who assisted us was super friendly and helpful. She even gave us cookies upon check-in. However, I do have to dock them a few points because they were oatmeal cookies that had nuts in them. I can't eat cookies that have nut chunks.

 

The hotel is configured in multiple buildings. Our room was in building 3, which is a short walk from the main building's entrance. The buildings had great signage, it was easy to find our building and get to our room. The wife and I explored the rest of the hotel grounds a little bit and found a huge pool, a beach area, and lots of open spaces. It almost looked like they were kind of in the middle of adding a second restaurant or patio area, and just kind of stopped. Not a bad thing, there were just a few areas that seemed incomplete or were originally intended to be used as a different type of space. The hotel looks to be in good shape overall, lots of family friendly spaces!

 

Overall, our room was nice. Nothing super special. Plenty of room for 2 queen beds and 3 adults (our son is 19). Beds were VERY comfortable, probably the most comfortable on our entire trip. Lots of tile in the room with a fun, chic design style. Our balcony was huge and had a nice view of the harbor. The bathroom had a sliding door with an unusual lock setup, almost like someone was doing a little redneck engineering to figure out how to add a lock to a strange setup. The shower was interesting, it wasn't until after all of us had showered & mentioned the poor footing in the tub that we found a rolled up tub/shower mat tucked away at the bottom of some shelves hidden behind the sink pedestal. Overall, a decent room.

 

We left the property for dinner, but did grab a happy-hour beverage and snack at the on-site restaurant, Fuego. It could be that we were very hungry, it was 5pm California time & we'd last eaten around 7am at DFW airport, but the crab cake appetizer (2 good sized crab cakes for $20) were outstanding. The bartenders were attentive, but not overwhelmingly so, and the other patrons, except for 1 guy aggressively trying to buy shots for everyone at the bar, were pleasant and friendly. Fuego opens up to the harbor, so sitting back, looking out at the boats passing by while enjoying a cold beverage was a great way to kick into vacation mode. The next morning, prior to heading to the port to board the cruise, we also ate breakfast at Fuego. It was pretty good, nothing too unusual about the offerings - standard hotel breakfast fare with a southwest flair. I'm sure the menu is online if you're curious.

 

The hotel offers a complimentary shuttle to the cruise terminal. Super easy to get from hotel to terminal, took like 5 minutes tops. Easy as can be! They dropped us off at the luggage check in area and pointed out who we needed to talk to and where we needed to go. Having never been to that terminal before, that was super helpful! BTW - LOVE that terminal. Probably my favorite cruise terminal of all.

 

Overall, we really liked Hotel Maya. However, there were 4 things that we wish we had known before staying there:

1. There was a wedding & reception taking place at the hotel the night we stayed. It was absolutely lovely to see everyone dressed up. The problem was that the reception was right outside our balcony and the guests partied late into the evening. Not a major problem, just an annoyance. Thank goodness for ear plugs!
2. We could not get cell service anywhere on the hotel grounds. We had to practically climb down the rocks separating the hotel from the harbor and get our feet wet to get a measly 1 or 2 bars of cell service. We were never able to get the hotel WIFI to work reliably either. This was a concern as we were trying to coordinate having dinner with our daughter who was driving up from San Diego. Again, not a major problem, just an annoyance. We asked at the front desk about getting better cellular service and they suggested walking off property.
3. They don't have a complimentary continental breakfast offering. So many hotels offer that now, I've pretty much come to expect it. Totally my fault for not seeing that on the list of hotel amenities & I completely own that. Breakfast at Fuego was very nice and certainly tasty, I just wish I had paid closer attention beforehand and noticed that was not one of their offerings. Totally on me, but thought others should be aware.
4. I think the price was pretty high for the quality of the room. For $370 a night, I expect a little more than the room we had. As I said, the room was nice, but nothing special. From what I've been reading, hotel rates in Long Beach are through the roof, so maybe I should be thankful it wasn't even more expensive. I was just a little underwhelmed. 

 

Would I stay at the Hotel Maya again? Most definitely. The 4 issues outlined above were not major at all, just little inconveniences/annoyances. The hotel was clean, the staff was friendly, the shuttle to the cruise terminal was great, and our room had a great bed. What more could you ask for?

 

Please feel free to post any follow-up questions. I'll do my best to answer them. Hopefully this helps as others try to decide if they should book a stay at Hotel Maya in Long Beach.

[93yearsyoung]

Someone should have told the Lansky driver the hotel was next to the Queen Mary and I bet he wouldn't have needed GPS at all.

 

Other than that, thanks for the report.

 

We live 30 minutes south of Long Beach so we've never needed to spend the night before a cruise.

 

PS price is based on the market, not what a room should be like for $400. If the Hotel Maya was in Bakersfield they'd never get more than $150, but waterfront views of downtown Long Beach isn't Bakersfield.

[Nike4000]

The driver's GPS was taking him to the Queen Mary, but apparently there was a side street that he needed to turn onto. We found it, but it wasn't abundantly clear. Whatever system the limo used was showing us going straight ahead - straight into the Queen Mary lot - while Google was showing us veering to the right (maybe turning slightly right, it's been a week & a cruise since that day). 

 

Yeah, I totally get it about the price - location, location, location. The hotel was nice, but we could have easily stayed across the harbor, with harbor views at a Hilton for $100 less. I'm totally happy with our stay and will definitely consider it for any future cruises out of that port (doubtful since Carnival Radiance got thumbs down from my wife & son), I was mainly trying to share my thoughts and let people know that if you're expecting a $400/night experience you might be a little disappointed. On the flip side, you can't beat the location and it is a very nice hotel, so...

[KeepCalmBearOn]

5 hours ago, Nike4000 said:

The hotel was nice, but we could have easily stayed across the harbor, with harbor views at a Hilton for $100 less. I'm totally happy with our stay and will definitely consider it for any future cruises out of that port (doubtful since Carnival Radiance got thumbs down from my wife & son)

 

Shift over to the San Pedro terminal. You have Princess, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian. My grandkids loved the Norwegian Bliss.

[Nike4000]

@scottca075 - We'll definitely take a look at those options. Our next cruise will be out of San Diego, which is closer to my daughter. So, we'll see how that goes!

[KeepCalmBearOn]

3 minutes ago, Nike4000 said:

@scottca075 - We'll definitely take a look at those options. Our next cruise will be out of San Diego, which is closer to my daughter. So, we'll see how that goes!

 

You could, in theory, walk from the airport to the cruise terminal. It is less than 3 miles along a bay front sidewalk.

[tytanbri]

On 8/15/2022 at 5:54 PM, Nike4000 said:

Recently, my wife, son, and I stayed at the Hotel Maya in Long Beach the night before hopping on the Carnival Radiance for a quick 4 day cruise. Several people have asked about the hotel, so I thought it would be worthwhile to share a review.

 

Getting to the hotel was "interesting" to say the least. We booked a limo through Lansky Enterprises to take us from LAX to Hotel Maya ($168 including gratuity for 3 adults with luggage and curbside pickup right outside baggage claim). Two HUGE thumbs up to Lansky, their service was awesome. However, the Hotel Maya is tucked away behind a few confusing turns and is not totally easy to get to. There were several times where I was looking at the GPS on my phone, while Calvin, our driver, was consulting the GPS on the dash, and they were providing conflicting directions. However, we did eventually get to the hotel after several laughs and a little guesswork.

 

Check in took 1 minute, maybe less. Very easy and straightforward. The woman who assisted us was super friendly and helpful. She even gave us cookies upon check-in. However, I do have to dock them a few points because they were oatmeal cookies that had nuts in them. I can't eat cookies that have nut chunks.

 

The hotel is configured in multiple buildings. Our room was in building 3, which is a short walk from the main building's entrance. The buildings had great signage, it was easy to find our building and get to our room. The wife and I explored the rest of the hotel grounds a little bit and found a huge pool, a beach area, and lots of open spaces. It almost looked like they were kind of in the middle of adding a second restaurant or patio area, and just kind of stopped. Not a bad thing, there were just a few areas that seemed incomplete or were originally intended to be used as a different type of space. The hotel looks to be in good shape overall, lots of family friendly spaces!

 

Overall, our room was nice. Nothing super special. Plenty of room for 2 queen beds and 3 adults (our son is 19). Beds were VERY comfortable, probably the most comfortable on our entire trip. Lots of tile in the room with a fun, chic design style. Our balcony was huge and had a nice view of the harbor. The bathroom had a sliding door with an unusual lock setup, almost like someone was doing a little redneck engineering to figure out how to add a lock to a strange setup. The shower was interesting, it wasn't until after all of us had showered & mentioned the poor footing in the tub that we found a rolled up tub/shower mat tucked away at the bottom of some shelves hidden behind the sink pedestal. Overall, a decent room.

 

We left the property for dinner, but did grab a happy-hour beverage and snack at the on-site restaurant, Fuego. It could be that we were very hungry, it was 5pm California time & we'd last eaten around 7am at DFW airport, but the crab cake appetizer (2 good sized crab cakes for $20) were outstanding. The bartenders were attentive, but not overwhelmingly so, and the other patrons, except for 1 guy aggressively trying to buy shots for everyone at the bar, were pleasant and friendly. Fuego opens up to the harbor, so sitting back, looking out at the boats passing by while enjoying a cold beverage was a great way to kick into vacation mode. The next morning, prior to heading to the port to board the cruise, we also ate breakfast at Fuego. It was pretty good, nothing too unusual about the offerings - standard hotel breakfast fare with a southwest flair. I'm sure the menu is online if you're curious.

 

The hotel offers a complimentary shuttle to the cruise terminal. Super easy to get from hotel to terminal, took like 5 minutes tops. Easy as can be! They dropped us off at the luggage check in area and pointed out who we needed to talk to and where we needed to go. Having never been to that terminal before, that was super helpful! BTW - LOVE that terminal. Probably my favorite cruise terminal of all.

 

Overall, we really liked Hotel Maya. However, there were 4 things that we wish we had known before staying there:

1. There was a wedding & reception taking place at the hotel the night we stayed. It was absolutely lovely to see everyone dressed up. The problem was that the reception was right outside our balcony and the guests partied late into the evening. Not a major problem, just an annoyance. Thank goodness for ear plugs!
2. We could not get cell service anywhere on the hotel grounds. We had to practically climb down the rocks separating the hotel from the harbor and get our feet wet to get a measly 1 or 2 bars of cell service. We were never able to get the hotel WIFI to work reliably either. This was a concern as we were trying to coordinate having dinner with our daughter who was driving up from San Diego. Again, not a major problem, just an annoyance. We asked at the front desk about getting better cellular service and they suggested walking off property.
3. They don't have a complimentary continental breakfast offering. So many hotels offer that now, I've pretty much come to expect it. Totally my fault for not seeing that on the list of hotel amenities & I completely own that. Breakfast at Fuego was very nice and certainly tasty, I just wish I had paid closer attention beforehand and noticed that was not one of their offerings. Totally on me, but thought others should be aware.
4. I think the price was pretty high for the quality of the room. For $370 a night, I expect a little more than the room we had. As I said, the room was nice, but nothing special. From what I've been reading, hotel rates in Long Beach are through the roof, so maybe I should be thankful it wasn't even more expensive. I was just a little underwhelmed. 

 

Would I stay at the Hotel Maya again? Most definitely. The 4 issues outlined above were not major at all, just little inconveniences/annoyances. The hotel was clean, the staff was friendly, the shuttle to the cruise terminal was great, and our room had a great bed. What more could you ask for?

 

Please feel free to post any follow-up questions. I'll do my best to answer them. Hopefully this helps as others try to decide if they should book a stay at Hotel Maya in Long Beach.

How does the shuttle work? First come, first serve or do you sign up for a time slot? 

[Nike4000]

We signed up for a time slot, but the shuttle bus wasn't crowded. There were 6 of us total on the bus and it easily could have held another family.

[tytanbri]

16 hours ago, Nike4000 said:

We signed up for a time slot, but the shuttle bus wasn't crowded. There were 6 of us total on the bus and it easily could have held another family.

Thanks. We are traveling with a group of 7 so we usually have trouble getting on as a group. 

[Nike4000]

Yeah, it's a big Sprinter van that should fit your party pretty well. I'd recommend trying to schedule your time as soon as you check in. 

[tytanbri]

10 hours ago, Nike4000 said:

Yeah, it's a big Sprinter van that should fit your party pretty well. I'd recommend trying to schedule your time as soon as you check in. 

We definitely will!