We had a nice time at this hotel as a family of four. The location is probably better if your kids aren’t under 5, since the beach is a little over a kilometer away and Pico isn’t the most exciting street to walk on. Driving around worked fine, though. We found the hotel staff to be very friendly and helpful, especially the valet staff. The pool is small, but quite nice. The overall state of the hotel is maybe in need of some updates, but we found it to be clean and functional. The view from our (tiny) balcony was on the Pico Ave side, meaning we looked out onto a construction lot. Not a huge problem, but just be aware that there’s a big difference in balcony size and view. Overall, we’d recommend this hotel, but if you plan on travelling with smaller kids and walking around Santa Monica, maybe pick something closer to the pier.