My girlfriends and I stayed at Balboa Inn for one of their 50th birthdays.We we're excited , the hotel looked amazing on the web site. It was the dirtest , the rooms were filthy, cobwebs every where.Bathrooms where not clean. TV in one room didn't even work. The furniture looked like it was bought at the goodwill. Management was very unprofesstional.We were very disappointed. Would definatly not recommend this hotel.

The staff is terrific, however they cannot compensate for a noisy, shabby and archaic hotel. Yes it is near the beach. Not good enough, for 180 bucks a night, I expect more than torn lampshades, backed up plumbing and a constant stream of NOISE! Our room was adjacent to the stairs and the upstairs patio dining, which was the place of a wedding. No warning, nothing. I called the front desk and complained about the noise at 2 m and they offered to move us, but really? Move or shut up the people who are so inconsiderate.
Best bet- pay less, stay further away and sleep well.

I'd stay again as now I know which room to book.
This is actually two hotels, two buildings, one old, one new that's water front. The old is run down and it wouldn't take much to spruce it up, but I guess they've spent their money on building the new part. The old rooms are large, large bathrooms too, they have refrigerators and carpet. Be careful of rooms facing the street because of the bar, or overlooking the restaurant in the rear, however the restaurant closes at 10PM.
The beds are all new throughout the hotel (I saw 7 rooms), but I found them too soft--they are pillow top top and bottom, I turned mine, but they are just too thick, so you sink.
I didn't really like the new part, it is ocean front, rooms very modern, cold tile floors, I thought I'd hear the ocean but couldn't, there's A/C equipment outside the lower rooms that is noisy. There are zillions of flies out front here for some reason, so it's hard to have the door or window open.
This is a great party hotel, but not great for quiet, however I loved the location, walk everywhere, take the ferry to Balboa Island....so if you bring sleeping pills it's terrific!
I'd recommend waiting to book until you are there as they will lower the price and you can pick a room.
We parked our car on the street and it was run into.....parking at $25. a night is way high, but they'll come down to $18.
Breakfast was bare bones (bagels, cold cereal, toast & apples, oranges) and not presented well, no one around to help, old metal tables, floor was a mess, hey, the orange juice was great though!

We are a family of two adults and two teens, booking a family room ( two rooms connected by a hallway)
NIGHT: Do not be fooled by the pictures on the website, the family room was in the original part of the hotel which would have been fine if they took any pride! The rooms could have been "Quaint" instead of "Run Down" they painted over the wallpaper in the bathroom, the bathtub was cracked (at the top no leakage), one straight back chair, there was no air (fine... beach hotel) but the windows had no screens, the portable fan looked like a carry-over from the 50's ( nervous to use it but disparate for relief), the view was of a brick wall/alley with skate boarders & loud talkers and the room was above the restaurant kitchen, It was loud, hot and miserable....
DAY: We moved on the second night ( for extra $$$) to the new section of the hotel WOW! We had a view of the ocean, a/c, beautiful bathroom, robes, giant flat screen t.v., huge king size beds, connecting rooms and the list goes on....
Really Balboa Inn, spend a fraction on improvements and your hotel would be charming!

P.S. Valet parking was $45.00 per night