Catalina Lodge

Nothing fancy, clean and comfy. That was what I was looking for when booking a three day trip for a writer’s getaway. Roberta, the owner, took great care of us. Came back three months later with my husband for the Silent Film Festival and again we found what we needed. A clean bed, a shower and easy access to the rest of Avalon.

please take my word !!! dont stay in this hell hole!!! no a/​c no plumbing/​no customer service, no privacy this place is terrible

Hands down Roberta (the owner) has the best customer service ever! This is a really cute little place on Avalon, with smaller rooms but not too bad of price for the area. They do have FREE WiFi which is nice and are walking distance of just about everything within Avalon. BUT the biggest seller for this is the service. Roberta was super nice from the phone call to book the room with letting us know how to get cheaper trips out here, to when we were checking in letting us know about Happy Hour specials and great places to visit without having to spend an arm and a leg. She also showed us to our room (which has an old school key which rocks) and then made sure we knew all about it, as well as the artwork in the room and a little history which was really great. They also have complimentary beach towels and chairs to take down to the beach and GREAT coffee in the morning. I can’t wait to come back and visit this place and without a doubt will always stay here.

My boyfriend and I stayed here July 27 – 29, 2013 and absolutely loved it! I know I’m a little late on this review, and I apologize. We absolutely loved every second of our stay here, the owner Roberta is extremely nice and friendly, and we also really loved the fact the she let us leave all of our luggage and snorkel stuff in the lobby when we arrived until our room was ready so we could explore Avalon. This was my first visit to Catalina and I fell in love! The hotel is perfect walking distance from everything in Avalon, the room was clean, and the bed was comfy! We couldn’t have asked for a better experience! We can’t wait to stay here on our next trip! Thank you so much Roberta for everything!

What was originally a day trip to Catalina ended up becoming an overnight trip, so we needed to find a hotel room at the last minute. The Catalina Lodge was exactly what we were looking for. Affordable (compared to other places) with a fridge and «the basics». We weren’t looking to be pampered.
Centrally located, easy check in/​out, and a friendly staff who are eager to make recommendations for Catalina newbies. I’d stay here again in a heartbeat!

My husband and a friend of ours stayed here at the Catalina Lodge. We had the pleasure of staying in one of the interior rooms. We were just interested in a comfortable, clean hotel to stay in while we enjoyed our time in Avalon. Boy did we find a great place! I LOVED the location of this little hotel, close to everything which was all walking distance (no need to wait for a packed shuttle)! I was a bit concerned about reading previous reviews about how this hotel does not have air conditioning (but there are quite a few places that do not have air conditioning on the island… probably due to the fact that it is just that… it’s on an island). We came at the end of July and even though there was no AC, there was a fan in the room and we left the window open to let in the fresh ocean air. Never did we once feel hot or stuffy… it was great!
We thought we wouldn’t spend much time in our room, which we really didn’t, but we did find times where we would come back to rest in our room. I don’t quite know why, but the room just felt so cozy. We slept great each and every time!
The owner, Roberta is so sweet and she makes great coffee for guests to enjoy in the morning. For the time that we visited this island, we felt as though we lived here, and we loved that!
We all really enjoyed our stay. We had 3 adults on this trip, and yes the room is more on the smaller cozier side… but we didn’t mind it. The fact that it’s in a good location, great service, and was clean and comfortable (as well as affordable for this island) were the main reasons I decided to stay here, and I am very happy we did! I really wish there were more hotels as nice as this one for the price. Everything can be so expensive on the island, so it’s nice to still have some places to stay that are clean and affordable that are family owned and operated like the Catalina Lodge.
Thank you Roberta and family for the great lodging experience. We will definitely be coming back to this little gem of affordability and comfort when we visit again soon! :-)

Our family usually comes here once or twice a year. It is a bit small but very cozy and comfortable. We travel with our toddler and it suits our family just fine. Roberta is a lovely lady and very friendly and helpful! Highly recommend!

My son and I went last Aug. 2012 for my birthday. We stayed for 2 nights, and enjoyed our time alot in Catalina. We stayed at the Catalina Lodge.
It is family owed, clean, and very private. There are not alot of places there that are still owned by families. The family does not charge you an arm and leg to stay there. the room is small, but all the rooms on the island are small.
Roberta and her husband live on the property so they know all the up to date stuff that is going on. I enjoyed hearing stories about the island back in the «old» days. Roberta and her husband work very hard to make sure the property ground, and rooms are clean. She even takes apart the fans to make sure there is no dust in the fan.
Roberta does have a microwave, and Refrigerator in the room. There is a Vons down the street if you want to buy a bottle of wine and popcorn instead of paying more money to drink out. They do offer you chairs and towels to go down to the «little» beach area to relax.
I just bought from Groupon today another 2 boat tickets, and plan on returning to Catalina Lodge this summer.
Roberta Black has alot of tips for your trip if you are on a budget like I am. My son and I did the flying fish which Roberta recommended, and a fish actually flew in the boat which I heard was rare. We rented bikes and rode around the island. I had not been on a bike since I was a kid.
Definitely, Unilocal the places to eat cause that will save you alot of time and not wasting alot of money.
Check out the moview theater to see a movie if you have time. That was a nice treat and the movie theater is classic.
I can’t wait to go back this summer… very excited.
Talk to you soon :)

The Catalina Lodge would be an OK place for 2 people that will rarely be in their room. The owner was very friendly and helpful and did have coffee in the morning for her guests and beach towels and sand chairs for the beach.
But for 3 people it was not good at all. If we would have known that it would be that small we probably would have stayed at another place.
If you come when it’s very very warm as I did… be warned they do not have A/​C.

Thanks to Roberta for doing such a great job of welcoming us to her little hotel and accommodating our needs!
1) She provided us with a Pack-​N-​Play for our 2 y.o. son at no charge.
2) She put us in a room toward the back of the hotel, so that we wouldn’t be disturbed by road noise coming off the street.
3) She was happy to extend to us a late check-​out upon our request.
4) She provided complimentary beach towels.
This review is highly weighted upon Roberta’s friendly and welcoming demeanor, her excellent service, and her strong willingness to be flexible to our requests.
Regarding the hotel room, it was older, but very clean and well-​maintained, albeit a little small. Two adults and one child were pretty much maximum capacity. I should note that this may have been specific to our room, as we didn’t see if other rooms were larger. Bathroom was similarly small, but sufficient for our purposes (stand-​up shower, no bath-​tub). We spent most of our time out and about, so the size constraints weren’t a burden.
In terms of constructive criticism, regarding patrons who smoke: though Roberta has seating for them on the sidewalk in front of the hotel, the smoke tends to drift up the walkway, and we could smell it from our room when the windows were open. Not sure what can be done about that, but a slight annoyance.
Otherwise, the hotel was a great combination of being reasonably-​priced, sufficient in proximity to Crescent Avenue and all that Avalon offers, with great and friendly service. All told, an enthusiastic 5 out of 5.
Thanks again, Roberta, for helping to make our trip so enjoyable!

Unpleasant experience from the start. It seemed Roberta did not want to (in her words) «waste her time» trying to accommodate me with finding a place to safely store my personal road bike. She was rude to my face, vocalizing her annoyance, storming away and on the spot canceling my reservation. Maybe I caught her on a bad day, but it all ended up working out better in the end for me, thankfully — another hotel on the island (Seaport Village Inn) welcomed me (and my bike) with warm smiles and good vibes. Note to cyclists: Catalina Lodge unfortunately does not welcome and support visitors with bikes. It’s unfortunate that it is such an inconvenience to them.

We just visited Catalina for the memorial day weeknd and based on trip advisor reviews, decided to book our rooms at Catalina lodge. And we’re glad we did. The rooms are very clean and really neat. I only wish the bathrooms were a lil bigger and the rooms were not facing the street. But then, they have great service and all these dont matter. The lodge itself is just few steps away from Crescent Ave, where all the action is on Catalina. Owner was very friendly and gave tips on restaurants, activities everything. They even have books to borrow while you’re there so you can read them in your room or on the beach (how great is that? :)) I didn’t happen to complete reading it and she suggested I could take it with me if I want… vow, didn’t expect that at all. Kudos guys, keep up the good work.

We stayed at Catalina Lodge for the weekend of my friends birthday. The owners were very friendly, helpful, and the rooms were clean. The hotel is centrally located in Avalon, and close to everything. The rooms were reasonably priced. If you’re looking for a simple clean room, at a good location, with friendly owners, this is the place for you.

It’s a good clean room at a fair price. It’s well located within walking distance to just about everything. Nice friendly owners.

Great little hotel, family owned and in a great location. Not exactly a romantic room so if your goin with your buddies and are on a budget, then this place is for you. certainly not lavish but the owners are amazing and offer free beach towels, will hold your luggage after check out, and offer advise on where to eat/​drink which is quite helpful if your a first-​timer at catalina.

Friendly owners clean rooms great prices. This was just we needed! We’ll definitely be back!

I love this lodge because of the service, they make you feel right at home, kind of like a bed & breakfast. The owner Roberta is great, she lets you check out late as long as the room isn’t booked the next day. We didn’t check out till about 1pm, & it was no problem at all. The lodge is walking distance to the pier (1 block) which is really important because that’s where everything is going on. I highly recommend this place. The only reason I did not rate it 5 stars is because the lodge isn’t on the beach, but 1 block away which isn’t too bad.