I had a very favorable experience during a business stay last week, and in fact am returinng next week for another stay.
The hotel delivers against everything you would want in a hotel: clean, comfortable, quiet room; nice ambience, pleasant and helpful staff. The complimentary breakfast has a variety of offerings, ranging from healthy (fresh fruit, oatmeal) to maybe not-so-healthy (French toast, pastries). I like that they have a soda fountain, recognizing that some people like diet soda instead of coffee in the morning. The fitness center and pool are pretty decent, though in my case I opted to enjoy the warm California sunshine and go for a run instead (the "San Diego Creek Trail" is about a mile away and makes for a nice run). Internet access was plenty good. Room was equipped with microwave and small refrigerator.
The rooms themselves are the customary Embassy Suites offering: a separate "living room", bathroom, and "bedroom". My only beef with Embassy Suites is that I wish they would flip-flop the bedroom and living room; I'd prefer to have the living room be the room with the outside window. I don't need to look out the window when I am sleeping, but it is nice to have a window when I'm working at the desk or just sitting around.
Here's a little story, though, that clinched the 5-star ratng for me. I had forgotten to pack socks on this trip. When I realized this the next morning, I took a look at an online map of the sourrounding area to see if there were a Target or some similar store that might sell socks. Seeing none, I inuqired at the front desk if there might be a good place to buy socks nearby. The lady told me that the shuttle driver could take me to a Wal Mart about 2 miles away. And that's what happened. The shuttle to the airport leaves every 30 minutes, but the driver agreed he'd take me to Wal Mart after dropping a couple of guests at the airport. So I went with him on the 7:00 AM shuttle run, we dropped two at the airport, then zipped over to Wal Mart, where he waited for me while I ran in, grabbed my socks, and ran out. And we got back to the hotel in time for him to make his 7:30 AM run. The fella who drove the van was kind of a funny guy and it was enjoyable to converse with him during my sock run. Yes, I could have taken an Uber or Lyft to Wal Mart, but I appreciate the fact that the hotel offered me the ride and that it worked out so well.
BY the way, if you don't have too much luggage, you can easily walk from John Wayne Airport to/from the Embassy Suites in about 15-20 minutes. I did that, even though it's a bit unusual in car-obsessed Orange County, where hardly anyone walks or bikes. You might enjoy so doing if you're coming to California from a cold place and just want to enjoy some outside time. There is a pedestrian exit from the airport parking garage to MacArthur Blvd but it is kind of hard to find.
One comment however: I returned to my room in the middle of the day when housekeeping was making up my room. The woman was working so fast, I felt sorry for her. I don't think I could possibly do what she does at the pace she does it. I hope the property treats its housekeeping staff well and does not subject them to unreasonable standards of work speed. I gave her a tip and I encourage all readers of this review to ALWAYS leave a tip to housekeeping staff . . . and wish hotels would enable the easy addition of a tip to the bill, like restaurants do.
