Banning House Lodge

We love the Banning House! On our most recent stay we occupied the Crow's Nest for 3 days and it was great! Our bed was comfy and our private deck offered unobstructed views of the harbor. We enjoyed breakfast in the morning, wine and cheese in the evening, and super nice staff! Russ and Samantha made us feel like locals! We didnt want to leave and now we can't wait to go back!

The crew here are awesome!!! Come here for such a unique, relaxing, and inviting experience. Russ deserves a raise, this guy is the MVP A+ Customer Service. My only critique are the soft pillows, I had to use a folded sweater as support. The shower is awesome, the fridge is cool, space heater works, breakfast they made was such a nice way to start the day. Such a great time.

This is a historic lodge, not a modern hotel - so adjust expectations about the infrastucture. We happen to love historic buildings. The location is beautiful, with views of both harbors. Russ, who manages the place for Catalina Co. picked us up at the ferry dock, and immediately made us feel very welcome and 'at home' - this continued throughout our stay. Wine & cheese offered in the evening and a nice continental breakfast included. Hiking nearby. We could not have asked for a better getaway stay.

The manager and staff at this place are truly some of the kindest folks I've met. Their hospitality blew me away and they went above and beyond to help me in any way they could. They gave us a ride from a different part of the island. The breakfast buffet was truly amazing, fancy espresso and lots of fresh ingredients. They were very generous and let us take away some delicious treats for the road. The view was also incredible. Definitely visit this place if you come to Catalina island.

Banning house lodge is very run down… the paint is chipping off you can tell by the photos it used to be something and this company has just let it go…. The staff on the other hand were amazing except for the manager. The manager is a misogynist narcissist who is also racist and made a racist comment about a guest as soon as they left the office and thought no one could hear. I will not be returning.

the views. The challenge now is that the place just gets more rundown every year. By rundown picture peeling paint, windows that either won't open at all or won't stay open, torn and/or stained seat cushions. Dust and spider webs are constant. Rooms are “moderately clean” and bare bones in terms of comforts (though I have to say the sheets very nice.). Breakfast has always been mediocre at best but OK and somewhat understandable given no real kitchen. All of this has been acceptable in exchange for the setting and reasonable prices, especially off season. So, what’s changed? The prices this year and especially next year are now exorbitant, even in the shoulder and off season. So, the “tacit deal” for decades between lodger and guests: that we accept rustic/beat-up in exchange for access to a lovely spot with reasonable rates (given the added cost of a ferry ride and equipment rentals) has come to an end. Shockingly, a few years ago, the owner had a seriously good expresso coffee machine installed and it was heaven. As good or better than any mainland coffee shop. IT MADE UP FOR A LOT, ESPECIALLY AS PRICES STARTED RISING PRECIPITOUSLY. I forget when it broke but maybe 2- 3 years ago. It has never been fixed so now we have barely mediocre food and BAD coffee (COFFEE NOW WORSE THAN IT WAS BEFORE THE MAGIC MACHINE). Again, the expressos were the one thing that was way above average and a treat on chilly mornings. So why finally offer one exceptional thing in the way of food and beverage and then let it, like so much else at the banning house, fall into disrepair? Especially now when the prices fit a level of lodging where exceptional coffee and other amenities would be a given. If you are going to charge Ritz Carlton prices, even with those views, how does management justify stained and torn furniture and coffee that tastes like instant when at least THAT can be fixed? We expect rustic with somewhat limited comforts at TWO Harbors. Guests let this and the greater lapses in conditions slide because they were offset by the combination of setting and reasonable cost. But now with the process having gone sky-high it's harder to accept the decline in the lodge and the offerings. It's also sad to see this wonderful and historic structure rotting before our eyes. The staff does what they can, but the maintenance and amenity issues, like non-functioning windows and great vs. bad coffee, are above their pay grade. Like someone else who has recently posted a negative review, I can no longer recommend the Banning House Lodge to friends and indeed now actively warn them of the adverse changes that beset the place vs. cost. Rustic is one thing: blatant neglect and dirt is quite another. Lastly management has consistently neglected to enforce reasonable sound levels, child behavior constraints and quiet hours which, although posted, are never enforced. Once again, people spend money on ferries and parking, expect and put up with extreme rustic-ness, in e

The beautiful setting of the house is fantastic. Katelyn and Nova were so helpful with every need and they always had a smile on their face. They truly helped make my stay so easy. I will return some day.

Comfortable place to stay with a fabulous view of both harbors. Staff was extremely friendly and helpful — gave advice on local hikes, provided huge fresh-baked cookies, took us down to the harbor at any time. Plenty of common areas from which to enjoy the view over breakfast, coffee/cocoa/tea throughout the day, or the evening wine & cheese. A truly refreshing experience.

My wife and I have stayed here close to a dozen times over our 35 year marriage and have always enjoyed our visit. Unfortunately, this year, we had some significant disappointments with this establishment we'd never experienced before. When we saw that the prices at Banning House had jumped up this year, we weren't that surprised given what we were paying at other hotels. However, we had no idea this would be accompanied by an equal downturn in guest services. The biggest surprise is they apparently have no regular housekeeping as it took three days of lobbying the staff to get a maid to our room to change out the towels and mop the dingy floor. A $79 a night Motel 6 offers this but this $600 a night establishment evidently doesn't. One of the staff members I spoke to on the second morning said a housekeeper would come by, but looked about as enthusiastic about my request as if I'd asked her to peel a bushel of potatoes. When no one came by later that day I escalated it to the van driver/manager and still nothing happened. The third day the manager was so cavalier about our request he couldn't even remember what room we wanted housekeeping for. FInally someone came by but didn't bother to leave any soap or toilet paper, causing a very unpleasant scramble around the building later that day. Banning House has a large, truly delightful outdoor patio with a fabulous view of the town and Catalina Harbor. They also still have a generous wine and cheese hour every day. The problem with this was the patio itself hadn't been swepted or de-pooped for a while. Also, the large patio tables were caked with dust that looked like it had settled in long ago, as well as intermittent bird poop. So we grabbed a cup of water and some napkins from the breakfast room to partially resolve the issue but, hey, $500 to $600 a night for this? Don't want to seem like a whiner but when we enjoy an expensive and long-planned trip, we do expect our morning coffee will taste at least 1/3 as good as what we get at home, especially when there are no other options on the island. This was never an issue before at Banning House. However they now seem to subscribe to the "brown water" school of coffee creation. It reminded me of instant Maxwell House except that at least with instant coffee you could make the coffee stronger. To be fair, the location is still beautiful, and the town is a unique getaway you won't find anywhere else in California. We had a great time renting bikes and a kayak which we took through a sea cave! The room was pleasant and very quiet with a great view, though my wife did have a few things to say about the condition of the floor. Still, until some of the above issues are addressed, I can no longer recommend Banning House to my friends, something I regularly used to do.