The O.C. Filming Locations: The Mermaid Inn AKA Beach Plaza Hotel is Gone!!

The name sign and mermaid were props added just for the show (lighting effect added by us)

Sad news OC'ers we've lost yet another filming location, this time it's the The Mermaid Inn aka Beach Plaza Hotel...sigh....

Before (2015)

After (now)

This filming location was not as big as loosing The Bait Shop but it served us up some important scenes never-the-less...

Like the time Ryan and Seth find out Luke is sleeping with Julie 

OR how bout when Ryan and Theresa hooked up behind Eddies back

The Beach Plaza Hotel was a real hotel in Long Beach, CA, (not in Newport). The hotel had 40 rooms and was there for a long time. The hotel was located at 2010 E Ocean Blvd, Long Beach, CA 90803. This O.C. filming location served up scenes for 4 different episodes, three episodes from season 1 and one episode in season 3 (some scenes featured above).

Nothing like a good ole cheap hotel to boost drama! Above is where Julie and Luke hooked up for the first time, which was located on the opposite side. We can't confirm at this point if any of the rooms were actually filmed in but by the looks of the images found around the web of the interiors, furniture etc they don't quite match with what is shown on The O.C..Thus giving us the impression that the interiors were filmed at Raleigh Manhattan Beach Studios (with the rest of The O.C. sets).

The hotel has some very interesting and hilarious reviews on yelp, make sure to check them out! Overall the general consensus was that the hotel was very affordable (especially to be so close to the beach), customer service was so-so but the rooms could be very trashy and not cleaned very well.

Here is an actual photo of inside one of the rooms..classy eh?

Furthermore the walls were "paper thin", some rooms were without AC, low prices so close to the beach attracted parties, rambunctious behavior and some guests even complained about hearing people doing the deed. Prices ranged from 35 dollars to upper 70's depending on the room and accommodations but this was very cheap for the location. So affordable that many guests appeared to ignore the flaws it had and were just happy to have a hotel so close to the beach at such a nice price. 

Here is a top view of what the hotel looked like. The yellow arrows point to the areas where filming took place. Most all happening on the left side. The yellow arrow in the back is where Seth and Ryan were when they saw Julie and Luke kissing. The front arrow was where Ryan and Seth walked in to ask if anyone turned in his watch. All which can be seen in Season 1 Episode 22 "The LA".

The future plan for the empty lot: As of now the lot remains empty but we discovered there are plans to build a multi-story hotel building that has 72 hotel rooms, complete with valet parking, restaurant and lounge. Sounds a heck of a lot more classy than the original. However locals are already wondering how that size hotel will effect traffic and congestion. Only time will tell!  

Fun fact: Which room did Theresa and Ryan hook up in? Give up? Room 204 which was one of the rooms on the upstairs portion of the hotel. We know this because Julie stays in room 205 which was right next door to where Theresa was staying. Julie hooked up with Luke in one of the downstairs rooms as well. The old hotel owner also mentions room 204 when Ryan and Seth ask about a missing watch.

But yes...Gone forever...but never forgotten! It's a cloudy day in the world of O.C. filming locations but we'll float on..We will miss you Mermaid Inn. Cheers.

The O.C. Locations: The Balboa Lighthouse Restaurant

What: The Balboa Lighthouse Restaurant
Where: Located in Newport
When: Season One
How: The Lighthouse was a restaurant venture started by Sandy and Jimmy
Actual location: 655 N. Harbor Drive in Redondo Beach, CA.

Story: 
While Sandy and Jimmy share appetizers and drinks at The Balboa Lighthouse Restaurant Sandy convinces Jimmy that they should partner-up and buy the place. Jimmy agrees after hesitation and gets excited, they both feel its a fantastic and fun idea. Lacking the funds Sandy and Jimmy have to get Caleb on board as a silent partner.

They put a down payment on the place, design it, renovate it, host a food tasting but last minute they are denied their liquor license. Sandy assumes its because his affiliation with Jimmy. This problem basically makes the business "worthless", due to the lack of alcohol sales that they would need to thrive. Without a liquor license Sandy and Jimmy decide to cut their losses and sell the property to Caleb, each of them getting over a million dollars in the deal. Jimmy and Sandy feel like they got quite a good offer considering perhaps maybe too good to be true. Then a little later they find out that Caleb was the one that blocked their liquor license purposely, buying the restaurant cheap from Sandy and Jimmy with the intention of selling it to someone else for way more money!

It would have been really cool for this to have worked out for Jimmy and Sandy. Even if they only
owned it for a season. Nana Cohen's meatloaf would have delighted many Newport dwellers. Sigh.

The actual filming location of the interior/exterior building was in Redondo Beach and not Newport, as most of The O.C. was. It simply costs too much to film outside L.A..The building housed many restaurants over the years, with the last restaurant being named "Venezia Italian Grill" and "Harbor Drive" before that.

 The most recent Yelp review was in 2008 with an average rating of 3/5 stars.

Sadly in 2013 the original Balboa Lighthouse building suffered the same fate as The Bait Shop, the building was torn down and construction started on a new modern and sophisticated hotel. We lost yet another O.C. landmark.

The hotel is called "Shade Hotel". Regular rooms start at $250-269 per night but if you want to live large the luxury suites will set you back $1500 a night!