During my trip through California, I stayed in eight different hotels. I found all of them online in searches for certain towns. I selected them based on several criteria: safe area (in respect to San Francisco), proximity to beaches, cost, and reviews by others. I kept thorough notes on all of the hotels with the intent of sharing with you. In case any of you decide to drive the PCH (I highly recommend it!) or are just planning on staying in one of these cities or towns, this information might be helpful. Most of the pictures are from online and are just to give you an idea of the size/type of each hotel. I didn't take pictures of any of the places I stayed except for Madonna Inn.
I am listing the hotels in the order of my visits, which means that they will start at San Francisco and head south, ending at Oceanside. Due to an error in my original planning, two of the hotels are very close together (10 minutes). This ended up being not so bad because they were both on very different beaches, and I went back and forth between the beaches depending on the time of day.
I would probably stay at any of these hotels again, except for the ones in Santa Cruz and Oceanside; I wasn't crazy about either of those. I might not stay in Pacific Grove again, but not because of the hotel; I would just rather stay in Carmel, which is very nearby.
Ok, enough intro... I'll get the list going!
San Francisco -- Wyndam Canterbury ($225/night)
- Very large room, actually a bedroom, living room, kitchen/dinette, bathroom
- This room only sleeps two, but would be good for hosting guests
- Very friendly staff
- Gave me a large bag of flavored popcorn when I checked in
- Always fresh water with lemon in lobby
- No breakfast
- Very quiet room
- In a safe downtown area
- Good restaurant nearby
- Short walk from cablecar stop
Santa Cruz -- Riverside Inn and Suites ($125/night)
- Name is very misleading, obviously
- Great location, short walk to shopping main street shopping area and short walk in opposite direction to beach and amusement park
- Comfortable bed
- VERY small room
- Loud street noise from outside (no air, so window was open)
- No breakfast
Pacific Grove -- Sea Breeze Inn ($170/night)
- Good sized room
- Good location -- a short walk to beach in two different directions
- Friendly staff
- Quiet
- No air, opened windows
- Someone's back yard right behind my room
- Breakfast included
San Simeon -- Sands by the Sea ($189/night)
- Perfect location right on the beach
- Outdoor area very nice with beach chairs, lawn games
- Breakfast voucher to be used at nearby restaurant
- King bed
- Large room
- No air, opened window
- Friendly staff
Cambria -- Castle Inn ($212/night)
- Good location right across street from beach
- Pool with large beach towels for use
- Friendly staff
- Breakfast included
- Yummy cookies in room
- Average sized room
- No air, opened window
- Overpriced when compared with San Simeon room above
- Amazing hotel!
- Lots of amenities
- Restaurant/cafe
- Pool/hot-tub
- Gardens
- Free postcard picturing each room
- Each room is unique
- Friendly staff
- Large room
- Very friendly staff, desk clerk remembered my name the day after I checked in
- Good location right in center of town
- Great price
- Delicious breakfast included (brought in from local bakery)
- Pool/hot tub
- Loud people in room next door
- Not such a friendly staff
- Breakfast included, but I didn't have it
- Not that safe of an area, homeless man in a secluded area near hotel
- Location just okay, long walk from beach, one restaurant nearby
- Large room
No comments:
Post a Comment