Hotels California

"Welcome to the Hotel California, such a lovely place." -- Eagles

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 

San Luis Obispo -- Madonna Inn ($253/night)

• Amazing hotel!
• Lots of amenities
• Restaurant/cafe
• Pool/hot-tub
• Gardens
• Free postcard picturing each room
• Each room is unique
• Friendly staff
• Large room

Solvang -- King Frederik Inn ($129/night)

• 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

Oceanside -- Rodeway Inn ($120/night)

• 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

This is the end of my hotel saga. I hope that this will assist some of you as you plan your trips to California. The one I most recommend is Madonna Inn, of course. Because I loved Solvang so much, King Frederik Inn is probably my second place recommendation. 

San Francisco Day 1

"Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights, it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of the living." -- Miriam Beard

Today began my longest, furthest, solo journey. It is a little scary, but I am learning not to avoid doing what I want to do out of fear. So, California for the next two weeks, eight hotels, 501 miles; starting with San Francisco.

I began with the cable cars and learned a few important things quickly:
*Get an app called MuniMobile on your phone and buy a passport ticket for the number of days you need. This saves a tremendous amount of money. It's also easier to carry your ticket on your phone.
*The most popular boarding location is the Powell/Market St. turn-around. The line I got in was worse than a line at Disney World, mostly because it wasn't steadily moving. I finally figured out that if I walked down the "tracks" for just two blocks, I would cut my wait time by 1-1.5 hours!

I rode to Fisherman's Wharf and was extremely grateful for that cable car. The hills!!! I've seen them on television, but no tv show has done them justice. Walking some of these hills was NOT an option! The wharf is definitely a tourist destination. The area is full of restaurants, souvenir shops, ice cream shops (I saw a Swensen's on the way there! On my list for tomorrow!), candy stores, museums, and various other tourist magnets. I was satisfied just to stroll around getting my bearings.

The history buff in me could not resist the World War II ship, SS Jeremiah O'Brien. It was an really good deal. For $20, I got to tour the ship entirely on my own, visit the museum in the first hold, and watch a 45 minute film about the history of the ship. It was so much fun! This is the only surviving operating Liberty Ship from World War II. This ship took troops and supplies to Normandy and later transported bombs to the Pacific theater. It was so neat to be in the exact location those men were in! (The view from the top deck was cool too!)

I ate at a seafood restaurant on Pier 39 but was not super impressed. It was the Pier Market. Made my way back to the cable cars for an early return to my hotel. At that point, I had been up for 17 hours, and I have a big day tomorrow -- biking across the Golden Gate Bridge.

One more thing, and this is very unusual. Look at the sign below. I couldn't resist taking a pic. You don't see this in North Carolina!