Briarwood Inn — Hotel in Carmel-by-the-Sea

My husband and I made a reservation with Briarwood Inn in December to celebrate our 58th anniversary. When we arrived, they told us that the power was out, but should be back on by 5:00. We checked in and went out shopping. When we returned at 6:30 it looked dark, but all the other buildings in that block were lighted, so we went to the office and said "The power's not back on yet?" The woman in the office said "Well, what does it look like?" (very rudely). We went to the room, which was up a rickety set of stairs (the previous staff person had given us a flashlight earlier). My husband walks with a cane and it was very dark and problematic. We sat in the totally dark, cold room for about half an hour getting more and more irritated. The power company workers had already gone home, so we figured the power would be out all night. We went to the office and said that we'd like to go to a different hotel rather than spend our anniversary in this dark room. The woman again was extremely rude and said she couldn't give us a refund. We left and went to a different hotel that had lights and heat and lost almost $500 (2 nights fee). We called the next morning and the phone system was still down, so apparently the power was not back on. Besides the very rude unaccommodating staff, the place is badly in need of care. The woodwork around windows and doors is rotting and paint is in bad shape. Apparently, the small balcony is rotten and dangerous, because the balcony doors are locked with a note not to use the balcony (Dicken's Room). So we lost our money and had a terrible experience for our 58th...

Most rude treatment we have ever received at any "hospitality" business. We arrived at 2:15pm well aware that check in time is 3pm. Upon arrival no one was in the office, when the clerk did arrived we identified ourselves as guests checking in. The clerk very rudely responded "check in is at 3pm". In all our travels if we arrived earlier than the posted check in time we have always been treated as guests rather than an interruption to their day. If the room was not ready others simply checked us in and let us know that they would call or text us when the room is ready, the clerk offered neither accommodation. We traveled 138 miles and upon arriving my wife needed to use the restroom, the clerk stated that she would have to go to the corner to a gas station, she stated they do not have "public" restrooms on site. We were not random public individuals, rather "guests" trying to check in. We were able to find other lodging and contacted the clerk to cancel our reservation, she rudely informed us that is was of no concern of hers, we need to notify Booking.com. We contacted the manager to express our concern regarding our treatment and notified him that we left a review describing the treatment received from his representative. Our concerns fell on deaf ears and he stated that he receives many reviews both good and bad. Obviously reviews mean nothing to him. I will never recommend this business to anyone and caution anyone reading this review to choose another business at which to...

BEWARE of the 72 hr cancellation policy! Called the main desk 3 days in advance to notify of needing to drop the last night of reservation due to work, and left message as the clock had just turned 7:01pm. (There is NO ONE to help you at the inn if it isn’t during business hours.) Call was returned next day, AFTER being fully charged 2.5 days PRIOR to check in. Who has ever heard of being charged full amount ($1,000+) for a place to stay when check-in is DAYS away? We arrived for our 3 night stay, and explained again we had to leave after 2 nights…but it was at our loss/no credit. If I could have canceled the entire reservation 2.5 days ahead of time, I would have…but then we would have been out over $1,000. We stayed in room #S3…

Pros: Clean room with premises in good condition. Friendly cleaning crew/staff. Arta & Augustina especially helpful and informative! Great organic in-room coffee from Carmel Valley Coffee.

Cons: Mattresses firm, uncomfortable, and noisy. All windows without screens to keep bugs out. There is NO A/C…the upstairs gets hot/stuffy. No blackout options on windows for sleeping in, or with bright nighttime security lights.

Think twice before booking here…I...