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

My advice and what I will be doing going forward: ONLY book a hotel room over the phone and if the hotel doesn't pick up or is unprofessional on the phone, book elsewhere.

I made a reservation at the Wayfairer online through a service called booking.com and didn't think twice about it. I received a confirmation that strongly stated that I must let them know in advance if I was bringing my dog. Well... they wouldn't answer the phone within their stated business hours and they don't have an answering machine. I tried replying to the email message via booking.com twice - no response. They have no website and no direct email contact. I tried calling the help line for booking.com, which told me to call the hotel that I booked with directly and then hung up. I called the Wayfairer multiple times on different days of the week and my wife tried, as well. Nothing. The day before we were scheduled to stay, she suggested I call them one last time and I was so surprised when someone picked up that I didn't even know what to say at first. The guy's tone was absolutely scathing and he was very short with me. I told him I'd tried calling many times and asked what their office hours were. He stated the same hours the confirmation email had. I asked him what days and he said every day. I told him why I was calling and he didn't care to hear that I was bringing the dog, saying that we should settle it upon arrival at the hotel. I thanked him and he said "goodbye" and hung up, as if he were ending an argument with someone on his personal phone. This is a business line and I am a customer, sir. Leave whatever personal frustrations at home. Ask if I need anything else and then say "have a nice day" or "we look forward to seeing you". I was so thrown off by his demeanor that I forgot to ask him what time check-in was. It wasn't stated in the confirmation email, but I didn't want to call back. Upon arrival, a sign on the office door indicated check-in wasn't for another hour, but then a man came out and said we could check in now. I can't believe I'm going to complain about that, but the continued conflicting signals made me angrier. The room, itself, was OK. The place is nice, but very run-down. There was rust and other water damage in the bathroom, some of the shutters looking out into the street were broken and fixed shut with packing tape, and the place just generally was overdue for a deep clean, beyond what they do each morning or in between guests. The temperature of the room was difficult to moderate and so was the temperature out of the tap. The promised fireplace couldn't really be enjoyed aesthetically because the front glass was so filthy, it was almost completely opaque. The bed was comfortable. Free wi-fi, TV with cable, mini-fridge. We liked the decor. We didn't like that there was no microwave available as far as we could tell. The location is great, of course. The breakfast offered consisted of coffee, tea, and individually packaged "breakfast claws". I checked upon our return home and they charged us the...

This is definitely the worst hotel I have ever stayed. All the one star reviews on this hotel are true. I even want to give them negative stars. Let me list the reasons why NOT to stay in this hotel: We are two couples and good friends. We booked a two bedroom suite. The website writes "Private Bathrooms in each Room" and the picture shows that it at least has a table and chairs in the suite. HOWEVER, the two bedrooms are very very small (only one chair and no table...) and separated by a door which can see through even when it's closed. The worst thing is it only has ONE BATHROOM! And one couple have to go through the other couple's room to get to the bathroom! The Carmel Wayfarer Inn's website definitely is CHEATING us! If we have known the two bedroom suite only has one bathroom and the bedrooms are so small, we wouldn't spend $400 a night for it. The bathroom is super dirty. The shelf in the bathroom is covered by a layer of dust. One towel even has yellowish stain on it. The cleaning people are very lazy. They don't change the shampoo and conditioner everyday. We have four people but they only have three towels and obviously one bag of shampoo and conditioner are not enough for four of us. We have four people live in the two bedroom suite but they only gave us one key. And when we complained to the owner of the hotel about their cheating ( only one bathroom for two bedroom suite which is different than what the website says ), the owner explained that they are not cheating since "Private Bathrooms in each Room" can also mean each "Private Bathrooms in each Suite" and threatened us if we keep saying they are cheating the customers, he'll call the police. The breakfast is awful. They put a lot of water in the orange juice to decrease their cost. And the artificial butter and syrup they use are unhealthy. And the water is not filtered water which tastes weird. And when we had breakfast, we saw a baby who threw up after she drank the orange juice. And there are some other small things I didn't list here. Please don't choose this hotel when you travel to carmel. This hotel will destroy...

My wife and I stayed here on a Wednesday night and let me tell you, Carmel is absolutely stunning, even slightly secluded on a weekday.

To start off this place is not bougie, which is a breath of fresh air for the area. This is not to say that the room was uncomfortable in anyway, but rather that it was nothing short of authentically stunning in a way that only quaintness could achieve. There was absolutely no need to superimpose any kind of ocean theme decor or "modern" interior design over what was already perfect in it's simplicity.

That said, we stayed in room 17 with an ocean view that no picture uploaded could do any justice. We left the windows open all night as we slept under adequate bedding topped with the addition of a second blanket found in the closet. Carmel at night has an aroma of sea, cypress, and faint fire wood that sooths and comforts to the sound of the waves, and you can experience it all right there in the room.

For those who want a more utilitarian explanation of what to expect; there is ample free parking just behind the building, a bathtub/ shower combo, shampoo/conditioner/ body wash dispensers mounted in the shower, a hair dryer, several tables to put things on, and a room right when you walk in to the front entrance big enough to fit two bikes if you plan to ride 17mile drive. Down the street are all the creatures comforts of a non franchised village like town. Coffee, good coffee, is just a walk away, and so is the beach if you're adventurous.

I've said almost all I can say accept that Mike, the owner, is a gentleman with the concerns of his guests at the forefront of his mind. He was kind enough to let us keep our car parked in the lot when we went to bike, and accommodating enough to make check-in a literal breeze even after-hours.

AND I almost forgot to mention the best part. We got to bring our dog!

10/10 enchanted trip, would go back everyday if I didn't live...