Hofsas House Hotel — Hotel in Carmel-by-the-Sea

Nice retro-styled, unique hotel, perhaps matching the charm of small town Carmel-by-the-sea. However, some of that charm sort of wore off due to the excessive noise from people just walking around, a deadbolt in the front door that won’t lock and the poor condition of the carpet.

We requested a top floor room for an extra charge and was assigned a third floor room out of the four floors. The room looked good on inspection, had a nice view from the private balcony. We were happy with the room but didn’t notice the carpet until at night; it looked very questionable when we walked barefoot on it at night. I noticed that, despite all I tried, the deadbolt in the front door wouldn’t latch. The first night we were basically fast asleep early as we were very tired from our traveling during the day. We heard some noise from people shuffling about upstairs but we still slept though it all. However, the next night is when the real noise started around midnight and incredibly continued all night till 7AM. It was as if someone turned on the noise at night and turned it off at 7! We could not sleep nearly the entire night due to this. I must say, there’s only four rooms on the floor above us and I can’t understand how people in just those four rooms make so much noise and keep it up all night. I contend some of the noise is just the floors being so squeaky by themselves. I also think we should have been assigned the top floor, especially because I believe I paid extra to have it when I made the reservation. Another thing that was a bit annoying was that there was very few (just two) wall outlets to charge all my gadgets.

The coffee, tea, orange juice and muffins they served in the front office in the morning is what they called breakfast. It’s nothing to write home about but it’s there if you want it. Also, they have a poetry of the day that they supposedly post each day for the guests to enjoy which I found to be quite unique. The motel does look like an old style building which has a uniqueness of it’s own. Those are all good, however I took one star away for the horrible noise and another one for the defective deadbolt and the...

There are MANY cute Inns & Hotels in Carmel by the Sea. There are not any "new" major chains. That is one of the quaint things about the town - no chain restaurants or hotels. We chose the Hofsas based on family recommendation. My wife and I reserved a King Room with a "territorial view". We also reserved a "family suite" with a small kitchen for our Adult kids and their partners. We stayed 3 nights in early February 2024 while visiting for a family wedding. I was happily surprised to find that our King room's private deck with 2 chairs gave us a glimpse gorgeous view of the Pacific Ocean in the distance. The family suite had no view (on the first level), but was very spacious, with 2 bathrooms, a bedroom with a King Bed and a studio with 2 queen beds and a kitchen combined. The free breakfast is limited - but works as a starter: fresh fruit, yogurt and pastries + a small or large carafe of coffee, and a glass of orange juice. (I prefer this kind of continental to have really bad scrambled eggs and low quality bacon). The rooms show their age for sure, but the prices reflect that, and the rooms are clean and beds comfortable. The views from the 3rd and 4th floors are awesome, and most rooms seem to have a private deck. Excellent maid/cleaning service. Everyone we encountered was super friendly and helpful. Yes you may hear your neighbors - pick the 4th floor if you want to avoid having anyone directly over you. We fortunately did not have loud neighbors...

There are MANY cute Inns & Hotels in Carmel by the Sea. There are not any "new" major chains. That is one of the quaint things about the town - no chain restaurants or hotels. We chose the Hofsas based on family recommendation. My wife and I reserved a King Room with a "territorial view". We also reserved a "family suite" with a small kitchen for our Adult kids and their partners. We stayed 3 nights in early February 2024 while visiting for a family wedding. I was happily surprised to find that our King room's private deck with 2 chairs gave us a glimpse gorgeous view of the Pacific Ocean in the distance. The family suite had no view (on the first level), but was very spacious, with 2 bathrooms, a bedroom with a King Bed and a studio with 2 queen beds and a kitchen combined. The free breakfast is limited - but works as a starter: fresh fruit, yogurt and pastries + a small or large carafe of coffee, and a glass of orange juice. (I prefer this kind of continental to have really bad scrambled eggs and low quality bacon). The rooms show their age for sure, but the prices reflect that, and the rooms are clean and beds comfortable. The views from the 3rd and 4th floors are awesome, and most rooms seem to have a private deck. Excellent maid/cleaning service. Everyone we encountered was super friendly and helpful. Yes you may hear your neighbors - pick the 4th floor if you want to avoid having anyone directly over you. We fortunately did not have loud neighbors...