The Hotel Carmel — Hotel in Carmel-by-the-Sea

Located in the heart of Carmel, this boutique hotel has the feel of an inn with probably 20-25 rooms. My first impression as I pulled in was that it seemed perfectly nice and that I’d selected well for my one night passing through Carmel.

But first impressions are just that. I quickly noticed there are insufficient parking spots on site for hotel guests and most of the limited street parking in the vicinity has restrictions which require vehicles to be moved every two hours and if you’re lucky enough to find a spot by 7 pm, when restrictions end for the day, be prepared to wake up early as your car must be moved again by 7 am.

Upon checking in, I was told by the employee at the front desk that despite having properly reserved a dog friendly room, a $250 fee comes along with having a pet. I explained that this policy had never been communicated to me when I made the reservation. Before I could get the words out, I was quickly told this policy is stated on the hotel website. I explained that I was forced to call the hotel to make my reservation as there was a glitch in the website when I attempted to book - and I specifically requested a pet friendly room and nothing was said about any accompanying fee. I clearly stated that my issue was with the lack of communication - not the policy itself (which seems excessively high) - and was then told this would be conveyed to a manager and I’d be called later with an update.

I then went to my room - 107 - which was perfectly nice with a comfortable bed and accurately represented by the interior photos I’d seen online. What I had not seen online was how dated and subpar the bathrooms - specifically the showers - are. When paying $400+ per night, I expect a nice shower and that’s sorely missing here.

Soon thereafter, I received a call from the front desk letting me know the $250 pet fee was being waived since I had not been told about it when making the reservation. I appreciated this very much.

I walked into town for dinner and was pleased to see how great the hotel’s location is. It is just minutes by foot to the heart of Carmel.

Upon returning to the hotel after dinner, I was hoping a parking spot would have opened up, but no such luck. I was fortunate to see a street spot open up in an area that doesn’t require cars to be moved by 7 am and quickly moved my car there.

Back in the room, I was truly alarmed by how paper thin the walls are - I was able to hear every single word said by the people in the room next to me. But the biggest issue is that the room above us was occupied and every step they took felt like an earthquake and was extremely loud. This is by far the biggest problem with the hotel. If you stay here, bring earplugs - and that’s unlikely to drain out all of the noise you’ll inevitably hear from other guests.

Lastly, the tv in the room enables guests to login to their streaming accounts such as Netflix. I followed the simple directions to do so and received error reports. I called the front desk seeking assistance and was told someone would come by within 10-15 minutes to assist me. I called back 35 minutes later as nobody had arrived. 10 minutes later, a very nice employee arrived and discovered the reason I was unable to sign in: 12 other devices were currently connected (presumably from previous guests) and he did not know how to disconnect them. Apparently this is supposed to be done automatically each time a new guest arrives, but obviously this is not the case. He recommended I watch movies on demand instead and assured me they’d be complimentary. I was unable to find anything I wanted to watch as it’s a limited selection, so I decided to simply try to go to sleep (unfortunately no ear plugs in my...

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First of all, this place is a motel, not a hotel, as all rooms are accessed from the outside, and if I expected a motel, and paid $150.00 a night including breakfast, which was very good, I would have been satisfied. However, I booked this "hotel" over the New Year's for $600.00 a night, which is the most I have ever paid for accommodatioins by about $300.00, and I travel to NYC and all over the world on a regular basis. It was absolutely insane even taking into consideration the excellent service, the great location and the breakfast. And, believe it or not, after paying $600.00 a night, when we checked in, the attendant told us that we had to find parking on the street because they don't have enough "hotel" parking to accommodate all their guests, which required us to move our car to avoid a huge ticket every day. I was flabbergasted by this nonsense.

As for the rooms, the bed and linens were nice and the room was clean but the interior design was dingy and old (the carpet at the threshhold of the bathroom was frayed) and all that could be said about the bathroom was that it was serviceable. They had a nice outdoor gas fireplace and firepit that we used, and a jucuzzi that we didn't use but other guests did.

I didn't have any problems with noise or activity at the hotel because I wore an eye mask and Bose headphones with noise canceling feature, but I absolutely agree that noise/activity would be an issue without these items.

Whether you have a good or bad experience here is based on how much money you are paying for a decent motel room, friendly, informative staff, good breakfast, great location with no guarantee of...

This is complicated review. I would actually rate it 3.5 if I could. By its own classification, this is a 3-star hotel and in the strict sense it is as advertised — the beds, bedding pillows, bathrooms, towels, etc are what you would expect; they are all very clean and similar to what you would find at a good Courtyard Marriott. Hence, we found it a little difficult to sleep well as the beds were either too hard or too soft, and then pillows were terrible (hard and filled with synthetic filling). ||That said, it has a very nice outdoor hot tub — which you certainly will not find at a Courtyard Marriott — and a very nice outdoor courtyard. They serve a nice breakfast — not like the horrible breakfasts you find at a typical select service hotel — and wine and cheese in the evening. ||The hotel is on a hill, so nice views from second floor. Staff is excellent and very helpful. ||The hotel is also located at the edge of the downtown area. So absolutely part of downtowns and some great restaurants (like Hogs Breath Inn) and other are only a block or two away. It’s about 15 minute walk to the beach, which is why I describe it as on the edge. About a block further way from Hotel Carmel and you are largely in residential area. |In the end, I would probably look for another hotel if I returned to Carmel but only because we found it hard to sleep on the...