Cayucos Sunset Inn Bed & Breakfast — Hotel in Cayucos

A couple weeks ago, I traveled north to spend quality time with family I rarely see and attend a concert with my wonderful friends, who had gifted me a ticket to Bonnie Raitt for my birthday. I knew it was going to be a special time, and I wanted to extend it a little and be close to them for a few days while they moved their elderly mom out of the home she had in Cayucos for decades. That’s when I discovered that the Cayucos Sunset Inn was just two blocks away, and so I booked it through an app — even though it was a little out of my ideal price range. Times are tight, but in my mind, it’s worth stretching a little to keep my loved ones close.||Then I looked at the website for the Inn and thought, “I could fall in love with this place.” I mean, it appears to be pretty great, right? Some of the rooms look so special and romantic online, and I started to think this could even be a home away from home on my travels up the coast. ||On the off chance they might upgrade me, I reached out directly and inquired about changing to a room with a view for little to no money. My talk with the “innkeeper” was amazing! I explained that times are tight and I was on a budget, and she said not to worry, she’d see what she could do. She just needed to get permission for a low- or no-cost upgrade and she’d get right back to me.||I then received this voicemail:||“Hi Jesse, this is name redacted, the innkeeper at Cayucos Sunset Inn. We were able to upgrade you to an upstairs room for the same price. We have two different themes. We have a country style theme room called Palais and Paradise themed room called Paradis, so if you want to take a look online right now, I’d switch you to Palais, because it is our closest ocean view and I like that room. But either way, you wanna get back to me or text message this phone number. Let me know which room you would like. Thank you, have a good day. Bye-bye.”||I was elated! My trip had, seemingly, just gotten even better!||A few days later, I hit the road. The concert and family time was incredible, but that’s a whole other story. Fast forward to my check-in at the inn. When I arrived, the same person I had talked to on the phone warmly greeted me and handed me the intake forms. There was no verbal mention of any additional charge, and so I filled in my license plate info, signed it, and handed over my card for incidentals. ||Here was my mistake. Always read the form before you sign it. I take full responsibility for not having done so, but I maintain that since I had a recorded verbal agreement with the “innkeeper,” I had no reason to believe I was signing to okay a $275 UPGRADE CHARGE!||I later realized I’d been charged this large amount only after my card was declined at dinner. Embarrassing. But the nightmare was only just beginning. Home now, I called the inn to clarify the situation and see if they might reverse the charge, since I had been told via voicemail I would be paying “the same price” for my new room. Over the course of a week, two days of which I started by waking from nightmares about my finances, I spoke to four different staffers, reaching out specifically on days the manager was supposedly going to be at the inn. ||The manager, however, avoided answering my request for a simple phone conversation and also didn’t immediately reply to my email. So stressful! Eventually she did reply and we exchanged emails. Despite having the full explanation from me, she denied me a refund, citing company policy. They had my signature, so too bad, SOL. Ugh. Whatever happened to “my word is my bond” or “the customer is always right?” What has happened to common decency?||Look, I’m not in the habit of flaming a place, even if it’s less than great. And honestly there’s a lot to love about the Cayucos Sunset Inn, if they would just keep to their word. The breakfast frittata was decent, the view to the coast is good, the staff were all very attentive, and the tubs, bath products, and beds — even if they look better than they feel — are all fine for the price.||Still, do you want to stay somewhere that treats even a single customer like this? You could be next, so consider...

Unfortunately, in spite of the nice facilities, we had a negative overall experience due to being overcharged for our room. We booked a Queen room because the King seemed like not a good value for us. When we checked in, we were offered a King upgrade for $50. I asked if that charge was for the entire 3 day stay (not a per night charge) and was told that, yes it was $50 for the whole time. This seemed like a great deal, so we took it. My credit card was charged for $160, but I didn't think much of it, since hotels frequently place a hold for incidentals which is later refunded. But it turned out, this was not for incidentals, they acutally charged us $50 per night (plus tax). I called the place to explain that this is not what we were offered, but they said there was "nothing they could do" and the policy was for the upgrade to be a per night charge. They thought the employee must have made a mistake in offering us the upgrade for a single up-charge. AND YET THEY WOULD NOT STAND BEHIND WHAT THEY OFFERED US. This seems like a terrible bait and switch to me, so I'm pretty upset with their customer service. I filed a dispute with my credit card company, but they came back in favor of the hotel, so apparently there is nothing more to be done. My advice would be to find another place to stay, one that will stand behind what they say. Especially so, since their hotel was not at all full when we stayed there, and good customer service would have cost them NOTHING. They were not going to sell that more expensive room anyway, so why not stand behind what we were told?? Seems like crazy bad service to me.

UPDATE: Do not believe what the owner wrote in their reply. I was told (and my wife was standing right there) that it was $50 upgrade for the WHOLE STAY (else I would not have done it). I specifically asked the counter person if it was for the whole stay or per night and they said the whole stay. I may well have initialed or signed something that said the opposite (who reads all those papers that they tell you to initial here and sign here?), but my point is that I was very specifically offered one thing and then charged for another. The person who wrote the reply was not there at check in (or else...

Earlier this year, I had an overnight business trip on the Central Coast. I had walked past this cute bed and breakfast many times in Cayucos. I decided on this occasion to book an overnight stay just to check it out. I was so impressed! I was greeted by a wonderful staff member who checked me into the Bali room. This suite was spotless, lushly decorated, every detail was taken care of in this room. The balcony and view were perfect. I enjoy the evening cookies, they were a nice touch at the end of the day. The bathtub and the shower with multiple heads was fabulous and also completely spotless. I didn't want to leave the room to go out and walk around because I just enjoyed the space so much. There is a living area and a bedroom. There are two fireplaces in this room which are wonderful. The mini fridge is packed with yummy things that you can purchase. The next morning, I had a fantastic breakfast that was prepared and served by another sweet and wonderful staff member. I just loved everything about my stay here. Yesterday I decided that I would book a two-night stay this weekend for my husband and I. I cannot wait to check in! |I do want to note that I have stayed in the other bed and breakfast in town as well as a lot of the hotels. This was by far...