Mariposa Inn and Suites — Hotel in Monterey

I have stayed at this hotel several times and never had an issue. After making special arrangements for a "girls weekend" in a nice suite, requiring an early check-in for health reason and a requiring a service animal (11am/noon - which required booking for 2 nights). I explained to the receptionist my situation. They gave me a discount on the first night as we were not going to be sleeping there two nights, but that we would be there early on day two for the over-night. She confirmed this was not a problem and they would see us on day two. We got to the hotel around 3pm on day two. I arrived with my friends and service animal and was given a once-over and I was told that I needed to come back in two hours that they were not checking in anyone yet. I explained that I had a reservation for two nights and I am checking in late - technically - to this receptionist, Nicki, who was not the same at all as the initial phone receptionist. Nicki spent about twenty minutes tinkering on the computer and kept saying she couldn't find me. I explained to look on day one. After a few minutes Nicki went to the back and came back with a large envelope and confirmed my name. Nicki told me they cancelled my reservation as I hadn't shown up. I asked what happened to my room, could I just have it for the one night (since I was now there at normal check-in time) and was told the room was re-booked that morning. I asked when the cancellation happened and why hadn't anyone called or read the notes that I had explained we wouldn't be in the area until day two. Nicki basically shrugged her shoulders and said, I didn't book the reservation, I didn't put in any notes and I didn't cancel it. I asked how they could accommodate me as I am now here, ready to check-in, service dog getting impatient, friend in the car still waiting, blood sugar dropping. Nicki said the best she could do was a standard room at a price higher than my two nights in the suite. She said who ever set up my reservation did it wrong and should have put in a note, blaming someone else and not willing to really correct or adequately accomodate our original reservation. I said someone should have called to confirm the reservation or cancellation and now I am the one out of a room because of your staff. Nicki offered zero empathy. When I finally asked for a manager I was told I had to wait until after 4pm as the manager would not be there until then. I asked how managers were contacted and why couldn't they be reached as this is unusual circumstances, Nicki repeated that I would just have to wait until later if I wanted to speak to a manger. Nicki reminded me of the standard room (too small to accomodate us and even included a discount, yet it was still twice as much as the suite.....) and was told she couldn't hold it and it would require a reservation asap. As I hadn't spoken to the manager, I felt that this was a take it or leave the area type of situation. Frustrated beyond belief I found comfort and accomodations and people happy to help down the street. Thank you Best Western Plus

Update: I called after 4 and spoke to Michelle. She was polite and empathetic. However, she informed me it was only her third day and that the manager wasn't scheduled to be back until Monday and that they hadn't responded to her...

We had a mixed experience at the Mariposa Inn and Suites. The good was that the room was very clean and relatively well maintained except for some small issues with the shower. The Mariposa Inn also has a very nice location sitting in between Monterey and Carmel - it's about 5-10 minutes to either from the hotel, which makes it very easy to move around.

The bad, though, is primarily related to customer service and some misleading advertising. Less importantly, the hotel is simply not as nice as it looks from the photos; the pool is much smaller, for example, than it looks online and the rooms are clearly a bit aged (there was, for example, a strange, rusty stain on the floor next to the bed in our room, and it was difficult to get the keycard to work for the door). Based on the cost of our stay, this was a bit surprising.

More importantly, the interactions we had with front desk staff were a bit unpleasant. The check-in time is pretty late in the day - 4pm - and we called ahead of time to see if it would at least be possible to drop off our luggage with the front desk until we could check in. This is something we've done with numerous hotels previously. When we called the day before, we received the curt answer that it was up to the person at the desk upon our arrival - this made it difficult to plan, as some of our luggage did have valuables. When we arrived, they did allow us to keep one bag behind the desk, but overall, the interaction was very brusque - we got the sense that the staff just wanted us to hurry up and move on quickly. Similarly, upon checking out, there was little said beyond "Name? Okay." We certainly understand not wanting to smooze, especially during COVID times, but the overall sense of indifference made us feel very unwelcome. We've seen from other reviews that most of the negative experiences people have had come from this particular area, and this makes us inclined to believe them.

From our stay, we can say that if customer service is not a real priority for you and instead you care primarily about a good location between Monterey and Carmel, this could be a good option to consider. However, it does seem worth having some caution in case something does go wrong unexpectedly. I'd also say that the 4pm check-in time can be a difficult, as most areas around only have street parking, and you may not want to leave your luggage in your car if you do arrive before the...

EDIT for April 12th: The manage contacted us and was very apologetic. For his courtesies and kind words, I have increased this to two stars (from one). Undecided if we will stay here again, but I may be willing to give this place another chance after the conversation with him.

I am in awe at how AWFUL we were treated.

We made a reservation 1 week plus in advance. Because we are coming in from out of town and have someone with a SERVICE ANIMAL so we booked the room for an extra night early so we could check in early. The employee on the phone approved and confirmed this with us saying it was NO PROBLEM. Upon arrival, we found out that they had cancelled our room without EVER trying to contact us about not arriving and the room had been GIVEN AWAY. When trying to devise a solution with the employee at the desk, Nicky, gave us attitude and was not accommodating AT ALL. We were not allowed to speak with a manager and were pushed out the door saying we had "bad attitudes." As someone who works in hospitality, I just couldn't believe what had happened. I would be fired for this kind of behavior.

Since we are from long out of town were left desperately looking for a place to stay outside our budget for three people and a service animal.

This was a place we've stayed multiple times and have recommended to many people but we will now be telling them all to stay at the BEST WESTERN PLUS down the street.

EDIT: We called back to speak with the manager when Nicky said they'd be in at 4. We spoke to a different, lovely employee, Michelle, who said they were brand new and training but it appeared no one else was there to help them and the manager was not returning their calls/texts. Michelle said the manager would likely not be in until Monday. Nicky obviously lied to us about the manager coming in to make it someone else's problem after they left and to dismiss us. Reading other reviews it looks like other patrons have experienced the...