Monterey Pines Inn — Hotel in Monterey

Extremely Disappointing Stay – Would Not Recommend

My stay at this property was very disappointing. The room was dirty ( we found used coffee capsule in the coffee machine from the previous stay!!) and super cold and had a strong, unpleasant odor. The furniture was old and smelled bad as well. It was also very noisy at night due to the thin walls between rooms — I could hear everything happening in the neighboring rooms.

The most concerning part was how they handled personal and financial information. Upon check-in, they scanned both sides of my ID and credit card ( including CVC!!) and said it was for the deposit and they have to keep this copy with them.

However, this policy was not clearly stated in advance, and they insisted on keeping the scanned copies in their records.

When I questioned this practice, they claimed they don’t take deposits from credit cards because refunds can take up to seven days — (in their property information, it’s clearly stated that credit card deposits are accepted!!!) attaching their policy details to the end.

Instead of processing a proper deposit from your credit card, they keep your credit card details on file and claim they will charge it later if needed, without asking for permission. This is extremely insecure, unacceptable, and raises serious data privacy concerns.

I refused to allow them to keep my card details this way, and I would never have booked this property had I known about these practices in advance.

“Guests are required to show a photo ID and credit card upon check-in. Please note that all Special Requests are subject to availability and additional charges may apply.

A damage deposit of USD 200 is required on arrival. This will be collected by credit card. You should be reimbursed within 7 days of check-out. Your deposit will be refunded in full via credit card, subject to an inspection of...

Drug addicts, police, rude and racist staff, freezing rooms, and rock hard beds!

I checked in and immediately discovered that the bed was rock hard. Like sleeping on wooden boards hard, not kidding. Firm beds are okay, but this was something else. I went to the front desk to change my room or cancel my reservation, not 40 mins after I checked in, and they refused to help me. They said that since they already charged my card, there was nothing I could do to get my money back. The room was not used at all, the sheets weren't even ruffled. I spoke with three different front desk clerks, and each was uncompromising, incredibly disrespectful, rude, and downright out of line. They were all East Indian, and I felt a sense of racism and discrimination towards me. The overall tone of the interaction was like a "ha ha, we have your money already, so you're not getting it back." I have dealt with many hotels and customer service people throughout my 32 years of frequent traveling, and they were by far the worst I have encountered.

This unwillingness to accommodate my request for refund was my primary concern. I overlooked the other countless factors of the hotel that added to the horror of my stay. There were vagrants and known drug addicts hanging out with the hotel staff, perched in common areas, and staying in some of the rooms. Some of them were high on suspected methamphetamine and markedly drunk, and were incredibly loud and disruptive throughout the night. The police showed up at 3 or 4 in the morning and kicked them out and arrested...

Bit further from downtown but so worth it. Free parking, free WiFi (although it doesn’t work from the first half an hour, it will though. Connect and leave your phone somewhere, don’t stress about it, find something else to do and after a while it will magically connect :) ) The rooms are spik and span, the cleanest we have encountered so far. They offer all the amenities: microwave, coffee maker, mini-fridge, little soaps and shampoo bottles, a big table with two chairs if you want a romantic night dine-in, you just have to get some food either delivered or from the shopping centre two minutes from the inn. Plenty of peace and quiet. Andy, the front desk manager and his wife are very helpful, sweet and respectful. If you need anything he is always there and will help. We needed some disposable plates, cutlery and corkscrew, he had it. We even needed a screwdriver, he had two ( :) )He is a great host and the place he runs is somewhere you want to be if you’re looking for tranquility, old-school motel vibe, spotless clean rooms, housekeeping service every day, fresh and pure forest air and best of all: great value for...