Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa — Hotel in Monterey

I wanted to love my romantic weekend getaway but unfortunately this "upscale" hotel fell extremely short. Typically, hotels go out of their way to make you feel at home, MPH&S does exactly the opposite. If you like to be told 'no' repeatedly, or if you love to spend unnecessary money, please book a stay here, otherwise, if you'd like to know what it's REALLY like, please continue on.

PROS: It isn't all bad, I'm not some grouchy disgruntled patron. I did like some parts of the hotel. The beds were good, the coffee and snacks at Tidal Coffee were delicious, and the dinner at Schooners was amazing. HOWEVER, that's really all the juice I could squeeze out of this lemon of a hotel.

(1) Valet only, no choice. I'm very particular about my car as it has a lower front bumper and unless you know how to angle out of a driveway, it could scrape. After initial check-in I said I'd rather park it myself (not allowed) so I relented and gave them the keys. Immediately the valet scraped my bumper leaving driveway. After they took my car, I then found out that I wouldn't be allowed to even access the vehicle (not allowed). I wanted to grab something that was buried in my glovebox but I was only allowed to (A) have them go get it (and rummage through my personal items, no thank you, defeats the whole reasoning behind a valet key) or (B) have them pull the car back up front so I can grab it and then they re-park. As mentioned about my bumper, I didn't like option #B and option #A was an invasion of privacy. I said screw it, I took my car and parked it downtown at the 24hr Cannery Row Parking Garage. Strike #1.

(2) Our room was on the spa suites side (on the Tidal Coffee side), DO NOT GET A ROOM ON THIS SIDE OF THE HOTEL! We arrived Thursday night and we're awoken from 5:30AM - 6AM on a Friday morning while the garbage man rolled, emptied, put back over a dozen trash cans for the Chart House and the Hotel. The windows are paper thin, you hear every crash, bang, garbage bin. I sleep with a fan and noise machine and I'm not a light sleeper but this was terrible. I chalked it up to it being a weekday and figured the rest of our stay was safe. Wrong again. On Sunday mornings at 6:30AM/7AM they have laundry delivery service and you know what sounds exactly like an incessant alarm clock? A big truck backing up. BE WARNED! Do not get a room on the spa suites side of the hotel unless you are up at / before 5AM every morning. Strike #2.

(3) When Sunday check-out day finally came around, I thought I was finally out of this hotel and free and clear and on my way home. When I went to get a luggage cart to bring up to my room so I can pull my car around, I was told I was not allowed (sensing a theme here?) to use a luggage cart, it would have to be brought up and loaded by a valet / bellhop. Are. You. Serious. So I have to wait and have someone handle my personal items just so you guys can collect tips? Nevermind, I hand-carried all my luggage to my car. Strike #3.

Needless to say, I will never be returning to MPH&S, and I honestly wouldn't recommend it to anyone either. You can get a much better hotel that makes you feel special and at home (especially at this price point) if you look elsewhere. For such an upscale place to force themselves into my experience (we must drive your car, you can't go to it, don't touch the carts), I felt completely put off.

I went into the weekend expecting to be treated like royalty by selecting such a highly rated and highly touted hotel. Only to leave the weekend with dark black circles under my eyes and feeling like I just paid over $1K for a half-way house...

We are hosting my parents 50th wedding anniversary in Monterey over the summer of 2022 and decided to stay at each of the hotels we were considering as a venue to ensure my parents and our guests would have a nice experience. Monterey Plaza Hotel was my top pick for venue prior to our stay. Unfortunately our experience from start to finish was so poor we chose to book the anniversary celebration with The Lodge on Pebble Beach instead. We stayed at several Monterey hotels back to back, each for three days. I booked Monterey Plaza Hotel and two others through Expedia simply for the conveniance of being able to book several hotels in one location. Of the three hotels booked with Expedia, there was a problem with the Monterey Plaza booking, and the hotel cancelled our reservation two months prior to my stay. That is when the trouble started. I called the hotel to inquire why our stay had been cancelled and attempting to rebook. I was treated like a homeless woman attempting to stay in a 5 star hotel for free. The lady at the front desk referred to me as “trash” and told me you don’t book a hotel Like the Monterey Plaza through a low class site like Expedia. I travel for a living and have stayed in a variety of exemplary hotels and have never been treated as poorly as I was by Monterey Plaza. I should have ended my experience there. However, after getting off the phone I realized my card had been charged for a night by the hotel, so I was forced to call back to ensure the charge would be credited back. I spoke with the manager who was delightful. So delightful in fact I decided to continue with our stay after all. California was still on COVID lock down when I booked so we got a good rate at the hotel. Fast forward to our stay. Our stay was ok, the ocean view balcony room was nice, and the location is fantastic. After repeated attempts I still could not connect with the events manager to navigate the details of my parents anniversary party. On our final day at the hotel I stopped in at the front desk to both get a receipt for our stay and inquire about making another apt with the events manager. I was emailed a breakdown of our room costs when I rebooked with the manager. Cost of our room with taxes and fees was $409 per night. We were told the same price at check in. So I was shocked to learn we had been charged $969 per night at check out. I pulled up the details of our stay I was provided prior to check in and when I booked, and asked why the rate had changed after check in. The lady provided one ridiculous argument after the next, none of which explained why our rate more than doubled at check out. The woman belittling and inappropriate. My issue wasn’t the cost, my issue was that I was provided one price at booking and check in and that rate more than doubled upon check out, without communication. Even worse, the woman wasn’t going to allow me to keep the receipt as she told me that was against hotel policy. I’ve never experienced being told a hotel does not provide a receipt or breakdown of charges. I took the receipt anyway, only to learn the receipt she provided was for a different room number and different dates of stay. The experience was so poor I can’t fathom booking a $75,000 event with them. Our stay with every other hotel in Monterey was incredible. The Lodge greeted us with champagne at check in. I don’t have issue paying $1000 a night for a hotel room. I do have issue with being lied to and treated poorly. Two other couples dealt with an identical experience while I was waiting, and the woman treated them...

Genuinely perplexed how this is marked as "very good" and really raises an eyebrow at what lengths they're going through to possibly remove negative/more accurate reviews. We found our recent stay at Monterey Plaza to have missed this mark. We took a last minute trip for Memorial Day weekend and stayed two nights at this hotel. Upon check in, we weren't given an overview of the hotel or even so much as an idea of where we could find the gym/ spa/ rooftop or other amenities. Once our room was ready by noon, we got a call and were excited to see our room. As we entered our unit, we found it to be just okay...while it's an older building, the housekeeping team does a wonderful job keeping the units cleaned, but there are a few things that could be redone. In particular, there was a funky odor from the carpet and the room smelled like it could really use a true carpet deep cleaning. Perhaps something that room hadn't had in a very long while. We loved the location and were happy to explore the area around the property. Upon coming back one evening, I noticed on their website they offered "late night" tea, so we called the front desk to request this around midnight and they informed us that the tea service ended at 10pm and that "UberEats is still delivering." This was unfortunate as I was having a mild stomach ache that evening and usually hotels can deliver a simple tea bag at least, but the front desk wasn't accommodating to this request at all. The next day we had an early start and were pleasantly surprised by their coffee shop (definitely a must try)! Finally, as we were checking out the next morning we called the Valet (which you pay $35/a day for btw) and the assistant tells us he'll have our car ready. Then no less than a minute later, our phone rings and he asks us to repeat our Valet ticket number. Once we reconfirm the number to the assistant, he then pauses over the phone and says "well we don't have the keys for that car." He then proceeds to frustratingly find the keys over the phone for about 2 more minutes before we just are annoyed and concerned enough to meet the team downstairs. When we arrive, the team is still looking for the keys for our car and keeps letting us know "they cannot find the vehicle" which as you can imagine is a wild mistake for $35/day valet. Finally, the attendant finds the keys in some random drawer and gives them to us. No apology for the inconvenience that led us to being several more minutes later to leave for the work day. No mention of how they could make the situation better. Nothing close to the level of hospitality I'd expect out of such an "accredited" establishment that has clearly paid for their spot on Forbes. Another thing, every single time we pulled in to give our car to valet, they ask "are we checking in" every single time. There's just no sense of "welcome back" or any awareness of who their current guests are. These little things matter when you ask people to pay such a sore price for mediocrity. Checking out at the front desk was no surprise, we asked for our receipt, the lady at the reception didn't care to ask about our stay, and we were more than happy to leave. Would definitely think twice before staying here. We noticed they advertise themselves as the best in Monterey, but the area between Monterey and Carmel is quite small. You can find far more competitive and comfortable options that will treat better and have higher standards of service and...