Pelican Inn Monterey CA — Hotel in Monterey

When I was on the hunt for a rental house, I ended up staying here for 11 days. It was a great choice! I felt like I got my money’s worth, and I was treated like a valued guest. Plus, it was the perfect place to relax during a hectic time. That’s priceless! Just what I needed.||I passed by this Inn almost every day because my mom lives at the assisted living facility next door. I’d see the parking lot full in the evening and during the day, the managers and staff would be hard at work, cleaning and maintaining the charming accommodations and beautiful flowers. Little did I know that I’d need their help when the rental house nearby was sold and I had to move out.||I had a many options for places close to Old Monterey along the main drag, but I chose this Inn because of the combination of cost, proximity, and convenience. I ended up extending my stay from the initial 4 days to 11. I loved that there were plenty of places to walk to, like the Old Town Monterey or the open-aired Del Monte center (Westfield Mall) with its shops (Apple, LuLuLemon, Columbia, Pottery Barn, and thankfully a LensCrafters).||Restaurants at the Mall and nearby to walk include (CPK, Kona, Island Burger, Chipotle, LaLa’s, Starbucks, Dametra - a quick version of Carmel’s top Dametra Cafe). There’s also Whole Foods and just up the street, my favorite, Chopsticks (Vietnamese). And a nearby TJs.||I almost forgot to mention the TWO walkable farmers markets - Tuesday (old town) and Friday morning (across street at the Mall). The Tuesday afternoon to evening all year long farmers market is almost street fair-like as the Main Street lined with restaurants and such is closed to cars with normal FM stuff from the nearby fields of Monterey County, local artisans, and ... yum yum ... street food and more. The Friday one is seasonable - but given that this is where our food is grown, there is always something in season! Get there early. ||To sum up ... I'll know I'll stay here again and will recommend this to my fellow value or budget minded friends and travelers. It is a small Inn with less than 20 rooms split between two levels. Parking was tight but there always was a space available. The staff was attentive and pleasant. Oh, and the ice machine was working (unlike some nearby places) and the rooms just a few steps from your car. Also, attractions Historic Old Town with its incredible history of being Capital of Alta California and the wonderful Monterey...

When I was on the hunt for a rental house, I ended up staying here for 11 days. It was a great choice! I felt like I got my money’s worth, and I was treated like a valued guest. Plus, it was the perfect place to relax during a hectic time. That’s priceless! Just what I needed.||I passed by this Inn almost every day because my mom lives at the assisted living facility next door. I’d see the parking lot full in the evening and during the day, the managers and staff would be hard at work, cleaning and maintaining the charming accommodations and beautiful flowers. Little did I know that I’d need their help when the rental house nearby was sold and I had to move out.||I had a many options for places close to Old Monterey along the main drag, but I chose this Inn because of the combination of cost, proximity, and convenience. I ended up extending my stay from the initial 4 days to 11. I loved that there were plenty of places to walk to, like the Old Town Monterey or the open-aired Del Monte center (Westfield Mall) with its shops (Apple, LuLuLemon, Columbia, Pottery Barn, and thankfully a LensCrafters).||Restaurants at the Mall and nearby to walk include (CPK, Kona, Island Burger, Chipotle, LaLa’s, Starbucks, Dametra - a quick version of Carmel’s top Dametra Cafe). There’s also Whole Foods and just up the street, my favorite, Chopsticks (Vietnamese). And a nearby TJs.||I almost forgot to mention the TWO walkable farmers markets - Tuesday (old town) and Friday morning (across street at the Mall). The Tuesday afternoon to evening all year long farmers market is almost street fair-like as the Main Street lined with restaurants and such is closed to cars with normal FM stuff from the nearby fields of Monterey County, local artisans, and ... yum yum ... street food and more. The Friday one is seasonable - but given that this is where our food is grown, there is always something in season! Get there early. ||To sum up ... I'll know I'll stay here again and will recommend this to my fellow value or budget minded friends and travelers. It is a small Inn with less than 20 rooms split between two levels. Parking was tight but there always was a space available. The staff was attentive and pleasant. Oh, and the ice machine was working (unlike some nearby places) and the rooms just a few steps from your car. Also, attractions Historic Old Town with its incredible history of being Capital of Alta California and the wonderful Monterey...

DO NOT STAY HERE… That is the title of my review. Let me explain why…

We booked this hotel about 7 months ago in preparation for the Big Sur Marathon. My boyfriend had driven by the hotel a few years ago and thought it looked cute but basic, and we were looking for a more affordable stay for that weekend. The room was still about $150/night. We booked Friday and Saturday nights.

Fast forward to Big Sur Marathon week. We called Hotels.com who we originally booked through and asked if we could edit our reservation to Saturday night only. I had called the hotel directly before calling Hotels.com and the front desk representative informed me that the Manager wasn’t there so she couldn’t help me. Hotels.com called a bit later and edited the reservation for us to Saturday night only, and we were refunded the extra night (Friday).

Well, we got a call directly from the Manager of the hotel on Friday night (unprompted) to let us know that we did not have a reservation for Saturday and that we if we wanted to stay Saturday, we needed to pay him $350 for the one night. Very rude interaction on the phone to boot. Confused, frantic - I called Hotels.com to ask them what happened and they said that the Manager had marked us a no show for Friday (keeping in mind it was only 9pm on Friday eve) and we didn’t have a reservation for Saturday. We unfortunately got screwed by both Hotels.com (who’s service agents are all in the Philippines and don’t speak English well) and the hotel.

Here’s what I find fishy and I’m sure you will too: IF the hotel manager thought that our reservation was only valid for Friday night, why did he call us ON FRIDAY to tell us that, label us a NO SHOW already at 9pm on Friday and then try to EXTORT an additional $350 out of us for Saturday? Clearly he knew that we were planning to show up Saturday and not Friday. Somehow he unfortunately got to keep our $180 (with taxes) for a reservation we had cancelled. So obviously will never stay there again and highly recommend you to avoid this place.

PS. Check out Yelp if you want to see more reviews about the management...