Cottage Inn By the Sea — Hotel in Pismo Beach

We were so excited for this stay. We have stayed in Pismo so many times it’s hard to recount but would drive past this particular hotel on our way to some of our favorite restaurants in Shelby Beach, and my wife was intrigued. From the road it looks quaint and cute and so I thought I would surprise her with a short overnight stay. We were taking our exchange student to the central coast for the first time, and so this seemed like a great place to start. I was a little concerned when I was in the lobby and I noticed some of the wall coverings around the arch over the reception area. It looked old and worn and not done very professionally, but the staff was friendly and helpful and so I maintained my optimism. As we walked to room 624, I let the girls go first in the hopes that they would be delighted with our double queen, with a fireplace and partial view. Indeed we had a double queen, and indeed we had a fireplace, and indeed it had a partial view. But that’s as far as it went in terms of meeting my expectations. I first noticed the windows which seemed old and dirty and needing a fresh coat of paint. And then the blinds which were hung unevenly, with ragtag pulls, some of which didn’t even match One of the blinds had the pulls wrapped around a sheet metal screw in the wall. Apparently, for $500 a night, you can’t afford to put new cord wraps on the wall. The beds were comfortable, but sparsely covered. The sitting chair was stained, and the wallpaper behind it was torn in a strip about an inch wide and 36” long. Frankly, it was something I’d expect from a motel, and not even a Motel 6, more like a Motel 5. I checked my email to see if I had some contact information, and saw a couple of emails asking if I wanted to pay more for an upgrade. More than $466/night? I mean, I’d just settle for a room worth $466/night. I emailed the front desk as well as the ownership group, Pacifica Hotels, asking for some help. No one responded, not the hotel, not the ownership group. Needless to say, we stayed the night, spent most of our time out of the room, and won’t be back. The room was worth about $150:/night, max. There are so many great options in the area, and I was really hoping this would be a new fave. But the poor state of the room and the complete lack of response to my concerns means that not only will we avoid this hotel and recommend others to do the same, but I will be careful in the future about any Pacifica Hotels accommodations. I suggest you...

Disappointing - I won't be here again and nor would I reccomend it. It's basically the Ryan Air or Frontier of hotels - and this place is a motel. For $300+ per night base.

The few good things: you have access to cliff side fire pits and nice lounge chairs, and the cliff side walk the fireplace in the room was very nice, although not all the rooms have this so you are paying extra (and you can only control it from the wall, no remote) -the attempted "cottage" aesthetic is cute for the outside, but this doesn't gain the place much as it's just veneer the staff in the morning were very nice

The many bad things: if you don't pay extra (in the realm of $400 / night) for the ocean side rooms, you will be listening to traffic on the 1 all night and all day as the walls are very thin and the windows are single pane for all the non ocean facing rooms, the main feature whoch windows look out upon is the parking lot, and if you're not willing to again pay extra ($30 / nighy) for an upper level room (Ryan air) you an enjoy the smell of exhaust from idling cars because you have to keep your window open to get fresh air in the weird smelling room the night staff shouldn't be working at a hotel: I arrived to check in for a 1 king bd room, and she assigned me a ground floor room, with the 1 directly behind it and the parking lot + an open construction pit right in front of it. The room was old and smelled weird and needed upkeep. I found this unacceptable at $300+ / night and went back and asked for another room. She wasn't surprised! She didn't ask what was wrong with it. She did assign me to a different room, still ground floor, still old, but fuether from the 1 and with no construction. But I bet there were tons available king rooms which were on the floor or by the ocean and she just didn't care about customer experience at all. old rooms in need of refurbishment (weird smell, icky carpet, walls are thin so you can hear everyone around you, the windows don't open and close well and they're single pane, the bathroom door is a torn up sliding wood door with a broken latch, etc.) the hot tub opens only at 9 AM (this is late in my opinion) the instant oatmeal cup in the...

My family of four stayed for 2 nights in a partial ocean view room with 2 queen beds. Parking is free but difficult if you have a large vehicle as most spots are compact. In the room, there is a small microwave , small refrigerator and a coffee maker. Complimentary Wi-Fi is available for guests. The partial ocean view was 80% parking lot/20% ocean/beach. There is a ceiling fan and a fireplace but no air conditioning. The room had a balcony with 2 chairs and a small table. To keep the room cool, the balcony door could be left open however, bugs would fly in and the noise from the parking lot, pool, other neighbors and seabirds would also be amplified. The beds and furnishings were basic - there is a dresser and a closet for storage. The pillows were uncomfortable. Very flat and old. I suggest bringing your own pillow & pillowcase if you can. There was a large tv with some cable channels. The bathroom had a shower/tub combo, did not have a vent but there was a small window. The pool is VERY SMALL. Outside, there are 3 community fire pits and a few areas with seating for hotel guests. Because all the motels along the area are connected via a shared beach walkway, non-hotel guests would use the amenities and we were unable to use the fire pits or find seating. The walkway to the beach is easy but there are a few flights of stairs. The beach is not crowded but there are always massive seaweed piles and sand fleas. Daily housekeeping and complimentary breakfast was not served due to pandemic restrictions (no “grab and go” options as offered by other hotels) yet the small pool and fire pits were open without restrictions. No restaurants on site. There is a restaurant next door within a short walking distance, Willow. Rooms are guaranteed to be ready by 4pm but we had to wait another 30 mins. or so for our room. Overall an OK stay – we did not spend too much time in the rooms and the view from the seating areas...