Review of Hotel Pacific in Monterey, California

Hotel Pacific Entrance @ Night by Pamela McCreight

I was making a weekend trip to Monterey with the significant other and sought a romantic and budget friendly lodging for the night. After settling on a budget not exceeding 200 dollars for the night, I searched through a variety of travel reservation sites and finally settled on the Hotel Pacific (reviews). Since I found it difficult to find useful information about this hotel, I’ve compiled my experiences and the resources I used in to this post.

The Hotel
The Hotel itself is small with a 105 suites (it is an all suite establishment). They do provide a complimentary afternoon tea and continental breakfast (included in the room rate). The hotel gardens, while small, are peaceful and tastefully done providing an aura of the old Spanish California. You won’t find any pools, tennis courts or related amenities here. But, they do have a couple of hot tubs in the gardens for use by the guests.

Location
The hotel is located in downtown Monterey across the street from the Portola Plaza Hotel (reviews) and a block from the Monterey Marriott (reviews). Personally, I think this hotel has the most character out of its neighbors. Restaurants and other nightlife is within walking distance. I would recommend Rosine’s (reviews) for brunch. Also, fisherman’s wharf is a very short walk away and Cafe Fina (reviews) on the wharf offers excellent food, service and view.

Room
I picked a street-side King suite. It was the most cost effective option and given the quiet locale the only real street noise we heard was from an unusually loud motorcycle. However, given the rooms have hardwood floors, we were disturbed by the sounds of a family running around their room above us with their shoes on. So, if you ever stay here make sure to ask for a second floor room.

The suite included a working gas fireplace in the sitting area which was functional in providing heat and also added to the ambiance. The 42″ flat panel LCD TV was mounted on a movable arm so that you could adjust it to view from pretty much anywhere in the room and a default set of non-HD channels were also available. A mini fridge, coffee maker, an “honor bar” and a mini dining table were also provided.

The bathroom was splendid in design and function. Both a tub and standing shower were provided at opposite ends of the bathroom (allowing two separate simultaneous showers if necessary) with an optional partition that could be closed between them. One wash basin, plenty of towels, two very comfy bathrobes and Aveda products were also included. It was the cleanest/slickest non-chain (Hilton, Marriot, Hyatt etc.) hotel bathroom I had seen while still managing to maintain its boutique charm. And if you enjoy soaking in the bath tub, they had been thoughtful enough to provide bath salts as well. The usual hairdryer, and iron were also standard issue.

Tips

• Ask for a room on the top floor and avoid having to deal with noisy neighbors above you.
• If you’re staying here on a Saturday or Sunday night, make sure you leverage the nearby street parking which is effectively free from 4pm Saturday to 10am Monday morning. The Hotel will charge you ~ 16 dollars a night for parking and they don’t convey that explicitly when you’re making the reservation.
• Make sure you check rates directly from their website. Thats where I found the best deal (which was a AAA deal). Also, they offer a “Best Rate Guarantee” where the hotel will match any deals you find elsewhere on the web. The benefit here is that you can talk directly to the hotel and make your preferences known at the time of making the reservation.
• Don’t use the overpriced “Honor Bar”, instead pick up necessary supplies from a nearby store.
• Don’t plan on having internet access unless you’re willing to pony up 10 dollars per night (which is ridiculously overpriced). But, if you’re here seeking R&R, this may prove to be a blessing in disguise.

Other Reviews/Resources

• Tripadvisor Reviews and Photos
• Expedia’s Listing (Photos, Virtual Tours and Reviews)

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