Hotel Carmel

Convenient

Just finished a memorial day stay - not going back. For and average of $750/night I would expect the hotel to be peaceful. I am fine with some noise when on the first floor, but I could hear the conversation of the people above me, their music, their snoring. It was terrible. The room was fine, but nothing special. I was given an accessible room that could not be changed becuase "it was randomly assigned to me" according to the front desk. I had to bend down to look in the mirror and use the sink in the bathroom, which had 0 counter space. I pulled a chair in to set my toiletries. The breakfast room was crowded and not comfortable. The food mediocre. And when I checked out I was charged for items I did not buy from the minibar. The only reason the hotel gets a 2 and not a 1 is because it was in a good location. That is all.

Location, location location.

Beautiful place with a lovely atmosphere

We booed with booking.com but the images of the room did not correlate to the room booked so we had a much smaller room the expected. However as soon as we could be moved, we was. The staff were amazing and the manager Alan Perez was exceptional at customer services. The breakfast was great too!

Breakfast was great

Charming rooms and exterior. Breakfast in the homey hotel lobby was delightful!

Amazing breakfast and great restaurant with pub style dinner - best burger that I have had in a long time! Really lovely staff and great location, with easy access to everything in Carmel.

Nice aesthetic

Jacuzzi - and breakfast - close to town

I booked and paid for a specific room on the hotel's website, only to be told that category of room was unavailable when I checked in. I was put in a lower category room. It was a long day of travel and I was too tired to fuss about it.

The next day over-eager housekeeping was in the room before I had checked out, which basically forced us to check out before we were ready.

The staff was nice.

The staff a d close proximity to downtown

The bill for a recent Saturday/Sunday stay here was $1472. Without a doubt this lodging is the most overpriced relative to quality of any place we’ve ever stayed anywhere in more than 50 years of travel. From reviews on their own and various independent web sites, you’d think you were going to a charming, sophisticated, lovely little boutique hotel in Carmel, worth the hefty price. Well, you are not. It is an old motel-type place now with an added outside fire-pit and jacuzzi. The staff is nice and you get a small but adequate continental breakfast included. But you have nice staff most places in resort towns and the breakfast is expected. The issue here is that despite the high price the basic accommodation is substandard. You get a small room tarted up with louvered shutters, a gas fireplace (decent enough) and a decent bed. But any airport express hotel from any chain offers an infinitely better bathroom, this one is particularly poor since there is a large opening to the bedroom, no separating door (other than to the tiny toilet) and very bright and non-dimmable lighting, making use at night difficult if there is another person with you. To boot, the HVAC didn’t work, and it was cold! We didn’t stay for the second night of our booking. At another and much better lodging we met someone by chance who used to work here who mentioned that the lack of investment by the current owners in the Hotel Carmel is well-known in the local hospitality industry, but you wouldn’t know it from the website or the reviews. There are many places to stay in and around Carmel, for just a couple hundred dollars more you could stay at the Auberge or Bernardus, both top-class places. In the local market, about 300/night would be the most this place is worth, and there are I am quite sure better options at that price point.

Great location

Our stay was fine, we think the price does not match the hotel. We paid about $500 a night at the end of September for a clean room, nothing to write home about. It’s definitely walkable but the complimentary “breakfast” was laughable. Fruit flies, croissants and a few stale bagels that was about it.