Portola's Cookies on the Bay
Written: May 19 '04
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Location, location, location. Quiet rooms, great shopping, good amenities, great brewpub
Cons: Parking fee, small beds in rooms with two beds
The Bottom Line: When I can get the right price, I will not stay anywhere else in Monterey.
|
|
|
| heckonwheels's Full Review: Doubletree Monterey-Fishermans |
We arrived in Monterey around sunset and started to look for our hotel, the Doubletree – Fisherman’s Wharf (note: as of May 1, 2004 the Doubletree – Fisherman’s Wharf is now called the Portola Plaza Hotel with the same owners and staff – it is no longer part of the Hilton chain). I see it…it’s up ahead in front of the hill…but the road takes a dive into a tunnel and suddenly, I can’t find the hotel. I can’t make a u-turn for about a mile and when I do, the confusing streets of Monterey lead me astray. I finally make it into the downtown area and the one-way streets hinder me a little more before I can find the driveway into the hotel. There is a large parking area off to the side but I notice that valet parking ($15) is only two dollars more than self parking so we take advantage of the large area to unload and give the keys to the valet. The fee is daily so you can come and go as you please.
I had managed to get an $89 per night rate on Travelzoo.com and thought that would be a good deal for a waterfront hotel in the heart of Monterey. Normal rates start at $109. This would give us a good base to visit the area’s many attractions such as the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Carmel, missions, and the classic wooden rollercoaster on the beach up in Santa Cruz.
It is a newer hotel with a sprawling design around a large, atrium lobby. There is a main building and an annex building across an adjacent shopping plaza. The hotel has 370 rooms and 10 suites on three floors not counting the ground floor lobby. Amenities offered include a full-service spa, heated pool and whirlpool, full service restaurant, cocktail lounge, brewpub, cable TV, and a shopping plaza with a variety of different shops. Being a Doubletree, you get delicious chocolate chip cookies when checking in (the Portola Plaza is continuing this Doubletree tradition).
Here are the pertinent details:
ROOM: You get a choice between one king size bed or two full size beds. I still don’t get the rationale a large chain such as this skimps on the bed sizes for a two bed room. People traveling with kids need larger beds…two queens would be much better. I understand it with economy chains such as Motel 6, but a Doubletree (and many other top tier chains) should be a step above. This plus the parking price knocks a star off of their rating. Accessible rooms are also available.
Otherwise, the room is real nice. Each room is decorated with some high quality art pieces and an eclectic style of furniture. The rooms are QUIET, which is the important point. Our room had a window that opened up over a nice garden courtyard. The bathroom was roomy enough with the standard tub/shower combination with a nice variety of toiletries including shampoo, conditioner, lotion, and milled soap. A hairdryer is mounted to the wall and a coffeemaker sits on the counter with coffee, cream, and sweetener.
A 27” TV with a gaming system sits in the armoire. An adequate sized closet and dresser are included in the room. High-speed Internet is available as is free wireless in the open areas (courtesy of Fisherman’s Wharf across the street).
POOL: A standard pool and spa. Not spectacular but will do. Note that the pool area is on the opposite side of the annex building. If you stay in the main building, you must leave the building, walk across the shopping plaza, through the annex, and the pool is on the other side. The weather in Monterey is frequently cold and this walk in bathing suits (or walking back wet) can be frigid. If your room is in the annex, no problem but otherwise, this can be enough to forego the pool when the weather isn’t cooperating.
RESTAURANTS: The restaurant is adequate as is the lobby cocktail lounge. Prices are on par with dining in Monterey in general. An example is the breakfast buffet which runs $12.95 and includes a bountiful selection of entrees. We found this same price at three other restaurants in Monterey for an almost identical array of food. The one benefit here is that you can charge it to your room. Depending on your room location, it can be quite a distance to the hotel’s dining room. For us, we found it was closer to walk across the street to the Marriott’s dining room for the same quality of food at the same price.
The brewpub (called Peter B’s) is wonderful. A full selection of house brewed beers in a cozy setting in the alley behind the hotel. It’s like an Irish pub and has a large fireplace you can sit by. Watch sports on the half dozen TV’s inside, shoot pool, play darts, or strike up a conversation. They also specialize in singe-malt whiskeys and have a large selection. Complementary popcorn is always available and a pub menu featuring pizza can be ordered from. Pints run $4.50 with fifty cents off during happy hour. I really liked this pub. It’s a friendly, warm, and cozy room.
LOCATION: Can’t be beat. Right on the waterfront across from Fisherman’s Wharf. The road goes into a tunnel so you can cross over to the wharf without having to cross any streets. In between the wharf and the hotel is a small plaza with some historical buildings…part of a state park. The wharf itself has many restaurants and shops (and free wireless Internet). Most of the restaurants here also give out free samples so you can have a taste before deciding on which one you’ll eat at. A shuttle provides transportation to Cannery Row and the aquarium which is one mile away.
SERVICE: Adequate. The staff was nice, the bellmen brought our bags up the room in a timely manner, the restaurant staff were courteous. No complaints here.
SHOPS: This deserves its own category because there is a plethora of shops here. Not the usual small gift shop most hotels have but an actual shopping area which forms a plaza between the two hotel buildings. Included are two jewelry stores, the usual gift and snack shop, a toy store, a kite shop, an art gallery, and more. In addition, Fishermen’s Wharf has many souvenir shops to browse through and the hotel is located in downtown Monterey giving you quick access to several blocks of shops, movie theaters, restaurants, bars, etc. If you like shopping, you definitely won’t be disappointed here.
OTHER AMENITIES: We didn’t get a chance to check out the spa but it is a full-service spa. There is also an exercise room (that we also didn’t see) and the hotel also has a full size convention center featuring nine meeting rooms and 50,000 square feet of meeting space/ballrooms.
OVERALL: This is a fine hotel and I recommend it. The one star is taken away for the high parking fee and the small beds in the two-bed rooms. The rates start off as reasonable for this high demand area and occasional specials make it a bargain (check them out at the hotel’s new web site www.portolaplazahotel.com). It is at one of the absolute best locations in Monterey, although it may take some effort to find if you’re not familiar with the streets here. From the moment you step into the lobby till you get to your room you will notice this is a comfortable place to be. If I can find a rate anywhere near what I paid, I wouldn’t stay anywhere else in Monterey.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
heckonwheels
|
|
Location: Los Angeles, CA USA
Reviews written: 77
Trusted by: 14 members
About Me:
Southern California native who travels around the country a lot.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.