It felt bad to leave it
Written: Sep 24 '09
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Excellent location that makes one feel relaxed.
Cons: none really
The Bottom Line: Very enjoyable hotel in a beautiful and relaxing environment. Conveniently located to enjoy the area. Excellent rooms and views.
|
|
|
| icio's Full Review: Marriott Monterey |
Monterey Marriott in a nutshell. This is perhaps my favorite Marriott among the many I have stayed at. From outside I was not too impressed, but once inside the room I was very pleased. The decor, the size of the room (true, we were given some very nice room as gold members of the reward program), the views of the wharf, the pleasant ocean breeze, and the feeling of being on vacation all combined to make me and my wife feel good.
Room rates. It is not cheap, we spent about $280/night for our King Guest Room and we received complimentary valet parking (normally it would be an extra $19/day).
Entrance and lobby - grade 7/10. I do not like the look of the building. The entrance is somewhat reminiscent of a big city hotel, i.e. you drive by the door and then let the hotel personnel take care of your luggage and vehicle. The lobby is spacious and very business-like, people were polite and welcoming and were not stingy in giving us directions to go to the places we wanted to see.
There are some armchairs where people can talk business or just interact without encroaching on those checking in or out.
The elevator was adequate. I have seen better but, after, all, I would not make a big fuss about an elevator.
Room - grade 8.5/10. Very spacious, beautiful and, more important, comfortable king's size bad. With windows on 1.5 sides and being at the 7th floor we truly enjoyed a magnificent view of the wharf. Nice business area (not there for working though!). The bathroom and the room were clean and in excellent conditions. Closet space was more than adequate. Like at other hotels, unfortunately, wi-fi internet is not free.
Location - grade 9/10. Simply great. You are in historic downtown and very close to Fisherman's Wharf where most restaurants are and it is a pleasant 15-20 minutes walk to the famous Monterey Bay Acquarium. But, you do not have to walk unless you want to, since there is a trolley that stops just 50-100 yards from the hotel entrace and that will take tourists to the acquarium.
Restaurants - grade 6.5/10. There are 2 on site. Characters Sports Bar and Grill is a restaurant with a sports bar atmosphere: sdequate, but not exactly my favorite. Three Flags Cafe is just open for breakfast and lunch. However, this is the crux with great locations for hotels: there are so many restaurants close to their premises that it would be silly to try challenging those establishments.
Business area - grade 8.5/10. We did not need to use it much this time, but we realized that they are well equipped for that purpose with public areas also equipped with wireless high-speed internet access.
Parking - grade 7/10. Valet parking is available and is on the expensive side. Unfortunately, while you can park the car on your own around the block or not too far from the hotel, it is not the easiest option
Hotel personnel - grade 9/10. Overall very attentive, polite, and making guests feel comfortable. Not sure if, because we are in some sort of elite program, we get better treatment, but I was quite pleaesed with hotel personnel.
Overall grade - 8.5/10... It just felt right to be in this hotel and that does not happen very often to me.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
icio
|
 - Top 1000 |
|
Location: Thousand Oaks, CA
Reviews written: 59
Trusted by: 6 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.