Where to stay

Carmel, Monterey, Pacific Grove, and Pebble Beach are all close to each other; for convenience, it doesn’t matter which town you stay in. Carmel is cute and walkable and has art galleries; Monterey has more nightlife (okay, by ‘nightlife’ we mean coffee shops and places to get food ‘late’ at night); PG is quiet, pretty, Victorian, and a good place to walk around eating cookies; Pebble Beach is more resorty, residential, and a bit surreal. They all have beaches.

We both grew up around here and usually crash with Heather's parents when we visit, so we haven't tried any of these hotels out. Instead, we heard about them by osmosis, eating at their restaurants, etc., and they're where we’d stay if we visited. Carmel and PG especially are packed with really cool places to stay, so we’d generally advise skipping the chains (and whatever you do, avoid the Embassy Suites – Heather’s mad at it because it’s ugly and it blocks the view. If you want something tall, do the downtown Marriott in Monterey instead). This is a tourist area, take advantage!

And now the info:

Referral services that can find rooms at more than one hotel: http://www.monterey.com/mc4/mc4c.html, Resort 2 Me, and http://www.gomonterey.com/lodging/.

Nifty places to stay in the upwards of a hundred bucks range:

Pacific Grove (all Victorian all the time): Gosby House Inn, Green Gables Inn, Grand View Inn, and others. We’ve never heard of a bad PG B&B.

Carmel (all downtown so you can walk places): Cobblestone Inn, Best Western Carmel Mission Inn, Cypress Inn, Pine Inn (oldest hotel in Carmel), La Playa Hotel (Heather used to hostess in their restaurant; they have nice gardens and cool old photos).

Monterey (walking distance to the wedding reception): Hotel Pacific, the Marriott (a chain, of course, but very tall so good views).

Pebble Beach (not the bargain option, but you’re almost guaranteed to see deer. And golfers.): Inn at Spanish Bay, the Lodge at Pebble Beach.


Nifty places to stay in the slightly under a hundred bucks range (mostly in Monterey):

Days Inn Monterey Downtown, Mariposa Inn Hotel Monterey, Howard Johnson Pacific Grove, and almost any of the hotels on Munras Ave (all totally acceptable and pretty convenient but not ragingly fabulous). Slightly out of the way (but near Heather’s parents and right on the beach): Monterey Beach Hotel - Best Western.