In November of this year, I went on a road trip to Monterey, CA. My first night I was there, I stayed at the Quality Inn in Monterey on Fremont St. This hotel is right next to a residential area on a main street on the east side of Monterey. Even before I left home, I thought this would we be a good place to start my trip.
When I was looking at hotels before I left home, this hotel caught my eye. From good looking rooms to the price, I thought I would check out this hotel. I know right now hotel room prices are elevated to due to high demand and not fully staffed. For a weeknight I was able to get a night for less that $70 for a week night. When I got to the hotel, there was not very many people there. Check it was easy and greeted with a welcome bag. It came with a bottle of water, small can of chips, a granola bar, and small bottle of hand sanitizer.
When I went my room, it was look like a decent size room for a king size bet. It had two chairs in addition to the desk chair. The bed was comfortable and slept great! The overall look and feel of the room made me feel very comfortable. The wood of the furniture was kind of dark and I liked that they used light colored walls and art to help balance it out. The floor was a nice lament floor to make it look like it was made of wood. The colors they used tied in well with the rest of the room. It was a real welcoming place after being on the road for a few hours.
I knew the breakfast was going to just a continental breakfast. I was ok with that as I knew that I was going to be having a big lunch later in the day. The selection was ok but did not expect too much for the price I paid for the room. One nice surprise was that they had breakfast burritos that you could warm up in the room with the microwave. There was not seating area in the breakfast room, I am guessing this is due to Covid-19 rules. Still, it was nice to have the selection and able to go back for more.
While I really liked what I got for the price, there was a few things that kept it from getting a 5 out of 5. The parking lot was kind of small. With the lot size of the hotel, you tell they did the best they could to balance the amenities with size of the hotel. Also, I did not like that I could fit my suitcase in the closet. There was a stand for it in the closet, it just did not look like I would be able to get it in easily and this could have been due to that the doors did not look like they were on straight. I would stay the only negative surprise was that I had to put a $150 deposit on my card for pet damages as this a no pets hotel. While I had the room for this deposit on my credit card and was not issue, I could see this being unwelcome surprise for a more budget traveler. I don’t remember seeing anything about this at time of booking and just think something like this should be disclosed at time of booking and is very clear so travelers can be prepared when they check it. This deposit showed as it’s own charge on my credit card but was refunded when checked out. (Just know it can take up to 5 business days for this to show back on your card.)
I think if someone, including myself is traveling to the Monterey area during the week, this could be a value and a decent place to stay. Besides the low weekday rates, this hotel is close to the beach, a short drive to wharf and many of the other Monterey attractions. If you are on a budget for lodging or just looking something nice but simple, this would be the place to stay. I would make sure make sure that you sign up for the Choice Hotel rewards so you can make sure you earn points for future stays. But if you want to get the most rewards for a stay here, I would use the Choice Privileges Visa card from Barclaycard to get the most points possible. It would also make sure that you can cover the deposit when check in.
I think for what I paid; I got a good some good value from this stay. From the low price, to the welcoming room, great bed, and decent breakfast, I would think of staying here if I wanted a more budge room in the Monterey area. I would say the deposit was kind of a big surprise but was not a big deal since I had the room on my credit card. If you want a good room and a comfortable bed to sleep in a lower price, this is the place to stay. And I would really think about putting this on a Choice Privileges Visa card to get a good number of points for your stay.
Until next time, safe travels.
PS. If you want to earn even more, I like did with this trip, you can book this hotel through Rakuten to earn some cash back too. Below will be a link to sign up with Rakuten and then search for Choice Hotels. I will also include a link to the Choice Privileges Visa card so you can even more points with Choice Hotels.
Links
- Rakuten <https://www.rakuten.com/r/SMB1984?eeid=28187>
- Choice Privileges Visa Signature Card <https://cards.barclaycardus.com/banking/cards/choice-privileges-visa-signature-card/>
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