Sunset Inn

Hubs and I spent his birthday here last September (2015) and we had a lovely time and we decided to come back for our anniversary this past weekend.
Both visits we had the room with: King size bed with fireplace and rainshower, we loved the spaciousness of the room, the coziness of the fireplace and luxury of the shower.
Easy parking, one night we had to park near the street but it was fine. We have only stayed in the one-​story rooms which we love so no one is noisy above us.
The breakfast is pretty basic (fruit, pastry, yogurt, coffee) but nice for a quick bite before hitting the road.
We love the proximity to Asilomar Beach and downtown Monterey/​Cannery Row… it’s perfect for couples getting away for a night or the weekend, it’s quiet and peaceful and absolutely quaint and lovely.
Everyone at the office are really welcoming, kind and helpful.
Wi-​Fi is good and tv channels were enough to stay entertained.

Would never stay here again. Sure, it is close to everything, but most motels in Pacific Grove are. The biggest complaint is the noise from other guests. We had a downstairs room and the people up above sounded like they were rearranging furniture for hours. And walking in heavy boots.
There are plenty of other options in the area, so this one is out for us

I stayed here a few months back and had an amazing stay. The entire complex is completely remodeled. I loved how the location is near everything you would want to do (golf, beach, downtown, etc). The staff was absolutely warming. Love their wine night and fire pit. I will definitely be staying here whenever I am in the area! 5 stars for this establishment! They earned it!
–Mateo M

Stayed for 6 nights last week with my wife for our 25 wedding anniversary. We were more than pleased with our stay. The office staff were very accommodating and house keeping was outstanding. It’s always nice to return to a fresh room and people who smile and say hello.
Our room had a fireplace and a jacuzzi which we enjoyed very much. The price was excellent and the grounds were very nice too. I don’t usually write reviews. However, after such a great trip and everything going perfect I had to thank the staff and owners.
Need a central location to Carmel, pebble beach, and Monterey? This is the place for you hands down… Can’t wait to go back…
Thank you so much again!!!

Clean, well-​decorated, mostly comfortable and mostly quiet. But after 5 nights of staying positive at the Sunset Inn, I’ll try someplace else next time I visit Monterey and Pacific Grove.
The Sunset Inn is showing its age and when plumbing problems that kept me from sleeping arose overnight, no one was available to fix the plumbing. My only recourse was to leave messages at the front desk, which was unstaffed from about 9 PM till 7 AM. No one ever returned my messages. The desk clerk graciously and rightfully volunteered to comp my room for the sleepless night when I finally got to the desk in the morning, but I was in town for a work-​related conference. The day of meetings that I either missed or messed up cost me far more than the comped room. Even if I had been in town on vacation, I would have been very upset about missing so much of the day.
The entire experience was hodge-​podgy. For example, the duvet cover seemed new and was super soft. But the bottom sheet was pilled and felt like sand in the bed. The bathroom was clean, but stained and the towel bar was coming off the wall on one end. The fireplace was a nice way to warm the room at night, but the loud timer on it was distracting and the opposite of relaxing. The private porch was nice enough, but the wooden rail was visibly spotted with mold. I love shutters on windows decoratively, but the room had no other window treatments and a brightly lit parking lot, so the room was never dark; furthermore, the open shutters didn’t provide privacy when open, so I was still working in artificial light the few times I retreated to the room during the day… Hotels should stick to what is proven to work, sheer curtains covered by light-​blocking curtains!
Of course, these issues are common in tourist towns where part of the charm is getting away from the corporate chain hotels and restaurants. But I picked the Sunset Inn because of a few tips about the particular room I booked being very quiet. Once I got to the area, I realized that any hotel along Asilomar Blvd was going to be quiet. I’m sure that I will return to the peninsula sooner than later, but as I’ve said, I’ll be trying someplace else.

We just stopped by to see a friend but the place seems pretty nice and close to the water.

Cute little hotel. Continental breakfast and wine and cheese in the evening. I had higher expectations of the room but I’m still happy. They’re very nice and newly remodeled it seems. But they are very small. The rain fall shower isn’t that big of a deal and our fireplace did not work (maybe cause we can’t figure it out but they should give instructions) but all in all its a pretty, cozy, comfy hotel for 2. We will be back again

The hotel is great. The staff is helpful and the rooms are clean and cute. You can enjoy the fire at night. Simple breakfast also like. You can meet deer and raccoon. I would like to stay next time too.

Lovely little Inn
After spending hours and hours looking at reviews on here and tripadvisor I finally decided to stay here because the price was decent and new owners seem to of made great improvements.
Checked in on a Sunday for a 1 night stay for my 3 year anniversary.
Great location: located about 8min from
Cannery Row and all the amazing shops and restaurants (highly recommend Fish Hopper. A little pricey but it is seafood and the view is worth it)
Quiet:located in more of a residential area. Not too many neighbors or foot traffic. But I do suggest a room in the back.
Pretty room (203):nice balcony with chairs to relax and enjoy the breeze, jetted tub, apartment sized kitchen (with new and clean appliances, microwave, pots/​pans& plates), plantation style blinds, and a flat screen tv.
Free parking: not a huge place. Only like 20 something rooms but during our stay it was completely booked and we still had a parking space.
NOTES: there were little details that could of made this a 5 star place.
1.large outdoor spa/​jacuzzi would be a perk and draw in more people
2.attention to detail in the finishing a (messy cocking in the tub, shower leaked a little, and no screen on all the windows
3.clean better behind the scenes. My window had a few dead bugs, bees, and Mosquitos.
Overall I will definitely be back and am excited to see what other improvements the new owners make

Why do we like this place so much?
Attention to details! Clean, bright, cute and comfortable at a reasonable rate. All the fixtures, hardware, etc. were all very nice, classy items — nothing cheap or standard. The toilet was amazing with dual flush for best eco-​friendly performance. This is no ‘cookie-​cutter’ or econo motel, that’s for sure. Parking is easy and plentiful but, more importantly, close at hand. And the staff couldn’t be nicer — mature, friendly and knowledgeable! Each room is like a small bungalow. Our room had a gas-​fired fireplace and it was fully automated and so easy to use. It’s on a timer and we simply chose the length of time we wanted it to be on — pushed the appropriately marked button and it automatically turned on/​off, perfectly.
We are so happy to have found this place! This will be our new ‘go to’ spot whenever we’re in this area! And, it’s perfectly located just a short block from the beach!
Jim

I really enjoyed this place! My boyfriend and I were stopping here for a night on our way to San Francisco, and we decided to stop by here. The customer service was wonderful! The gentleman in the front office was extremely helpful and kind. (We had issues trying to find out how to turn on the shower and the fireplace) and he came right over to help us out. Loved this place! The rooms are very cute too

My boyfriend and I stayed here last weekend and I’m having withdrawals!
We stayed here once before in a room with a king bed and fireplace which was quaint and sweet but this time around we splurged and we got the king bed with a fireplace and jacuzzi. The jacuzzi was fun but I wish it wasn’t in the bathroom because you are literally just sitting in the bathroom haha. I wish it was within viewing-​distance of the TV.
But overall, I love this place. The attendants at the front are super welcoming and they allowed us to check out later than the scheduled check out time. We appreciated this.
On Saturday night, they had a «happy hour» in the lobby with champagne and wine for the people staying here!
I recommend booking ahead because it’s not a super big place and it can get pricey if you wait till the last minute! The hotel is within walking distance to the water as well so bring your swim suit!

Our reservation was canceled on day of arrival!
We booked a room here for Christmas 12÷24−12÷27. At lunchtime on ¹²⁄₂₄ I found out that our reservation had been canceled by the Sunset Inn (as had 7 other reservations).
This left us scrambling at the last minute to find other accommodations (while we were driving to Pacific Grove from San Diego).
If you want to have a relaxing vacation, I recommend you look elsewhere.

This is a really affordable place to stay near Monterey, but not without its flaws. First the good: it seems newly renovated and is very clean. Nice TV and fireplace in the unit. Parking is convenient and close to the units. The staff was really nice. They have a hot tub apparently though I didn’t try it.
On the downside, I found the room a bit small and they aren’t very soundproof. It’s very easy to here noise from outside, like rain hitting the roof or people next door. Also, the hardwood floors give it a cold feeling I didn’t really like.

I’ve stayed here probably at least a half a dozen times over the last several years. The location can’t be beat with a short walking distance to the ocean. The area is quiet and a quick walk or drive to everything you’d need.
I’ve never had any problems with reservations as some other Unilocalers have stated. I always book through their website and it always works out fine. The rates are always reasonable. The rooms are clean and spacious, some with jetted tubs or fireplaces. The free WiFi works pretty well everywhere except the rooms at the very back of the property.
I do miss the free breakfast they stopped serving a couple years ago. There’s fridges in the rooms but not much room to eat or prep food unless you upgrade to a suite.

Horrible Customer Service
This review will mostly be based on the customer service here by Barbara.
Had a wonderful birthday and engagement stay this first time in 2013. Rooms are incredibly cute (country chic’ish) and overall the experience was great. We did have a little hiccup in our stay though where the water got turned off at night, but it got turned back on pretty fast and Barbara at the desk was apologetic about it. Customer service was alright although I did sense Barabara wasn’t exactly the most approachable or nicest person to talk to. But given that my initial stay was overall good, I just gave her the benefit of a doubt.
Now to present day. I decided to book this place again hoping that this will be me and my hubby’s go-​to place to celebrate our anniversary every year because we liked it the first time, but this incident where I’m about to tell you will deter me from coming here ever again.
Apparently I had my dates wrong and totally forgot to put this date on my calendar. Barbara called and left a voicemail to see where I am sounding incredibly annoyed. I called back, and the response was somewhere along the lines of «aren’t you suppose to be here already?» [attitude]. I apologized for forgetting and to see if we can schedule for another date without a no show fee and she agreed, however the responses from her were very short and curt. Then all of a sudden the phone clicked and the line was disconnected. I live in an area where cellphone reception is badddd so it was probably my phone that disconnected. But with the way she was on the phone, I decided to call her back the next day to see when I can schedule another date. She also had the option to call back but she didn’t.
Hubs called back around 9pm (their office close later than this) and she told me she wasn’t in the office so she couldn’t see if she had any open dates and told me to call back in the morning. Called back and said she was busy because it’s memorials day weekend but she has my number and will call me back. NO CALL BACK. So. not only did I not get to celebrate me and my hubs anniversary but we got a huge run-​around, lost our money, and pretty much a «i don’t give a f@#$ about you’.
And a few other things to note, DON’T EVER BOOK ON THEIR WEBSITE. They don’t provide confirmation so if you, like me, didn’t think to take a screen shot of the confirmation page, then you may get a headache when trying to find it later. No emails for this place. Just phone and fax. Also, it seems like Barbara is the only one that runs this place. I get she may be stressed or burnt out, but that’s no excuse to be rude and neglect your paying customers.

This Barbara everybody raves about must be the weekend lady. The guy working the front desk during the week – we’ll call him «Tom” – could not possibly have been any more unfriendly and unhelpful. He really, REALLY hated his job, or hated me (though not sure why), or both. Answering even the most simple of questions seemed to cause him the most incredible suffering imaginable. Sorry to disturb your internet surfing, fella – the Bön Iver fan page will still be there when you get back.
I paid up front on the Inn’s website to get the best possible rate, and upon arrival discovered that the room assigned to me was right next to the entrance. Observing the flow of constant traffic on the road and hearing the neighbor’s dogs barking across the street, I headed back to the office to politely ask Tom if he had anything further back in the complex.
After reacting as if he had just caught a whiff of worst fart ever, he begrudgingly checked his computer and advised that he had nothing else for that type of room and rate, then fell silent – likely hoping that I would give up. I then asked him what he had as far as upgrades go, and he replied that he had one of the jacuzzi rooms available for an extra $ 27 over the two nights I would be staying there. I accepted and was pleased to see that my room was all the way in the back – even if the WIFI was pretty weak in that location.
I should’ve stayed up front. That night was quiet, but I was awakened early the next morning by a couple of guys making a huge racket upstairs – bumping and banging and listening to E-​40. Turns out that they were remodeling the room upstairs and would be there all day long, late into the evening. Tom had neglected to tell me this work would be happening, and when I stopped by to gently chide him, he was, of course, completely indifferent and could not tell me when the work would end.
And no, Tom did not offer to refund the extra money I had paid for the upgrade. He absolutely should have, but he didn’t. He’s Tom, after all. I’d call the guy a racist, but we were both white.
The room itself – regardless of extraneous activities – was relatively clean and comfortable. Only major complaint I have was the condition of the bathroom. I would strongly advise against drinking from the faucet, as the strong odor of mildew was prevalent whenever it was turned on. There was also plentiful black mold to be found in the shower.
As for the location, the Sunset Inn really cannot be beat. The beautiful Asilomar State beach is just an 8 minute walk (or 1 minute drive, if you’re lazy like me) from your front door.
All things considered, I’d probably give this place a solid 3.5 stars if it wasn’t for Tom. Too bad he seems to take his customers and surroundings for granted.

Like another reviewer, I booked though their site but never got a confirmation. I had to call in to confirm my reservation. Still, I was a bit wary since I didn’t have a printout to prove my reservations went through — and inserting it into their website didn’t help either since their online reservation uses a different system.
Upon arriving, I learned their rooms had no AC. There was also no ceiling fan. It looks like it was equipped with AC in the past but I guess it’s not working so we had to leave our windows and door open in the evening to get some cool air in.
The bathroom itself smelled a little funky, like sewage. Their maid checked it out but smelled nothing, so maybe it’s all in my head. The sea can smell like rotten eggs, but this was not it because the air outside did not smell bad during this time.
Walls are thin and I was able to hear the churning of water faucets from the guest next door in the middle of the night, which woke me up.
And now for the good… I like that parking is available so close to our room. I like that there is free WIFI which was pretty fast, as well. The bed was also pretty comfortable and there was a TV in the room. There was also a gas fireplace in the room, which I’m not sure is available in all rooms.
But the bad smell… meh, I’ve experienced better.

A confirmation code means absolutely nothing here… Even from their own website! I wish we could review the actual amenities, but due to the incompetency of the owner, we never got to stay there.
I called several days before, since we were going to be in very late and it seemed to be a small, family-​owned kind of place. The owner said to call back the day before arriving and she would provide the room number and leave the key under the mat. The day before we were fort bragg watching the sunset when I remembered to call. She said she didn’t have our name aka our reservation. We were confused and called back with the confirmation number, which she replied wouldn’t matter since she didn’t have our name. We confirmed it was booked through her website. She acted as if she couldnt even give s*** about it and was just trying to get me off the phone. I asked if this has ever happened and she said «oh yea! All the time! Expedia just sent over 15 people over last night and I had no room for them! I have no idea what’s going on ‘out there’ (ie the internet I’m guessing is what she meant)».
While it was a busy time of year for this area, luckily it wasn’t summer time. We found a cute place on the outskirts a bit for around the same price. Luckily it wasn’t summer or we would have been screwed! Luckily I called ahead and didn’t just show up. Luckily we live close enough if we had to drive home.
I’m surprised there’s not more reviews like this. I saw one about someone that got kicked out after only one night when he booked for two!!! Just save yourself the stress and find some other place!!!

I booked one night here site unseen with the goal of finding a place as nice as a reasonably low budget could get us near Monterey.
I was a bit skeptical before getting here; I expected some sort of mix-​up to occur based on my communications with the inn regarding my reservation. I was never sent the promised confirmation email, so I called and was given a confirmation number. My card wasn’t charged, so I called again and was told it would be 21 days prior to arrival for the special rate; it was not. I was basically put a little ill at ease as to whether a room would truly be waiting for us when we got here, and whether my account would be charged correctly. But, not only was our room ready, it was adorable, and not only was I charged the the correct amount, but I was refunded $ 20 without asking simply because our fireplace was out of order (even though it was a warm night). So, clerically they’re a little clumsy, but they come through.
Sunset Inn is comfortable, quaint and affordable. I would stay here again.