An Interesting Motel

This is a unique and interesting property. It's dog friendly although there is no designated pet area. There are a series of rooms and cottages that tuck in deep off the street, so it is relatively quiet. We got one of the rooms for the night and it was a nicely appointed room. The AC unit is noisy when it cycles on. At night, the room will become stuffy and you will need to run the AC, but only put it into the fan mode. It is cool enough outside.

Next door is the Red Roof Inn. If you are in the shower, and the window is open, then the rooms on the 2nd floor of the Red Roof Inn have a perfect line of sight into your shower. The property is super well lit at night with bright LED lighting, and I mean BRIGHT. Unfortunately, for aesthetics, the rooms are furnished with shutters, not blackout curtains. And the shutters, even when closed, do not block out the light.

The majority of the property is the parking area although there are a couple of public gathering areas and a SCUBA wash down station along with vending machines with drinks and snacks. We stay in Monterey because that is where my daughter lives. So I can see staying here again, although, next time we will grab one of the cottages.

Sep. 05, 2023

A Very Cute Location

This is a very cute motel. The gardens that greet you when you arrive testify to that. Check-in was super easy and Kat was a delight to deal with. As we chatted, she gave me a tip to try the Santa Rosa Seafood just up the street. It looks good but I will have to hold that for the next trip. This trip was all about a special Wine Tasting.

Based on check-in, and a cursory inspection, off the top, I gave them a 4. The site has an on property restaurant, the Garden Cafe, that is open for breakfast only. They do not do room service but you can call in your order and it will be ready for you to pick up. There is also sit down dining. Once again, I did not avail myself of the facility.

The room was nicely appointed with all of the amenities that you would expect. One nice touch was that the bathroom has a great Soft Heat heater. It only takes a minute or two for the bathroom to become comfortably warm. The hotel does have a hot tub and heated pool. Once again, I did not avail myself of them.

I would have given this property a 4, but they got knocked down with the bed sheets. Housekeeping uses so much chlorine that throughout the night all I could smell was chlorine. Usually, I adapt to orders pretty quickly, but not this time. Note to housekeeping, if you cannot cut back on the chlorine, then at least do a double rinse.

When I checked out, I told Kat about it, and she was duly concerned and would escalate it to housekeeping immediately. But we both agreed that the crew had most likely become nose blind to the odor. Bottom line, next time I am called up to Kenwood for the next tasting, I will most likely be staying here. Cheers 🍷

Aug. 02, 2023

It's A Room

The cost of the room was a definite positive as was the location. There is a jar full of large dog biscuits available for your pup. We looked at the photos of the room and could see no coffeemaker. So, we went to Amazon and purchased a travel coffeemaker with a carrying case and thermal cups with sippy lids.
We arrived at the hotel and there was the coffeemaker. No problem. We now have our own coffeemaker, and the cups are twice the size of the standard hotel cups, and we will take it with us on all future trips.

The bed was very comfortable, not too firm, not too soft, with big fluffy pillows. We did not actually use the pillows for sleeping since we both travel with our own pillows from home. The room was air conditioned. Because of the humidity, my wife kept it set at 70 for the night. It was quiet enough not to disturb our sleep. The tub, being a jacuzzi tub, is deep and wide. I stand 6’1” and rarely do I fit into the tub. Here, I fit. The walls of the hotel are solid, and even though the hotel was full, we never heard the other guests. The blackout curtains kept the room nicely dark during the night.

We can only describe this property as a bare bones’ hotel. You get a parking space, a room, cable TV, 32-inch tv, wifi, jacuzzi tub/shower with amenity basket, a king bed, and a gas fireplace. The height of the bed is always a concern, but this is industry standard. However, traveling with our Pippin, a small dog, my wife always experiences paranoia that he might try to jump off the bed. I see no indication that he will actually do it, but this was the weirdest room we have ever stayed in.

Except for the toilet, everything is in the same room. We have never stayed in a room where the shower/tub was a part of the living area. And the shower/tub, wow. It is a raised tub with two steps up, and then a big step down into the tub. Now I’ve been married to my wife for 35 years, so there are no surprises. But I gotta’ say, it is a little bit weird to strip down and then climb up the stairs, in all my glory, to get into the tub.

The steps are marble with grip strips, but when you are fully down on the floor, you are standing on marble, with no grip strips, and wet feet. Slippery would be the operative word. Even though there is a shower fan, it is not powerful enough and a hot shower will definitely and noticeably humidify the room.
During and throughout the night, every so often, we both heard a loud Clunk, Clunk,…clunk clunk…which woke both of us. I finally figured out that our room, Room 11, is next to the ice machine, and it was cycling during the night.

There is no grassy area, dirt area, or even a concrete area for dogs. When we arrived, I went in to check in while my wife took Pippin, poop bags in hand, for a walk. I heard later that the maintenance man who was sweeping the lot, shooed her away and told her that she needed to take the dog off the property for him to do his business. He was not allowed to relieve himself anywhere on the property. He said so in a very stern and demanding tone.

My wife told me the story and how she was pointed to an overgrown vacant lot behind the hotel. She said that she took one look and nope, not my dog. After that, we were just very discrete. It wasn’t just this individual, but we both picked up on the same vibe from the rest of the staff that dogs were tolerated but not truly welcome. I know that when we show up at other properties with our Pippin, it is all big smiles and pets with Pippin the center of attention. You know, normal dog people. I believe that this is a family owned and operated property and I just don’t think that they are dog people. Rather, the term dog friendly is used merely to drive reservations.

Jun. 10, 2023

Not Too Bad

This was a very nice stay. I always love It when I expect less and I receive more. From Pippin's standpoint, all of his needs were met, and all of the Staff loved out little pup. Pippin is a French Bulldog/ Chihuahua blend. Yep. All of the quirkiness of the Frenchie with the Feistiness of the Chihuahua. Outside of the front entrance is a nice grassy area for our pets and Pippin made a couple of new friends during our stay. And at the rear of the hotel are other areas for your pets.

As for the humans, I was expecting a 2 star hotel, and it may well be, but it was much more. The rooms were nicely furnished and in the bathroom, rather than those small individual plastic bottles, they have upgraded to full bottles with pumps. This is due to the new California law that bans those small bottles. The hotel has a nice indoor heated swimming pool and a spa.

And for breakfast, they have a full breakfast with eggs, omelettes, bacon, sausage, etc. Everything to get you going without having to fill up on just carbs. The hotel was very clean and relatively quiet, and all of our interactions with staff were professional and friendly.

And did I say that the girls all loved Pippin. And he loved them all right back. The one complaint that I have is that check out time is 11am. No problem. But we checked out right at the end of the window, and as I was returning for the last load, I swiped my key card, and nothing. And then I looked at my phone and it was 11:02.

Yep, come check out time, they turn off your card access. I was going to call my wife to let me back in but Lupe saw me and came to my rescue to open the door. We will be staying here every year for Christmas since our kids are nearby, but in the future, we will be going for the late check out at 2 pm.
So, if you are in the Lathrop area and looking for a clean room in a clean hotel, that will welcome your pets as quickly as they welcome you, I absolutely recommend this Holiday Inn Express. Cheers 🍷

Dec. 25, 2022