What People are saying

Bait and Switch

Christine Lon 04/08/2017 01:54

Alex the owner called and told us that he could not honor our reservation through Booking.com because he never received it. But he had our name and phone number. How did he get that? Then he said we needed to cancel the Booking.com reservation first and then we could book directly with him for the same price. We asked that he make the direct booking first but he would not do that. That also sounded strange. Why not, if there was no reservation, according to him? We called Booking.com and they confirmed the hotel had the reservation information. We called him back and told him that Booking.com sent him the reservation information and he started talking over us and arguing with us. We cancelled our reservation with Booking.com and will find another place to stay.

"Bye Bye, Bide-A-Wee!"

williamscampion 02/08/2017 03:36

Make sure you stay here if you want spotty or nonexistent internet and enjoy being disrespected by the
management.
My husband and I have stayed at this property on several occasions, and highly recommended it in a review last summer.
This time the extremely rude manager (I believe his name is Alex) is the reason we will not be staying here in the future. This young man has no idea how close he came to losing some teeth.
After having a truly wonderful day in Monterey and Pacific Grove, my husband and I relaxed in our room and decided to take our showers around 9:30. We couldn't get the shower to work so I walked to the office and asked for help. "Alex" grudgingly came to our room and showed us a strange gizmo that had to be pulled out (from inside the faucet of all places!) in order to operate the shower head. He told us there was supposed to be a paper on the wall with instructions. Without saying he was sorry for the inconvenience or even wishing us a nice evening, Alex left. We tried the shower again, and this time the part got stuck. I had to ask for assistance again. Alex was doing what appeared to be some bookkeeping, and I told him I was sorry, but still couldn't get the shower to turn on. He looked very annoyed, gave a deep sigh, and told me, "I'm really busy and can't be bothered right now." CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?? I'm a paying guest and Alex could not be bothered! I went back to the room and decided not to tell my husband how disrespectful this young man was to me because he would have turned Alex's black BMW into a painful suppository. He eventually returned and again showed us how to operate the shower with no apology. In all fairness, the facilities are nice, as are the rest of the staff (Catherine and the housekeepers are very courteous and efficient), and the locale spectacular. HOWEVER, this Ill-mannered individual needs a serious attitude adjustment. Meanwhile, we're staying at The Butterfly Grove around the corner.

Disappointed

Bclinton60on 19/07/2017 18:14

My partner and I have been coming for years to this venue. It's quaint and lovely.

However, this time we encountered cranky staff. Very unfriendly. People come to Pacific grove for vacations. Smiles are nice to encounter when you check in.

Also, we wanted to stay more than one night and found a good price through TripAdvisor. We called to see if the hotel would honor it and save the 10% booking fee They have to pay. They were not interested in talking to us at all. Odd.

Upon checkout we asked if there had been a change of ownership and the long behold the hotel had been sold in the last two months.

Sad development. We have found a new hotel to stay at. I really don't like to encounter cranky people.

New ownership/management..doesn't necessarily mean better!

kleanglumon 30/06/2017 19:55

On May 16, 2017 I spoke to a nice gentleman when booking a room (for July 6 to 8) with two queen beds for my family of four. Less than an hour later he called and apologized, stating that he was mistaken and only a room with a king bed was available and that he could provide a complimentary roll-a-away to accommodate my family. He stated that the room was large enough to comfortably fit all of us. It was slightly more in price but I agreed to it anyways. On June 29 I decided to send an email to confirm my booking and the roll-a-away as our trip was a week away. An email was sent to me at 8:50PM that night from the manager. This was the email: "We do offer roll-a-ways but we charge $25/night plus TAX for them.I am not sure who you spoke to that told you that we offer complimentary roll-a-ways.
Thank you.
Manager."
There was no greeting in the email such as "Dear Mrs" or "Attention so and so". Also, the so-called manager doesn't even put his name down. Then I get a call at 9:26PM from this manager. He never stated his name. He went right into stating that the roll-a-aways are not complimentary and also stating that my room could not accommodate four people and only 3 so could not stay in that room. He said the person who I booked with initially no longer worked at the place and not only that all staff is new as the hotel is now under new ownership. He said he was the new manager. At this point I was very confused and upset as my trip was a week away and I had no time to book anything. I asked him what my options were. He said he had the room with two queen beds (which I initially wanted but was not available), but it would cost extra. At this point, close to 10PM, I felt I had no choice but to pay extra for that other room since he kept emphasizing to me that there was no way our family of four could fit into a room with a king bed and a roll-a-away. BTW, we have 2 young children and we have fit into a room with a king bed and roll-a-away at other hotels. I asked him what if I had not sent an email to confirm my booking ahead of time. What would have happened if I arrived that day on July 6 to check in? He stated that he would tell us we couldn't have our room because it fit only three and we have four in our family. We would have to pay more for a bigger room or find another hotel. He was going to put us in that situation on the day we arrived!! That is terrible service, and not to mention a mean spirited person! This new ownership/management is off to a bad start if this is the manner in which they handle customer interactions. When they took over after my initial booking they must have raised their rates as well because they quoted price for the 2 bedroom was lower than the price he quoted me at 9:26PM. Or maybe he knew I had no option but to go with that room since my trip was a week away and purposely charged me a much higher rate. I lost sleep that night stressing over my trip and the next morning immediately went to work trying to find a place that could fit my family. Luckily I spoke to a really nice lady at Deer Haven Inn and she fit us in. After booking at the new hotel I called the manager at Bide-A-Wee to cancel my reservation and express my feelings. Again, he didn't offer his name nor offer any type of apology to the situation. My advice to you Mr. Manager: if this is the career path bestowed onto you then you need to learn to be more personable, kind, empathetic, and understanding. And for Heaven's sake...introduce yourself!!!

Place has seen better times

Il Jon 27/06/2017 23:43

The complex and the room very very clean, nicely situated quite close to the ocean within walking distance. The furniture is a bit long in the tooth and could be replaced in the near future. Parking was available right in front of our bungalow.