Holiday Inn Express at Monterey Bay, an IHG Hotel, Seaside CA

First time staying here. The hotel itself is not bad. The room was clean, a bit dated but our beds were comfy. I didn't know it was an outdoor entry, so since it was storming during NYE, it was a bit noisy. Plenty of parking and the breakfast in the mornings was plentiful with many choices.
It is basically a no-frills hotel and it suited our needs.

Pros:
Close to the freeway exit, easy to get to Monterey Aquarium and Fisherman’s Wharf. Good location.

Cons:
1. This is not an all indoor hotel. I looked at the pictures and immediately thought that the “balcony” was part of the room. They are not. It is an open hotel (my bad on that assumption)
2. We got a 2-queen bed room. Clearly the beds are Not a queen, they are full size.
3. Rooms too small, outdated tv’s (one of the reasons we asked to be moved).
4. Very small bathroom
5. Little water comes out of the sink

I will not be staying here again. The reason I gave it a 2 star and not one was because the staff was friendly. Including front, housekeeping and kitchen. Thank you!

Thank you, Holiday Inn Express in Seaside, California, for an A+ humbling experience. It is 3am as I write this. Thank you for the toilet that has been running at 4 minute intervals. I have enjoyed playing plumber all night, with little breaks to prepare my very important client meeting today. Thanks for only 2 paper cups, saving me the bother of rinsing a glass for the next beverage. You're right, I only need 2 cupfulls of fluid over the 18 hours of my stay. And thanks for the goopy underside of the side table that smelled like B. O.and Number 2. You're right, Housekeeping only needs to wipe the top surface. I apologize for grasping the table to move it. At 5: 45 am I discovered your final offering - the luxurious foot bath that accompanied my shower. That's a very sophisticated drain system! Keep up the good work.

Maxine who answered my call was very rude i dont know if they are having a bad day or what but please train your staff to be appropriate and learn some manners! She should be taking extra attention on manners because she does not seem to have one! I dont think she ever been taught on it! And she sounded like she is munching or something while on call that is not very professional! Please put someone who are willing to work to answer the call because Maxine seems like not very happy with her 6am shift!

Staff was helpful room was clean. Pool and hot tub were open in winter.
Close to walking/bike paths that can take you all the way to Monterey.
They have a free excellent buffet breakfast in the morning. They had everything you can ask for fruits, breads/muffins, sausage, eggs, pan cakes. Juices.
You calculate that into your room bill its at least a $20-25 breakfast per person.

We just got in at Holiday Inn Express at Monterey Bay and I read so many good reviews about service and smiling staff. Yes the chambermaids and the janitor were super nice and friendly but your staff at the counter, she needs to learn from them. Greeting staff looking down at the keyboard. No smile or anything even though we greeted her first. No name tags to identify who's working behind the counter. I cannot be bothered with her name because I bet she won't bother giving it. She should be happy having a job but obviously she's not. And she rattled on thanking is for being a diamond member and no eye contact. What a joke! Holiday Inn and this kind of people are promoting your brand. I honestly believe that human resources need to retrain her to better promote your brand.

The staff was the friendliest I have ever seen. The rooms were dated. However, it was very quiet. Breakfast was good.

Nice hotel in a nice location, but their system of elevators between floors and then stair for most of the rooms makes it very inconvenient for large luggage, strollers, etc. I mean REALLY inconvenient, and to make it worse, there are no warnings anywhere, nor in their site or any place I looked. Not even at check in, they tell you: go to the second floor and out of the elevator to the left you’ll find your room, and what you find is a very long stair, between the elevator and anything else… in all the floors… THEY NEES TO WARND THIS AT THE RESERVATION SYSTEM, and at check in

TL;DR we had a rough first night, but they offered us another room. The stuffiness of the second room caused us to go elsewhere. Location was great and service was better than average.

My wife and I booked a room here through a third party app and was put into a handicap room. There were not a lot of options, so we stayed in that room the first night. It was not comfortable: kureg did not provide hot water; bed was much smaller than expected; and the shower drain was in front of the sink, which kept the bathroom wet (not fun when we needed to go to the bathroom at night).

Luckily, they allowed us to move into another room the next night with two double beds. This was a lot better for us.

However, I found the room to be very stuffy. This made it hard for me to sleep.

The problem is that there are no windows to open at night. So there was no good airflow in the room.

The positive is definitely the location. It was close to everywhere we wanted to be.

After the second night, our family had a room open at their house, so we decided to leave.

My advice to those with dust allergies is to be sure to have allergy medicine on hand. The lobby did not have any to provide. This and better room airflow probably would have help.

The stars are because of the breakfast only. The hotel is fine but not more. The level of cleanliness is bad. Their is dust in the room and the flow of the faucets is very weak.

Clean room, staff was great! The pool guy was awesome and super helpful! This was a seamless check in and out

The room was clean, wifi was dependable, the free breakfast was pretty good, and it is walkable to many sites, cafes, etc. As such, it sufficed just fine!

I am very pleased with the clean room and wow what a very nice view of the lagoon! The hotel is conveniently located it is close to the highway and the ocean. Plenty of restaurants close by so walking is an option lol the pool is clean and a hot tub is nice. The Front desk receptionist are friendly and accommodating! Thank You

It's a basic hotel to sleep fir the night. It was clean and customer service was excellent. Breakfast had lots of options, it was good!

This is an older HIE hotel. The location is great but service can be improved most especially the front desk. We were 11 hours on the road and the front desk lady was quite unwelcoming, not a smile and talking so fast that gives the impression the guest is imposing by staying in their hotel. Rooms are not very clean, lacks towel set pieces. It is also inconvenient to have just one elevator for a 5-storey building. Rooms are not sequentially numbered and a pain to locate if you're stumbling half-dead in the middle of the night.

Our stay started out fine, but when we returned from dinner about 8: 30 the front desk informed us that the water main had broken. They gave us 2 bottles of water for the night. In the morning the water was still off, so I asked for a late check out so we could shower before our flight home. The front desk informed me they could only give me an extra hour at the most, because they had to get the rooms ready for the next guests. The water was restored about 12: 30, so we didn't have time to shower. More concerned about income from the next days guests, then servicing the ones who we're put out.

Amazing location but a very odd layout nothing seems like its in the right place. Water pressure was low and only one working ice machine. Seems like post pandemic labor issues might be affecting this property. Served my needs.