We have stayed at many Holiday Inns and they are consistent. Quality is good. Front Desk was very helpful with maps and such. We stayed here rather than in Monterey due to price and the fact that our son and family were staying 2 blocks away at a condo on the beach. It was extremely convenient for us. No pool but they have a spa and sauna which we enjoyed.

The breakfasts are what you expect but I did have one quibble. We do not eat pork or beef and they served an "omelet" which had some sort of filling that I couldn't identify. Looked like it might have had ham but I could not tell. It was awful. No hard-boiled eggs either. I had hoped one day there would be cheese omelets but in 5 days, none appeared. Only one morning was there scrambled eggs that we could eat. We ate most of our breakfasts at our son's condo and the last day we went out to eat.

This hotel is to hotels what Applebee's is to food. Consistent middling quality, neither great nor bad It's the kind of place about which people say, "A good place to stay ... at this price point." You open the door to your room and suddenly ... your anywhere ... or nowhere. The room was clean, the TV had 5 billion channels, the bed was OK, not a plush-aaaahhh-type bed, but comfortable enough. The under-window air conditioner/heater was a bit loud and the window was frighteningly dirty with a Jackson Pollack array of bird poop on it. The breakfast featured some sort of warm, egg-like product, sometimes accompanied by some really greasy bacon and at others, some OK sausage. There were plenty of other cold (and better) breakfast choices to chose from although bananas were the only fruit offering I saw. The coffee was blech, fortunately there is a Starbucks nearby. There was a fair amount of noise that came in off the hallway and also from the bathroom plumbing on the floor below me. I would suggest keeping your bathroom door closed at night for that reason. I stayed here on business and the wireless was unusually fast and reliable for a hotel. The front desk personnel were extremely friendly and helpful. It's in a very safe area adjacent to a nice little park and plenty of shopping choices nearby. From my room I could see (through the bird poop) the dunes in the distance but not the ocean. Would I stay there again? Probably, it doesn't have much in the way of competition.

If you don't need to stay in the heart of Monterey, this is an excellent affordable option. The quality of my stay was within my expectations for HIE. Despite some issues, I felt like I got good value for my overnight stay with breakfast included.

Pros:

Close to Monterey without the high prices.

Far better than the HIE in Seaside.

Uncommonly good internet speed @ 2.5 mbps.

Adequate breakfast.

Decor is relatively up to date and the facility is in decent condition.

Excellent selection of Direct TV television stations on flat screen TV of modest size.

Very good compact refrigerator and microwave in room.

Cons:

There were ten large screw holes on the walls on both sides of my room. They had the plastic inserts in them to receive the screw. The walls were wallpapered so I could understand the difficulty of a patch, but tacky nevertheless.

The window was very dirty and provided little sound insulation from a rather busy street (Reservation Rd).

The desk is too high for use with a laptop and the desk chair was horrible.

The bed was little on the soft side.

The TV could not be viewed from the desk.

CFL lighting throughout the room was just adequate, not especially well lit.

No paper towels for the wet bar area.

Hair dryer was really cheap.

Summary: For me, the pros outweigh the cons for what I paid for the room. I would stay here again if I got a room that is not facing the street. My only encounter with staff was the desk clerk who was friendly and helpful. The person who maintained the breakfast area in the morning seemed to be doing a good job.

Just got back from this hotel and have no complaints. Upon ck in we were greeted by Anna who went out of her way to get us an early ck in on the 3rd floor. Once we settled in room she also helped us plan out our day by giving names of restaurants and places to go along with maps I stayed across the street at comfort inn the service there was a joke. The rooms were clean and roomy fridge and micro too. Breakfast better than a continental eggs waffles pancakes muffins yougurt cinnamon rolls etc. I would come back again just for the service alone Thank you Anna at service desk for ur pleasant attitude and great service.