La Playa Hotel

The staff is exceptionally tentative to your every need – a wonderful stay!

bit of the sublime and the ridiculous. Great location and parts of the hotel are really special such as the amazingly cool bar and the staff in the bar. Great cocktails especially. We stayed two nights for USD 3500. On our main Saturday night we had planned to eat and drink in the bar which is why we chose this hotel but at 8pm the bar was full and there was a very noisy wedding next to the bar which essentially took over the hotel and we were told to vacate the bar after finally getting a seat completely by 930pm as the wedding party had exclusive access to the bar. All night the hotel staff were more dedicated to the wedding party than their guests. No one told us this before we booked or when we arrived at the hotel that day. It was too late to reserve anywhere else. Our room had no bath and the shower didn’t work properly being too hot or too cold. The receptionist would not order us a car to the airport. Instead just gave us a number to call. Similarly would not make us a reservation at a local restaurant but told us to walk to the restaurant and enquire personally. The champagne breakfast is nothing of the sort but a fizzy white wine that was not fizzy. We had to ask for champagne glasses. Poor selection of pastries, but a good omelette and waffle station. The free cocktail hour didn’t exist on Sunday … there was a single red sangria cocktail hidden away behind reception which we only found out about because we heard someone else ask. The bar doesn’t open until 3 pm each day. No iron or ironing board in the room. We had to ask for our room to be cleaned when we came back after a long lunch at 330pm and then had to leave the room while the maid cleaned. Unbelievably despite breakfast being included in our 1750 USD per night charge, a latte or cappuccino was USD 7 extra! There is no gym which we knew before but we were told by the receptionist that they had an arrangement with a local gym close by for daily rate of USD 5. The gym was 1.5 km away and when we got there on Sunday morning it was closed to visitors! No service by the pool or outside. If we had paid maybe USD 300 per night then it would have been ok but USD 1750 per night is the most we have ever paid for a hotel. We were expecting a quirky but luxurious experience and what we got was pretty average and for the price a huge let down. Some of the staff were delightful especially in the bar area but the receptionists were positively unhelpful. Overall, must be better hotels for the price in Carmel. Worth visiting the bar if there is not a wedding….do check before on the weddings we were told they have one most weekends…..

The experience!

La Playa's location is great--close to the beach and can walk to Carmel's shopping area. The hotel's garden/outdoor area is gorgeous and the breakfast is fantastic!

The good: Lovely hotel. Yummy breakfast (included). Great touches to the room. They had a car service that could drive you to and from the downtown area which was such a nice touch. We walked both ways but thought it was nice since it’s uphill one or both ways. The bad: My only issue is the WIFI. It was terrible in our room, we had no wifi and no service our entire stay. The TV also wouldn’t connect so we couldn’t watch a movie after getting back from my boyfriend’s birthday dinner. It was such a bummer. The hotel had the same response every time we mentioned it and that was to apologize and do nothing. My recommendation - don’t stay in Room 110 if you need any sort of cell service whatsoever. Expect to need to leave your room even to send texts. It was clear that it had been an issue before because the settings were open to the WiFi network connection so previous guests had tried to fix it as well.

Beautiful surroundings

El estilo del hotel La piscina El confort de la habitación Los detalles, como cookies a la noche La ubicación, cerca del centro y de la playa

Todo me gustó

One of the best hotels ive ever stayed in. Old workd California charm on another level. The staff was friendly and went above and beyond. The lobby and grounds make you feel like you are on the set of a movie. I cant say enough good things.

Wonderful grounds. Dinner on the veranda at Bub’s was the highlight of our trip to Carmel. Great room. And for me…great coffee.