BytheSea Inn

Half Moon Bay is a beautiful, small village by the Pacific that is well accustomed to hosting visitors. As I had a business meeting nearby I thought it would be fun to stay in a local B&B. Initially I tried to book a room online with the Zaballa House and when there was difficulty, I called only to be told that there were no standard rooms available. They tried to up-sale me to buy a suite room (which they reiterated in an email). That should have set off warning bells as I was able to book a standard room through the Trip Advisor website. The emailed receipts after booking from both Trip Advisor and their own website indicated a total price but when I arrived, I was told that the taxes hadn't been included adding another 12% to the total cost. While my room had a fireplace and clawfoot bathtub, it lack basic amenities such as a television, clock, bathroom essentials such as hair conditioner and provided less than a quarter roll of toilet paper (with no back up supply- I'm all for conservation but that would have been cutting it close for two people). While it was lovely to have a fireplace and a claw foot tub, I would have traded them for a tv or even radio to be able to get the news. I discovered an alarm clock wasn't needed as the trash truck showed up at 4am and a neighborhood rooster started in at 5am. Breakfast wasn't until 8am which is too late for a person on business trip such as myself and there wasn't even a way to get a cup of coffee. Fortunately there was a coffee shop a block away that opened at 6am. I have stayed at many B&Bs and understand that service and accommodations are unique to the location but Zaballa's service and provisions were well below expectations for even the most quirky guest house.