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Review of The Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa

My husband and I took a detour on a recent vacatio...

My husband and I took a detour on a recent vacation and ended up for 2 weeknights in Monterey. We wanted to stay near the water as we are from out-of-state and do not get to the coast often. Upon looking online at the Monterey Plaza Hotel and Spa website (directly) there were a few options available. We were interested in the King Room listed for $581 (for 2 nights - total). We were just up the street from the Plaza so we dropped in. We asked the lady at the desk about the online price (and even showed her what we had pulled up online on our phone). She asked if we were AAA members and we said no. She said, I can give you the AAA discount anyway for a King Room with an ocean view for 2 nights for $386.00. We thought that was incredible for this hotel (over the water and within walking distance to Cannery Row). We questioned her that this was the TOTAL COST for the 2 night stay not PER NIGHT. She assured us it was total cost and said there would be roughly an additional $27.00 in hotel charges and taxes. We thought for just about $420.00 for 2 nights, it was a fantastic deal. We gladly accepted and she asked my husband to initial the price of $386.00 as discussed. Ecstatic that we were staying at this beautiful hotel, we were directed into the valet parking area to unload our luggage. The valet parking is mandatory, but it is not at any additional charge to the guest. We went up to our room (we stayed in 1204) and were pleasantly surprised at the cleanliness and size of the guestroom. The bathroom was spacious and very clean. Plush bedding, nice sitting area, flat screen TV. The entire room was great. We had small balcony with 2 chairs and a small table just outside the sliding glass door that hovered a few stories above the water crashing below. It was a great view, facing the wharf/municipal beach direction. At the end of our stay, my husband went to check us out. The bill was printed and handed to him, he was thanked for staying there and he met me out front. Before pulling away, we glanced at the bill (as usual) to make sure it was as discussed and to our dismay, it was not. We were charged $386.00 PER NIGHT. With hotel charges and tax, our total came to within a few dollars of $875.00!! We thought it had to have been an error, so we went back in. The lady informed us that we agreed to pay the estimated price. Yes, true, but the estimated price was $386.00 total, which we confirmed TWICE verbally with the original woman we spoke to, before agreeing to stay at the Plaza. It turns out that even though the original woman we spoke with said the total for 2 nights was $386.00, when she asked my husband to initial next to the cost, she failed to point out that it said PER NIGHT. So much for being able to trust what someone tells you. Politely expressing our disappointment at the incorrect information provided to us was of no concern to them at this point. We had already stayed our 2 nights and they said our bill was our bill and we were responsible. We stated that we could have made the reservation for 2 nights online for $581.00 (which we stated originally) which was less than what they apparently quoted us with a courtesy AAA discount. So, while we thoroughly enjoyed our stay at a beautiful hotel with a great view and friendly staff, we felt taken advantage of in the end. Had we known the cost would be $386.00 per night, we probably would not have stayed here. It would be reasonable for a weekend rate, but not weekday. They had several open rooms. We assumed that was why they gave us a so-called courtesy AAA discount - so they could fill up the available rooms. Overall, disappointed.