Traveler's Hotel - Salinas, California

Katie L.

It was freezing, no ac/heater. The bed had a whole in it. The shared bathroom space is a sorry excuse for a bathroom. There was no soap in there either. There was also a whole bed stood up in my room. They only accept cash. AND I dont know how they are allowed to stay in business, its like there are no standards here. The lady who helped me was nice thats abt all the good I can say for this establishment. I stayed here because I needed a safe place for a couple hours and it was the closest option. but if you are looking to stay anywhere/ on vacation or something this place shouldnt even be a last resort. I included photos. (100 dollars for the night).

Lydia B.

Bad. Maintenance person was kind. Only three is only him and the owner I believe that are workers and on site. No housekeeping. No clean linen. No heat, it's freezing. There were dirty underwear in my bed sheets stains and food particles in both beds. Beds were broken literally dipped in the middle. Room very dirty. It could be a nice place if someone cared to make it comfortable and hire housekeeping and get washer and dryer that work. Along with heating. Also you are locked inside after 9pm. Cannot leave and come back, door will be locked. No phones in room. It is a cool old building though like I said it could be wonderful if the owner cared. Maybe she needs a mentor or investor idk. Wish I could say good things. Although, with no fridge, no microwave, or heat. It's difficult to.

SierraTraveler2013

This is a good and inexpensive place to stay when the Monterey hotel prices are too high. Don't expect the most modern facility because the hotel is in a classiic old downtown building. It definitely has character and a downtown flavor (even charm if you're intrigued by old-style buildings). We had inadvertently booked a room with a shared bath (overlooked this on the webpage), but Kevin kindly offered us a room with private bath for a modest fee. Room was small, but to be expected in a city building. Bed was older, but comfortable, and we slept well. Fridge in the room was nice feature that we used... especially for goods from the Sat Farmers market on the same street as the hotel! Overall, the hotel was a basic and adequate accommodation that met our needs for a place to stay between days in Monterey. And the front office staff (Kevin) was friendly and helpful.

Q9475NSbarbarag

Ok, this is not the best hotel I´ve ever been. But it´s clean, quiet and the room is ok. The best part is that the price is just $65, the cheapest you can find in the area last minute. I went there with my boyfriend. We didn´t make a reservation anywhere and it was around 9 pm. ||Kevin is the person on charge. He seems a little peculiar at the begining, but then you realize that he is nice, helpful and welcoming. We had two big pieces of lugagge and he took mine to the room in the 3rd floor! (No, there don´t have elevators).||The room was clean, the bathroom (shared) was also clean and Kevin made sure that we had a room very close to the bathroom. Everything was fine, enough for just one night.||I would recommend this hotel to somebody whose budget is not very big and wants a simple, clean place to sleep.

EdieM931

My husband and I ended up at this hotel when we foolishly did not book ahead in Monterey on a Saturday night. The windows were broken--the ones in our room, the ones on the fire escape. We had to share a bathroom. The bathrooms were not clean. The room was barely clean, and a roll of toilet paper came with it b/c there wasn't one in the bathroom. There were people standing in the fire escape smoking and cat calling, and a calendar on the wall in our room with obscene graffiti on it. The TV didn't work. The owner assured us that there were no prostitutes or drug dealers, but I'm not convinced. There was no other choice anywhere around, and several other groups of tourists were stuck there with us. We slept fast, and left. Avoid this place!

Jared D.

UPDATED: This first review is of my first stay at the hotel in 2011. I have since stayed there again and had a very different experience. Combining the two visits, I dropped a star from my rating.

I had reserved a room for two adults, but when we got there, we were told the room reserved only had one bed and no bath. My friend and I were not interested in sharing a bed, so we had to pay an additional $22 to get a 2-bed room. We were both carrying a bag over our shoulder and a rolling luggage and had to carry them up three flights of stairs.

The room was clean and spacious, but we both noted how odd it was that the sink for hands and face was in the bedroom and not the bathroom, which had a very slick floor, and I could not get hot water in it no matter how hard I tried or how long I waited.

The beds were comfortable and we had a relaxing night, and the service was very helpful.

We had both arrived in Salinas via Greyhound, and the hotel was only a couple blocks away, so it wasn't far. It also was not far from public transportation, the Steinbeck Center, Maya Cinemas, or restaurants. There was a cafe right next to the hotel's office, but we did not visit there, choosing to go to First Awakenings across the street instead.

2013 stay: I arrived a little before midnight, and was let in by a drunk attendee who slowly processed my payment and didn't even bother to look up my booking. The room was clean and serviceable. As I was traveling alone, I got a single bed room with a shared bathroom, the doors to which were wide open and I didn't realize until my second visit to the nearest one that it was assigned to the ladies!

It wasn't too bad, except since the attendant hadn't checked my booking, the booking site I used informed me that I hadn't turned up and I had to forfeit my booking fee. Fortunately, a phone call to the booking site sorted that out.

ADVICE: If you're on the cheap or arriving in Salinas late at night by Greyhound or by the local transit, this is an okay option, but if you can explore other options, go for them. I would suggest booking directly with the hotel to avoid any unexpected fees.

Lupitarumbo

Not Parking lot, once we step inside the hotel it smell bad, the rooms where confusing and once we found our room it was open so that was just annoying. My fiancé and I had a hard time looking our room door. Bathroom clean, carpet dirty, bed sheets where old tv didn't even work. In the closet we found a bottle of liquor with used cups. At night the people infront on our rooms where partying all night long they even tried opening our doors. Very unsafe I do not recommend it at all. Very scary I will not stay in this hotel again. I rather sleep in my car!!!

graceh332

The location of the hotel is ok being close to cafes and restaurants in old town Salinas and the bathrooms were clean. Apart from that there is not much going for this hotel. Each room gets a roll of toilet paper which you have to take to the communal bathroom (strange?). When I was there they were remodelling the inside (which is good because it needs it desperately) so there were builders scraping paint off the walls at 8am both mornings when I woke up. I had to squeeze past them in the hallways trying not to get fresh paint on my clothes. I wasn't given the wifi password so tried to call the front desk - there was no answer and I waited on the line for at least two minutes both times I called. When I went down to ask the man at the front desk he was not there and wouldn't come out although I could hear him behind the door. The water in the shower took minutes to heat up (not very water efficient) and although my room was advertised as having a desk and fridge, it did not. In my opinion you are better off spending an extra $10 to get a room a little further out of town that will feel cleaner and safer.