Cambria, Monterey, Napa - accomodations?
 

My husband and I are driving up the coast in November. We prefer to stay in "towns" in which we can walk or bike to different places such as shopping, restaurants, bars, etc. After reading other messages, we have decided to stay one night in Cambria, 2 in Monterey and 2 in the Napa valley. My questions are: Do we want to stay at Moonstone beach or in the town of Cambria? Is the beach walking distance to town? Any recommendations for Monterey? I know it's pricey - but am wondering if Priceline is an option. We really don't want to spend a lot of $$ on lodging but would like to stay somewhere nice (we'd rather spend $$ on food and wine). After researching Napa, the towns of Yountville and St. Helena sound lovely - not sure which to choose. What are they like? I appreciate any advice!! Thanks!!

Moonstone Beach is not really walking distance into town. If you want to walk to restaurants, etc. then you should stay right in the town itself -- but we stayed on Moonstone Beach and really loved it. It is only a few minutes' drive into town. It is nice to be able to wake up in the morning and go walking out on the rocks. We just drove into town for dinner (at Robin's, which is great). <BR> <BR>I would not recommend staying in Monterey itself. I saw nothing charming about Monterey -- very touristy and expensive -- although it is worth visiting for the aquarium. But Pacific Grove is a few blocks down the street from Monterey and is far less expensive. That's where we stayed. Pacific Grove has nice B&Bs and inns and doesn't have souvenir places on every corner like Monterey does.

Ditto to everything Lisa says.

Lisa thinks Monterey is touristy, try Cambria. Give me a break. I go back a very, very long time in Cambria...it is now tourist with a capital T. <BR> <BR>Dick

About Napa Valley, hotels can be expensive there. St. Helena is a larger town than Yountville. More shopping, etc. They are both nice though. There is a motel on Highway 29 outside of St. Helena called El Bonita. Calistoga might have some more reasonably priced hotels. And in the town of Napa, but I don't think that would be as much fun. <BR> <BR>Have a great time.

We stayed at the Lavender Inn in Yountville last April and loved it. They had great mid-week packages that included dinner at a nearby restaurant. It was delicious. Breakfast and wine/hors d'oeuvres were tasty.

All of the above is great advice about some of my favorite places in California. We live in the Bay area so have done all of these places many times. El Bonita in St. Helena is a kick. There's also the St. Helena Hotel--very retro but only recommended if you are a good sleeper since traffic noise on Hwy 29 begins early in the AM. Calistoga is a nice town with less expensive hotels, but it's at the top of the valley so you can experience traffic in trying to get there. I wouldn't stay in Napa itself, although probably other folks will disagree. Go to www.napavalley.com for more than you want to know. Yountville is cute and as stated smaller. Several nice B&Bs there. In Monterey there is a little hotel called the Otter Inn, just about 1 1/2 blocks from Cannery Row. It's a typical little motel type place with no A/C (you really don't need it) but gives you parking underneath. It's quite affordable. If you stay at some of the more affordable Monterey hotels/motels, be sure that they are not located down near Munras Street which is a big hike to Fisherman's Wharf and Cannery Row, the places the tourists like to be. Monterey is a pretty big place and you have to know exactly where your hotel is if you want to walk or bike to things. For intance, the Embassey Suites is in no man's land if you want to walk and parking is difficult on weekends. Pacific Grove is lovely--especially the Seven Gables Inn, the Green Gables Inn etc. Asilomar is a good option in Pacific Grove. I think if you are good walkers you can walk from Moonstone Beach to downtown Cambria. It's flat and easy to walk. Certainly if you are riding bikes, it's OK. I would stay at Moonstone Beach for the wonderful experience of walking along the beach in the early morning. There are no hotels ON the beach--everything is across the street so you have an unobstructed view along the water. The town is cute, but there aren't too many places near the center. There's a residential area but that's too far and too remote. One very expensive place in town that I can't remember the name of. <BR>In Cambria, try the Sow's Ear for dinner (and, of course, most people's favorite, Robin's)--especially if it's cool or rainy outside (which it could very well be depending on what time in November you are coming). Hope you have a great trip.

We live in Pacific Grove. It is one of the best spots on the Monterey Peninsula for walking on the beach, riding bicycles and staying in a hotel on the beach. The town has a web site with hotels listed. I believe it is PacificGrove.org. Try it. It also has a calendar of events for the area. <BR> <BR>The Seven Gables and Green Gables face the Bay. Asilomar is a very nice place with very close access to the Bay. It is woodsy and many separate buildings. Used often for conferences as it has good meeting rooms in the buildings. A good restaurant that the locals go to is the FISHWIFE on HWY68. It does not look fancy from the exterior, but is really very nice inside and a local favorite. You can walk there from Asilomar. FANDANGOS in downtown Pacific Grove is also excellent, but expensive. You can catch the Hollywood crowd in there often as they vacation in the area. <BR> <BR>Try PG! Great town and easy access to the crowds in Carmel when you want to visit them.