Carmel
 

We may try and go to Carmel some time this winter. Any hotel recommendations? I looked at Tickle Pink Inn and it looks lovely but we would be out of town and I need to decide if we want to be within walking distance of art galleries etc. What thoughts do you have We have not been to Carmel in years.

Stay within walking distance of stuff in Carmel. I've lived in California for 73 years - so have visited Carmel many many times. We stayed at the Talley Ho earlier this year - and enjoyed it. Ask for a large room with a view of the water. On previous trips, we've stayed at the Coachman's Inn.

Stu Dudley

We like La Playa. It's a few blocks to the shops and galleries, but closer to the beach & walking path. Rooms are on the small side but very comfortable and there are plenty of common areas to enjoy a coffee in the morning or glass of wine & snack in the afternoon.

I agree that you want to be within walking distance of Ocean Avenue.

We've stayed at the Cypress Inn many times. One year, during Auto Week, the Cypress was booked up and we stayed at the Seaview Inn which is a converted Queen Anne. It was great, but it's a much longer walk to Ocean Avenue.

If breakfast in the hotel is important to you, check each hotel's approach to dealing with Covid. Buffets are out.

It looks like restaurants are open but only for outdoor dining. Sounds like they have heaters, how is that in December? Being from Colorado that would be unlikely.

Heaters help a bit, but it's a combination of cold and damp. Only you know what you could tolerate and still enjoy the meal. Me, I'm a wimp...

Here are last year's temp data in Carmel in December:

https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/ca...1_al?year=2019

Indoor/outdoor dining changes weekly. San Francisco was going to open up indoor dining at 50% capacity this coming week because virus cases were down. However, on Friday data took a turn for the worse and the openings were cancelled. I live in the county just south of San Francisco, and one of our major dining streets has lots of outdoor dining that is usually packed. However, we've had an unusually warm late fall - temps were in the low 70s at dinner time. Yesterday, temps dropped about 5 degrees at dinner time & the outdoor areas were only about half full - or less. There were people inside - but not many. Now we're off daylight savings, and it is much colder at dinner time. Of the 20 or so restaurants with outside dining - only about 3 had heaters.

No-can-tell what things will be like in December in Carmel. Each county has different "rules", and cities can often have their own rules.

Stu Dudley

Stu, you are so correct. I think whatever we do will be last minute or with assurance that we can change/cancel without penalty.

If you want to stay in town, find a place that has parking (can be difficult), as parking in town is very limited. Factor in the cost of parking when making your reservations.

Also, because Carmel is a very dog friendly town, as are the hotels, hotels that are dog friendly can often be noisy with barking pets. As the owner of 3 dogs, this doesn't bother me, but may bother you.

We drove up to Big Sur in August, and stopped for lunch in Carmel. We had to drive around for some time to find parking, and this was not even on a weekend. We liked the signs posted on Ocean stating the $100 fine for not wearing a mask (so most people were wearing masks). The few outside dining places -- you really needed reservations, as they were packed. At the time we went, Carmel was cooler than the rest of the coast, so even dining outside at lunch, with the cool breeze, we wore jackets. I would think it would be pretty cold in winter.

I'd still consider going, but if indoor dining is still not permitted, go with the expectation that you would be better off just ordering food for take out, and dining in your room!

No idea of your pricepoint or availability. You might also look at the Carmel River Inn, which also has cottages. It is in Carmel but it's not close in like the options Stu gave you. I was going to stay there, that trip got cancelled, but my brother was going to be visiting so he ended up using my recs. He said it was good.

https://carmelriverinn.com/