We are getting down to the wire in planning our California trip. We've booked a room in Monterey for our first night, and we're looking for advice about two nights in Cambria on Moonstone Beach, and then a room in Santa Barbara for one night. I'm finding rates in Santa Barbara to be pretty high. Any good tips? Thanks a lot, everyone.

I just stayed at the Sea Otter Inn in Cambria on Moonstone Beach. Vey cute little walk up inn. I think we only paid like $99 - no view from inside the room but walk out the door and there it is! Very friendly staff - I think one company owns like ? a dozen properties...they gave us some coupons for drinks and room discounts for some of their other locations in other parts of Cambria.

If the rates are high you must have chosen a Fri or Sat night? Are you looking for budget, moderate, deluxe or luxury???

We are driving from San Francisco with stops in Monterey, Cambria and Santa Barbara. At this point, I have loding in Monterey and Santa Barbara all set, but I'm still looking for something in Cambria. We want a Thursday and Friday night, king bed, ocean front, fireplace. Thanks for any information you can give!

We recently stayed at the Best Western Cavalier in San Simeon--just a couple miles from Cambria. We had a good-sized room with ocean view and we noticed that the Cavalier has a unit even closer to the ocean. They have a good reasonably priced restaurant, but make reservations if you don't want a long wait. (We prefered this to the Fogcatcher in Cambria, which has nice rooms but no views--and costs more.)

Cambria...how 'bout a fireplace cabin across from the beach?
www.captainscoveinn.com