ok...noticed prices to stay in Monterey mid June..had to take a deep breath
 

My husband and I are going to Yosemite June 12th-15th then headed to the Monterey area until the morning of the 20th where we are departing from San Jose airport to go home to St. Louis. We don't have definite plans once we leave Yosemite so we can stay anywhere if it means saving some $$. I know we want to see Big Sur, Monterey and Carmel. I would love to try to do some kind of wine tour for a day..was hoping to find some kind of tour bus so we can safely get back to our hotel instead of worrying about driving. We have no problem staying in more than one hotel..like at a middle stop for a night before heading to Monterey area if there are hot spots to stay. I'm embarrassed to say, the only part of California I know is SF and we don't plan on going there at all. I would love any advice. You will probably giggle when I mention we were hoping not to pay more than $150.00 a night once leaving Yosemite. Is this wishful thinking :I

they've had the Hyatt Monterey on expedia.com for $89 a night and its a 4* and in a perfect location..don't know what the price is for June.
So many deals right now that $150 is very doable with lots of great deals for 4-5* hotels.
Try Priceline too but only bid 4* plus hotels.
San Francisco you could stay at the gorgeous Westin St Francis in Union Square that I always seem to get on either expedia for less than $100 a night.
Tickled Pink in Carmel is reasonable but have not stayed there..Asilomar (sp) in Pacific Grove/Carmel is cheap and oceanfront.
Do try and dine at Passionfish in Pacific Grove..super reasonable for some of the best fish and half bottles are pratically at cost..considered one of the best places to dine.
You will not regret it!

www.passionfish.net

thanks for your advice Ksucat! I have looked at every option in Carmel and Monterey..they are all booked or outrageously priced (Tickled Pink sounded perfect by the way.) There are some reasonable places in Santa Cruz...it's about 45 min from Monterey but at this point, I'm considering it...any thoughts?

Salinas?

Salinas..do NOT stay there!!
Give me your dates and let me see what magic I can work..
Does it have to be all Monterey?

Ha! Again, thank you Ksucat...your help means a lot to me. I don't know how I did it but found a place in pacific grove for $195.00 a night. Lovers Point Inn...nothing fancy but much cheaper than anything else I could find near everything we were looking for. It is also very close to Passionfish ;)
Thanks again...only 2 months away :D

when we went to monterey a few years ago, we stayed at the Asilomar Conference Center... www.visitasilomar.com beautiful grounds, on the beach, and the dining hall is a cool experience...you have a few options and the waiters bring you everything.

Re. Pacific Grove: Lovers Point Inn is extremely basic. We have not stayed there. The location is nice, though. But, please do check out Asilomar. The price includes a full breakfast and the grounds are right across the stree from the ocean. There are also some B&Bs in Pacific Grove that you could check.

Lovers Point Inn will be fine. It isn't posh but the location is very good. Staying at Asilomar is often easier said than done. People often recommend it on here, and it is terrific -- but Asilomar is often hard to get into because so many groups and conferences book it up months in advance. Over the last 4 years I've tried to book there 4 times -- and had date flexibility for each trip, but was only able to get a room one time.

The US Open golf starts at Pebble Beach on 17th June. Maybe this is why everything is booked/outrageously expensive? We are hoping to do the reverse of your trip and be in the Monterey area until 15th June then go to Yosemite. I haven't started looking for Monterey accommodation but from your post it sounds like maybe I should!

Josephine has figured it out. I checked an inexpensive option in Carmel that I enjoyed -
http://www.carmelbayviewinn.com/
and on the BW site the hotels are all full and/or VERY expensive. The same hotels are $159 or less for June 12 - 14.

If you could flip-flop your time, you'll come out a lot better.

<i>The same thing happens around the Masters in Augusta too.

thanks guys..I think I'm going to keep what we have because even if we switched, some of the days I would still need in the Monterey area would still be booked up since we are staying for more than a few days..we also got a place in the valley at Yosemite and already have our departing plane out of San Jose. I'm going to count my blessings and have a blast. You guys are great!

holy crap..you're not kidding about the prices for hotels..Yikes!
It's because of the US Open since we have stayed several times and a Comfort Inn for over $300 is not the norm..

I did check SF too and found on expedia 4* hotels of the Hotel Monaco for $167 a night, which is such a great hotel, St. Francis for $198, the Inter-Continental for $178 and the Sir Francis Drake for $98.

Just thinking if you wanted to do day trips from SF because the US Open is going to be zoo..I know..we had the US Open in La Jolla at Torrey Pines and you couldn't get into any restaurant, traffic was beyond a nightmare, so a really pretty place turns into a "Get me Outta Here" mentality..and I live here!

One option may be to head further south. I loved Carmel on my last visit but also loved staying on the beach at Cambria and visiting the central coast wineries. You could tour the Hearst Castle. Dip down south a bit depending on what you want to see and then drive back north on your last day. If you get bogged down in traffic, then work your way over to the interstate to spend the night near San Jose before your flight out.

Oops! Forgot to share the name of the hotel in Cambria -
The Fireside Inn at Moonstone Beach
It's another Best Western. I don't usually stay in them on the east coast, but like the ones I've stayed in on the west coast. Their search engine shows a variety of options in and near the search city. For those dates, the Fireside shows up as $199, which is double what I paid. Using a AAA discount would bring it down some. The hotels south of there are less, which makes me wonder if Pebble Beach folk are driving up from there.

I drove the coast from San Francisco to south of LA a couple of years ago and loved the drive. It was a great trip with lots to see and do. If you have to miss Monterey this trip, you'll still have a great time!

thanks so much guys but I'm going to be stubborn and hope for the best with the crowds and traffic. I know, I'm probably crazy. I just feel Pacific Grove is so central to what we really want to see (monterey, big Sur, Carmel) and restaurants are the least of our worries (we are happy at an applebee's or Friday's if it means saving some money anyway)..and yes, we are from Missouri :D
I can't believe we got a place in Pacific Grove and may regret it once we get there and see the crowds but I don't know what to compare it to and hope that most of the people who came for the game will be at the game while we are having our fun ;) right? Again, wishful thinking.

We stayed in the MOtel 6 in Monterey and it's only a short drive to Carmel of the Wharf.Paul

Staying there over the Open will mostly be OK. Yes - restaurants will be very crowded in the evenings. And traffic after the day's play is over willbe pretty congested. But during the day -- most of them will be at Pebble Beach -- not sightseeing in Big Sur or the Carmel Mission.

That time of year naturally brings brings lots of visitors, but lots of them will be confined to the grounds at PB while you are out and about.

I agree with janisj, therefore, I'd highly recommend advance dinner reservations, if you want to be eating dinner in Monterey, Carmel or Pacific Grove.

Remember that the guys are the ones that go the US Open and the wives will be out and about during the day.
When the Open was just here in LJ, us locals thought it would be quiet during the day since there all on the course...wrong.
Maybe it's different in PB.
You MUST make reservations now or you'll never get in anywhere.
Passionfish is a small restaurant and it wouldn't surprise me they might have it booked out for the US Open events..book your dinner res on-line.
Have any of you been to a US Open?
It is the Super Bowl of golf around the world and everywhere is a complete and utter zoo..being that Pacific Grove is right next to the Pebble, I just want you to be totally aware that traffic will be gridlock, restaurants will have a 2-3 hour wait..
Just saying since I was just at the US Open in LJ..loved it but NEVER again!