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Best Western Salinas Valley Inn & Suites
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$$
3 reviews for Best Western Salinas Valley Inn & Suites
I am currently staying in this best western all week long. That's because I read reviews about the Sand Dunes Best Western, and determined early on that it was probably the worst of the two Westerns. Especially since my work all week is actually IN Salinas. and we drove out to the other Best Western on Reservation Road, since my coworker was bound and determined to walk on the beach every morning, so he stayed there against my advice (I'd read a review that the place was a dump and someone had to use a pair of underwear to keep the wind from whistling through the windows.) Well, it's pretty desolate out there, granted there is a beach (somewhere beyond the dunes) but that has gotta be one b-i-t-c-h of a drive at 8 AM.
We wandered in and were served promptly on Monday, got our keys, and went upstairs.
My room is too big. There is a big vacant gap on the right side near the A/C. However, I turned this into an advantage as I brought my own yoga dvd's. go crazy, yoga mom! I also brought my windsor pilates. I haven't done that one yet.
Anyway, I have a nice clean bathroom, nice carpets, a non smoking room, a big tv with lots of channels, lamps with flourescent lights saving energy for us all, a coffee pot, fridge and microwave.
It also has free wi fi, which is great. I'm posting with it now.
Additionally, there is a very nice "continental breakfast". It consists of 2 cereals, multiple pastries, eggo waffles, hard boiled eggs, giant crispy red apples, various breads and butters, and finally, coffee, tea or juice (2 kinds.) I'm used to ridiculously horrible buffets or a crusty old croissant and metallic coffee. This nice spread was a pleasant discovery on Tuesday morning.
Overall, quiet, cheap, not crowded, great for a family stay or a work stay. Smart if you are going to make a weekend stay in the Monterey area, everything is in driving distance. Salinas ain't bad. This is not a 4 star hotel, but it is CERTAINLY not a 1. Nor is this place pepto pink. It's faux-slate bathroom tile, perfectly reasonable high-durability carpeting, cream colored walls, and boring furniture/prints on the walls. 1 star? No. Maybe for Paris Hilton standards, but not from mine, and I've stayed at places like the Westin Cho Sun in Seoul, the Hotel Marmara in Istanbul and the Delfino in Lima for weeks at a time. I've also been in dumps all over the world that make the Motel 6 seem like an oasis, so this place is definitely a solid 3 for normal needs. No room services; unless you count wake up calls. This is just a comfy place to sleep and make microwave popcorn. Not for high maintenance folk.
Other restaurants nearby: Margie's Diner and a Mexican restaurant. However, we keep driving to Marie Callendar's for salad bar and pie. I also recommend The Village Restaurant, for lunch time omelets, which is over in a weird new development of mixed use apartment-lofts-over- businesses called "creekbridge."
There are two best westerns on this street. So confusing. I do not feel unsafe, there are apartments across the street and multiple mid-range hotels on this street near the 101. In any case, we got the state rate, and I am sleeping very well. If you open the window, you can smell garlic in the fields nearby.
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I reserved a ground floor unit and asked if I could check in early (1:00 PM) since I couldn't nap at my in-law's house. They said they had no ground floor unit clean yet, would I like a 2-room suite for the same price? Um, yeah. So that worked out really well. Aside from most if not all motels in Salinas being way over-priced (I mean, what's the big draw, here-- the Steinbeck Museum?) It was clean, comfortable, everything worked and was where it was supposed to be. I slept like a log, the A/C kept my room absolutely frigid, just the way I like it. The continental breakfast was there, but there is always Margie's next door if you're looking for something a little more. Old-fashioned TV sets, 25 inchers, I believe. Be careful getting out, there is a busy AM/PM right on the other corner, the on/off ramp for US 101, In and Out Burger, and four motels all coming together at this horrid little intersection with no traffic control.
The Best Western Salinas Valley Inn was the unfortunate follow-up to the perfectly reasonable Visalia Marriott on my week-long tour of the central valley. First off, it's completely puzzling how a hotel can appear to be recently remodeled yet hideously out of date, cheap, and tacky. The paint and decor seemed to be somewhat new but fell into the category of the hotel from The Shining if it had been thrown up on by Mary Kay. Pepto pink and cheesy faux Victorian crap as far as the eye could see.
The room had a strong scent of disinfectant upon our arrival and the beds had cheap sheets that were topped with nasty, lipstick-stained polyester bedspreads. So foul. On the bright side, the bathroom was clean and the room came with a fridge and microwave. Good thing too as the front desk clerk told us that it would not be safe to walk outside the hotel at night to look for food. Luckily there are a few places close by.
The fitness room has limited hours (opens at 10am) b/c the equipment can be heard in the rooms near by and the floors above. Although there is a sauna in the work-out room, there are no towels offered. The fitness equipment consisted of 1 treadmill that needed a key from the front desk, 1 elliptical machine, 1 bike, and 1 multi-machine weight unit. We were the only people in the fitness room, so we were able to control the TV to our liking. A coin-op washer and drier completed the fitness room offerings.
Our group had some issues with the management here too, as they did not reserve the number of rooms requested so some were forced to the next door Comfort Inn. The only highlight of the Salinas Valley Best Western was the free wifi. 1.5 stars.