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Orchid Inn
Rating Details »
9135 Hearst Drive
San Simeon, CA 93452
(800) 451-9900
San Simeon, CA 93452
(800) 451-9900
- Price Range:
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9 reviews for Orchid Inn
We found this hotel when searching the "San Simeon" area on the visit to Hearst Castle. It was quaint, cute, and the staff was really phenomenal. Minus their lack of salt packets (I cut my mouth on something I was eating on the way up, and really needed a good salt gargle.), they helped us out with pretty much everything we needed. We got a huge corner room that overlooked the water (and the parking lot, but it wasn't a busy weekend, and we were on the backside of the building). The huge king size bed was actually one of the most comfortable hotel beds I've slept in, and the decor and layout of the room itself really made the place feel almost just like home.
We even extended our stay because we liked the area so much - which the staff took care of for us - at the same "online specials" rate that we had booked for the single night previously. The prices were very reasonable (unless you're paying the "full" price of the room, but I really don't know who pays that price that's advertised on the back of hotel doors anymore) - we paid $150 for our room per night. Maybe I've been living in the city too much and traveling too much to expensive places; I found the price incredibly reasonable for what we were getting. I am definitely planning on staying here the next time we're traveling along the California coast. Most of the other hotels on the strip looked run down and cheap - this place definitely stands out from the crowd.
P.S. I am in love with the "green tea shampoo" that comes complimentary in the bathroom. I have got to find me a bottle of the stuff!
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==========They have changed the name is this dump to 'The Morgan'==========
Firstly I can categorically say this is the first time I have been misled by Tripadvisor. This hotel is absolutely awful.
My girlfriend and I decided last week to have a weekend break up to Hearst Castle. We looked on Trip Advisor and saw the Orchid Inn was voted #1 in San Simeon. We checked on the rates, $170 (excl tax) seemed a bit pricey but not outrageous so we booked it. We had a look at their website too and the rooms looked great.
We arrived at the hotel on Saturday afternoon and checked in. The gentleman behind the counter (Brian I think) informed us we would be staying at their property 100 yards up the road. This was a surprise to us as we thought the hotel was sited on only one property. As we walked up to the to other property we noticed the sign for 'Orchid Inn - Traveler'. Nothing on our itinerary from Travelocity mentioned 'Orchid Inn - Traveler'. We walked into the property and found we were on the second floor. Helpfully there wasn't an elevator in the building (nor is there one in the main building) so we had to drag our luggage upstairs ourselves.
When we walked into the room we were confronted by very different decor than the rooms indicated on their website. I looked around the room and noticed the absence of a shower and a bath that looked at if it had last been cleaned in the 1990s. The jacuzzi jets were stained brown and clogged with dirt, the surround of the bath was also dirty. Not happy with this my girlfriend called the front desk and we were assured the owner would call us back to clarify the reservation.
It was at this point I noticed a hand out of the property which indicated the 'Traveler' property was for the budget conscious traveler. This is not what we had booked. We had booked a 'luxury' hotel with fireplace, king bed etc etc.
We walked back to the main building to speak to the man behind the front desk. I told him I was disgusted at the state of the bathroom and wanted to leave the hotel as they had clearly given us a substandard reservation in place of what we booked. Firstly he said it wasn't his problem but ours and Travelocity's. It wasn't Travelocity's fault as we had looked at Expedia, Orbitz and http://Hotels.com and all of them had exactly the same room descriptions. Not one of them mentioned the Traveler property. I don't know if this is intentionally misleading but there you go.
When I pointed this out to him he said he was too busy to talk to us and so was the owner. This was laughable, other than my girlfriend and I he was the only other person in the whole deathly silent lobby area. When I questioned him on his workload in this manic atmosphere he become highly offended and accused us of being sarcastic. I can't imagine why..
Having had enough of this treatment I told him we wanted to cancel the reservation and I would see if there was room at the nearby Best Western. Whilst I was away at the Best Western (who incidentally were lovely people and only too happy to help me) the owner of the Orchid Inn spoke to my girlfriend and gave us a room in the main hotel for the night.
The room itself (room 266) was far from the 'luxury' indicated on the website. Firstly the remote controls didn't work for the TV. The counter on which the coffee maker was positioned was peeling and the shower door in the bathroom refused to close. The shampoo/shower gel dispenser in the shower was a nice visit back to 1982!!
To call the rooms 'luxury' is a big overstatement. I've stayed in Embassy Suites and Double Trees that were for more luxurious than this. This is a standard large hotel room with bath robes and a 4 poster bed.
All in all a very disappointing experience. We shall certainly never be back and would highly recommend prospective visitors clarify with the hotel where they are being located before booking. If they mention the Traveler site I would recommend avoiding it.
Although San Simeon is a small place Cambria is a short drive and offers far more to anyone visiting Hearst Castle than San Simeon does.
First of all the website makes this motor lodge seem like the enchanted hill. Its not at all, as nice as the website purports. The beds were decent, but the ambiance and bathroom were definitely lacking. The fixtures were old and the room was decorated in what seemed to be akin to Martha Stewart meets pier one. The bathroom was grungy and the bath products less than appealing.
The walls were thin and the draft blowing from under the giant gap in the door was no bueno.
Overall, this place is the best within the small stretch of Motel 6's and Quality Inn's, but its not at all what you'd expect in tourist central.
**Oh and ladies....don't expect the hairdryer to actually dry your hair....it won't."
There seems to be mixed reviews on this hotel. We stayed there last May and really nejoyed it. The rooms were very nice. It's a smaller hotel but it was certainly more than adequate and had a little pool area. It's very close to Cambria and the Hearst Castle.
We found this hotel on the "Friends of Hearst Castle" web site, and headed towards San Simeon. We crossed our fingers, and hoped that the rooms looked something remotely like the pictures.
After our long and windy drive along Highway 1, we were pleasantly greeted by Dennis at the front desk. Not only was he very sweet and kind when we checked in, but gave us a great recommendation the next evening for dinner.
There are two seperate buildings that are part of the Orchid In. The Travellers Suites don't have internet access, but they have large jacuzzi tubs. We also had a view of the ocean from our bed and a fireplace.
The free breakfast is brought to your room at the time you specify. It's not fabulous, but a little bowl of cereal, juice and yogurt can help tide you over while you lay around and be lazy.
I was absolutely thrilled by our hospitality at the Orchid Inn. I would definately recommend it.
After reading the reviews on this and on a travel related review site, I was a little concerned about this hotel. When I arrived though, I was pleased to find a clean, well decorated place to lay my head for the night. The biggest plus was the bed - it was big and comfy! And the shampoo they give you didn't smell half bad. There is a gas fireplace which we didn't need but could see how that would be nice in the winter. The front desk staff was friendly. There is a pool that looks much nicer in the evening then it does during the day, and a little area with a bar.
I know there is another part of the hotel called the Traveller, which is supposed to be not so nice but the main Orchid Inn building is pretty decent. All the hotels in San Simeon look to me like the Best Western, Motel 6 types so don't go looking for the Ritz-At-Half Moon Bay variety here. For what it is, and for what you pay, Orchid Inn is a nice hotel.
The things I didn't like so much were:
- no air condition (they don't really need it on the coast but we happened to go this past weekend with record breaking heat and I was dying!)
- our room looked out onto the parking lot so with they windows wide open due to the heat, it was loud from the parking and from the main street
- old bathroom fixtures and tub
- low water pressure in shower
- pricey
If I was going to go back to the area again, I'd probaby look into an oceanfront rental or something in Cambria first. But if you're looking for a place to stay that doesn't have cigarette burn holes in the bedspreads Orchid Inn fits the bill.
Keep in mind that the area around San Simeon is rural. I searched for a nice place to stay while making the drive down to visit Hearst Castle and this seemed to be it. The hotel itself is nothing spectacular. It definitely looks alot nicer on the website. This place reminds me of all the apartments around the bay area that got a fresh coat of paint and some new plants then they called them upscale condo's. Upon entering our room though we where impressed. It was large with a huge bathroom and a nice big jacuzzi. The bed was very comfortable. We probably wouldn't stay here again because it was ridiculously overpriced for a hotel of this type. I'd say if your looking for the nicest hotel close to Hearst Castle it ain't getting any better than this.
I stayed here for a weekend with my parents while visiting Hearst Castle and surrounding area. I was disappointed. The pictures on the websites make it seem much nicer than it was. We got put in the Orchid Inn Travellers- which is a whole separate building than where you check in. I get the impression that the main building is MUCH nicer than where we stayed. Plus the pool/bar/spa is in the main building, so we had to walk several doors down from the traveller building to use these, which wasn't so convenient.
When we got to our first room, there was water leaking from the ceiling all over the bathroom floor. So they moved us to the 2nd floor. After returning from dinner, the room was freezing and the heater didn't work. We called the front desk who sent someone to fix it, and the lit the pilot light, but the heater clanked and banged all night long... I slept poorly.
I wouldn't recommend staying here, i felt mislead by the pictures and info on the website and was not at all impressed with the quality of the rooms (no then noisy heat/leaking water). Perhaps the rooms in the main building are nicer- but make sure you don't stay in the Travellers building.
In one word-MISLEADING! in more words...read on...
The website and brochure project a modern, comfortable, luxurious spa-like atmosphere. WRONG!!! It is more like a 60s motor inn that they tried to renovate and then ran out of money half way through. We went for 3 days for relaxation and to go to Hearst Castle. We had the King Suite (normally $300/night) we luckily had a AAA discount (it was still too much money). It is actually the room on website they pictured-very cleverly so, I might add. What they do not show is the worn-out flowered sofa, chair, washed pine cocktail table, ugly "art" work-it was like my Grandmother went shopping at West Elm but kept some of her ugly stuff. Pictures on the walls were worse than starving artist quality-think Kmart 2 for $10. After I got over the decor, I realized that there was only lukewarm water for the shower and tub. The fixtures looked like the original-chipped, worn and over-used, the toilet seat was chipped and cracked. I would think that during a renovation this would be one of the first things replaced. The tub, walls, etc. were faux marble plastic with exposed screws. No place to hang a towel, no heat lamp or heater in the bathroom (in a place that reaches 65 on a good day). The TV had 20 channels, half of which were fuzzy. The evening entertainment is obtrusive and does not lend itself to relaxing. Oh, and if you want to use the pool you better be an exhibitionist-there is a huge glass wall into the "atmosphere lounge" and the lobby. So basically, everyone can watch you as they check in, check out, listen to music, have a drink, etc. Do you feel like you are in a spa yet? I could not wait to get home. Oh, and there were birds roosting inside the walls between or room and the eave of the hotel waking us up at the crack of dawn. Upon checking out when I mentioned that I thought the website is misleading I was told they are "working very hard". At what? That does not help with my experience.
