Hilton Garden inn, Monterey, California

Updated 30 Dec 2016 - JDiver

Hilton Garden Inn Monterey, CA
1000 Aguajito Road, Monterey, California, United States 93940
Tel: +1-831-373-6141 Fax: +1-831-655-8609
Hilton HHonors Reward Category : 6 (~40,000 points per night) - / - AAA Hotel Diamond Rating: <> <> <>
General Manager (at this writing) Kathe Lopez; Asst. G.M. Steven Gould

Check-in 16:00 / 4 PM, check-out 12:00
Self parking: $15.00 nightly (Dec 2016)
100% non-smoking property
no pets allowed (service animals allowed by law)

The hotel location is just off CA Highway 1 and nearest to the Del Monte Golf Course, County Courthouse and U S Naval housing unit at La Mesa Village. The hotel appears isolated, but is actually only five minutes from Fisherman's Wharf, 10 – 15 minutes at most from downtown and the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and about the same to Carmel. The hotel, prior to extensive refurbishing a rundown Hilton (and prior to that a Holiday Inn according to local knowledge,) includes below-level parking with stairwells and elevators accessing the rooms on the three residential floors, built as an open triangle around the large swimming pool and small spa, with a cylindrical building housing restaurant and conference rooms above connecting it all – this building contains meeting rooms on the second floor.

Different than most HGI properties (more like a HGI - Plus,) every room has a sliding glass door with screen door / picture window with covered balcony with chairs and table, chest of drawers with 42" flat screen television. Though there can be noise from the nearby highway, occasional aircraft passing overhead and children shouting in the central pool area when the room is open to the balcony, this noise pretty much fades into nothing when closing the sliding door and curtains - IF you follow my numeration recommendations. The wooden glassed-in outside corridor can be a source of noise when parents lax in supervising their children allow them to run up and down the corridor. I strongly recommend you get accommodated on the third floor to avoid noise from any room above you, as ALL third floor rooms, regardless of numeration face the pool, and to be sure, get a room numbered between 301 and 320 (we prefer ~ #308.) N.B. #300 is next to ice and vending machines, and near the elevator. NOTE connecting rooms can be noisy if you have noisy neighbors.

ROOM NUMERATION: The numeration varies by floor; they provide property maps. Here's a wild ride; buckle up!

Third floor: rooms all face poolside, connected by a glassed-in outside corridor. Rooms 330 and up, the glassed-in corridor faces CA Highway 1 and are possibly louder than the others. The third floor rooms also have partially-covered spacious terraces overlooking the pool area, with a chair and chaise, small drum-table separated from the room by a "glass wall" sliding door and screen door if you wish to get some insect-free fresh air. (Third floor is the only one with the extra-large balconies.) I'd personally avoid #300, as it is near the elevator and adjacent to the ice dispenser (beverage dispenser is gone now,) and 341 seems to be a suite overlooking Highway 1? (We prefer 303-308 or so - farther from the sometimes noisy pool, closer but not overly close to the elevator and ice machine.)

Second floor: ODD face the pool with balconies; EVEN have balconies that look out on the parking lot: below 242, parking lot and hillside lushly planted with trees; 244 - 262, parking lot and tennis court area; anything over 262 and EVEN face CA Hwy 1. Guaranteed to be NOISY!

First floor: up to 113 ODD face the drive in and central parking area; 113 - 140, EVEN face parking and lush green hill as above; 142 - 158, tennis/parking; above 160, EVEN faces the loud CA Hwy 1.

Elite guest pick standard rooms: Third floor, through perhaps 300 - 325 are the most sheltered from noise, large balconies and face the pool court area, followed by second floor ODD only through 259 or so (these latter have standard smaller balconies.)

AVOID: Especially avoid 1st and 2nd floor evenly-numbered rooms 162 - 194; 264 - 288, 294 and 341; (and on 3rd, 300 is next to ice machine). These all have balconies and sliding glass doors that open up to California Highway 1, and will undoubtedly prove noisy. The remainder of even-numbered rooms face the parking / transit area, and could also be subject to some minor noise or annoyance. 1st and 2nd floor odd-numbered rooms, except any mentioned previously, face the central garden / pool area and are likelier to be quiet.

Business Center: Near Lobby and room 100, Ricoh MFP printer, two nice computers with Internet access, Printeron remote printing.

Laundry: Coin laundry across from rooms 164 - 166 highway arm.)

Tennis court: Original court replaced with parking spaces, but there is a new tennis court beyond the old court and additional parking.

Fitness Center: first floor behind pool, variety of machines.

The reception is usually professional and welcoming (including breakfast chits for Golds and Diamonds, WiFi access with name and room number required for access.) There is the typical HGI restaurant, differently named "Great Pacific Grille" with week day 06:30 – 11:00 (7:00 – 12:00 weekend days) for breakfast, closed for lunch and open for dinner 17:00 / 5 PM to 22:00 / 10 PM daily. There is evenings only room service during dinner hours. The meal menu is fairly extensive, and they offer wines from Sterling, B.V., Chalone and Beringer - updated recently - from $7.00– 8.00 glass / $24.00 – 28.00 bottle.

The restaurant: Service staff is generally pretty good. Dinner is fair to good, the usual hotel restaurant pre-packaged stuff. Breakfast (USD $ 14.95 adults and $8.95 children*) is more extended than the average HGI, including eggs Benedict (if you ask) or other choice, French toast, make-your-own waffles, pancakes, oatmeal, many fruits, cereals, breads, juices, etc. and Starbucks coffees. Breakfast service from the cook is attentive, moderate from wait staff.

This hotel can be packed and pricey weekends, event and summer days, with many children adding to the hustle, bustle – and noise. There are the usual coin laundry, a fitness room (now expanded to include the ex-sauna area) tennis court, pool and whirlpool spa, and the 24-hour business center with remote printing via PrinterOn and 24 hour "Pavilion" pantry, and a lobby bar; see below for locations.

The well-lit rooms are surprisingly standard Hilton Garden Inn plus the balcony and small stand-alone wardrobe instead of a closet, with no box spring mattress with comforter and sheets, a desk with Herman Miller “Mirra” task chair, Hilton family (Timex, iirc,) digital radio alarm clock with MP3 player and Philips HD wide flat CRT screen television on a three drawer chest, decent WiFi for free broadband access (open access now), “hospitality center” with fridge, microwave, Keurig coffee setup, iron and board, and the usual HGI bathroom. WiFi is decent. (Jr. Suite has same lighting - making it inadequate for the huge room.)

The central HVAC is controlled by a thermostat that works well, though one can access only heat or cool, depending on season (the screened balcony sliding glass door helps). The light natural colors wall with texturing makes the room lighter and helps with an open feel, and the armchair with square shaped Ottoman are in a yellowish color.

There are a very few larger “Junior Suite” and suite size rooms, often booked up. These are odd-sized rooms (327 and 328 with doors facing the old tennis court /now parking, 329 door facing Highway 1 and can be louder as a result), with the bath forming an intrusion into the room itself and separating the bedroom area somewhat from the "living room" area.

The difference between these and normal rooms are twice the space (but the same lighting, so inadequate,) and two chests of drawers with flat screen TVs (one facing the bed, the other the sofa), and the sofa that is also a bed. These rooms are often taken by larger families - and can be noisy as a result.

The clean bath has the full Neutrogena amenities kit, including body lotion and sewing kit with two soaps, a bowed shower curtain rod, wall-mounted hair drier. Everything seems fresher and cleaner in this property these days – a great thing, as the old Hilton was literally rotting and moldy the last time I stayed here in its old guise. Many of the staff have been here a long time and are quite friendly – and happy with the changes. Water is low pressure and in some rooms can take a while to warm up at times.

They offer the fitness pack, as well as a (expanded) fitness room, large warmed outdoor pool and Jacuzzi type spa and outdoor clay tennis court (beyond the old court, and beyond new parking). There is a fire pit with a natural gas fire, and management provides long wienie forks and the makings for s'mores late afternoons.

This location is great for exploring the extended Monterey area, including Carmel – all only minutes away. MRY / Monterey Peninsula Airport, served by private aviation and commuter aircraft of various brands, is three miles away. Courtesy hotel transport can presumably be arranged by contacting the hotel, but without a vehicle of your own you are making long walks and / or using the Monterey-Salinas Transit system, which does have bus service near the property. SJC / San José is 70 miles / 1 1/2 hours away, SFO / San Francisco is 100 miles / two hours away.

The good: HGI consistency, extended hours and offerings restaurant, highway and local sightseeing access ease.

The bad: I haven’t seen anything bad in this iteration, as long as you avoid the freeway-fronting rooms - in which case you may find little good to say. CA 1 is a busy four lane highway with traffic 24 hours. Summers and high demand times it can be crowded and noisy, chock full of kids, with the restaurant crowded at popular hours. (I do wish the refurbishment from a very poor Hilton had included double glazing.)

The ughly: None; the hotel is clean, has updated televisions, added the missed tennis court, and continues to keep the property decent. If you're sensitive to noise, bring ear plugs.