Vagabond Inn Monterey

Staff was nice. Room was in fair condition, Like their green tea shampoo!!. Rooms have no A/​C, receptionist claimed that hotel has never needed it due to cold weather for whole year but we felt a little worm inside at night. We are here on the middle of July though.
No additional cost of Wi-​Fi, parking, drive about 5 minutes to the wharf.
Don’t expect to much with Breakfast. there are Coffee, fruits, and bread in plastic package.

I was here for two nights in July 2014 and all was well. My room was clean, I had a fireplace and that was nice.
The staff was friendly. It’s REALLY quiet here despite being close to a busy street.
This nice place is close enough to all the usual places you want to see in Monterey. The wifi is ok.
I’ll probably be back here in the future.

$ 229 for a last minute, one night, double bed, 4^th of July weekend. $ 209 w/​a AAA 10% discount. So with tax we paid $ 229. Not much of a discount.
Pretty damn pricey for what you get, but what can we say, it was the only one we can find for our unplanned trip to Monterey. Everything was either booked up or insanely priced; and we only looked into motels. Room was clean enough.
When checking out, no one was behind the desk. Someone from the other side of the office door just yelled through the door to leave the keys on the desk. Not the friendliest.

Stopped in here after the place down the street could not honor the expedia rate, or even offer me the King bed. The nice man at the front desk said he had a king with a fireplace which is what I wanted and beat expedia by $ 5. This was the day after Christmas. Fireplace is on a timer, so you get the ticking sound from that, but overall it was good. Free breakfast also, small stuff, but FREE. Picked up some coffee, orange juice, and banana. Walking distance to many dinner places and shops. I paid $ 59 with tax and this was walking in at 7pm.

Nice place — sweet rooms, good price, cozy with the fireplace. But cold at night! No blankets in the room?! Also, weak, weak breakfast.

Service is OK… the front desk was a little rude, beds were adequate but you could tell that the mattresses were old, there is a fireplace an the rooms are spacious for the price of (100 $). Being your own shampoo and conditioner

Amazing little spot! Love the hospitality of the new manager Cindy! She was more than happy to help us with anything we needed! Great rooms with fireplaces and super close to everything. We will definitely be staying here again! I highly recommended it!!!

This «2» Star hotel gets my «5» Star rating!
I had planned to drive from Marin to Monterey and back the same day, but decided to stay and get some rest and drive back rested the next day. I am a business owner and a local Monterey business owner said to call the Vagabond Inn for a room. It was very late. I was not only offered a room, I was greeted with a smile at midnight! My room was upstairs and had a gas fireplace. My wife had read the Unilocal reviews and said this was not the place to stay. Sorry honey, but you were WRONG! The room was clean. I mean clean! I ran my fingers over lots of furniture and couldn’t find any dust or dirt. Vaulted ceiling, comfy fire, Wi-​Fi and a King size bed. All for a price that blew me away.
Look, I am not saying this was the best hotel I ever stayed in, but I am saying this was the most bang for my buck. Thanks to the managers, both the night before and the day of check out, I couldn’t leave with our saying that if all I wanted was a clean, quite place to spend the night, they far exceeded my expectations.
I have spent more than seven (7) times more for a hotel room in Monterey for one night and yes, the room was first class and the view was great too. But this trip all I wanted was a clean, reasonably priced place to sleep, and this was the best deal in town.
As for the «Free breakfast», come on now. I drank the coffee from my coffee maker in my room. I don’t expect a reasonable priced hotel to provide any breakfast food. Coffee or tea is just fine. There are lots of great places to eat nearby.
As a shop and bar owner, I always try to exceed the expectations of my guests, and for the price, Vagabond Inn did just that. I will be back, and I will bring my wife (with her white glove) just so she can see for herself. Then with the money we saved, she can go on a shopping spree!

My friend and I took a road trip from AZ to San Fran. We drove all day from San Diego and got to Monterey around 8 PM. We had booked this hotel on the way because it had a decent price and we figured we would just be sleeping in the room and heading out early the next morning to see the area to continue up to San Fran.
When we check-​in, the front desk clerk asked where I had parked. I showed him my car parked in the first space and he told me to go ahead and move my car into the first carport and our room would just be up the stairs. I followed his instructions and not 15 minutes later the room phone rings and I was told that I needed to move my car. I told the clerk I was confused because he told me to park there. He said that is where the boss wants to park and he is very upset with me that I parked in his spot. I went to move my car and found a man waiting at my car. He proceeded to scold me like a little child for parking in the car port (other guests were allowed to park under the other carports). Apparently his wife’s car, which was parked on the LINE next to my car got tapped by my door when I was getting out of the car. He yelled at me for about 10 minutes before telling us to just leave and go do what we had to do, he would «figure this out».
I confirmed that this man was the manager of the hotel. I could not believe that a MANAGER would think it’s appropriate to treat a guest like this over a pin head size spot of paint on the car. I would not recommend staying here to anyone under any circumstances. The managers do not have any basic customer services skills!

Customer Service hasn’t died. Recently my fiancé and I were in Monterey enjoying our last minute babymoon and we stayed at the Vagabond Inn. The whole review will come to a complete circle by the end because of the above and beyond customer service by David.
At check in — The front desk clerk was very nice. She even recommended First Awakenings breakfast spot for the next morning (which was amazing, but get there early because they get very busy). The room was clean, area was quiet. Perfect for our overnight stay. The lady on
told us it was a 52 second walk to downtown. That part was incorrect. Its about a 2 minute drive, but no biggie.
At check out — I did my normal rounds to make sure we didn’t leave anything in the room, dropped out keys in the drop box and we were on our way home. I was very happy with our little trip until I got home unpacked and found that we forgot our pillows. I immediately called the hotel and told them of the situation. David helped me arrange to have the local UPS pick up my pillows so I could make arrangements to have them shipped to me. This is above and beyond. He took the time to help out when most hotels will tell you they don’t keep pillows that are left behind. Even though it may seem like a silly thing to be so happy about, if you’ve ever been pregnant you’d understand. Thank you for going the extra mile.

Nothing special but a decent stopover if you are in Monterey.
The place is a bit beaten down with outdated firniture and flooring. A pretty big hole behind the entry door had been patched but the wall had not been painted.
But the staff are very nice and helpful. The free wifi worked fine and its convenient to a few things like liquor store, café’s, mall and freeway on the East end of town.

DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, SUPPORT THIS BUSINESS AND THEIR SHADY PRACTICES.
The story I’m about to recount is unfortunately 100% true. I had a reservation for ⁴⁄₂₈ for the Big Sur Marathon, a reservation I made in JULY of 2011. I called the week before to confirm, all was fine. I called the morning of to make sure I could get a late checkout and was told a pipe had burst and flooded the whole first floor — on Thursday (this was Saturday). I asked why we hadn’t been called on Thursday and told «dunno, the manager was supposed to call you. I just showed up today and found out.» Apparently we’d been moved to the Ramada with one bed. I had two people and we needed our sleep (in separate beds) before the race. I told the front desker to call the Ramada, make sure we could get two beds, and call back to confirm.
An hour passes. I confirm the reservation at the Ramada myself, who of course cannot get me a room with two beds, a rollaway, or a late checkout. Later, the Vagabond calls back saying «I had a note to call you.» So no one called the Ramada or even followed up. I expressed my frustration about this horrible customer service and how I couldn’t believe we were not called on Thursday when we were apparently bumped — and then the sales manager starts going off on ME! «Excuse me. Let ME tell you what I have been dealing with. I didn’t call because I was standing in 3 inches of water. Do you know what it is costing me to put you up somewhere else?» and so on for about 20 minutes. He does make nice and I start feeling better about the situation.
Fast forward to our arrival at the Vagabond to pay our bill. I ask the man at the front desk at the front desk about the flood. He stares at me blankly. (WARNING SIGN.) I persist and he says, «I don’t know anything, I just got here from my other job, and I’d rather still be outside making more money.» Very professional. He then goes on to tell us about his Dirty 30 party upcoming in SF.
After checking us «in,» Dirty 30 gives us a map to the Ramada. Apparently there are multiple locations; one is two doors down from the Vagabond. But no — that isn’t it! He says. It’s the one ALL THE WAY ACROSS TOWN. We drive all the way to that one. And then are stared at blankly and told it’s at the one RIGHT NEXT DOOR TO THE VAGABOND. We drive back.
After all this, my friend calls Vagabond to ask them to please demand a late checkout from the Ramada, who wouldn’t let us leave at 1PM. Meaning, we were leaving for the marathon at 3:30AM and had to pack everything and bring all our stuff! Sweet. Then on the phone, here’s the punchline:
Dirty 30 reveals that THERE WAS NO PIPE THAT HAD BROKEN AND THAT CORPORATE HAD OVERBOOKED THE HOTEL.
I spent 20 minutes on the phone with the sales manager telling me how arduous the process had be to get a plumber in and he was doing all he could to fix the «flood,» intentionally making me feel horrible about complaining about being treated like shit instead of like a paying customer. The amount of lies and deception that went into me just trying to stay in a hotel for ONE night that I booked nine months in advance was an absolute disgrace.
Note: apparently this isn’t a rare occurrence; my friends were in SLO the weekend before for a marathon and also told by the Holiday Inn Express that a pipe had burst. IT DIDN’T. But that hotel apologized and comped their stay somewhere else.
Nothing from the Vagabond and they had to nerve to lie, cheat, and make ME feel bad for being frustrated.
I will be writing a letter to their corporate department after this and will NEVER again stay at a Vagabond Inn or any of their family hotels. I am shocked that they can get away with such shady business.

This place is really charming. From the old-​timey British solider miniatures in the reception room, to the central courtyard with lots of greenery, to the rooms with sherry in a decanter, it feels very cozy.
My girlfriend and I booked last-​minute (same day!) and stayed in Room 9. Everything about the stay was wonderful, especially the flexibility we had with breakfast. They took our order and brought everything at the time we requested, and even brought the next morning’s breakfast the night before since we had to check out early.
I’d definitely come back. My only complaint (and this is worth one star to me) is that the bed wasn’t particularly comfortable.

I’m getting my fill of Monterey/​Carmel hotels, having participated in running events in the area for the past several years. We’ve had good success at a couple of the Best Westerns, but our favorite was booked, and the other is too far. The Vagabond Inn (formerly, Munras Lodge), received decent reviews and was economical compared to nearby hotels. But this turned out to be one of those instances where, «You get what you pay for.»
The fireplace is the best thing about the room. Otherwise, the furniture is old, the carpeting, dirty. The outside corridors don’t seem very safe, (and no HBO to get the hook up for the Pacquiao fight!). The ceiling is slanted, and gets ridiculously high; the whole room looks out of proportion, kinda like that optical illusion.
The front desk clerk at check-​in was aloof. And while not rude, it is not the type of demeanor you’d want or expect from hospitality staff. To their credit, the lady at the front desk later that evening was friendly, as was the staffer at check-​out.
There is parking, but it’s a tight squeeze.
For a night and nowhere else to go, it’ll do. But it is possible to get a quality stay around here for roughly the same price or slightly more. Expand your search, and pay those extra dollars if you have to. You’ll be glad you did.

I’m getting my fill of Monterey/​Carmel hotels, having participated in running events in the area for the past several years. We’ve had good success at a couple of the Best Westerns, but our favorite was booked, and the other is too far. The Vagabond Inn (formerly, Munras

My BF and I stayed here in late October of 2009; it was recommended by some friends who were staying down the street at another motel.
The VBI wasn’t really much to rave about.
We got a room with a fireplace, which was nice, but it was situated in the corner of the room (kitty corner from the bed, unlike what is shown in the pictures where it is right across from the bed) and there is a refrigerator right next to it so you couldn’t really cozy up by the warm fire after a long day of hiking.
Our window looked into the backyard of some very questionable neighbors (I assumed they were tweekers judging by their appearance, habits, and mannerisms).
There was no art work on the walls which gave it a really weird feeling and the walls were really thin so we heard everything (one of our neighbors had some gastro-​intestinal issues, perhaps from all the hot wings and beer he consumed while watching the football games at volume 100 throughout the day).
Pros: Close parking, Motel in area that is in the center of everything, relatively clean, and fairly cheap; basically what one would expect from a motel.
Cons: Noisy, Plain, potentially unsafe for valuables (due to neighbors).

5 stars for a 2 star hotel!
customer service helped me find this gem and at a great price for the season. My boyfriend and I took a trip to Monterey for July 4 weekend. Luckily for us, Vagabond had a vacancy.
We checked in and were greeted by the nicest lady ever! I’m sad I don’t remember her name. But she was really sweet and helpful and told us to contact her if we needed any help. Man, we felt welcomed!
The hotel doesn’t seem to have many rooms so there was a parking spot right outside our room door, super convenient when carrying luggage! So we walk into our room and I always try to expect the worst, but this place was wonderful! It looked old fashioned, but the amenities over-​shadowed the old décor: hair-​dryer, iron and board, free wi-​fi, microwave, mini-​fridge, cable TV, ceiling fan and best of all… a FIREPLACE!
There was a little construction going on at the time, but nothing major at all. In the morning, they offer free continental breakfast (pastries, cereals and such)… The construction going on was a breakfast patio… how cute! I can’t wait to go back and check out their additions.
Whenever people mention Monterey, 2 things come to mind: aquarium and Vagabond Inn!

So we went were booked through this hotel when we went through hotwire. We paid $ 80 for a Friday night in October and it was the best rate we could find.
We were assigned to room 39, which in my opinion is the «hotwire» room. The Hotel is numbered numerically so I walked around in the 30’s area and could not find the room so I ventured over to the 10 – 20 hotel room number and found our room down a weird little hallway.
Walking into the room the first thing you notice is the wood panelling which I have not seen since the late 70’s. There was a kind bed (not comfortable at all) and a couch in a rather spacious room. Furthermore, there was a nice closet and spacious sink area.
The reason that this place got a 1 star is because the bathroom and the TV. The bathroom door was literally 2 pieces of plywood put together and not even painted. On top of that the door was not even installed correctly so it wouldn’t even latch SHUT! The toilet paper roll was attached to the wall by a cut off piece of 2 by 4. The shower leaked and there was a rust spot where the leaking occurred. Lastly, the TV did not even work. I tried the remote, the TV itself, checked all the wiring and it just did not work at all.
Good things were the breakfast (danish, muffin, coffee, juice) and the free WiFi (which I am using to write this post).
Overall I think I could have rated the room as a 3 or 4 if the issues I discussed above were fixed. The room just became very tacky and motel 6 ish once I saw those issues.

Our sojourn to Monterey was a last minute gig and there were not many choices left unless we wanted to pay $ 400+ for a night. The Vagabond Inn was about my only option and after reading what some other Unilocalers had to say, we booked our stay with Vagabond. I was not disappointed. The room was clean, comfortable, and at $ 149 for a king sized bed, with fireplace and hot tub (aside from the shower and bath tub) — I was most pleased.
I found what other Unilocalers had said to be true décor is a little dated, although I am under the impression that the new owners are slowly upgrading the hotel, however, I was there for a friend’s B-​day, thus décor meant little.
I would advise bringing your own pillows. I found the pillows there a little flat and my neck still has a crick. That aside, I will certainly stay there in the future.

We only paid $ 59 + tax and the room was great for the price. We had a king bed and a working gas fireplace. All the décor was very outdated (think wood panelling), but we spent most of the time in beautiful Monterey, not the hotel room.
The bathroom was very large as was the room which even had a closet and two luggage racks. there was a free breakfast, nothing fancy, but for $ 60 we did not really have high expectations. We had a fridge, coffee maker, microwave, iron and board and FREE internet in your room. The Front Desk closes at 11 so we called down too late to set a wake up call, but there was an alarm clock so it was not a big deal.
The location was great, just a 10 minute walk downtown or a very short drive (it took a little bit to find parking but we live in Chicago so, for us, that is normal).
A few previous reviews said it was ‘so loud’ we saw the train tracks but never heard a train come by and we slept with both windows open. There was no A/​C, but there were two fans which we never had to turn on since Monterey in early July is perfect for sleeping. I would definitely stay here again.

This hotel was formerly the Munras Lodge (
). They must have changed fairly recently because the large sign outside is still for the Munras Lodge. They do have a temporary banner type sign on the building but it is a little hard to see at night.
The woman at the front desk was very friendly and got us checked in quickly. We parked near the main building and I noticed that they have those window cleaning things like at gas stations. (
) I thought that was a nice gesture. Sometimes 101 does have random bug storms and if we had hit one I probably would have taken advantage of this amenity.
We were in one of the upstairs rooms which have vaulted ceilings and definitely contribute to the «lodge» feel of the place. The room had two queen size beds (we were sharing the room with friends), lots of floor space, a small refrigerator, a large bathroom and a fireplace that turns on with just the turn of a timer dial. Instant ambiance!
Although a bit outdated in parts, this is a great hotel and not too pricey for the area. (~$ 80 per night) It is also within walking distance to downtown where there is a nice selection of restaurants, bars, shops and a movie theater.
They also offer a free continental breakfast. Bonus!