L'Auberge Carmel

This was our fourth stay at L'Auberge. Frankly, I don't see why we would consider anywhere else for our couples escapes. From the minute you pull up, you feel like you are a celebrity. You are treated like you are the only guests, or at least the most important, from the time you walk in until you leave. The rooms are awesome, the serve is over-the-top, and the location is ideal. This is our go to in Carmel. Read less

My friend and I took a girls' weekend up to Carmel, and having stayed at L'Auberge properties in Napa before, decided to book a night here. Coming from SF after a hectic week, we were anxious to find a parking spot, so as I ran up to the courtyard, a lovely man named Mike calmly and graciously met me, explained he would valet our car, and then asked me my name and held out his hand and introduced himself. It was at that moment I instantly began to relax and also realized that this is a hotel that prides itself on both helping guests feel like it's their home AND providing exeptional, curteous, gracious service that is so hard to find these days. After having our car parked (all services are free thanks to the great idea of just tacking on a $30 service charge every night), the woman at check-in greeted us with complimentary organic hibiscus juice made in-house. The rooms are not your modern, everything-looks-the-same behemoths...but isn't that the charm of Carmel? The lobby is marble; the courtyard leading to the rooms is brick-lined with wall-climbing flowers, vines, and with a bubbling fountain in the center; the rooms are cozy but equipped with modern-day amenities like heated bathroom floors, an iPad for room service, free WiFi, a flat-screen TV, a fridge, and an espresso machine (we just got the standard room, nothing special). The personal touches came from the dessert chef's bowl of housemade caramels and a little bag of trail mix, along with two gigantic bottles of sparkling water--all at no charge to guests. Imagine staying in a renovated French country chateau and that's L'Auberge Carmel. What's even better is that you're 1 block away from all restaurants and shops, and about 4 blocks away from the gorgeous beach. Overall, the service and the charm make this hotel well worth the money. Read less

My wife and I loved this place. It felt as if we were in the French countryside. While the rooms were simple, they were clean and well kept. The staff was outstanding: they knew and remembered our names, they were friendly, helpful and fast. Breakfast was good, and the restaurant was top out of sight (as was the price!). We will definitely go back. Onlly issue was noise at 7:00 am or so with the trash being taken out of the alley behind the hotel. Read less

My wife and I had a nice experience at this hotel in Carmel. The service was exceptional and the location was ideal. We did feel that it was expensive for the amenities - probably typical of Carmel. It felt like we had a really nice room, a common courtyard, a very small bar and a high-end restaurant. To be honest, we would probably secure a 1-2 bedroom VRBO on or near the beach for about the same price. Read less

We stayed here for 3 nights and were really looking forward to our stay. Unfortunately the hotel did not come up to our expectations. Admittedly we booked the standard room but the website said that it had a courtyard view, it did if you could strain over the coffee tray and look through a very small window! The main windows of the room looked over the car park of the City Hall and I could see a man sat at his computer every morning so I’m sure he saw me! The room was very small although nicely furnished. The towels were excellent. It was very noisy. We were woken every morning by either trash vehicles or delivery lorries. Whatever it was it was noisy! Staff were very friendly and welcoming especially the young lady on check out but the hotel just didn’t do it for us. It’s very expensive for what you get. The breakfast is especially disappointing for a restaurant that is supposed to be so special. The first morning our fruit bowl for 2 was a strawberry, 6 grapes and 4cubes of melon. Breakfast was small and basic, what you would have at home, eggs, toast and a pastry. Considering how much it costs to stay here this could be improved. We would not stay again as we didn’t like Carmel either, too many dogs everywhere for our liking. Read less