L'Auberge Carmel

Carmel, California

Virgin rating

Standard Courtyard King
Standard Courtyard King
Standard Courtyard King
Standard Courtyard King

The hotel

The charming boutique L'Auberge Carmel, dating to 1929 is known for its European-style and graceful architecture. A Relais & Châteaux hotel, located in the picturesque town of Carmel by the Sea, L'Auberge Carmel is a luxurious and romantic hideaway. The 20 bedrooms, located around the central outdoor courtyard, are individually designed with warm tones and the finest fabrics. Dine in the award-winning Aubergine Restaurant featuring regional and seasonal cuisine as well as an underground wine cellar.

Amenities

  • Romantic
  • Free Parking
  • Room Service
  • Valet parking
  • Internet Access
  • Close to Beach
  • Restaurant

Where is it

In the centre of Carmel, 10-minute walk to the beach and close to shopping and restaurants.

Hotel information

20 luxurious guest rooms on 2 floors. All individually designed with flat screen TV, iPod music system, complimentary WiFi, mini-bar*, room service*, bathrobes, iron and board, hairdryer, daily newspaper and twice-daily housekeeping service. Courtyard Standard Rooms with courtyard view and 1 king-size or 1 queen-size bed sleeping maximum 2 adults.

Aubergine restaurant (regional and seasonal cuisine). Wine cellar. Wine tasting*. Carmel Wine Walk*. Tennis court. In-room massage and spa service*. Room service*. Complimentary WiFi, valet and self-parking.

This hotel has resort fees that are included in the room rate (subject to change)

*Denotes local charge.

L'Auberge Carmel is a non-smoking resort.

Rating summary

  • Location Image of the Tripadvisor rating
  • Sleep Quality Image of the Tripadvisor rating
  • Rooms Image of the Tripadvisor rating
  • Service Image of the Tripadvisor rating
  • Value Image of the Tripadvisor rating
  • Cleanliness Image of the Tripadvisor rating

Traveller rating

  • Excellent (282)
  • Very good (97)
  • Average (52)
  • Poor (25)
  • Terrible (16)
Image of the Tripadvisor rating Not Relais Chateau quality

Aug 16, 2022 P5586XZamya

Carmel is a beautiful little town. We loved exploring the town and the surrounding area. If you are accustomed to Relais Chateau quality - this does not compare. The staff were great and the room was fine but the whole property itself is in need of better upkeep. Water the plants (and dead head them!), spruce up the place, offer a better… Read more
Carmel is a beautiful little town. We loved exploring the town and the surrounding area. If you are accustomed to Relais Chateau quality - this does not compare. The staff were great and the room was fine but the whole property itself is in need of better upkeep. Water the plants (and dead head them!), spruce up the place, offer a better breakfast. It was also VERY noisy. You can hear the neighbours and the noise from the street. The Michelin star restaurant was good but not great. They tried really hard but missed the mark. During our trip, we ate at some beautiful Michelin Star restaurants in Napa Valley and Aubergine in Carmel was by far the most expensive and the food did not compare. We did appreciate that the chef came out personally to serve 2 of the dishes - a very nice touch. I had read some very negative reviews and some positive reviews before booking so I took the chance - wish I hadn't. Read less
Image of the Tripadvisor rating Excellent!

Aug 8, 2022 Jessica K

We loved Carmel-by-the-Sea! What a charming and quaint seaside town. We loved l’Auberge and how well maintained it was considering it was built in 1929! They have kept up the heritage beauty of the hotel and matched the decor accordingly. The staff were wonderful and accommodating. We were immediately upgraded and our room was quite large as well… Read more
We loved Carmel-by-the-Sea! What a charming and quaint seaside town. We loved l’Auberge and how well maintained it was considering it was built in 1929! They have kept up the heritage beauty of the hotel and matched the decor accordingly. The staff were wonderful and accommodating. We were immediately upgraded and our room was quite large as well as a very large bathroom. The bed was in excellent condition and very comfortable. Location is perfect and we loved the fresh plums in the room and turn down service delicious cookies. We wouldn’t hesitate to stay again or highly recommend this property. Thanks again, Jessica and Aubey Read less
Image of the Tripadvisor rating Despicable Management

Aug 4, 2022 Cantor David M Cooper City, Florida

I find this to be an unfortunate review. My reasons for this review has less to do with the hotel itself but rather the absolutely awful and despicable management - Monica Munoz - related to a year long issue and promise. Back in the summer of 2021, my wife and I stayed at L’Auberge Carmel - a hotel we’ve stayed at several times throughout the… Read more
I find this to be an unfortunate review. My reasons for this review has less to do with the hotel itself but rather the absolutely awful and despicable management - Monica Munoz - related to a year long issue and promise. Back in the summer of 2021, my wife and I stayed at L’Auberge Carmel - a hotel we’ve stayed at several times throughout the years. This particular stay was riddled with issues ranging from broken phones to being given the incorrect room to horrible construction that was never disclosed upon our reservation. The issues took several days to correct - but despite having reserved and paid for a specific room - we were never moved nor were we given any kind of refund for the difference in price. The phone issues took two days to fix despite several calls to management. Our stay was anything but relaxing and upon our check-out, we reached out to management to express our frustrations asking for some kind of refund for all of our troubles. In an email string, L’Auberge (Monica Munoz) acknowledged the multiple failures during our stay and extended us a 50% discount for our next stay at L’Auberge. Not knowing exactly when or if we would get back to Carmel, we reluctantly agreed. Our emails (all of which we have and can provide) with Monica Munoz - was not becoming of L’Auberge Carmel. She was rude and quite honestly seemed annoyed to have to “deal” with the situation to begin with. By the end of our email string - it approached combative. Fast forward to summer of 2022 - my wife and I found ourselves with the opportunity to get away and decided to use the 50% offer. 4-6 weeks prior to our travels, I called to make sure they would honor the offer extended to us from the year prior (not knowing if Ms. Munoz was still employed at L’Auberge). I spoke to a lovely woman - Brianna - who checked on the issue and confirmed that the offer would be honored. When we finally figured it all out, I called L’Auberge to book the room. Spoke to Brianna again who informed me that there was one room available. I asked her if she could hold the room but since it was the last room available - she couldn’t. However, she confirmed again that the room was ours if we wanted and could take the reservation and apply the 50% discount. I called the next day. Brianna was not available and I got the general reservation service. Before taking my reservation, he needed to call management to confirm the discount. That management was Monica Munoz. When he called back, he told us that since it was the last room available, Monica decided NOT to honor the 50% discount and offered us a 15% discount. She also said, in email, that Brianna misspoke and she has the final say on all discounts - not Brianna. Despite asking to speak to her directly, she dodged us and wrote her all to familiar rude and discourteous and quite unaccommodating email. Her decision felt like a personal vendetta stemming back from our emails from 2021 and made zero attempt to honor her original offer. Her decision “was final”. I’d like to point out that at the time of this review - the one room that we were considering was NEVER booked. It is still available. Not only was Ms. Munoz nasty, discourteous and unaccommodating but her overall approach to management and customer service was quite un-becoming of a reputable 5 star hotel chain such as L’Auberge. She failed to consider her own actions, honor her own offer to a long standing patron but also failed to procure income for the hotel itself as the room remained vacant. My wife and I have only wonderful experiences with L’Auberge (including Carmel) until Ms. Munoz. It doesn’t matter how beautiful the property is or how elegant the rooms are or how spectacular the view is - an awful manager and a despicable experience such as this ruins it all. Needless to say - we will never be staying at L’Auberge Carmel - a hotel we’ve stayed at multiple times over the decade, not as long as Ms. Munoz is overseeing the property. Read less
Image of the Tripadvisor rating Hotel Not As Expected

Aug 2, 2022 985susank Portola Valley, California

Proximity to downtown Carmel-by-the-Sea is great and the lobby scene has a great vibe, but our outdated room #24 had a moldy smell. Tolerable for one night, except for when the bellman walked in on me sleeping after my husband departed for early morning golf. An apology and mimosa were offered at breakfast, but in all honesty no one on the staff… Read more
Proximity to downtown Carmel-by-the-Sea is great and the lobby scene has a great vibe, but our outdated room #24 had a moldy smell. Tolerable for one night, except for when the bellman walked in on me sleeping after my husband departed for early morning golf. An apology and mimosa were offered at breakfast, but in all honesty no one on the staff seemed to really care about what to me was a security scare. Bottom line: have stayed at other Relais & Chateaux hotels and this property is in need of a major upgrade, especially for the price. Read less
Image of the Tripadvisor rating Not worth it

Jul 29, 2022 theLostGeneration Canberra, Australia

Very disappointing 2 night stay. Apparently, unbeknownst to us, we were supposedly ‘upgraded’, but instead of a courtyard king we got a room which was at the front of the hotel, with no real view, but very dark and extremely noisy (perfect for those who like listening to their neighbors and their toilet habits!)! We only learnt of the ‘upgrade’… Read more
Very disappointing 2 night stay. Apparently, unbeknownst to us, we were supposedly ‘upgraded’, but instead of a courtyard king we got a room which was at the front of the hotel, with no real view, but very dark and extremely noisy (perfect for those who like listening to their neighbors and their toilet habits!)! We only learnt of the ‘upgrade’ when we enquired on the second day why we weren’t in the room we booked? It also seemed the hotel was more concerned about its restaurant patrons than those actually staying there. For the ridiculous price we paid, we expected just a little bit more than just some home made chocolate cookies and a breakfast so small it was a joke! Do yourself a favour and check out other options. As we found out, there are a lot better places for ½ of what we got done for! Read less