Sea Otter Inn

I have no idea why this place has low reviews. My SO and I chose this place because it was basically the one of the cheapest inns in Cambria that didn’t have absolutely awful reviews.
I will forever be tainted… because this place set the standard for all other places I’ll ever stay.
I LOVEEEEE this place! Super super adorable place right along the beach. They had adorable patios that looked out into the ocean right across Moonstone Beach and it had super easy access to the boardwalk (and the coast). I really can’t think of any place more ideal in Cambria. Good price, great location.
Now, about the rooms. They have a fireplace heater that turned off/​on accordingly to whatever temperature you set. A very nice surprise: D I’m not picky with beds or pillows, but the bed was great for me and the pillows were perfectly fine. Our room was clean and everything was in order. They had a mini fridge, microwave, coffee maker, and hair dryer.
Continental breakfast was served 7−11am. Nothing too special about it, but nothing to really complain about either. Hard-​boiled eggs, some pastries, yogurt, english muffins, regular muffins, juice and coffees and teas. Can’t expect much from a complimentary breakfast, right? We sat right outside on the patios and ate breakfast overlooking the ocean.
The only complaint I would have about this place doesn’t have ANYTHING to do with Sea Otter Inn. But basically, if you have T-​mobile, you’ll have little-​to-​no reception here: data or cell reception. There was a few places here and there in the hotel room that had some reception, but I basically relied on the wifi. But that’s the case for a lot of Cambria I went around to. Just a fair warning about the town itself, not Sea Otter.
¹⁰⁄₁₀ would recommend! :D

I planned a four day roadtrip for my birthday weekend and this was one of our spots for the night along the coast.
I booked a room for one night with two queen beds via their website. We didn’t arrive to check-​in until a little before their office was closed at 9pm. They had kindly called me an hour before their office was going to close and informed me that if we were to arrive after office hours, we could call a number for the code to get the key.
We arrived after dark just in time to take a dip in the jacuzzi and heated pool before it closed for the night. In the morning, we enjoyed a complimentary breakfast of hard boiled eggs, cereals, oatmeal, pastries, coffee, teas, juice, and fruits set up in their office. We ended up grabbing a tray of food and enjoyed breakfast with a pacific ocean view across the street.
Overall our one night stay was great. Beds were comfortable and clean. Our room even had a fire place, not sure if it worked though.
Check in after 3pm, check out at 11am. Located right across the pacific ocean with convenient trails for a leisure walk or run in the morning. There’s self parking at no additional cost, free WiFi, a hot tub, and a heated pool.

After an in person manager visit I have to say their customer service is fantastic. She offered to do all kinds of things so my last night would be better. I really appreciated that. She told me of some of their upcoming changes. The property is on the quieter side of Moonstone Drive. Property is directly across from the bluffs and I sat in chairs in the front of the property under a tree and watched the sun go down. Relaxing. Will stay in one of the front facing rooms next time so the breeze can flow in. Nothing like ocean air. Would stay again. (I wrote this followup review and forgot to post it).

I was a bit skeptical about choosing Sea Otter Inn due to some of the Unilocal reviews I read, but I just really had a good feeling about the place and decided to give it a go. I am so glad I did!
What a wonderful little place! It is right on BEAUTIFUL Moonstone Beach, the inn’s gardens are overflowing with gorgeous roses, it’s in the lovely little town of Cambria… it has everything going for it!
My room was lovely and super clean, too! Having spent 3 days in LA, 3 days in SF, and just 1 day in Cambria, I was wishing I had spent more time at the Sea Otter Inn! I told multiple people how I thought it’d be worth it to fly all the way back to CA from my hometown of St. Paul, MN just to stay at this inn!

My partner and I went to Cambria to get away for the weekend. We love Cambria and go as often as we can. This time we decided to try a new hotel and so we stayed at the Sea Otter Inn at Moonstone Beach. The price was high, but not unreasonable for location and time of year (other hotels were charging just as much if not more). Here’s my list of positives and not-​so-​positives:
Positive
1. Location
2. Helene was awesome at the front desk during check-​in
3. Plenty of parking
4. Clean room
5. Wifi
6. Charging station for my car
Not-​so-​positive
1. The bed; this made our stay very uncomfortable. We were both hurting the next day after sleeping on the HORRIBLE mattress. We even contemplated leaving at 11:30pm on our last night to drive home (3.5 hours) because we couldn’t sleep and were very uncomfortable on the bed.
2. Breakfast was mediocre; would’ve liked more protein options and less sugary sweets
3. No screens on the windows and windows did not shut all the way in room 124
4. No air circulation method except for opening the windows, which had no screens (see #3)
If we had been able to sleep, the other things wouldn’t have stood out so much. But having an uncomfortable bed really put a damper on our stay.

Pros
1. Clean, comfortable rooms.
2. Free breakfast with moderately healthy options (Chobani yogurt)
3. Reasonable price (high summer season
4. They have medium-​speed wifi
Cons
1. Moody receptionist
2. No AT&T reception
3. Breakfast area too small and poorly laid out
We had two rooms — one for my husband and me, and one for our teenage kids. This is a charming row-​style, simple hotel. The rooms are comfortable and clean and some have a charming patio area out back. It’s perfectly located near everything there is to see in Cambria and Hearst Castle. We would stay here again, but they certainly have room for improvement on some little things.
1. Tell the morning receptionist to cheer up!
2. Rearrange the breakfast layout and BUY A SECOND TOASTER!

Over the 4TH of July spent the weekend wine tasting, elephant seal watching, visit to Hearst Castle, more wine tasting! We stayed at the Sea Otter Inn — very enjoyable, CLEAN, comfortable, great views & readily available beach access. Nothing fancy, nonetheless, felt very welcomed & treated in a respectful manner. We would not hesitate to stay again at this Inn. Check out the photos.
Susan

Check-​in was fast and easy and the staff was friendly. The grounds are well maintained and have colorful flowers and seating areas throughout the property. The pool/​spa area looked well kept. There are even electric car charging stations in the parking lot. Great location right across the street from the ocean.
Our room was clean and spacious with a king bed, table with 2 chairs, desk with chair, a cushy sitting chair and flat screen tv. A mini refrigerator, microwave, and coffee maker ate in the hall closet. There is a nice little patio off the back of the unit with 2 chairs. The bed was comfortable but could have been a little softer for our liking. There is a fireplace in the room but it acts more like a heater than a fireplace (going on and off regulated by the room thermostat). The fireplace is the reason this place lost a star. I would have preferred an on off switch or a timer. Even turning thermostat way down at night it turned on and off a few times during the night which makes clicks and bang noises when starting up. If you are a light sleeper than turn it WAY down and use the extra blanket provided in the closet. There were a few small stains s in the carpeting.
The breakfast is provided in the office with trays for you to take everything back to your room to eat which I liked because we were able to eat at our leisure and comfort of our room. There were hard boiled eggs, yougurt, cereal, oatmeal, danish, muffins, english muffins, juice, milk, hot chocolate, and coffee. Check-​out was fast and easy.

We rented a room here and it was lovely. The staff were very nice and the check-​in was great, and the room was perfect. Beach is right across the street. Also noticed that the had three charging stations for electric cars, including Teslas.
While we were there, we had a situation (unrelated to our stay) that required the help of the staff, and WOW, did the desk person, Helene, come through for us. She was amazing. Way above and beyond the call.
We will definitely come back to the Sea Otter. Perfect stay.

We enjoyed our stay at this charming and quaint hotel. The jacuzzi was kept at a great temperature the room is not your typical cookie cutter hotel room. breakfast was good but not great pastries were a little dry but the English muffin with cream cheese held me over till lunch. We will be back soon and will enjoy beautiful spot on the beach. The garden here are beautiful if you enjoy that also

Great location, right on the beach in a town full of art and great restaurants. Staff was extremely friendly and there’s free continental breakfast. Got a great price on the room (booked last-​minute via Priceline on a weekday). Highly recommend.

The Gorilla says:
«Staff was quite helpful
And EV friendly. The room…
…truly amazing!
‘Room’ 111
Has a giant living room.
Plus a master suite!
Adirondack chairs
Face the ocean to the west.
Truly an escape.»

I would not recommend this Sea Otter Inn, especially when you have so many lovely places all along Moonstone Beach dr. The rooms are adequate, but there was a giant crack in the sink and no blankets. I also thought the tacky shampoo/​conditioner wall dispenser in the shower was more like something you’d find at a youth hostel. Really? The «breakfast» was displayed clumsily in the tiny lobby where you had to get a tray and take it to your room. It felt very cafeteria style and not what one would expect from a pricey «inn.»
The view is great because of its location, but it is the same view shared by other hotels along the strip.
My neighbors went the week after me and had a similar experience. Jessica (the manager,) was mysteriously not available when they had a question about the hot water not working.
I see to my right several other low ratings and i am not surprised.
In any case, Cambria is beautiful and well worth a trip.

Alright, I’m giving them 5 stars although this review is written up as a four… why? Because I think they were rated unfairly by some reviewers. This is an older establishment but it’s quaint and quiet. The rooms are a little small for my liking and the bathrooms are a bit outdated but then we get back to the quaintness of the place. Located right across the street from the beach and very close to a well known restaurant you can walk to. We got a terrific deal off Groupon so keep your eyes open for one as well. The morning breakfast was well thought out but in a very tiny space. The Italian pastries were the best I’ve ever had. None of the other stuff mattered. I just loaded up on those pastries. We found the bakery and learned that individually those pastries sold for $ 2 each! I figured I ate my hotel bill in pastries every morning. Even stowed a couple in my pocket for an afternoon treat… shhh…don’t tell. They lost money on me. If you love to cycle as we do bring your bike and ride to Hearst Castle. About 7 miles up the coast. You can even cycle to Monterey if so inclined. I liked this place and I will be back the next time I see a deal on Groupon. Enjoy!

At first I thought this place was a real coup. It’s nestled along the coast with a beautiful view but you have to be in the parking lot to see it. All rooms face the parking lot, not the ocean.
Our check-​in was smooth and although the room is a hodge-​podge of furnishings from the 70s or 80s, it was clean. Unfortunately we didn’t look for extra pillows or blankets before leaving for the evening. When we returned — around 9 p.m. — the temperature was colder and no additional blankets could be found. We called the office and it’s routed to an answering service so you’re basically SOL. I had to use jackets to warm myself up. BTW, I opt for bedding not the heater to provide warmth. Hotel heating systems tend to dry out the air and make me uncomfortable. In case you were wondering…“why didn’t she just turn the heat on?“
The breakfast consisted of processed foods you buy in bulk at Costco. Now that might be delightful for some people but I view it as disaster foods stored in duffel bags in preparation for «the big one» or an apocalypse, not vacation.
And so… for me, this place is a «meh.»

Other than the proximity to Moonstone Beach and its boardwalk, The Sea Otter Inn was just meh. The staff was not very friendly, the breakfast choices were minimal, and the rooms were pretty dated. Wi-​Fi was not reliable. The pool area was nice, with a view of the beach across the parking lot, but we were interested in checking out other choices for a repeat visit.

I love this hotel! It is right across the street from the moonstone boardwalk. The décor is a bit countryish style but it is very clean. The breakfast consists of hard boiled eggs, bagels, pastries, cereal, yogurt, coffee, OJ, and tea. This hotel is a perfect place to stay when you want to get away from the loud and busy city life.

Hotel seemed more like a motel with single dwellings all in a row and parking in front of your room. Signage could be improved at entrance as it is extremely hard to locate the hotel at night. Not a full service hotel as front desk closed at 9:00p.m. with a lock box for late arrivals. Receptionist could be more helpful with surrounding sights to see instead of referring everyone to the phamplet rack in the corner. Rooms quiet and clean and continental breakfast was great in the morning. Our Senior group found this hotel adequate and pricing right that close to the beach and Hearst Castle.

Other then OLD, gross and LUMPY, 9 year old mattresses (gross) and loud clicking fireplaces… this a good spot.
The fireplaces make a loud clicking sound all night, so be sure to make the room warm before you fall asleep so that you can turn the fireplace off! Lastly the beds are 9 years old. Its time for the owner to «SPRING» for NEW MATTRESS!!! TELL THE OWNER TO GET NEW MATTRESSES! If you stay here you better get A REALLY GOOD DEAL! NEVER PAY FULL PRICE FOR 8 ½~9 year old lumpy mattresses.
Please tell the owner to replace her funky mattresses. She said she would replace~but never did! A black light would HORRIFYING!

Cute comfortable mom and pops inn along Moonstone beach.
Scored a discounted rate on Travelzoo and decided to spend the weekend in this cute lil coastal town, immersed in natural beauty and rustic art culture.
Check in was a breeze, our room has a cute little enclosed and private patio as well as a fireplace: simple and lovely. The beds were comfortable, heated pool and jacuzzi, and plenty of parking. Breakfast was included where they served a variety of mini pastries: turnovers, Danishes, croissants.
We were able to borrow umbrellas from the front desk for our walk along the beach on a rainy morning. No complaints.