While I found this hotel to be very charming, my wife and I found the attitude of the morning staff to be rude, and decidedly not charming.
The good:
Room #7 has a slightly obstructed view of the bay, but a view nonetheless. The room, while tiny, was decorated well with nice linens, white carrera marble and chrome fixtures. The bathroom was tiny, but it felt more cozy than claustrophobic. You are only a short walk to the beach, you can hear the sounds of the surf from the hotel, and it less than a mile to the prime shopping on ocean.

The bad:
SERVICE: The service, especially in the morning, was abysmal. Both my wife and I had run-ins with the morning staff. The morning manager was less like a warm and welcoming care-taker and more like a knuckle-rapping old nun. Without a hello or good morning, I was chastised for opening the window 2-inches to let some 72 degree air into a stuffy room. My wife was scolded for entering the kitchen to find breakfast. She was curt with most of the guests, not just us. She seems to think that being rude was part of her job description. I am sure the owners of the hotel would not have accepted such terrible behavior.
FOOD: The breakfast was overly tough eggs Benedict. Although I didn't mind that the eggs were served with a hard yolk, the English muffin was too tough to saw with a knife and the canadian bacon was extremely chewy. They need to find a new way to heat up the breakfast for all their guests.
PARKING: It can be difficult to find parking near the property when they are full. While daytime parking was easy, nighttime parking near the hotel was at a premium.

OVERALL: With the exception of the staff, we found the location, the hotel and the setting to be romantic and perfectly charming.

After driving for hours, and unexpectedly making a trip to Carmel, we called the Sandpiper at the recommendation of a nearby hotel. The woman on the phone assured us there was a room (though took no credit card) and confirmed that it would be perfectly fine to arrive at 9:30pm. She had it taken care of. We were so thankful....

Except that we arrived only to find one very lazy man related to the hotel too busy to put down his cigarette to even figure out if we had a room. He said that he knew nothing about the situation or the promise of a room, was exceedingly unhelpful, and left us to fend for ourselves during a time when every single other place in Carmel was closed. Awesome. Well done, Sandpiper. If you are looking for a flaky experience--this is the one!

Loved Carmel and the sandpiper inn was a great spot to stay. Host was very accomodating and provide a lot of knowledge about the area and where to eat. Carmel is a lovely little town. The inn is a short walk to the centre of town. Great fun walking home with a flash light. Carmel does not have street lights!! The 17 mile drive was also pretty spectacular, especially pebble beach.

Very friendly staff. We enjoyed a great breakfast served by a very friendly staff member. The room was clean and quiet. We would stay there again.