After booking the wrong night at the Surf Inn next door and turning up with no reservation I was pleased to be offered a room at the Howard Johnson for $89 a night. Having never stayed in a motel before I was very sceptical and was prepared for a crappy room. I was pleasantly surprised to be shown a clean, bright room that smelt clean and the sheets were freshly laundered. The owner is friendly and helpful, even helping me to use the waffle maker at breakfast - which is very limited but for $89 more than I have recieved in some of the more expensive hotels. The hotel is within walking distance of Fishermans Wharf and a good enough base for 2 days to explore Monterey.

WARNING!!!!!!!THE WORST!!!!, DO_NOT_EVEN_CONSIDER_MAKING_A RESERVATION HERE

BAIT AND SWITCH ALERT!!!

I made a reservation by phone for $89/night. I received a four digit confirmation number . I called the day before the trip and the manager said "YOU DON"T HAVE A RESERVATION FOR THIS WEEKEND"...He said his employee thought it was the month after.!!!! This, after I had all the information repeated back to me!!...So, I call and the manager says if I want to stay , I HAVE TO PAY >>>>>>$250<<<<<<<PER NIGHT!!!

I will be suing this franchise in small claims court over this.

DO NOT STAY HERE...You will be ripped off by these people who barely speak English.

I guess every trip has some sort of bump in the road - the Hojo was definitely ours. We booked our room for the Monterey Surf Inn, which got a much better rating than the Howard Johnson. Unfortunately, they are run by the same people. When we arrived at Monterey Surf Inn, we were told there was some sort of "plumbing problem" and that we could have the same room at the Hojo, next door. Our room was a sketchy disaster. Paper thin walls - we could hear everything in the rooms beside and above us, even quiet conversations. Missing lamp shades, bad/ugly purplish florescent lighting that took over an hour to turn on, or lights that never worked at all. The table and chairs were unstable and the beds uncomfortable. The whole place smelled musty, and every time we opened the door the air conditioner rattled so much it sounded like it was going to fall off the wall. Just don't go. We were so sketched out we didn't have breakfast there (but it's just orange juice and coffee in the main lobby) or use the pool (never saw one). I don't know if the Monterey Surf Inn is better maintained, but since it's all run by the same people, I strongly doubt it. Save your money. Go elsewhere.

This place seems to be affiliated with the Monterey Surf Inn, which is next door. We had originally booked there, but the room they offered us, was very dark with very poor lighting, that I just didn't want to stay there (I felt like I couldn't see what we were getting into). We were happy to move to the Ho Jo, which was much brighter, however....

My husband, teenage daughter and I stayed here for one night in June. We were very happy it was only for one night. While the room was well lit with a nice big window, the housekeeping was very poor and everything was in pretty rough shape. For example, all chrome fixtures were rusty, the bathroom door knob was very loose, the 2 side chairs were very dirty, the lamp was missing the turn-on knob, the base boards were dirty, the bathroom plaster needed repair, there was mold around the (fairly new) windows, a picture had fallen away from the matting (within the frame), there was a full trash bin near the office with an apple core, a Q-tip, and other trash on the sidewalk, the furniture and decor were dated, etc. etc. This could be a very nice place. Some of these things are not costly or time consuming to take care of. It just seemed like a low standard on the owner's/mgr's part.

On the positive side, the bedding was clean, the beds were comfortable, the place was quiet at night, they had a waffle machine(!), and the room was big enough for 2 beds, a small table and 2 chairs and walk-around space to spare!

The next night we stayed at a Ho Jo in San Bruno. What a contrast. Everything there was new and very clean (and much cheaper)!