Worse motel I've ever stayed in. The rooms stunk, they smelled musty. The shower curtain had black mold all over it and the blanket and sheets were questionable. You are better off staying at a campground. I never write reviews about hotels but this places need one and furthermore AAA ratings are becoming questionable to me. They are doing a poor job at assessing these hotels. It was very noisy too. Thin walls and the pipes moan, refrigerator moan and you can hear heavy footsteps from upstairs. Wouldn't recommend it to my worst enemy. Don't be fooled by the name either.

Disappointed to find dirty walls, sills and floors upon check-in. Bathroom was the biggest offender. Door was filthy, walls were rife with accumulated dirt and grime, floors were in need of mopping. One pillow case barely covered the exposed oil and dirt residue of the pillow underneath. Nothing that a daily--or at least weekly scrubdown, not to mention new pillows or longer pillow cases would have fixed (hint). Continental breakfast was decent, minus all the spills and trash build-up that kept accumulating while the attendant sat at the adjacent counter. For almost $100, this is not a good deal by any measure.

We stayed in a double queen room at Howard Jones Express Seaside for two nights during Monterey county fair. We booked the room the night before so most other hotels in the area were either fully booked, or very expensive, and I was worried after reading all the reviews. I was pleasantly surprised. Please see pictures below.

The room had really nice decor, much better than any other 2 star hotel that I've stayed in the US, the bathroom was also very good. Mattresses were nice and appeared to be fairly new. I also have to praise the customer service - when I called the front desk to enquire about internet password, the guy not only told me that I have a choice of wireless and wired access, but also brought the cable to the room right away. It was an easy drive to the fair and to Monterey tourist attractions. The area is not everybody's cup of tea, but is convenient for retail stores and restaurants.

It is a 2 star hotel so you will hear some street noise, or people using water in the room upstairs. And the pillows are not going to be as nice as in a 4 or 5 star hotel. One thing I wish were different is hotel's cancellation policy, and breakfast could use some fresh fruit such as bananas and yogurt, but than again, I do not expect a breakfast in a 2 star hotel.

+Hotel staff were courteous and accommodating, allowing me to check-in when I arrived at 2 p.m., instead of waiting until their 3 p.m. check-in time.
+When I found the room safe locked by a previous guest, a hotel staff person responded within 5 minutes to open it.
+The room and bathroom were clean and sanitary, walls appeared recently painted, carpeting was clean, towels and linens were fresh and white.
+Complimentary sealed soap and shampoo were provided each day of my stay. Coffee and tea packets were provided for use with the in-room coffee maker with plenty of packaged insulated drinking cups.
+WiFi Internet service provided by SBC was reliable, but slow with download speeds ranging from 1.84 to 0.10 Mbps. The in-house WiFi router signal was excellent with a speed of 11 Mbps.
+Building exteriors appeared freshly painted and live colorful blooming flowers adorned the courtyard.
-Room walls lacked sound insulation, so low level noise (talking/TV) from neighboring rooms was annoying.