We had never visited the USA before, and having read various articles about the Pacific Coast Highway decided to buy the air tickets from Birmingham England to San Francisco, hire a car and drive to Los Angeles via the PCH, stopping at Motels along the way. We had one of the best vacations ever and fully intend to return at the first opportunity.
This is an account not so much about the tourist type things that we did, but more of how we found the accommodation any the problems we encountered and by the way, it is not supposed to read like we are whining so I hope it does not come across that way.
One point to raise, we're English and we drink tea, lots of it, nothing fancy, not Earl Grey or Assam or "Iced" just the normal supermarket blend freely available in the UK that we Brits like. We bought a box with us just to be on the safe side. Now to brew tea correctly you need BOILING water, not just hot, but steaming.
Most lodging in the UK provides a kettle just for this purpose so it was important to us to have a means of boiling water in the room.
We landed at San Francisco late on the Thursday Evening, having travelled for getting on for 20 hours we collected our hire car and looked for lodgings.
Friends had told us to get the book of coupons to help us find motels in specific areas. We found two books and went out to find reasonably priced accommodation in the area, however everywhere we tried was fully booked, the gentleman at the Travelodge said that the Vagabond Inn just up the road had one room left so we raced up the road to secure it.
Vagabond Inn, Hwy 380 South San Francisco
It was dark, we were exhausted and in a strange land where the cars have the steering wheel on the wrong side and they drive on the opposite side of the road than we do so we were grateful to find a room full stop.
The Manager was none too friendly and the cost of the room was extortionate but we were desperate so we agreed to take it just for one night.
The first problem was switching on the lights, simple you may think but after flicking every switch we could find we were not illuminated, oh well fetch the manager, who with a twist of a small knob on the base of each lamp gave us light. We had been looking in the wrong place for the switch and felt a bit stupid but at least we could see what we were doing.
The room had two huge beds, (we subsequently found that you call them King beds) an enormous television, table, drawers and little else, oh yes a coffee machine but no kettle. Through a door into a bathroom and that was it. We were asleep in no time so it did not really matter about other creature comforts.
We woke early and went in search of boiling water for tea. In the Managers office was a machine that dispensed hot water and another with various fruit juices. So with two cups of hot water, fruit juice and two pre packaged sticky pastries, we sat in our room viewing our first morning in the USA. What with the cost of what transpired to be a less average room and the jet lag, so far we were not impressed.
Alpine Motor Lodge, Daly City
We found this Motel on the internet before we left the UK so upon leaving the Vagabond Inn, we went in search of the Alpine Motor Lodge.
Straight up State Route 82 along El Camino Real until Market St then right and up Guadeloupe Canyon Parkway and left into Carter Street. The Huge "Cow Palace" dominated the immediate view and then we caught the sign on a rather shabby collection of buildings "Alpine Motor Lodge". Now the pictures on their web site was of newly refurbished rooms and views out over the bay area, but my initial reaction of the exterior of the place was to drive on, however, Lorraine persuaded me not to judge the exterior but go and ask to look at the rooms, I'm glad that we did because the owner has obviously spent his money wisely and is refurbishing from the inside out.
The rooms he showed us were every bit as good as the photos posted on the website, we decided to stay for two nights to give us time to explore.
Breakfast was not included but the owner gave us a device to enable us to make Tea or Coffee, we had never seen one before, it was neither a kettle or a coffee maker but looked a bit like a deep fat fryer, you fill it with water, close the lid and switch it on, it then brings the water up to boiling point and keeps it there for as long as required and it enabled us to make passable cups of tea.
It became apparent that the fixtures and fittings in the room were not new but probably purchased from a Best Western that was being re-fitted as tell tale signs on the furniture such as television channel nameplates were attached. It did not make any difference, the room was exceptionally clean and very comfortable.
The owner also had a man working on the external appearance of the Motel doing all of the preparation to the walls and woodwork before giving it a badly needed fresh coat of paint.
When finished, we're sure that it will look as good on the outside as it does on the inside.
We started to plan our route down highway 1 and planned to stop around Monterey, however, upon talking to some people who had driven up from that area all of the Hotels and Motels were booked up due to the Open Golf Tournament at Pebble Beach and we would be wise to delay our journey for a day or so. That being the case we decided to stay at the Alpine Motor Lodge for one more night as we liked it so much.
Sea Breeze Inn, Santa Cruz.
We said goodbye to the urban sprawl of the San Francisco area and began our journey down highway one, we had identified some activities around the Santa Cruz area so decided to find lodgings there.
Passing by the usual Hotel 8 and Best Westerns we found ourselves on the sea front and had a choice of several Motels, most of the signage seemed of a late fifties early sixties style, all appeared to be well looked after so we took "Pot Luck" and enquired at the "Sea Breeze Inn".
The friendly welcome from the owner had sold us before we had even seen the room and she even gave us the discount without having to produce the voucher. The room was on the first floor (I think you Americans call it the second floor as you call the ground floor the first floor, whatever, we had to go up a flight of stairs to get to the room.)
The room was reasonably appointed with a refrigerator, coffee maker, writing desk, microwave oven and TV with HBO. I am a perplexed with your television, all those channels and nothing of any notable quality worth watching! (I thought we had it bad in the UK with only 5 channels)
Outside the room was a sun deck overlooking the swimming pool, we both enjoyed relaxing with a beer and watching the sun go down from there.
The owner even kept us supplied with boiling water to make tea, on the whole a very comfortable room in a well looked after Motel. Check out their web site at http://www.seabreezeinn.homepage.com
Seabreeze Inn, Pacific Grove
We made our way down the coast to Monterey and into Pacific Grove. The book of coupons had most of the motels listed on Lighthouse Drive so as we had done in Santa Cruz, we drove up and down looking for an interesting looking one. We settled on the Seabreeze Inn as its courtyard looked quite sheltered and away from the road. The receptionist greeted us with a cheery "Hello and how are you?" but seemed unable to respond when we replied with typical English Politeness "We're very well thank you and how are you?" Maybe this was not a programmed response, however, we asked to see the rooms and liking what we saw negotiated the rate.
Being a Tuesday, the place seemed rather quiet, the room was the largest we had been in so far and had a large picture window running almost its entire length (It was a pity that the view wasn't up to much but it did give the room an airy feel). With the Bathroom separate from the alcove containing the wash basin we had plenty of room to move around.
Again no kettle, however, Lipton's Tea Bags were provided. (This brand is not very popular in the UK as it is quite weak but seems to be the only one served in the restaurants and fast food establishments) We enquired about a kettle but with no luck the best advice was to use the coffee maker without the coffee, the problem with that is the water is nowhere near hot enough and it tastes of coffee.
Breakfast was provided in the form of Muffins, Danish Pastries and Croissants.
We liked the area so much and the motel was also OK so we booked 2 more nights. The last morning we were woken by workmen re-modelling the room next door but wanting to make an early start, we regarded it as an unusual alarm call.
We loved the Monterey peninsular and Pacific Grove definitely is on our list of places to come back to for a much longer stay!
Courtesy Inn, San Simeon
We made our way down past Big Sur and more of the fantastic scenery that has accompanied us down the PCH, our guide book had recommended Cambria but being a Friday, all of the reasonably priced Motels had their "No Vacancy" signs illuminated so we went back to San Simeon where we were greeted with another array of "No Vacancy" signs, however the Courtesy Inn did have rooms but it did take some detailed questioning to get the cheaper rooms, (the receptionist seemed very keen to let the expensive suites rather then the smaller rooms).
This Motel seemed to sprawl across more then one site and after paying for the room we were presented with a map of how to find the room. A short drive around the block, past the tennis courts and into another car park we found our room in a single storey block. Some birds had constructed a mud nest in the eves above the door, I think that they were Housemartens but could not be sure.
The room was huge, complete with kitchenette, (microwave, refrigerator etc.) and a large bathroom. As we had come to expect the decor was plain but tasteful (!) it soon became obvious that this used to be a Best Western Motel, the present owner had not removed the literature explaining the amenities available on site. We needed to use the laundry room but it was out of order, we then discovered that there were another three on site that were all working. Also on the main site was an indoor swimming pool and residents lounge.
On the whole this motel was quite impersonal but non the less very comfortable.
Travellers Beach Inn, Ventura
I had an appointment at Ventura on the Saturday evening and Sunday morning. Our plan was to be a lot closer then we were but having stayed longer in Pacific Grove we were a long way off. We decided that because we were enjoying the area around Cambria we would dash down to Ventura for one night and return to Cambria on the Sunday evening.
We arrived in Ventura mid afternoon and set about finding the motels listed in the coupon book. The maps in the book were quite poor but we eventually found the Best Western, Ramada and Vagabond Inns only to be told that coupons would not be accepted on a Saturday and the only rooms left were far too expensive for our taste.
We cruised along East Thompson St and eventually came across several motels. The sign outside the Travellers Beach Inn had obviously seen better days but we pulled in to enquire about the price and view the room. The gentleman that greeted us was a Sikh who owned the motel and enquired which part of England we were from. When we said Birmingham his eyes lit up as he explained that his brother and other relatives lived there also (Small world).
The room was adequate at the best but as it was purely for one night only we paid the $80. He knew full well that his was the last rooms available in Ventura and so did we.
As at the Courtesy Inn, this was also previously owned by the Best Western chain but must have been purchased some time ago because it was in desperate need of a re-vamp. Cracked tiles in the tiny shower room were lifting away from the walls and floor, not even a coffee machine or cups were provided nor any literature about the area.
We went to the Outlaw Motorcycle races at the County Fairground and did not get back until 11:30pm. We were up and out by 08:00am the next morning, all things said, this was definitely not the nicest motel that we stayed in during our visit.
Creekside Inn, Cambria
I am re-building an Indian Chief Motorcycle back in England and part of our trip was to visit the swap meet at the Ventura Fairground on the Sunday morning. By noon it was time to get lunch and make our way back to Cambria. We arrived early evening and what a difference to the previous Friday all of the motels in Cambria had vacancies so after looking around we headed for the very pretty Creekside Inn.
Now this motel has been extremely well looked after with plenty of flowers rambling up the external structures and around the borders of the car park. The receptionist took our voucher and gave us our key, we were not disappointed with the cosy room that greeted us, it was obvious that the owner is proud of this property by the meticulous way it has been maintained both inside and out.
The facilities were not as extensive as at some of the other establishments but it was possible to hire videos from the reception. We really enjoyed ourselves here and booked a further night.
This was our favourite motel on the entire trip, it was also the least expensive!
If you do happen to visit Cambria, the Creekside Inn is definitely worth a look. Also, there are two very good breakfast Cafe's and not forgetting Mustache Petes Italian Eatery. On the whole, Cambria rates very highly.
We had been invited to stay with people over in Perris and therefore reluctantly had to leave both Cambria and the PCH. In order to see something other then coastline we decided to take to the hills around the north of LA and after a rather lazy days driving we stopped at Santa Clarita.
Hotel 8, Santa Clarita
We were going around in circles looking for a motel, the directions in the coupon book were hopeless but we eventually stumbled across either a Travelodge or a Hotel 8. We settled for the latter as there was not much to choose between either. They accepted the coupon but only had smoking rooms left. The most that I can say is that the room was clean but the whole place was characterless. I did not care for Santa Clarita at all and was glad to move on the next day.
We spent the best part of the next two days as guests Bob and Shorty Stark at Starklite Motorcycles in Perris but for our last night in the USA we needed to be near to LA Airport for our flight home on the Friday morning, this was the only time that we booked ahead.
Travelodge, Los Angeles Airport.
Now I have honestly tried to find something complimentary to say about this motel, (really!) but no, the staff were unhelpful (I think English was their second language), the air conditioning was broken and we had to park in the back alley. The driver of the Travelodge courtesy bus to the airport was positively rude and swore in Spanish at Lorraine because he did not have change for the $20 note she had to tip him with!!!
So we are now back in good old "Blighty" and without a doubt can both say that we thoroughly enjoyed our all too brief stay in California.
Contrary to the television shows here in the UK the USA is not full of gun toting maniacs (although we did give LA a wide berth) and were pleasantly surprised at how clean everywhere was and the politeness of most American people.
Oh yes Petrol, or should I say Gasoline, at $1.65 a gallon this is fantastic if you compare it with the $6.00 a gallon here in the UK.
We are planning our next and hopefully longer visit and armed with the knowledge gained from this trip will be more organised.
Any hints or advise to help us during our next visit will be gratefully received, please feel free to email me.
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