Home2 Suites by Hilton at the Dunes on Monterey Bay

While not perfect, as the newest place to stay in town, this Home2Suites should be considered one of the better rated options in Marina. Once more reviews are added, you’ll see it move up the list. It opened earlier this year and is a reasonable choice for most people who are looking for a place to stay in the nearby vicinity. Admittedly, the community of Marina is NOT a go-to destination in and of itself. There’s not much to see or do here and I also found the local restaurant scene to be abysmal. Marina is void of any charm and should only be seen only as a springboard for those who plan travel further south. Marina serves primarily as a somewhat lessor priced alternative to the more tourist appealing Monterey & Carmel. (Not everyone has the financial wherewithal to spend $300-$500 per night for a quaint inn or bed and breakfast in Monterey or Carmel). Unfortunately, both of those communities lack newer and nicer chain hotel establishments, and the price point for their older lodging alternatives can be very high. As for the Home2Suites, I found the place generally acceptable. The August 2024 review posted by CaddieKelly hit all the key discriminating points and I agree with that consensus takeaway. The hotel sits one block from a newer, large retail development that includes a nice Target and REI. There are a few fast casual restaurants at this location as well, but no restaurants of a higher quality. A couple of minor items that management could attend to: The exterior of the window in my guest room was filthy and needed attention. Also, the trash receptacle near the elevator was often full with additional bags sitting adjacent on the ground. Send your Maintenance team around on a greater frequency to attend to this. The whirlpool appears visibly dirty as the painted “under the water” floor/walls need attention, or a re-painting. It was not visibly appealing to users. Sadly, during part of my stay, the swimming pool was closed, with a posted “Out of Order” sign. This should not be occurring at a new place where everything should be in good working order. Bottom line, the Home2Suites is a decent option if your travels have you in the vicinity for one reason or another. If you can afford premier lodging in Monterey or Carmel, feel free to pass by Marina.

This is a brand new hotel at a high price point so I expected everything to be great. The rooms were very nice and there was a lot of counter space. However, the housekeeping was suspect. I found food from a previous guest on the microwave turntable and a dryer sheet under the end table. The first day, breakfast was very good, although the egg/cheese/peppers/onion bowl had been over-microwaved and the cheese was hard in spots and the juice dispenser was out of orange juice. The second day there was less variety at breakfast. All the breakfast sandwiches were on English muffins so if you didn't like English muffins you were out of luck. As there are 2 types of sandwiches available each day, they should always be on different types of bread. There was still no orange juice on the second day. The worst part about breakfast is the seating area. There is not enough seating and the seating that does exist is odd. There are assorted types of seats, small tables and the space was just not maximized. We had to crowd around a very small table on seats that looked like footstools. The hotel is situated in a seemingly safe area near new shopping areas and restaurants. It is not directly on the water. We drove from this hotel to Monterey. It was about a 15-minute drive.