We stayed at the Dolores Cottage, a Fireplace Inn property right around the corner from the Inn. First off parking an SUV in the small parking area provided, was quite challenging, but after a few shots worked out okay. Upon entering the cottage ($350/night with a dog) we were somewhat put off by the compact size of the unit, the kitchen was roomy enough, the living room was ample, but the couch was quite uncomfortable and did not invite you to relax at all. As for the bedrooms (no tv's), the largest at least has space to move around somewhat, but is very noisy due to being ground level on Dolores St. it has an adjoining bathroom, which can be entered into from either bedroom, the second bedroom although quieter is no larger than a postage stamp, you get out of bed and you stub your toe on the wall, this bedroom has a 1/2 bath, with the most ill placed toilet imaginable, you literally had to climb a step to use it and if it's dark you could really injury yourself falling off the toilet. The cottage does have a nice small deck overlooking the parking area with a table/chairs and umbrella which is nice on those rare sunny Carmel days. The housekeeping staff was excellent, be advised this cottage is tended to last, usually around 3pm, but it is cleaned to perfection. To enjoy the complimentary breakfast you have to walk or drive a block to the main inn, which when bringing your meal back to the cottage can be quite a challenge, but the breakfast attendants on all occasions were quite pleasant. Now the downside, upon checking in the desk staff could barely muster up a hello, and on our checkout morning we received a call at 10:55am warning us we better get out because they have a lot of paperwork to do (even tho we confirmed the previous night, with another rude desk clerk that the room was not reserved), hey checkout is 11am and we're a block away and your pushing us out the door when were paying $350.00/a night, great customer service. Oh yeah barely a thank you upon checking out too!
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