Monterey and Carmel-by-the-Sea sit on a beautiful stretch of the Central California coast, with the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Cannery Row, 17-Mile Drive, Pebble Beach and the gateway to Big Sur. Hotels are pricey in summer and on weekends, so look midweek and inland for deals.
Finding cheap rooms in Monterey & Carmel is easier when you know where to look. We compare live hotel rates across the top booking sites and point you to the neighborhoods where hotels are cheap but the location is still great.
Rooms come in more shapes than hotels — in Monterey & Carmel you can also compare apartments with kitchens, vacation rentals for families, B&Bs and budget hostels in one search.
Waterfront hotels by the aquarium, restaurants and the bay trail.
Historic adobes, the wharf and many hotels.
A storybook village of inns, galleries and a white-sand beach.
A quieter Victorian town next to Monterey, with inns and B&Bs.
Chain hotels north of Monterey, usually the cheapest rooms.
Zoom and pan the map to compare hotel prices by neighborhood; rates come live from the booking sites.
September and October bring the sunniest weather; summer is often foggy but busiest, and big golf and car-week events in August push rates very high.
Monterey has more hotels and value; Carmel is smaller, quieter and more upscale.
Seaside and Marina, a few miles north, usually cost least.
Summer weekends, holidays and mid-August’s Monterey Car Week, which books out far ahead.