This hotel looked very clean inside, most likely because it was recently remodeled. My room (including bathroom) was spacious, and it included a TV, DVD, small fridge, and a microwave. Please be aware that there is literally no view worth paying for. My room faced a house under construction, and with some effort I could only see a thin stretch of water, above some roofs. The Jacuzzi was a bit dirty and the suroundings of the hotel rather deprressing. I would like to point out that these rooms are worth about $49 per night. I paid $75 for a very cute room in a top-notch location in Paris, and $70 for a small but very clean room in the center of Tokyo. Why would I want to pay $150 for a clean but depressing motel room in Morro Bay.

When I made the reservations over the phone, I was told that my credit card would be charged at that point --- guess what: they lied. When I asked at the office about that the guy try to suggest that I was misstaken. After I inssisted he agreed that they do that to enforce the customers to come --- not a good practice, in my oppinion. Moreover, they are very impolite!

As we were traveling from the San Diego area back to the Bay Area, we decided to break our drive up over two days. On June 17, I was scrambling on the phone looking for a place to stay on the coast for the night. The Twin Dolphins Inn in Morro Bay, CA had one room left so I made a reservation for that night

We arrived around 11:00PM and the hotel manager made prior arrangements to leave the room key in a safe place because the desk closes at 10:00PM. The hotel is nice, newish and clean (much better in person than the photos). The room and bathroom was nice and spacious. The bath we had didn’t have a tub, but it had a great shower. To our surprise, the room had a mini fridge and microwave. It was perfect for us because we had perishable food we thought we would have to throw away. The TV and DVD player was in good working order.

The bed was comfortable, but had the typical flat pillows, but we slept pretty well after a long drive. The breakfast was the typical bagels, bread, juice – all the food, I cannot eat, but the fridge and microwave allowed me to eat the way I need to w/o having to spend the extra money someplace else. The in room coffee was below average, but there is a cool espresso/coffeehouse a block or two away. The ceilings are pretty thin; we slept on the second floor and heard activity and footsteps from the third that morning.

Upon checkout, the front desk manager was pleasant and cheerful. He even allowed us to checkout an hour later (after calling to check).

Overall, the experience was pleasant, it was a good value and I wouldn’t might staying there again.

Like most busy folk, I was tardy in making my Memorial Day hotel reservations. By the time I got to it, the only rooms left were the really nice places at $300+ per night, or the run-down, roach infested motor inns that prey on late planners like me and charge $150+ a night. I was ready to cancel my weekend trip. Then I happened upon the Twin Dolphin website. I had noticed this hotel on many reservation sites (Expedia, SideStep, etc), but they had all shown the hotel with no rooms available. But there were still rooms available through the Twin Dolphin website. Interesting. I was able to reserve a king size room for $109 a night. An absolute bargain compared to what was available at other hotels. And it is a true AAA 3 diamond establishment. When I got to the hotel, I was impressed with how new it looked and how clean it was. The room was a good size. The bed was VERY comfortable; a new Simmons mattress set. The pillows were pancake flat, but I learned a long time ago to take my own pillow on a driving trip, so the pancake pillows ended up on the floor as I slept soundly with my pillow from home. The TV and DVD worked fine. (Hint: go to the Albertson's at Morro Bay Blvd and Highway 1 and rent DVD movies for one dollar) The breakfast was decent; coffee, tea, cereal, Sunny Delight, apples, bagels, cream cheese, danish, and muffins. It was offered from 7:30 am to 9:30 am in a small but nice breakfast room. In my opinion, a perfect breakfast if you are going wine tasting; lots of carbs to soak up the alcohol. The little 4 cup coffee maker in the room worked well and made the Starbucks I brought from home taste good. The staff was friendly, helpful and courteous. I didn't have a single problem at this hotel. It was a very good experience overall. And the proximity to the Embarcadero is a nice bonus.

One last note: For the fun of it, I compared my Memorial Weekend room rate ($109) to a normal summer weekend room rate (second weekend in June) and it was $30 cheaper per night. At that price, this place truly is the best bargain in Estero Bay!!