The Morgan San Simeon - Cambria by Hearst Castle

I liked the surrounding areas being close to seveal beaches and park. Location is conveniently located. I didn't like the fact that there was no elevator which made it difficult to carry our luggage up and down. The room smelled musty when we came in and the waste baskets were too small and got easily over filled. The refrigerator was hard to access being under the sink. It should have been placed in the main area where the bed and console where. It was beside the bathroom and hard to access. It also really did not get cold enough. There should have been an ice maker in the 2nd floor. On the positive side, staff were friendly, helpful and welcoming.

No elevator!

Internet didn’t work and front desk staff helped in different way. But it didn’t work again after went back to the room. TV was unable to see basic channels.

Expedia search filter, “Ocean View”, has an entirely opposite meaning, like rating The Morgan 3.5 Stars, by who? I’ll highlight just a few of the not pictured features and amenities. The lobby was ok, the pool… “stains not pictured”. The free parking offered four covered spots, one blocked by a crate, another had two 8” holes exiting the building, dryer vents without covers, N/C for hot dust. Uncovered parking was flanked by a barrier of old cones, rope, and repurposed caution tape to keep guests from wandering into the overgrowth blocking the“Ocean View”. We stayed in building #2 of 2. Entry required a room key for security. To escape… sorry, exit, required decoding the “push a button with your room key”… for aggravation. The foyer featured an amazing…sorry, scary shattered glass skylight, and a single shared microwave, nice. The gallery photo must have used a dingy filter. Fortunately, we upgraded to a Junior Suite, $500 for two nights. The suite featured carpet so dirty and stained only our shoes ever came in contact. The two chairs followed the carpet theme of “Sitting on the bed is a smarter choice”. “Ocean View”, sure, with perfect vision, through overgrowth, buildings, a 1/2 mile away… a lovely glimpse through the top of a dirty window. A red-flag in the deceptive photo gallery, a closeup of shower tile, not a shower, tile. Why not include the upgraded fixture with multiple massaging sprayers? … Glad you asked, keeping with theme only the shower-head was connected.

We stayed in the satellite building down the street. Ocean view room for 4 nights. Clean room, nice view, kinda spacious. Furnishings are a little tired, could use an update. Noisy neighbors for the first 2 nights, in and out of the room at all hours of the night. Irritating. Room keys stopped working 3 times during our stay. Very inconvenient as we had to walk back down the street to the main building to have them re-programmed. No apology was offered by the front desk, until the third and final time. Disappointing. The second time we showed up to have the room keys re-programmed, the young guy at the front desk said "Good luck" as we left. Not the most confidence inspiring remark to paying guests who have been inconvenienced... WiFi service is a joke. Very unreliable and slow. There is plenty of parking, and you're in close proximity to Cambria and Hearst Castle.

Awesome place! Heated pool

The property was great, good location. Only point I would make was the pool was closed. Would definitely stay again.

The room and staff was great! The heated pool was heavenly. Also, they had a good continental breakfast selection. My only complaint is that there are no elevators. As seniors, it was a bit challenging for bringing up the luggage.

Hotel in need of updating and repairs. Rooms were large and clean. Pool heater was broken and were disappointed that this was not communicated prior to our arrival as the kids were looking forward to swimming.

Nice clean room and good hotel. Nice breakfast! Easy parking on either front or rear of the property. 2 minutes walk to the beach behind. Walkable from the nearby restaurants. Front desk managers were very helpful and friendly. Definitely recommend!

Room was spacious and very clean.

The room was clean and comfortable. Great location.

There were several dead insects around the perimeter of the room. All the outlets were loose and a fire hazard. There was also mold growing on the bathroom ceiling. The ceiling fan was out of center and loose creating loud noise. Continental breakfast was average, great water pressure in shower. Beds were uncomfortable and linen that didn’t fit beds and bunched up when sleeping.

Expedia search filter, “Ocean View”, has an entirely opposite meaning, like rating The Morgan 3.5 Stars, by who? I’ll highlight just a few of the not pictured features and amenities. The lobby was ok, the pool… “stains not pictured”. The free parking offered four covered spots, one blocked by a crate, another had two 8” holes exiting the building, dryer vents without covers, N/C for hot dust. Uncovered parking was flanked by a barrier of old cones, rope, and repurposed caution tape to keep guests from wandering into the overgrowth blocking the“Ocean View”. We stayed in building #2 of 2. Entry required a room key for security. To escape… sorry, exit, required decoding the “push a button with your room key”… for aggravation. The foyer featured an amazing…sorry, scary shattered glass skylight, and a single shared microwave, nice. The gallery photo must have used a dingy filter. Fortunately, we upgraded to a Junior Suite, $500 for two nights. The suite featured carpet so dirty and stained only our shoes ever came in contact. The two chairs followed the carpet theme of “Sitting on the bed is a smarter choice”. “Ocean View”, sure, with perfect vision, through overgrowth, buildings, a 1/2 mile away… a lovely glimpse through the top of a dirty window. A red-flag in the deceptive photo gallery, a closeup of shower tile, not a shower, tile. Why not include the upgraded fixture with multiple massaging sprayers? … Glad you asked, keeping with theme only the shower-head was connected.

The room was less than satisfactory. The whole building smelled of old smoke. We had an “Ocean View”, but there wasn’t much to see through the dirty windows. There were 2 over sized chairs which would have been very inviting however they looked like a 20lbs cat was searching for catnip in the arms. The Jacuzzi bathtub looked like it had not been cleaned since it was installed 20+ years ago.

Great staff but really bad matress, bugs in the shower, old sheets, ragged sofas, etc.

Stayed there for one night, room was poorly maintained, carpet was smelly and worn out, it was very noisy did not have a good night sleep. Staff was not too happy to help, continental breakfast was not good. Would not stay again, it is too expensive. On the other hand, the location was great, just a few minutes from Hearst Castle and other points of interest.

The room smelled really bad. The toilet was not flushed. It had number two in it. TV could not change properly and it was not anything like on the picture at all. That was the reason why I booked the hotel because it looked really nice and when they give us the room, not what I expected

Clean room friendly staff good breakfast

Very uncomfortable beds, the bed skirt falling off, paper thin walls, dirty bathroom, very dated

Overall a good experience. Quiet area, walking distance to the beach. The property is dated but they’re doing the best with what they’ve got. Friendly staff, free parking. The mattress was too firm for my preference (other members of my family didn’t mind). My only suggestion is to bring your own charges WITH adapters. The property does not have any USB compatible plugs in the room other than the basic outlet.

The bed was very uncomfortable

The room was clean with a fireplace. We chose an ocean view room. The ocean is visible but not very close. The pool is in another building down the street as was a very limited continental breakfast. All in all I would recommend.

Nice large room, bit dated but adds to the charm, clean and spacious in quiet area

For paying under $200 for a partial ocean view room, I guess it was what it should be.... pulled up and hotel is mustard yellow, could use an exterior paint job. Honestly the whole hotel could use freshening up. They were festive for Christmas. When you walked into the lobby it was clearly a 3 star hotel, kinda out dated and sad looking. To register you sit at a desk. When we walked into our room, it smelled like a dog urinated in there. I opened the window and we left. When we returned it didnt smell so i decided to not ask for another room. My husband chrcked for bedbugs and didn’t see any. The fridge hummed all night long, we unplugged it so we could actually hear the ocean waves and sleep. The hallway lights luminated the room. We were woken up a little after 6:30 am due to the staff prepping for the free breakfast that consisted of pastries, coffee, yogurt, waffles and cereal. The lotion dispenser in our room was empty. Let's just say it was tolerable and if I paid any more for tje room I would have been mad vs disappointed

Room was very comfortable. Huge bed which overlooked the outdoor pool. Room has all amenities; huge TV, draws, big wardrobe, bed side tables (with lamps access charger points), fire place & table with chairs. Bathroom was of good use with good selection of shower gels, shampoo & conditioner. Would recommend looking at the shower curtain as this did let out some water making floor slippery. Overall, the stay was great, we initially only booked for 1 day but added a 2nd game for convenience of our trip. Breakfast had a great selection in the mornings (waffle maker, cereal, coffee, muffins etc). This is a great & comfortable hotel to stay in for a short trip. It’s within a 2 minute walk of the ocean/beach.

Great location and nice view of the ocean. Guest service was not the best. And we were given a room in the second hotel which is really outdated and smells like old. You have to walk past a restaurant to the main hotel for the continental breakfast. It would be fine if the hotel wasn’t so outdated and smelly.

Loved it here. Traveling with my 16 year old. Hearst Castle is a must. Beautiful beaches. I was just looking for a place to rest for a couple of days between San Fran and LA. What a great little town and a clean, inexpensive hotel to stay in right on the beach! delicious waffles for breakfast in lobby! Only con: no A/C and the rooms get pretty warm during the day. Rooms have fans tho.

It wasn't a terrible experience but the room was outdated and had some issues the walls were kind of thin we could hear our neighbors the gas fireplace was constantly making noises the bed also wasn't super comfortable the room was very clean the breakfast was a pleasant bonus service was very nice overall it was on par for what we paid and I wouldn't 100% rule out staying there again if I wanted another Budget Hotel in San Simeon

Great location but there is no view of both the ocean or mountains

This hotel has two buildings. The one we stayed, didn't have elevator. In addition, they didn't do our room. When asked the front desk why wasn't our room done, they said that they didn't have staff to clean them. Very disappointing.

I always like the Morgan Hotel. We stay there every year. Comfortable. I like to stay in the north building. There's a pretty garden outside the windows. Roomy, everything is clean. The only disappointment was that they have replaced the old comfy armchairs in the room with uncomfortable office chairs. I liked those old chairs. Also the people who work there are extremely nice, every one of them is pleasant and helpful and genial. I will be back next year.

There were some issues with our room...shower wasn't working properly and the DirecTV couldn't get a signal. The staff (especially John) went above and beyond to rectify the issues, even moved us into an upgraded room. The breakfast was somewhat of a disappointment as it was all carbs. While the hotel is ready for a remodel, it was still a very pleasant stay!

Horrible customer service. We requested to stay in the main building but our request was denied. They sent us to Room 403 which did not have a working heater and the kids could not handle to cold. The receptionist on the night of 11/24/2023 offered us a 20% discount for the inconvenience but Julien who helped us at checkout could not find anywhere on the system that discount. He did not help us connect with management and until today, even a simple phone call to apologize was not received. I have to mention that we sent an email with no response. We were referred to the hotel by a good friend but the experience was not what was expected

2nd time back. Always friendly staff. they get you booked in quick

I got to the hotel early, Tuesday September 3rd, approximately 11am, much earlier than time to check in. The front receptionist was not friendly. She finally squeezed out a grin that even seemed like a chore. I felt she really didn't want to be there. When it was time to check in, we had such an amazing young man help us. He easily shared a smile and went above and beyond normal customer service. He was professional, friendly, and helpful. He had my friend and I laughing. We were so happy he was there to help us instead of the grouchy morning young lady. I gave only 4 stars because of the young man that deserves more than 5 stars. If I would have been rating for the morning employee, only, I would have only given 1 star.

Great experience, hospitality, and customer service John it was exceptional welcoming us upon check-in room was clean and huge bed was comfortable and you could sleep with windows open to listen to the beautiful sounds of crashing waves. Loved it, I will definitely be returned Customer and the price was amazing. Great job the Morgan two thumbs up.

Property is in a good location but needs updating as looking tired. It was also very expensive. The receptionist was very friendly and helpful but the staff working at breakfast were rude and unhelpful. Also for breakfast you were given single use plastic cutlery and plates to use, all of which were just put in the bin afterwards. Not environmentally friendly at all and with the current situation of all the plastic in our oceans it’s disgraceful. Definitely wouldn’t stay again.

Nice clean room and good hotel. Nice breakfast! Easy parking on either front or rear of the property. 2 minutes walk to the beach behind. Walkable from the nearby restaurants. Front desk managers were very helpful and friendly. Definitely recommend!

Great location, Great friendly staff.

It was close to the beach

Great property for visiting the Central Coast including Hearst Castle. They serve a good breakfast. Views of the ocean and a short walk to the beach.

Excellent jumping point for a visit to the Hearst castle area and very accessible along the way

It is a great central location for San Simeon, Cambria, Moonstone Beach, Hearst Castle, and Piedras Blancas Light Station

Great location!

Great location. Easy to access nearby beaches and sights.

Just Right to celebrate our Anniversary. Quaint, Comfortable, Friendly Staff, Great Location. Minimal breakfast selection. Walking distance to two restaurants. Close to Beach and Broadwalk. Less than 10 minute drive to Hearst Castle.

It was quiet and close to the beach/ocean.

We decided to stay over here before continuing to San Fransisco after doing a tour at Hearst Castle close by. The Hotel is named after the Castles architect. It is conveniently located next to the main road, though we could figure out how they post photos of the hotel next to the Ocean, when its not. One can easily stay here longer of you want to tour the region more

Great location, easy access and close to nice beach hike.

This hotel has great ratings, which I don't understand. It is mediocre at best. Upon entering the "Ocean view" room, you couldn't actually see the ocean because the windows were filthy! There were gouges in the walls that should have been filled and touched up and the bathroom door was splintering. The beds were clean and comfortable enough but the air/heating system didn't work. We had used the in room fireplace ealier, which was fine, but there was no way to cool the room for sleep. We all woke up during the middle of the night sweating. Breakfast was very minimal. There was a waffle machine and toaster, yogurt, cold cereal, hard boiledeggs, bananas and mini muffins, barely enough to get you going. I feel that the price point is too high and would not stay again!

The hotel room was wonderful! Fireplace in the room—wonderful! Stairs, not so good. Found ants in my room. Breakfast was not for me—didn’t like the choices

Great options for a continental breakfast...waffles, toast, bagels, fresh fruit, oatmeal.

Breakfast was not good Front staff was absolutely not good.

Bad breakfast!

The room and staff was great! The heated pool was heavenly. Also, they had a good continental breakfast selection. My only complaint is that there are no elevators. As seniors, it was a bit challenging for bringing up the luggage.

the room was quiet and comfortable. Awesome shower. The staff was courteous. The hotel offers breakfast but the options are limited if you are on a no-carb diet. Coffee was average...nothing to write home about.

Great find of what is probably a historical hotel for the area. Definitely has that historic charm with the high end classic interior. Loved room seating area and we could open windows for fresh air. Only let downs were that we could never find the communal lawn area pictured around a firepit (I question whether this is a local park, not at the hotel). There is no view of the ocean from hotel; the brush has since grown too tall, but you can hear the waves from west side of bldg. Breakfast was the one/only serious underperformance. Waffle irons were the only hot food item (which is fine, it lists “continental brkfast”). But, what was offered was so illogically laid out and it made for impractical foot traffic patterns. More importantly, grade ‘D’ on being kept stocked. All carafes were out of coffee repeatedly. Juice, syrup, bread/bagels… all ran out (and this was at 8:30am, not the end). Made for a lot of frustrated and unhappy guests. Better to just offer coffee/tea and keep those stocked than this. I did laugh that on a credenza right by entry to brkfast area, the hotel had a local directory opened to a page for a nearby breakfast diner. This is a really neat and clean, classy vintage hotel. The lack of good breakfast is not a reason to pass on staying here. But in respect to this beautiful old gem, either uphold that standard or stick to coffee and offer a $10 voucher to a local diner. Do brkfast right or dont do it at all. Guests were NOT happy, espec @$200/nt

Great continental breakfast selection. Waffles were delicious, waffle maker was fun to use. Daytime front desk person can be friendlier and more enthusiastic to help.

Really good breakfast variety! Make your own waffles were quick, hot and perfect with the syrup butter and hot coffee! Staff was friendly and helpful