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The Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa
Perched along the edge of Monterey Bay on the Pacific Ocean, the out-of-the-way Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa offers weary travelers a luxurious respite from the ordinary. Monterey is not on any regularly scheduled airline route; it can be reached only by car, boat, or general aviation airplane landing at the nearby Monterey Peninsula Airport.
For anyone new to the charms of the northern California coast, the Monterey Plaza’s seaside accommodations make an ideal introduction. Many of its 290+ elegantly appointed rooms literally sit atop waves that break on the rocky shoreline beneath the building’s western side.
 The hotel boasts 10 suites, including three new Penthouse Luxury Suites ranging in size from 1,500 to 2,100 square feet with working fireplaces.
Monterey was first settled in the late 1800s, and soon became home to sardine processing and canning factories perched on the shore. Today, the town is known for the annual Monterey Jazz Festival in September, the Monterey Wine Festival in April, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and a number of gift and craft shops that have sprung up in the old factory buildings.
Nearby attractions beckoning to visitors include the seaside town of Carmel, the hallowed golfing ground at Pebble Beach, Hearst’s castle at San Simeon and day trips down Hwy. 101 through Big Sur.
The resort itself is perched between Cannery Row, made famous in John Steinbeck’s 1945 novel of the same name, and the bay. Many rooms on the hotel’s bay side have private balconies from which you can enjoy the cool ocean breeze, a glass of fine chardonnay and glorious sunsets.
The Monterey Plaza boasts a rooftop fitness center and a full-service spa with a variety of personalized massage therapies, facials and hydrotherapy baths. The resort is home to two restaurants overlooking the bay, the excellent, elegant Duck Club, and Schooner’s Bistro, which sits on a deck outside the hotel.
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But for the most memorable dining experience, walk a block or so south on Cannery Row to the Sardine Factory, one of the world’s great restaurants. Waiters at the Sardine Factory get one star on their uniforms for five years of service, and don’t be surprised to see waiters with four or five stars on their sleeves. Equally well established is the wine cellar, which holds vintages that predate the civil war.
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