Wonderful Staff, great views!

My husband and I had a wonderful time at the Mendocino hotel! The staff was curteous, always helpful, and the food was high quality from breakfast to Dinner. After we complemented the kitchen, the chef was even nice enough to take the time and thank us personally. The rooms were beautiful, clean; the atmosphere romantic and the views from the hotel just breathtaking! Thank you!

More praise for a charming hotel

I'll just add to what most others have said about the Hotel Mendocino & Garden Suites - it's a delightful place to stay, in an utterly charming town. We stayed in a Garden Suite, and booked a "Fuel Break" package, which gave us a $25 Shell Gift Card as part of the deal. The room was no bigger than it needed to be, but had a very comfortable bed, and a very spacious bathroom. My only complaint about the room was that there were only wooden chairs to sit in, and it would have been nice to have an armchair to chill in. Mendocino may be somewhat touristy, but for overseas visitors like us, it's a delight. And the gardens in the town are a joy to behold.

Garden Suites comfortable, skip the restaurant

We enjoyed our stay at the Mendocino Hotel (stayed in Garden Suites with fireplaces -- very atmospheric and comfortable). Yes, the furnishings are a little shabby, but as others have written, it's sort of part of the charm! (I had a laugh at the piece of plywood I found between the mattress and the box spring, which helped to make an ageing mattress sleepable). We enjoyed the fireplace each evening. The hotel lobby is beautiful, and the staff was accommodating. Our only negative impression was of the restaurant. The staff was excellent but the food was mediocre -- we would stay again at the suites but would dine elsewhere.

Wonderful find

We just returned from a night in the Mendocino Hotel, where we stayed in one of the rooms without a bathroom. It was perfect for us: a fairly young, adventurous couple who are as likely to camp or stay in a youth hostel as we are to hit up a B&B. I loved the Mendocino Hotel for its sense of history, simple, straightforward period furnishings (most B&B decors are too cutesy-kitchy for my taste) and bargain price/location. We would have liked to have sampled the breakfast and lingered over a drink or dessert in the cozy parlor by the fireplace, but we were in town for a wedding, so we didn't have much spare time to indulge.

We'll be back to take advantage of the two-nights-for-the-price-of-one coupon that they handed me when we checked out. I hope all the disgruntled picky people who left the bad reviews go stay somewhere else that weekend and leave the dining room and the fireplace to us!!!

Balanced view (I think)

I've visited Mendocino numerous times, and stayed at several places in town, including the main part (as in "old part") of the Mendocino Hotel and the Garden Suites of the Mendocino Hotel. I don't plan to look further than the Garden Suites for accommodation ever again. Rooms in the old part leave much to be desired, as is true of many old hotels, though I love the common area with the fireplace and antiques for a late afternoon drink. The Garden Suites, however, are spacious and comfortable -- at least those with a fireplace and adjacent sitting area. Frankly, I'm amazed to see the negative reviews. One must remember that Mendocino, in general, is not -- and does not try to be -- Park Avenue or Union Square or Place Vendome. It's quiet, picturesque, thoroughly relaxing -- maybe a tad shabby in some of its details, but you'll probably conclude, as most do, that it all adds up to a wonderful place. And bear this in mind: while others may find other places to stay that have nicer rooms, I doubt you'll find a better-located spot than the Mendocino Hotel. It's right in town, which you might (mistakenly) take to mean that it's noisy and bustly, but quite the opposite is true. The main town is actually very quiet, since it's sufficiently far away from the main route (Route 1, running along the coast), and sufficiently close to the crashing waves, that it's very quiet, day and night. It's very close to the beaches, the cliffs, the open fields between the town and the shore on the west, and the shops and restaurants.

I'd second someone else's recommendation to book a table at Cafe Beaujolais -- BEFORE you ever get to Mendocino. And I'd skip the restaurant next door to CB: 955 Ukiah is the name and the address.

Noisy, poor service, bad attitude, mediocre food, high prices (only the last is true of CB).

To be thorough in this review, I'd have to tell you the exact room number to ask for at the Garden Suites, which I won't in order that it remain available to me next time, but I'll at least tell you it's on the ground floor and has a fireplace.

Enjoy Mendocino!

This must be heaven!

Mendocino is definitely one of the most beautiful travel destinations in California and Mendocino Hotel and Garden Suites goes well with it. Choose garden suites with a fire place (or as happened to me, check in late and very friendly staff might offer it to you for the much cheaper price of an ordinary room) and you will just love every moment you spend in it, as well as the whole stay in this town. And one more thing  reserve a table in Cafe Beaujolais as soon as you arrive in Mendocino  you will love that too!

The worst place I have ever stayed!

The rooms were filty. The matress and bedding were worn out and stained. The bathrooms needed major renovation and were ill-kept. The front desk was not responsive and seldom answered the phone. I would never stay there and would not recommend it to anyone. Simply the worst!

Not worth the price

Stayed in the garden suites for 3 days in October........much to be desired. Town lovely and great restaurants, but hotel not at all worth the price of the suites. Recommend: coffee pots in room; breakfast to be included; our view from porch was to street, not garden. All in all not worth the price.

The general manager is a jerk!

I have stayed at the Mendocino Hotel once or twice per year for the last five or more years. It's a lovely old hotel (although its room furnishings are getting a little shabby), in a beautiful location. I've stayed in their Victorian/private bath rooms and in their newer garden rooms, and been generally quite happy with the hotel. Unfortunately, however, I had such a poor experience last weekend that I probably won't ever go back. The weather was somewhat unseasonably warm (about 10-12 degrees warmer than is typical in August), and our inside room was insufferably hot. We couldn't sleep, much less enjoy a romantic weekend. On our first night, no fans were available. On our second night, fans were available, but extension cords that were necessary to plug in the fan were not. (After multiple requests to the front desk, to no avail, we asked for the night manager, who was wonderful, and made sure that we finally got one.) While atypical for August, the weather was not freakishly hot-- just more typical of September weather than August weather. The hotel had warned us that our room (the only private bath room available when we booked) was somewhat noisy, but not that it was unlivable when temperatures reached the high 70's. When we discussed this with the general manager on our final morning, his attitude toward us was abysmal. He did not apologize, or offer to make amends in an effort to keep our business (did I mention that I've stayed there about twice a year for at least five years?). He was rude, arrogant, and dismissive. On top of the fact that we didn't even have any soap in the room when we arrived, and that it wasn't ever delivered after two calls to the front desk (we ended up having to go get it ourselves about four hours later), we were seriously underwhelmed by our visit. The hotel's complete lack of attention to our comfort was appalling, and the small discount we were offered did nothing to make up for our discomfort.

Fantastic view

This a fantastic hotel, one of the Historic Hotels of America. Our room was small but led onto a shared balcony with a fantastic view over the crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean. It felt like we had authentically stepped back in time. As we went out of season and turned up on the spot we were given a great reduction. The fullscale rates were rather pricey for the size of the room. Tea and coffee is served in the lounge - polystyrene cups are provided as well as china which is a great idea as we were able to sup our coffee whilst having a wander around outside. A great hotel.