Carmel Green Lantern Inn

Rooms and bathrooms were clean, and we found parking pretty easily when we arrived. I barely needed to move the car because everything was close enough to walk to. There seemed to be a decent amount of street parking too, since it’s a few blocks from downtown. This is a super cute, quaint inn with nice staff, about 2-3 blocks from the main downtown area. It’s far enough away that the street is really quiet, and there are small communal outdoor sitting areas. I don’t think there’s central air, but the windows open and fans are provided in the rooms. I just wish there were screens on the windows.

Coffee, tea and chocolate are available in the office, where you can sit in the lounge and read the paper. The area is cute, and lots of restaurants are within walking distance. We stayed two nights and had a nice stay in a decent room.

The way management handled the issue was dismissive and unprofessional, and we won’t be back. I emailed about what happened and got no reply. Two months later, when I followed up, Amir was rude. He said management had laughed about it and claimed they had “tested” the fireplace and nothing burned near it. He told me I should have used “common sense,” even though our child’s safety was at stake and our belongings were damaged. We asked for a baby gate or another safety solution, but management said they couldn’t do anything and gave me Amir’s contact information instead. We were in a downstairs room with another room in the attic. Our 1.5-year-old is still learning to walk, so we used luggage to block the stairs and fireplace. When I tried turning on the heat one morning, I didn’t realize it was controlled by a fireplace right by the attic stairs. Something smelled like it was burning, and our brand new luggage had melted. There were no warnings or signs that turning on the heat would start the fireplace. The attic got unbearably hot during the day without air conditioning, then very cold at night when the temperature dropped. The space itself was fine, but the stay was very disappointing and felt unsafe for a family with young children. We don’t recommend the property, especially if you’re traveling with kids.

The location was good if you want to walk to the crowds along Ocean. The room, though, was tiny and smelled like cleaning products mixed with wet dog. There was only one small window, which wasn’t enough to clear the smell. We could hear every squeaky floorboard, footstep, toilet flush and more from the room above. The coffee was undrinkable, and the stay was far too pricey for the experience.