InterContinental The Clement Monterey is a luxury waterfront hotel on Monterey’s Cannery Row. Overlooking the sapphire waters of California’s famous Monterey Bay, this resort and spa provides the perfect base to explore this magnificent part of California’s famous coastline.
Built on the site of the former Del Mar Canning Company, the Clement Monterey has been a luxury hotel of choice on the famous Cannery Row in Monterey since it opened in 2008. Now filled with an eclectic blend of galleries, restaurants and gift stores, Cannery Row, named after John Steinbeck’s novel, was once the site of multiple sardine factories, the result of Monterey’s history as the ‘Sardine Capital of the World’.
The seemingly inexhaustible supply of sardines that existed around the 1940s would eventually collapse and the waterfront would slowly re-emerge, re-inventing itself as a holiday resort area, Monterey one of the perfect stop off points along California’s spectacular Big Sur.
The hotel sits right on the waterfront with a veranda that lies directly over the waters of Monterey Bay. It proves to be a spectacular setting for mesmerising sunrises and sunsets.
Hotel
When it opened in 2008, the InterContinental The Clement Monterey was the first new waterfront hotel to be built in Monterey in over 20 years. It quickly established itself as one of the leading luxury hotels in the area. The hotel has won multiple ‘Torchbearer Awards’, which is the top award within the InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG) recognising the highest honours for quality and service.
Despite its relative modernity, the hotel has been sympathetically designed to blend into the style and architecture of the area. It has a New England style wooden clad façade with Victorian white sash style windows, creating a simple, but elegant look. The hotel spans both sides of Cannery Row with a walkway across the road joining the two sections of the hotel.
The lobby area is spacious, the ground floor of the hotel making the most of its location, with floor to ceiling glass windows and doors in the main areas, ensuring the views of the water are showcased as much as possible.
Room
The hotel has 208 rooms from standard rooms to suites, catering for all requirements. We stayed in a ‘two double classic’ – this was a great room for us travelling as a family of four. The room was bright, airy and spacious, featured two huge double beds and a small balcony overlooking Cannery Row.
The rooms are simply and tastefully decorated. There was plenty of storage for luggage, as well as everything you would expect of a luxury hotel with a large flatscreen television, mini bar and Nespresso coffee making machine. The spacious marble bathroom had a separate bathtub and shower, accompanied by luxurious soft bathrobes and thick towels.
Food
The C Restaurant and Bar is the hotel’s dining option, providing both breakfast and dinner. The restaurant provides a magnificent waterfront dining experience, with ocean views from every table in the restaurant.
We enjoyed a breakfast here on one of our mornings. Buttermilk pancakes and Belgian waffles received firm praise from our two boys, whilst my wife and I both enjoyed traditional eggs benedict.
We also dined at C restaurant one evening. The service was attentive as my wife and I shared a huge plate of Monterey Bay calamari to start. I followed that with a New York steak accompanied by Blue Lake beans and potato gratin. My wife opted for the delicately cooked Pacific swordfish with grilled asparagus, potato lyonnaise and a white wine caper sauce. Mini burgers satisfied two hungry children. There are some stunning Californian wines on offer to accompany the delightful menu.
To do
The hotel has a spa and a 24-hour fitness centre. It also has a heated outdoor pool, although this is more of a spa pool, limited in size. However, the Clement Monterey is best used as a luxury base to explore the wider Monterey area and its surrounds.
The hotel is just a few steps from the celebrated Monterey Bay aquarium, opened in 1984. This highly regarded aquarium has a mission ‘to inspire conservation of the ocean’ and features over 200 exhibits with 80,000 plants and animals, providing a ‘window to the wonders of the ocean’. It’s a great family day out.
Monterey is also a dream base for golfers, the area awash with world famous challenging and magnificent courses, set against the rugged Pacific coastline. You can play the likes of Pebble Beach, The Links at Spanish Bay and Spyglass Hill golf course. The exclusive 17 Mile Drive also includes golf courses such as Cypress Point and the Monterey Peninsula Country Club, where you will need to be invited by a member to experience their beauty and renown.
Slightly further afield is the likes of Hearst Castle, a two and a half hour drive away, high up in the San Simeon hills. An extraordinary property, built by the media magnate, William Randolph Hearst, it was constructed as a summer house and took nearly three decades to build. It played host to guests including the likes of Winston Churchill and Charlie Chaplin, and is now a California State Monument, featuring a staggering array of rare artwork, furniture, statues, tapestries and other artefacts collected by Hearst over many years.
We visited Hearst Castle as part of our journey down the coast to Santa Barbara, after which we continued on to Anaheim for a few days at Universal Studios and Disney, which were long and exhausting, but exhilarating days that certainly brought smiles to the faces of our ten- and eight-year-old boys. Both Universal and Disney are a must-include part of any Californian trip that passes Anaheim.
In a nutshell
InterContinental The Clement Monterey is a great hotel in a delightful location, a perfect base to explore the immediate and wider area. Friendly staff, lovely rooms, good facilities on site. Everything you would expect of an InterContinental hotel.
Factbox
Standard double rooms at the InterContinental The Clement Monterey start at just over $300 per night.
Address: 750 Cannery Row, Monterey, California, 93940
Phone: (+1) 831 375 4500
Website: ihg.com
