The closest Holiday Inn Express to where I need to be is in Cannery Row near Monterey, CA. Judging by John Steinbeck’s description, it seems it’d rank as appauling vs. appealing. But, that was a snapshot from a lifetime ago during the Great Depression. Is Cannery Row a decent area today? Am I staying in the middle of an urban setting? Judging from Google Earth, the area seems urban, but Google Earth can’t give me the full picture.
My alternate choice is a Holiday Inn Express in Seaside, CA nearby. Is that a nicer area? Would I have much traffic to contend with at rush hour trying to get in/out of the Monterey area?
I haven’t been there since the 1980’s, and I was amazed at what a tourist attraction it has become, brightly lit and booming into the middle of the night. In 1961, I worked for a couple of years for a company that was located on the second floor of the Bear Flag Building, and it was a sleepy street with almost no traffic, but there was a little gift shop on the ground floor of the Bear Flag Building. But most of the building was vacant. That was the interregnum between the canning industry and the tourism industry. As I recall, there was only one cannery that was still open for business in 1961, so the street was very close to being a ghost town, although a couple of blocks away, Lighthouse Avenue was a typical main drag through Pacific Grove, looking like any other small California town.
We visit Monterey at least twice a year to go to the Aquarium. It’s about a 2.5 hour drive for us, so it’s a nice weekend trip. Cannery Row is touristy, but they have done a good job of keeping the old buildings so it is fairly nice-looking. You’d be right by the bay, which is really pretty. I would say yes, it is a decent area, just touristy and more expensive as a result.
We’ve never stayed on Cannery Row, mostly because of the more expensive thing. We usually stay either in downtown Monterey or in Pacific Grove. Once we stayed at the Embassy Suites in Seaside. Seaside is fine - it’s just not as pretty as Monterey and more strip-mallish. Your basic non-historic California town. If you’re looking for ambiance, Cannery Row is definitely superior. Personally, I prefer downtown Monterey to Cannery Row because it is historic without the in-your-face touristyness.
I don’t know about rush hour traffic. We’ve never had a problem with traffic in Monterey, but then again we’re visitors. The only direct way to get to Cannery Row from Seaside goes through the tunnel under the Presidio, so it could get backed up there.
I’ve stayed in Seaside for a horse show my daughter was in. Fine for getting up early, going to the show, coming back, eating dinner, and collapsing. Cannery Row is better for seeing things.
Never stayed there myself but stayed in a resort in the Carmel Valley for a week for my Jeopardy prize - 60 miles from my house.
I have spent time in the Monterey Bay Area every year for over 40 years and look hopefully to the day I will live there. But, yeah - Cannery Row is now touristy with a couple of decent restaurants.
But if the point of a visit to the Monterey Bay Area is that part of Cannery Row, you’ve missed everything important. Go to Lover’s Point in Pacific Grove, or the Mission in Carmel, or the drive down Hwy 1 to Big Sur for hot cider at Nepenthe, where if you get a clear day you get one of the most beautiful things to look at on Earth, literally. Then you’ve just gotten started.
Downtown Monterey area: Lots of old historic buildings in the immediate area, dating from California’s earliest American days, within a short walking distance of one another, if you’re into historic stuff. Maritime museum. Whaling museum (if it’s still there; I saw it 20-some years ago, with sidewalk in front paved with whalebone). Jumping-off point for whale-watching cruises. Sea lions.
Pacific Grove has an old lighthouse, if you’re into lighthouses.
If it’s an easy choice between staying in Monterey or Seaside, you want to stay in Monterey, for sure. It’s a small, pretty little town on the sea. Seaside, ironically, doesn’t evoke images of the sea. It’s more about fast food restaurants, adult bookstores, liquor stores, cheap hotels you might rent by the hour, and lots of big chain stores.
The whole area is pretty small, so I wouldn’t worry about traffic.