From the Road: Carmel and Tickle Pink Inn

On our way back north from Big Sur, we spent the night in Carmel by the Sea.  Carmel is a beautiful town just south of Monterey.  It’s an inspiring location that many artists have gravitated to over the years.  The area is lush with vegetation; everything from Impatients to Bird of Paradise.

We stayed at Tickle Pink Inn which was a bit of a splurge for our budget but well worth it.  Each evening from 4-6PM they have a complementary wine and cheese tasting.  We had our choice of two reds, two whites, and two sparkling wines, three spreadable cheeses in addition to some fruit and other harder cheeses.  On your first night, they also bring a bottle of champagne to your room.  Robes and slippers are provided, you can take the slippers home with you.  One of my favorite things was the individual loofah and oatmeal soap bar provided amongst the other toiletry items.  Each room also includes WiFi, a mini fridge, satellite TV, and a DVD player.  You can bring your own movie or borrower one from their library.

Tickle Pink Inn doesn’t have a full service restaurant but the hotel next door has one within walking distance.  There are also a number of restaurants that will deliver if you don’t feel like leaving your room.  I do recommend steering clear of Flaherty’s though.  They consider themselves to be the best seafood restaurant around and I can tell you we spent way too much for a highly disappointing meal.

The bed was incredibly comfortable.  They painstakingly seek out the best in all aspects of the bedding.  The pillows were just right on the firmness scale.  I wanted to roll myself in to a human burrito in the fluffy comforter.  The sheets were soft and the mattress comfortable.  The fog had begun to roll in around dinner time dampening our hopes to sit out on our balcony overlooking the ocean while the sun set (all of their rooms have ocean views and balconies), and by morning the fog had completely enveloped us.  It was pretty and romantic in its own way.

Not to be out done by Holiday Inn Express (see my earlier article: https://thezestytraveler.com/fromtheroadholidayinnexpress.html), Tickle Pink Inn also boasts a complimentary breakfast.  Ours included eggs Florentine, ham, bagels, muffins, cereal, oatmeal, fresh fruit, tomato juice, grapefruit juice, orange juice, water, apple juice, tea, coffee, and water.

I hate to say there was a down side to this romantic Inn but you can hear a bit more of the street traffic than you probably would otherwise like in such a setting.  There really isn’t enough traffic though to make that a major concern and I would absolutely reserve a room here again…I would just pick a different restaurant for dinner.  🙂

We somewhat begrudgingly left the comfort of Tickle Pink Inn and headed back down the road just a few minutes to Point Lobos State Reserve.