Pam Marino here, after having toured Monterey Peninsula’s newest hotels set to open within the next month or so, Marriott’s dual-branded Courtyard and Residence Inn hotel in Sand City and the Kimpton Mirador in Pacific Grove.
The interior designs of the hotels are beautiful, reflective of a relaxed yet refined coastal feel, with the Kimpton, a luxury boutique hotel, on the more elegant side.
It’s an exciting time for both cities, which will reap the benefits of much-needed transient occupancy taxes. The Courtyard has 127 rooms, Residence Inn includes 88 suites and the Mirador features 99 rooms. Hopefully surrounding businesses will see increased sales, which will in turn bring in sales taxes.
Of the three, the Marriott hotels are the closest to opening, with a tentative opening date of Jan. 12, but you can get a sneak peak this weekend with the grand opening of the Lido Stage, located in the large courtyard between the two hotels, located at 800 Morgans Way, Sand City. It’s part of the 2025 Holiday Market being hosted in partnership with West End Celebration, the first in what is planned to be a series of arts and music events there.
From noon to 4pm on Sunday, Dec. 21, rain or shine, there will be more than 15 local vendors, plus performances by Schuyler Horn (a Monterey County Weekly alum), Shannon & The Night Divers and Eyes Like Lanterns, plus holiday carols by the Martin Luther King Jr. School of the Arts.
It’s the kind of event that Marriott plans on hosting often to create a welcoming gathering spot for locals, according to Tina Bell, sales and events coordinator, who took me on a tour of the hotel a few weeks ago.
“This was designed for the community, visitors and locals,” she says. Bell is a local herself, a Seaside native born and raised, who’s now in charge of inviting her neighbors into the new space.
They plan on offering a morning yoga class on the Lido Stage, or indoors depending on the weather, which will be free to both guests and locals. In the breakfast area for Residence Inn guests, Bell is imagining trivia nights and karaoke.
There are also plans for summer music festivals and dance events, which Bell says is an extension of Sand City’s vibrant art and music scene.
The hotel property was designed with Monterey County events in mind, like the spacious lobby with floor-to-ceiling windows and clear roll-up doors, where they’ll be able to drive vehicles through to the courtyard for Car Week events. Bell says they can literally drive a food truck through the space.
Over at the Mirador in P.G., they’re still working on completing the rooms and installing all the finishes, as well as completing the destination restaurant, The Caledonian, which will open the same day as the hotel.
Both locations are planning on welcoming in guests for the Super Bowl the weekend of Feb. 8, played at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, as well as for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Feb. 12-15—quite the way to kick off brand-new hotels.