Sanctuary Beach Resort, Marina

We stayed at the Resort for my husband's birthday and as soon as I walked into the lobby I knew I was going to LOVE this place!!! We got there around 5:30 and were upgraded to a better room because we were the last one's to check in and there was space available. The golf carts to drive around the property in are fun, the room and the views were gorgeous and the staff was all very helpful and nice! We loved the decor in our room and even inquired about where they ordered their comforter sets from. We're already planning another visit!

I called the resort to make a reservation on May 26, 2011 to spend a weekend with my mom in Monterey from August 4-6, 2011 in lieu of spending Mother's Day with her. I don't really remember the conversation I had with the reservation agent in detail but she offered me some sort of upgrade. After we hung up, the agent sent me an email confirmation with the upgraded room name (a partial view junior suite) and the price I agreed to pay. The email also said "guaranteed" on it. And, yes, I still have the email. I called the hotel several days before my arrival to make sure that I had a room with a double bed. I asked this question because my mom is elderly and she also came down with a cold. They said that they did not have rooms with double beds but the room class I reserved had a pullout couch so we would have no problem sleeping separately. The reservation agent did not tell me that they actually considered my reservation to be an upgrade and that giving me the room listed on the email confirmation was under their discretion. If I knew it was discretionary, I would have cancelled my reservation (which at that point in time I could have done without penalty.) When I got to hotel, unbeknownst to me, the woman at the desk checked me into a room below the grade I reserved. I didn't know this of course until I got to the room and it was not the grade they confirmed for me earlier. I was really surprised and upset, especially since my mom wasn't feeling well and wanted to lie down. So I immediately called the General Manager, Reggie. Reggie said that he couldn't give me the room promised on the email because none of those rooms were available. He said my upgrade was a verbal promise and he would what he could. He then came over himself to the room and presumably was going to tell me that he just couldn't find me a room until I showed him the written proof in the form of the email they sent me. In other words, I proved to him that this wasn't a verbal promise - I had the room name in writing. Amazingly, after he saw the email I saved, there just happened to be two suites available. And, yes, after a while of this back and forth, we were moved to the room originally promised. We also had some other issues wtih a TV not working during our entire stay etc. Just overall unprofessional service.

This resort was awesome. It was a great view and a great suite for the price. Having your own golf cart was so much fun and dining at AJ spurs was not only convenient but very nice! If anyone is thinking of staying here I highly recommend it. My boyfriend and I only got to spend one night there, I only wish we could have stayed longer!!

Beds were horrible, especially pulls outs, room were very clean and very quiet, nice scenery from the room price Restaurant at hotel was excellent

They now have a new restaurant named Kula and it is fabulous! Probably the best place we ate all week, even in Monterey. Also terrific bike trails if you can take the hills.

I loved everything about our stay. From the room service to the cleanliness of our suite. Everyone was friendly and ready to help and please. There is a resturant right on site that has some tasty food and drinks.

Overall the experience was great. Beautiful veiws, nice ammenities. The only downside was taking a golf cart up to the room. It would have been much more convienent to park the car in front of the room. And they gave our golf cart away while we were off property for dinner. Apparently they do not have enough for everyone. They did get us a new one but it took about 30 mins. The room was clean and cozy and free turndown service was a nice touch. Room also had a patio with partial ocean and dune views.

We had an excellent 2 night stay at the Marina Dunes. Our Jr. Suite was clean and had a nice view, and a comfortable bed. We appreciated being in a single story unit (2 rooms per unit). The gas fireplace was the only source of heat and worked well, although it did cycle on and off throughout the night. Our only disappointment was the on site restaurant--AJ Spurs. The food was mediocre at best; we would not recommend it other than for its convenience. On the other hand, we had an excellent dinner at Dishes Bistro, which was only a short drive away in town.

After a week of traveling and staying in hotels, we were not expecting such a plush and beautiful resort. Your staff was excellent and the restaraunt was really good too. We look forward to returning to the Marina Dunes in the neat future.

I guess you can spend a lot more to stay in the Monterey area, but for $150, this left something to be desired. The good. Great potential; on the beach, nice bungalows, views, and fireplace. The bad; too remote. You are not near any services. The rooms are not well stocked. Lousy mini bar. Made worse because you cannot step out into your car. Instead, you have to drive a rickety golf cart to get to your room. Particularly annoying in the morning when I learned there was not even a coffee service available. The rooms included a single serving of utterly inedible freeze dried coffee (reminded my of the Motel 6's I used to stay in). Had to first drive the golf cart out to my car, then drive off into Marina just to find a Starbucks! Took 45mins to return with coffee for my wife. Also, the staff was either overwhelmed or just slow. Took a long time to get anything from them. Lastly, can't believe a relatively high end resort would not have wireless internet access. In fact, they advertised their modem connections! Welcome to 1992! This might be a case of accountants running a business they don't understand. The expensive part is taken care of. Instead, they cut corners to save a few bucks and really dimish what could be a great spot.