Best Western Fireside Inn Moon

Can't miss with Moonstone Beach

by A TripAdvisor Member

We originally decided on Cambria when we couldn't find lodging in Morro Bay with solid reviews at a reasonable rate. The Fireside Inn is located along Moonstone Beach in Cambria. You can't lose with just about any lodging on Moonstone Beach. All lodging along Moonstone Drive looks over a small two-lane road to the ocean. A boardwalk traverses the bluff along the entire stretch of beach with intersections that lead to staircases to the beach below. From a lookout on the boardwalk we watched local surfers, schools of dolphins, sea otters and flocks of pelicans every morning. An entrance to the boardwalk is directly in front of the Fireside Inn. All rooms have fireplaces, are clean and are very tastefully decorated. Beds were a little stiff but not enough to ding the rating from 5 stars. We highly recommend an oceanfront room at least one night of your visit. Oceanfront rooms have small patios accessed through french doors. Continental breakfast included a do-it-yourself waffle maker, but we found the Moonstone Bar & Grill (within easy walking distance and "what a view") to be a choice for any meal. Locals recommended the Captain's Chest for a seafood dinner. Cambria is an excellent hub for Hearst Castle (15 min.), wineries (15 min.) and Morro Bay (30 min.). My wife and I have traveled all over California and have a web site geared towards California travel. We agreed that Cambria was possibly our top choice for a California destination.

WALK MOONSTONE BEACH

by travelgourmet

Cambria is on Hwy 1, south of Big Sur and about 35 minutes from San Luis Obsipo. If you are in the area, a sight to behold is Moonstone Beach. Just north of the town of Cambria take Moonstone Beach Drive. On one side of the drive is many motels, a couple of restaurants, some art galleries and on the other side is the wondrous Pacific Ocean and the beach.

Driftwood piles high on the shore here. There are walkways along the cliff and stairs down to the beach. You can walk one way for about one mile and all the time looking down to see if you can find the polished moonstone agates, jasper, and California jade. Actual moonstones are not found here. A stroll near sunset on the beach and then retreat to a hotel within steps to freshen up to go out to dinner at a quaint restaurant in Cambria, makes for a restful evening, one you will remember.

Don't miss this Antiques Mall

by keida84 about Country Collectibles & Antiques

One of my favorite things to do in Cambria is walk around the town. Cambria is divided into 3 parts: East Village, West Villiage and Moonstone Beach. You can walk to both villiages however if you are with small children this would not be a good idea as it is a "far" walk. The East Village is a "mecca" of antique shops. I like to mosey through them however my favorite shop which has over 30 different dealers is The Country Collectibles & Antiques. This shop has a very nice collection of memorabillia, vintage clothing, vintage china, crystal and jewlery. Kristi found a treasure trove of vintage postcards depicting many places in Chicago and Indiana. I keep looking for some red flash glass sugar and creamers. There is so much to see and do. Since we did not arrive until late afternoon on a Sunday, the shops were close to closing time so we did not get to see very many shops.

Home to Olallieberry Pie

by travelgourmet about LINN'S CAMBRIA RESTAURANT

After years in Cambria, Linn's had to close down due to a fire and rebuild. Well, they are open now and the son of John and Renee Linn is running the "new" Linn's Cambria Restaurant. Not like the old store with its charm and crowded shelves in the gift section. Now it is wide open and crisp as a new dawn. Perhaps those that loved the old, may be unhappy with the new, but look at it this way. A little bit of the old is in the new, and there are now three stores instead of one.

The Main Bin restaurant at 2277 Main Street in east Cambria has gone upscale with its gift store and gourmet portions but there is the Linn's Easy as Pie location at 4251 Bridge Street for the lighter menu and quick service. The third location is Linn's Gourmet Goods at 4241 Bridge Street for all their own label goods as well as the frozen pies. If you are in the Cambria area or staying over at Moonstone Beach, Linn's is a good choice for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Mention the word, Linn's and I think of Olallieberry pie. It has the physical characteristics of the classic blackberry, but it is genetically about two-thirds blackberry and one-third red raspberry. Not overly sweet but a slight tartness. Having that with a scoop of vanilla ice cream is a great treat. The home comfort food is still available like meat loaf and pot pies.

Excellent Oceanside Stay

by A TripAdvisor Member

If you're crusin' the coast , doin' the Hearst castle(6 mi.) or just want a nice quiet weekend snuggller....this is the place.
Clean well appointed room , very adequate breakfast. A nice little touch are paper towel dispensers at the ends of the corridors to wipe your heavily misted car windows in the morning...(saves on the room towel wear an' tear no doubt)
This is on a short road (Moonstone Beach Dr.), running parallel to the Pacific shore with the actual town of Cambria a quick hop across Route 1.
Check all the little motels on this strip(Moonstone Beach Dr.)
For dinner, I recommend the Brambles at 4005 Burton Dr. in Cambria.

Great Room - Better Than We Expected

by TripAdvisor Member kat650

Just returned from a four day trip to Cambria and I'm so happy that we booked a room at the Best Western Fireside Inn. As far as Best Western's good (and I've stayed in quite a few) this was very surprising. The room was huge! I wasn't expecting such a large room and such a nice room.

We had a large king size bed, armoire, fireplace, "bar sink," closet, couch, chair and an adequetely sized bathroom.

The outside of the Fireside Inn is a little misleading. The outside looks like a nice cottage inn. The hallways of the Inn are a little run down but the inside of the rooms were definitely nice.

Other pros included the location. Right across from the Moonstone Beach, it was great to walk out of the room and then hit the boardwalk to see the sea lions and sunsets (or rain). Plus it was about a five minute drive to downtown Cambria and about a ten minute drive to Hearst Castle.

They had an ok continential breakfast which included juice, coffee, waffle maker, bagels, pastries, fruit, oatmeal. We opted for Linn's in Cambria and I would recommend that to anyone.

Some cons included low pressure from the bathroom sink and shower. Noisy hallways in the mornings. And lack of drawer space for clothes.

All in all, the Best Western Fireside Inn was a great stay and should we come back to Cambria, I'd book a room here again.

Good Location, Good Place to Stay

by TripAdvisor Member Onvalaplage

Found the BW Fireside to be a nice place to stay. You can't beat the location- it's directly across the street from the boardwalk & the ocean. There are seals laying about on the rocks directly across from the hotel plus it's a great place to watch the sunset.

Our room was large and very clean. Though the patio was just a small space with a short brick wall separating it from the parking lot. The patio is not really worth it unless you have an ocean view room. The only real drawback of the room was it was too dark. The only windows are the sliding glass doors which looked out onto the parking lot. But it was still a fine place.

The staff was very friendly and very accommodating. The front desk clerk even corrected the floor plan he gave us because he said it wasn't drawn to scale and he wanted to reassure us our room was just as big as the others. The front desk also has a binder with menus from most of the local restaurants which we found helpful to look over before we decided on a place for dinner. Most of the restaurants are a 5 min drive to the main street area.

One last plus- the big hot tub in the pool area. They keep it really, really hot which is good because it gets really, really cool at night.

It could have been worse

by TripAdvisor Member BrendaStarr3

Yes, it could have been worse, but I would return because it is clean and one of the best on Moonstone. I wasn't impressed, but thought to myself "This could be worse, than what it is" I always check the "Trip Advisor" before booking a hotel. I honestly couldn't find one bad review on "Trip Advisor" about Best Western Fireside Inn. I realize being a Best Western, that it is not a full amenitiy hotel with all the perks, but for $224.00, I expected a little more than what we got. The entire room is no more than 300 sq ft, with the smallest bathroom. Though it is very very clean and quite romantic, I was very disappointed in the size of the bathroom. I could barely move in the bathroom to get ready. Oh and the water pressure is a complete joke and when I complained to management, I was told "Oh sweetie, all the rooms are like that, and nothing can be done about it" I wanted to tell her "Then sweetie, your Inn shouldn't be charging more than $99.00 a night. The breakfast was good both days and I loved the coffee they served. The decor of the rooms is lovely and well put together. The beds were comfortable, but don't let the previous reviews full you. I don't know what pillows they were talking about? The bath towels were a joke in itself. I am 5'4 and weigh 140 pounds and they barely wrapped around my body. My husband is 6 ft at 215 pounds, so you can imagine what he looked like. They were not soft at all, and I can only imagine how many bodies have used them again and again. Though I have complained, I would return again, because unfortunately there isn't to much to choose from in Cambria. We had dinner both nights at "Sea Chest" and this was an exceptional restaurant--but they do not take reservations or accept credit cards, so be prepared--but its a definite must try. Good Luck

A little too expensive, but nice

by TripAdvisor Member youngk

I stayed there in the middle of driving from LA to SF in August. The area is absolutely beautiful, so tranquil and romantic. The hotel was much nicer than I expected. Our room (somehow we got the handicapped one) was large and the bed was very comfortable. Everything was very clean and the free breakfast was great - waffle maker even!
I thought it was a bit more expensive than it was worth (paid upwards of 200), but definitely was a very nice hotel.

A Hidden Gem of California!

by rmlopez74

"My favorite local vacation"

Sometimes, when you need to get away, you want to go someplace close and where you know you are going to have a good time. For us, that place is Cambria. We love to visit on our anniversary. It's relatively close to us, and there is such a relaxed and home town feel to it.

Cambria is close to Hearst Castle, right off the beach, and central to quite a few wineries. Definitely worth the three hours from Los Angeles.

"Moonstone Beach"

Though technically out of Cambria, Moonstone Beach is a great place to eat and stay. There is a whole row of reasonably priced hotels and inns that you can choose from. The views are spectacular!