Fireplace Lounge - Monterey

I ate lunch and grabbed a quick breakfast from here while staying at the Hyatt for a conference. This lounge which is across from the registration desk is a wonderful place to hang out and relax between sessions, or listen to live music at night. There is a huge gas fireplace in the middle and glass windows give you a great view of the golf course outside. However, getting a meal or drink here can try your patience. They were understaffed on Saturday around lunch time, so it took a long time for someone to take my order and deliver my Grilled Steak Salad to my table. I barely had 10 minutes to eat my lunch! You'd think they'd staff the lounge during lunch time when it's busy! As can be expected in a hotel like this, lunch food prices were pretty high. The Grilled Steak Salad I ordered was $16. It probably had 4 ounces of steak on it. It was fine, nothing too exciting. It took a while to get to my table too. As for breakfast, I got lucky that there wasn't a long line Sun morning to get a cup of Chai Latte and a donut. It was $6+ for both. They also sell pastries, bagel with cream cheese, granola and yogurt, and fresh fruit cups for breakfast. You'll have to eat at TusCa Restaurant if you want a fancier and made to order breakfast.

They 've added two additional days of the week where they do live music and that 's what makes this place a destination spot. The problem is, we were going to head out to a Thanksgiving show, because the performer was here from out of town. I called to see where the music would be played because holidays are always questionable. First problem was, I couldn 't get through to a live person. I am persistent, because we had a large party of ten who would be interested in dining for TG here, as long as we had the live music. When I finally got through, I got transferred to the concierge who said, We don 't handle that, Dr. Morwood handles the music so try contacting him, okay? and was about to just be dismissed. I said wait a minute, I have questions. Is the live music in the Fireplace Lounge on TG and will we be able to order from the pre-fixe TG menu from Tusca? She puts me on hold and comes back and says no, we can 't have the TG menu unless we go to Tusca and it 's booked. But yes, the live music is in the FP lounge. So our party of ten made plans elsewhere and a few of us were going to come here after dinner for the music. I got here first, and was given two menus. One regular menu and then the special pre-fix menu for the holiday! I wanted to bang my head against the wall. Since we had to make other arrangements for dinner, they lost potential business for the evening, but they don 't seem to care. There 's just an air of nonchalance. I 've been back because of the music and the servers don 't acknowledge that they recognize me. I am one who returns specifically for great service and nothing else matters. They have one male server who is good. Other than that, you 'll wait and wait and probably have to flag them down when you need something. If you are paying money to have live performances, you should invest in creating a comfortable environment with informed staff. I 'm sure I 'll be back. What 's good on the current menu (Jan 2019). A friend raves about the cheesecake. Another friend likes the salads. I love the margherita flatbread. The tomatoes and the sauce are juicy and impart great flavor. I go to other places for live music, and now that the same people are starting a Sunday Jazz at East Village Coffee Lounge, I am not sure how often I 'll come back. It depends on who 's playing and whether or not they are performing elsewhere .... But, *sigh, so much potential. The live music is outstanding. The venue is spacious and comfortable. They do allow pets, from what I can see. They have coffee from an espresso machine. All the traits are there just waiting for a good service program.

Chris was our waiter and he was so splendid. Excellent service, attentive, accommodating and friendly! Will be back just for his shift! Listened to Austin Metreyeon play for a few hours and enjoyed the entire experience!

If you're in a hurry or on a budget, forget about it. This place has turned into The Big Ripoff. Think $13 and up for a mixed drink with well liquor or a Jack Daniels. Think $23, $24 for a very basic Bibb lettuce salad with a salmon fillet added. Also, note that the prices on the beer menu aren't accurate. The flatbread pizza is no bargain or gourmet dish, either. On the positive side--the hummus eggplant dish is a good value, and the calamari is better than average. The menu seems to change, almost from week to week, but for a hotel that has a sports bar and a full service restaurant adjacent to the lounge, the offerings are very limited. Service is friendly, when you can get it, but it can take 45 minutes to get even the most basic dish and half an hour or more to pay your tab. They tend to have good jazz on weekends, but they no longer announce the performers in advance, so you don't know who will be performing. Sad that the place has become such a sinkhole for your money and time.

I just flew in and found the entire city in darkness. I love how the lobby bar and lounge took very quick advantage of this power outage and created a light 's out menu with grilled items. I wasn 't really in the mood for something heavy so I ordered their Clam Chowder which was warm, satisfying and was seasoned with rosemary with a heavy hand. Which i totally liked. Love the fireplace in the middle of the lobby. Love the outdoor patio overlooking the greens. The bartender was friendly and very accommodating.