‘My holiday was nearly ruined by the American tipping system’

How I Spend It On Holiday: Our reader drives the Pacific Coast Highway, staying in motels and eating microwave meals to keep costs down

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I am a 63-year-old retired hairdresser salon owner. I retired three years ago and sold the business that I started 23 years previously.
I’ve worked full and part-time jobs since I was 17, except for nine years when I was fortunate enough to be able to give up work to bring up my three children.
When our children were young, we enjoyed camping holidays with friends in both France and the UK. We spent many happy weekends in Cornwall.
Once they were all in school I retrained as a hairdresser and started my own business, which I funded with savings, loans from my parents and part-time work.
I met my current husband 20 years ago. This is our second marriage. He is 62 and retired from his role as a bank manager five years ago.
Since retiring we have enjoyed several long trips away travelling around Europe, America and Asia as well as short city breaks in the UK and abroad.
We own a mobile home in Aquitaine in south-west France, where we stay for the months of June and September each year.
Before we retired, our holidays were approximately two weeks of sunshine breaks, usually in the Canary Islands, Spain or France. These trips were always self-organised and done on a budget. We have never taken an all-inclusive or package holiday.
It wasn’t that we didn’t have the money; we both came from backgrounds and generations where money wasn’t squandered, the holidays we took were all we needed at that time.
We have always been involved in renovating older houses so time off (and money) would be spent doing up our homes, and, in our eyes, investment in our future.
We also paid as much as we could into our private pensions knowing this would hopefully lead to early retirement and a life of leisure and travel. We also made extra payments towards our mortgage when we could, and have been mortgage-free for the last five years.
My income during the 20 year period that we have been together was between £30,000 to £55,000 net per year. My husband’s for the same period was between £38,000 to £72,000 net.
In April this year, we spent six weeks travelling through California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah. The example below shows one week of that trip, during which we travelled down the iconic Route 1.
We chose several stopping points along the route recommended by fellow travellers and our own internet research. The route is amazing with fantastic coastal scenery, especially around Big Sur, and wild, open spaces with few other motorists on the road.
Most accommodation was booked the day before or even on the day, usually through Booking.com. We tried to budget around £50 to £75 per night. Our criteria was en-suite, free Wi-Fi, a kettle, a double and, most importantly, parking. Over the whole six weeks, it worked out at approximately £60 per night. The week I focused on was in an expensive area and averaged around £90 per night.
We experienced a lot of budget highway motels typical of America, and also some really nice motels. We also booked the occasional Airbnb and sometimes even ended up with small apartments. All the accommodation was clean. Most of the highway motels were tired and shabby. Not many offered breakfast and the expectation was to eat out or have a microwave meal in.
We found eating and drinking out expensive considering we normally only had mains and one drink each. The meal portions were huge and not always great. Supermarket food shopping was by far the most economical. Coffee and cakes were very expensive. Fuel was cheap.
We found the tipping system very frustrating. You were expected to tip on everything, and the choice started at 18%! Eventually, we stopped tipping and only paid when we felt it was deserved.
Unless stated, all prices are for two people.
We arrived at Santa Cruz along the Atlantic Coastal Highway. Famous for its boardwalk and giant ‘dipper’ rollercoaster built in 1924. We booked into a small motel, the Aqua Breeze Inn (£198.54 for two nights in an en-suite room with parking included, no breakfast). The motel had a fantastic mural of the ocean and animals covering the facade. It was a popular spot and accommodation was limited. We had a room in the corner on the ground floor with stairs directly outside our window; not the best.
We explored the famous 1907 boardwalk with its attractive architecture. The weather was cold and it was quiet. Most of the rides were closed. We did a small supermarket shop for milk, coffee biscuits and fruit (£42.19).
There are very few restaurants along the beachfront. We ate out along the boardwalk in a small cafe called Ideal Bar & Grill. It was essentially a sports bar. A meal and two soft drinks came to £39.54.
Total: £280.27
It was Saturday. We walked slightly inland to the downtown area of Santa Cruz where we enjoyed the relaxed cafe/hippy vibe along Pacific Ave. Two coffees and a cake came to £11.00. We bought lunch from Safeway supermarket (sandwich, crisps and two soft drinks for £25.36). It was pretty cold out so we bought cinema tickets to see Wicked Little Letters (£13.81), plus popcorn and soft drinks (£25.36).
That evening we ate at a small 50s-style diner called Gilda’s on the Wharf. We had two mains and two beers for £45.20. Along the Wharf you watch the sea lions basking and playing in Monterey Bay, along with the pelicans nesting and flying about.
Total: £120.73
On Sunday we drove to Nicholson Vineyard for a wine tasting (£35.10). It was a small family-run place; rustic and charming.
That afternoon we drove to Monterey where we checked into Padre Oaks Inn for three nights. A small room with en-suite cost £204.29 for two nights. It was newly refurbished and came with parking. While it was a little out of town (a 45-minute walk down to the coast) it suited us well. We followed the walking trail along the coast, called Pacific Grove and to “lovers point” and along to the “kissing rock”.
At Fisherman’s Wharf that evening, we ate dinner in Paluca Trattoria, a rustic Italian restaurant on the corner of the wharf overlooking the harbour. It seemed like one of the most popular restaurants there and the staff were very attentive and friendly. The food was excellent.
Dinner, dessert for two and a bottle of wine came to £121.36. Monterey is clean with white-sand beaches and a good choice of restaurants and cafes.
Total: £360.75
We had brunch at the Beach House, a cute cafe overlooking the bay (£30.91). Then we booked the Monterey Bay Aquarium (apparently the best in America but at £96.51 we found it to be expensive. It was big and impressive; split across two levels. The highlight for us was stroking the velvetty manta rays. We paid £25 to park the car for the day.
We bought two cakes and two coffees at the Aquarium (£19.85). The cafe there was basic and expensive with unhelpful staff.
In the evening, we ate at Midici, a Neapolitan-style pizza place. We found it on Alvardo Street, an attractive, trendy street full of restaurants and bars. A main meal each and two drinks (gin and tonic and a beer) cost £78.91.
Total: £251.18
We drove to Carmel by the sea and stopped at one of the cafes and had two coffees and two cakes (£20.45).
Carmel is a quaint town known for its interesting fairytale-like houses (Hansel & Gretal cottages) built by Hugh Comstock to store his wife’s handmade rag dolls. There’s a popular walking trail where you can spot them all as well as the Forest Theatre, built in 1910 one of the first outdoor theatres west of Mississippi. It is still used today.
There is also a 17-mile driving trail, with 17 points of interest and viewpoints to find the lone cypress trees, the ghost trees, bird rock and point Joe (£10.00 entrance fee).
Carmel has several interesting laws such as no street addresses for residential properties; you are guided to a particular house by small landmarks instead (take the next left after the driftwood fence etc). There are also no parking meters or street lights, and my particular favourite; you need to apply for a permit to wear high heels. There are also no chain restaurants allowed.
That evening, back in Monterey, we ate at a British-owned pub called The Britannia Arms on Alvarado Street. The vibe was overtly British and the owner was very friendly. We thought the food was good too. Two main meals and two drinks came to £51.45. We then had drinks at a bar (£11.58) and filled the car with petrol (£47.91).
Total: £141.39
We did a supermarket shop for breakfast, buying croissants, milk and snacks (£25.32) and then drove to San Simeon, an area along the coastal highway. We checked into the Quality Inn for one night where a large room with an en-suite came to £68.14 including breakfast. The hotel had a small pool, parking and the staff were helpful and friendly.
We explored the beach; a very quiet bay.
That evening we ate at Sur restaurant, a convenient spot just up the road from our hotel where two mains and two beers came to £40.28.
Total: £133.74
We visited Hearst Castle in San Simeon. Built by the publishing tycoon, William Randolph Hearst, on top of a hill and now a Californian state park, the castle was started in 1919 and finished in 1947. Unfortunately large sections of the coastal road around Big Sur were closed due to landslides, but we doubled back on ourselves to visit the castle as we’d been told it was worth it. The entrance fee cost £48.38 for two but it was such an interesting place so well worth the money; don’t miss it if you’re in the area. We bought two bottles of water (£4.22).
We drove on to Grover Beach, a reasonably large town, and checked into Pacific Plaza resort for two nights. This was a large self catering apartment with a beach vibe. Parking and a room with an outside terrace cost £154.59. The apartment had a full kitchen which gave me the opportunity to cook each evening and make breakfast each morning.
We did a supermarket shop for supplies of washing pods, bread, cheese, milk, fruit, tea, cereal and microwave dinners for two evenings and a bottle of wine (£73.10).
Total: £280.29
We drove along Pismo Beach, famous for being able to drive on in a four-wheel drive vehicle. £4.00 to drive on the sand. Relaxed and caught up with laundry and did some planning for the next part of the trip.
We filled the car up with fuel (£35.69).
Total: £39.69
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