Fifty-two rooms on Cabrillo Highway, now operating as the Aristocrat Hotel under the Best Western Signature Collection, with a free hot breakfast, a small fitness room, and a pet-friendly policy. It is the practical mid-tier address on the Half Moon Bay coast, exactly what a Best Western Plus is supposed to be.
"Fifty-two rooms on Cabrillo Highway, now operating as the Aristocrat Hotel under the Best Western Signature Collection, with a free hot breakfast, a small fitness room, and a pet-friendly policy. It is the practical mid-tier address on the Half Moon Bay coast, exactly what a Best Western Plus is supposed to be."
The Best Western Plus Half Moon Bay, now formally operating as the Aristocrat Hotel under the Best Western Signature Collection sub-brand, sits at the south end of Half Moon Bay village on the inland side of Cabrillo Highway, a five-minute drive from the Half Moon Bay state beach and a ten-minute drive from the Ritz-Carlton cliff-top resort. The building is a two-storey, fifty-two-room property arranged around a small interior courtyard with parking on three sides. It is unambitious in profile and well-run in practice, which is the entire point of the category.
Rooms divide between standard kings and queens, family suites with a sofa bed, and four upgraded suites with a gas fireplace. All categories include a Serta pillow-top mattress, a refrigerator, a microwave, an in-room coffee setup with Peet's pods, a flat-screen television with cable, and free WiFi. Bathrooms are recently renovated with subway tile, full-size bath products, and walk-in showers in most categories with combination tub-showers in the family suites. The fireplace suites face the courtyard and run roughly $80 above a standard king in peak season. Decor is contemporary neutral rather than coastal-themed, which is the more durable choice for the property.
The free hot breakfast is the property's most-cited amenity. The service runs daily from 6:30 until 9:30 in the small ground-floor breakfast room and includes hot eggs and bacon, a waffle station, fresh fruit, yogurt, baked goods, and good coffee, with vegetarian and gluten-free options on the cold side. The fitness room is a small but properly equipped two-treadmill, one-bike, free-weight setup. There is no on-site restaurant or bar, no pool, and no spa; guests cross the highway by foot to Cetrella or 3-Zero Cafe or drive five minutes to the harbor for dinner.
Service is friendly rather than polished, the staff-to-room ratio is what you would expect for the category, and the front desk runs twenty-four hours. The property is dog-friendly with up to two dogs and an 80-pound size limit per room, free on-site parking is included, and the location is the most convenient mid-tier base for the southern half of the San Mateo coast. For a family weekend at the state beach, for a corporate visitor to Half Moon Bay's small but real biotech and venture cluster, or for a couples weekend that wants the coast at a sane price, this is the right room.
For a family weekend at the Half Moon Bay coast, the Best Western Plus is the most rational booking on the south end of town. Reserve a family suite with the sofa bed and connecting room option if you have two or more children, take the free breakfast on the way to the state beach, and use the in-room refrigerator and microwave to manage the afternoon snack budget. The pool-free property is a real consideration for very young children, but for ages four and up the five-minute drive to the state beach is the better swim anyway. The pet-friendly policy is the deciding factor for families travelling with a dog.
As a Business stay, the Best Western Plus works for the price-conscious corporate traveller calling on the Half Moon Bay biotech and agricultural cluster (Coastside Land Trust, Sand Hill Bio, the Half Moon Bay Brewing operation), the Stanford-affiliated faculty driving down for a coastal weekend retreat, or the sales rep on the San Mateo and Santa Cruz coast route. The fast free WiFi, the twenty-four-hour front desk, the free breakfast, and the free on-site parking make the total cost-of-stay calculation work, and the property sits twenty-five minutes from SFO and forty-five from downtown Mountain View.
1410 South Cabrillo Highway
Half Moon Bay, CA 94019
United States
South end of Half Moon Bay village, 5 minutes to state beach, 25 minutes to SFO
52 rooms and suites
Standard king or queen from $169/night
Family suite with sofa bed from $229/night
Fireplace suites from $289/night
Peak weekends to $389/night
Free hot breakfast included
Check-in: 3:00 PM
Check-out: 11:00 AM
Pet-friendly (up to 2 dogs, 80 lb each, $25/night/pet)
Free WiFi, free on-site parking, 24-hour front desk
Fifty-two rooms in two-storey courtyard layout
Free hot breakfast, 6:30-9:30 AM daily
Small fitness room (treadmill, bike, free weights)
Recently renovated bathrooms
In-room refrigerator, microwave, Peet's coffee
Free WiFi throughout
From $169/night. Weekend dates book one to four weeks ahead in season; midweek availability is usually open closer in.
See Current Rates →The 261-room cliff-top resort at the south end of town, the spa and golf benchmark of the San Mateo coast.
The 81-room lodge at the head of the Old Course golf links, the closest mid-tier sibling to this property.
The 95-room Princeton harbor hotel with marina-front rooms and a small spa.
The 54-suite all-suite property on Pillar Point Harbor with kitchenettes and ocean views.
Sign up for deal alerts: fifth night free offers, resort credits, and the upgrade windows we would book ourselves.