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CYPRESS INN
C
ypress Inn, right smack in the heart of
Carmel-By-The-Sea, is more than just a dog-
friendly hotel; it is a dog-
loving
hotel. No, it is a
dog-
heaven
hotel. If I come back as a hound or a
pug, this is where I want to stay. But, lest you get the
wrong impression, Cypress Inn is also a great place
for humans, too. It’s just that our four-legged friends
have it so good here. And, it is all the doing of the
hotel’s longtime owner, actress Doris Day, a dog
lover of historical proportions. Ms Day co-owns the
hotel with Dennis LeVett. We arrived just days after
a big poodle weekend that featured a parade of some
60 dogs. Forty of them stayed at the Cypress Inn.
Many were still hanging around, with their owners,
of course.
I can see why. It’s hard to leave this place.
It is humanity’s good fortune that Ms Day loves
dogs
and
people. And she doesn’t just favor dogs:
Cypress Inn is a
pet
-friendly hotel (though cats are
discouraged for obvious reasons).
Checking In
I
f you didn’t know or had never heard of Doris
Day (and the younger clientele may not have),
you’d be hard-pressed not to become aware of her
after, oh maybe 15 minutes of arrival. Ms Day, who
lives in Carmel, was indeed America’s sweetheart
and reigned in that position for much of the 1950s
and ‘60s. She didn’t begin as an actress though. She
began as a big-band singer and her 1945 hit version
of “Sentimental Journey” is still among the best-ever
recordings of that song. Posters from virtually all her
movies (some 40 in all) are festooned throughout the
lobby, the restaurant, the bar, the hallways, and other
public spaces.
WEEKEND GETAWAY
