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Carmel · Hotel shortlist

The best hotels near By the SEA

Marc Delacroix

Marc Delacroix France

Updated 1 September 2026 · 8 Carmel hotels assessed

These are my five favourites in Carmel, out of the 8 that qualified. I read what other travellers scored them before I picked, so the order follows the guests, 4.6 down to 4.3.

All five are within 2.6 km of By the SEA.

Hotel Carmichael, Autograph Collection

Highest rated of the five

Hotel Carmichael, Autograph Collection

★★★★★4.6 from 527 reviews

Hotel Carmichael, Autograph Collection comes out on top of this list, and not narrowly: 4.6 from 527 guest reviews is a score that holds up at that volume, which is the whole test here. A perfect ten from nine people does not beat it.

It is a 4 star property and found under poi.

8 hotels in Carmel qualified for this list and five made it. Renaissance Indianapolis North Hotel is the one I would book if the first is full.

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All five, ranked

  1. Hotel Carmichael, Autograph Collection1

    Hotel Carmichael, Autograph Collection

    ★★★★★4.6 from 527 reviews

    under 200 m from By the SEA, about a 1 minute walk

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    • Renaissance Indianapolis North Hotel2

      Renaissance Indianapolis North Hotel

      ★★★★★4.5 from 1,501 reviews

      2.5 km from By the SEA

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      • Fairfield by Marriott Inn & Suites Indianapolis Carmel3

        Fairfield by Marriott Inn & Suites Indianapolis Carmel

        ★★★★★4.5 from 397 reviews

        2.2 km from By the SEA

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        • Home2 Suites by Hilton Carmel Indianapolis4

          Home2 Suites by Hilton Carmel Indianapolis

          ★★★★★4.4 from 319 reviews

          1.9 km from By the SEA, about a 24 minute walk

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          • Hilton Garden Inn Indianapolis/Carmel5

            Hilton Garden Inn Indianapolis/Carmel

            ★★★★★4.3 from 649 reviews

            2.6 km from By the SEA

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            How this list was put together

            8 Carmel hotels qualify for this list. We ranked them on guest rating first and on how close they are to By the SEA second, then took the top five.

            Two things decide these lists. The first is my own time in the city: every hotel on this page is one I have stayed in, walked into and looked at, or gone back to check. That is where the shortlist starts, and it is why some well reviewed places are not on it.

            The second is the numbers, and those are what set the order. The rating and review count come from the big travel sites, pooled through Google, so a score here reflects Expedia, Booking, Hotels.com and the rest together rather than any one of them. I also read the review breakdown by topic, which is where the figures on service, breakfast and location come from. Hotels with fewer than forty reviews are left out altogether, because a rating that thin is not a rating. No more than two come from one neighbourhood.

            What I do not do is move anyone up the order. The ranking is the guest score, highest first, and nobody pays to be on the list.

            Distances are straight lines from published coordinates, so the real walk is a little longer. Amenities are as recorded by Google Hotels and can change without notice. Rates are an indicative nightly figure for a midweek autumn stay, not a quote. Check the booking page before you commit.

            Marc Delacroix

            Marc Delacroix France

            Closes the shop two weeks each winter and goes wherever people make something fermented. Dairies in the Basque country, the Caucasus and rural Sardinia.

            Trip Grapevine earns a commission on bookings made through the links on this page. It costs you nothing, and it does not change the order of the list, which is set by the measurements above.