The bed and breakfast, just off Lovers Point in Pacific Grove, bills itself as “a truly romantic inn on the very edge of Monterey

Bay.” Any other year, its guest rooms would be filled with couples hankering for a romantic weekend. This week, however, things are a bit more complicated: Bookings are about equally split between the romantic getaway crowd and those here to take in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. And while a sold-out weekend is generally good news for anyone in the tourism business, this one is bittersweet. “It couldn’t be worse timing for it,” said Celeste White, the director of communications for the Monterey County Convention and Visitors Bureau. Winter is traditionally slow for local tourism, already whammied by sharp downturns in consumer spending, and in corporate and leisure travel. But instead of bookings for two or even three weekends, this year it happens in one fell swoop. Which means there will likely be some quiet weekends ahead after this one has passed.
“I think in February, with the economy the way it is, it’s sort of an unfortunate lineup,” he said. “People really don’t know which way to turn so far as their employment goes, they’re worried about being laid off, their mortgages. Leisure travel is last on their list.”