Ascot Suites, Morro Bay — Hotel in Morro Bay

My husband and I decided to spontaneously stop and stay the night in Morro Bay on our way home from a long drive. We booked through Hotwire, and it was a “hot deal” meaning we didn’t know what hotel we were getting until we booked it.

The reviews on Hotwire were great, the reviews on Google and Yelp however? Not so great. Regardless - I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt because I know some people just like to complain. With that, here’s an honest review. My family owns multiple hotels, so be forewarned that I am a bit picker than most.

The Pro’s: Check-In was easy, and the woman at the front desk was extremely sweet and accommodating. The location is great, and you are in close walking distance to many restaurants, bars, and the beach. The fireplace is nice. The jetted bathtub is a nice touch, I personally don’t love hotel bathtubs but if you are into that, it’s nice. The window from the bathtub into the bedroom on the other hand is a little strange. The bed was okay, it was sunken down in the middle but not un-sleepable. It is pet friendly, which is a huge plus. We didn’t have our pets with us but appreciate the option!

The Con’s: The bed was made quite messily, and the sheets and blankets were extremely thin making for a chilly night. The door to the toilet didn’t shut or lock. And by didn’t shut, I mean if you tried to shut it it would reopen 8 inches and not hold in place, no matter what you tried. The walls are thin and we could hear the tv in the room next to us, and the adjacent guests conversations, all night long. The decor is antiquated, which wasn’t that big of a deal besides the ripped arms of the chairs which we were afraid to sit on. The parking garage is undergoing renovations, so if the parking lot out front is full you have to find street parking. Luckily we were able to find a spot, and street parking is free. We are early risers and checked out around 8am. There was no one at the desk, which was fine, however when you exit the elevator there are doors to the lobby, and they were locked. And there was no signage to guide us out an alternate way. Luckily another guest was returning from a morning walk, and guided us to a door that went through the construction zone of the parking garage to exit. Signs, or acknowledgement that the main doors are locked in the morning, would have been helpful.

Overall, I don’t think that I would ever pay $200 for a night at the Ascot again, but again, I am picker than most! The kind front desk staff, convenient location, and it only being a one night stay are really the only reason we stayed instead of finding somewhere else when we got there.

A word of advice to management - if you can improve the cleanliness and minor details such as the bathroom door, quality of bedding, and replacing the ripped furniture, I can guarantee you that your reviews would...

Wow! What a hotel!!! First off, I am absolutely in LOVE with the quaint little fishing village that is Morro Bay! It is honestly the cutest, sleepiest little town I have been to on the Central Coast and this hotel encompasses the atmo and vibe of this fantastic place!

The hotel is decorated like a B&B and I was a little nervous when I was first scoping it out on the Choice hotels website that it would be musty and dated, but to my happy surprise it was anything but! And for the price you would pay for much lesser hotels, the pricepoint for our room was less than we were expecting (though it is off-season, so I am sure the rates will increase as it goes into shoulder and peak seasons).

They have ample garage and surface parking and an awning for two guest parking spaces so you can unload or load your luggage.

The check-in was one of the nicest experiences I have had with a hotel. Colleen, the front desk clerk when we checked-in was just so nice, gracious, and almost overly attentive! She was just the best!! She even made us dinner reservations! We also got a welcome letter and "goody packet" for being Choice Platinum members, which not very many hotels do (though they are supposed to). I even made it just in time for the daily wine pour at 5:30pm, where their cozy lobby/breakfast nook turns into a wine bar w/a selection of Sonoma wines (Chard, White Zin, Merlot, and CabSauv) that you can sip to your heart's content until 6:30pm. Be sure to bring a dollar or two as Colleen was also the barista and she was working hard for the money (and was generous with her pours!).

The room itself was beyond AWE-some! We had room 303 and it was just spectacular! Real pinewood furniture, CANOPY BEDS!!!!, A FIREPLACE?!, and a view of the town's namesake Morro Rock from our window! Seriously, I felt like I was living my 9-yr old little girl dream with the canopy bed alone! And speaking of, the beds were so comfy and the pillows adequate! I enjoyed all 3 nights sleep I had here! I especially enjoyed turning on the fireplace (it turned on with the flip of a switch!) and opening the window to let the cool bay air chill the room and fall asleep to the surprisingly lulling sounds of the harbor seals, fog horn, and local whitenoise.

So just when I thought it couldn't get any better here, I had the breakfast! It is your typical eggs, sausage, waffle-maker, yogurt, muffin and coffee variety (though it was actually pretty tasty), but what made it was being able to go up to the 4th floor and eat it in the rooftop seating area with a full view of Morro Bay as the wind gently blew the sea air through my hair and the sun warmed my face. Literal paradise!

Needless to say, I can't wait to find an excuse to...

Last review (stayed May 2025): So, this was my third time staying at Ascot Suites, and unfortunately, it will be my last. I was curious to see the hotel after renovations, but they made the hotel feel cheaper than it was before (they used to have a vintage vibe with all the floral wallpaper and overly high beds, it was quite old but at least it had a character). Well, it’s no longer "charming". BUT the renovation feels cheap, the decor is extremely unexpensive and tastless (I was bothered with identical black and white prints on each wall), and on top of that, the cleanliness of the room was the major disappointment. I don’t understand why the floors weren’t cleaned properly. Since when are guests not expected to take their shoes off in a hotel room? I do take my shoes off once I'm inside, my baby crowls on floors as well, so why am I finding myself to clean your floors after the check-in? I’m genuinely confused. Don't get me started on the quality of breakfast, the "rooftop" and soundproofing. I have to mention that after I shared my concerns via their automated text message system, the next afternoon (! not morning) they reached out and did offer to switch our room. But we returned to the hotel late that evening and decided not to move. I also gave them a chance to follow up after we left, hoping someone would reach out to me directly to address the issues. No one did, so here I am, leaving my review online and hoping someone in charge sees it and actually does something. At least, I could help to navigate some of those issues. Why? Because this hotel has potential but I'm not paying for your potential if you don't care. When I first stayed at Ascot Suites years ago, it was around $90 per night, which felt fair for what I was getting. Now, paying at least $150 (on a weekday!), it’s NOT worth it. I wouldn’t recommend it to my friends or clients (I work in the travel industry). It’s really a shame, because the potential is there. I could easily justify even a higher nightly rate if the ownership or management put more effort, care, and creativity into the hotel. But it doesn’t seem like they are, and probably never will. So I suggest staying elsewhere, unless you’re okay with being overcharged and disappointed.

Old review: Charming and lovely. Would give it a 5 stars if the drape on the window would not be ripped and there weren't mold inside the shower knob. I did ask it all to be fixed upon check out, hopefully they will. Probably will give it another chance in the future if the price...