Avila Village Inn — Hotel in San Luis Obispo

I am putting this review on Tripadviser as well as the other travel sites since I emailed (via website contact form) the hotel on 11/09/21 and received no response. I wanted to discuss my concerns directly with them. Seeing as that is not happening, I'll just go ahead and review online. I'm giving a rating of 2/5 only because the desk staff was so kind and understanding. Otherwise, it would have been a 1/5.

This is what I sent via the website's contact form:

"Hi. Please give this to the manager.

I should have written this long ago, but just haven't taken the time. I just received your 40% off email, and my first reaction with these emails for coastal hotels is always to click and see when we can go! However, since our visit there in March of this year, we will definitely not be booking at Avila Village Inn even on special. We booked with you in March for our 25th wedding anniversary. The room was far from meeting our expectations. We brought all our stuff up to the room, only to discuss it and check out. Your front desk staff was amazing. He was completely understanding and refunded us with no problems. I have no concerns at all with the staff. The property itself is beautiful. The lobby is beautiful. The room was definitely lacking in cleanliness, was outdated, and not well furnished. There was no TV in the bedroom area. We were told we can see the living room TV from the bedroom, but that there was no TV in the bedroom, although there was an empty credenza for a TV. The TV in the living room sat on top of the credenza because it didn't fit in the spot meant for the TV. That looked terrible, like it was just not kept up. The curtains next to the bed, where I would be getting up and down, passing next to every time I got up, were horribly stained. I didn't want to touch them at all, much less brush against them each time I passed by. The carpet was stained in multiple places. Hard water buildup and stains were in the kitchenette area around the sink and faucet. The furniture was not dusted. I could swipe dust on the nightstands. The lights over the bed didn't match. The bathroom stand that held the hair dryer and tissue box was dirty, with dirt in every corner of it. The bed skirt didn't fit, so it hung down and looked sloppy. When you looked over the balcony onto the trail, below our balcony was trash and beer cans.

Some of this may be petty, and on its own, not a huge deal. However, when you come into a room expecting to see what you viewed online, and see this, it's completely unacceptable. I honestly didn't want to sit on anything. It was after 8:00 p.m., and we contemplated staying for one night and finding someplace else the next day, but knowing we would not be comfortable, we checked out and found another hotel for the rest of our stay.

I'm telling you this now because you have a beautiful location and property, but it definitely needs some updating and TLC. I hope to give it another chance some day when it has been updated, and hope that it will be well-maintained at that point. Again, your front desk staff was very, very kind and understanding. I do have pictures if you would like to see them.

I request that a manager reach out to me to acknowledge receipt of this contact. Thanks so much."

I was also very disappointed that there was not a thing at all mentioned about our 25th wedding anniversary. I put this in the notes upon booking. At every hotel we have stayed at on the Central coast for our anniversary (we go there nearly every year to celebrate), they always have a bottle of wine, or some sort of "Happy Anniversary" card or decor, basket of snacks, something to at least acknowledge the special occasion. I was just surprised that nothing at all was even said.

I am including the pictures in this review.

So, at this time, I would not recommend this hotel at all. It's unfortunate that a hotel with such a perfect location and beautiful grounds would have such poor maintenance and...

During my visit we stayed in the Grand Escape Suite Thursday thru Saturday. After reading reviews online I learned the rooms do not have a microwave or coffee maker. The hotel website does not provide this information. The reviews also indicated that the second floor suite provides more privacy than the first floor option due to the trail walkers have an open view to the balcony Jacuzzi and bedroom. When I called the hotel to make the request for the second floor suite, the lady was very nice, helpful, and accommodating. The day of check-in I called the hotel at 11am to see/remind if at all possible to be placed on the second floor (This lady was short and rude). At check-in, the gentlemen (Matt/manager) was nice and informed me I would be on the first floor. I explained it was our anniversary and to my surprise he said we only have 2 Grand Escape Suites and proceeded to make a sarcastic remark that I could not be accommodated on the second floor because he could not kick out the guests that were already in that Suite. I was completely surprised by his abrupt direct response. I explained I did not know there were only 2 suites and “NO” I didn’t want anyone kicked out. So this was the start of my dealings with Matt and it did not get better from there.

Once in the room we unloaded our stuff and as we washed our hands we noticed that one of the two sinks did not drain. I informed Matt of the issue and he came to the room with a sink plunger and attempted to fix the drain. He was unable to fix the drain and let us know to inform the front desk when we leave the following day so maintenance can come look at the sink while we are out. After leaving all the plunged debris in the sink and he asked if we drink wine. Since we do not drink wine that was the end of that. The following day the phone rings at 9am asking when we planned on leaving so maintenance could come fix the sink. I did not realize there was a timeframe I had to follow. We left for 4 hours and when we returned they had fixed the sink and still left the gunk in the sink.

My husband and I were sitting in the Jacuzzi and 2 kids climbed the wall and looked into our Jacuzzi. Thank goodness nothing was happening, but really???? Starting about 9pm the kids above us were jumping on the bed, running, and dropping stuff on the floor. By 10:30pm I called the front desk because the noise from above had not stopped. Matt was annoyed with me calling. By 11:30pm my husband was furious with the noise and he called Matt who again was annoyed. The atmosphere of this hotel is good: it is small, quaint, and a hidden gem. In my personal opinion this is not a family friendly/kid friendly hotel. The décor is a bit old and out dated. The room had several problems that should have been caught by house cleaning. A clogged sink, the other sink handle just spins and hot water does not come out, ripped curtains, chairs with springs hanging out, lights in Jacuzzi don’t work, dark and dingy room.

Overall I feel that if Matt who is the manager would have offered some kind of compensation for the condition of the room (besides his indirect offer of a bottle of wine), that would have outweighed the issues of the room. I believe customer service and appreciation goes a long way. I definitely believe this hotel lacks the willingness to make their guest happy or satisfied. We did not care we were on the first floor we arranged the Jacuzzi cover is such a way that we were able to create a privacy screen. During check-in and check-out I was not provided a receipt. Shame on me. I did not think about it...

For those looking to book the Grand Escape Room at Avila Village Inn. Be warned that you may not get what you are expecting. The first time I booked this room several months ago, it was just as described and shown in the pictures and a pleasure to stay in. This time I booked the Grand Escape Room again for a quick overnighter with my wife, but we did not get the room we stayed in last time. Last time the room was on the 2nd floor, all the vaulted ceilings and complete privacy since it was on the 2nd floor. This time the ladies at the front desk gave me keys to room 113, which is on the first floor. When I questioned them and said I booked the Grand Escape Room which is on the 2nd floor, they said they had two Grand Escape rooms, one upstairs someone was already staying in so I got the downstairs one. Again I questioned this and they said it states there are no guarantees on which room you will get and it states that when booking. THIS IS A LIE!!! Nowhere on the website, nor during the booking process, does it state this. Once I entered the room, it did not have the vaulted ceilings and there is no privacy since it’s on the 1st floor. There is path way that goes by all the windows and along where the spa is. When I walked in the room, someone was walking by the windows and looking in. Complete no privacy. To get privacy in the room, in both the living area and the bedroom, I had to close all the windows, which then created a dungeon room and not a grand escape room. On their website, there is not one picture that shows this room with the low ceilings and no privacy. Every picture shows the 2nd floor room. If I had known this, I would have never booked this room. Too me it is not worth the price. This is complete false advertisement since they only advertise the 2nd floor room and never mention anything about this 1st floor room, not in writing or in pictures. Since now talking with the desk ladies and they saying there is no guarantee of getting the 2nd floor room, I will not be booking at Avila Village Inn any longer and will instead take my business back to Sycamore Springs down the road. The rooms they have over the bridge are updated and nicer, and you get complete privacy with a hot tub also on the deck for the same price. I was so looking forward to a lovely getaway with my wife and the dungeon room and lack of privacy made the overnight trip a less pleasant. So if you are spending the extra money for the Grand Escape room, be warned, you may not be getting what...