The Carlton Hotel — Restaurant in Atascadero

I am going to cut to the chase regarding our stay at the Carlton Hotel in Atascadero.

Pros: Parking was good. Across the street but there was plenty Staying at the Carlton was a good jumping off point to go places that we had on our list of to-dos. Nothing going on at the hotel so we were forced to go out unlike some other hotels we’ve stayed at along the Central Coast Tara who checked us in was very nice. Back Porch bakery is BOMB!!! (The coffee ehh) but we will be back for the almond croissants!

Cons/Suggestions Fix the American Flag at the back entrance. It was all wrapped up when we came in thru the back service door every nite. Yes, night or day you have to punch in a code to go thru the Employee entrance and take the service elevator to your room. Why you ask to you have to go thru the backdoor? Well to lesson exposure the Lobby is closed!!! When you arrive the Lobby doors are closed and you have to call to be let in and checked in. Then you are told during normal hours you can call the main number which is routed to a cell phone and you will be let in by someone. If you need anything during the stay you have to call this number and what you need will either be brought up to you or you have to go down and get it if they are busy and you don’t mind going down.

Your room will not be serviced during your stay. Thats right you heard me, they will not tell you this during check in. We figured it out after a long day out. They do not make any attempt to be sure you have everything you need considering rooms are only serviced after you check out. So.. IF you need toilet paper: you have to ask IF you need more towels: you have to ask IF you need more soap: you have to ask IF you need more coffee: you have to ask IF you need your trash emptied: you have to ask or catch the cleaning crew who are servicing the checked out rooms and ask them if they can take your trash that you took out of the trash can tied and brought outside. While you bf, gf, husband or wife is in the room putting the new trash bag in the trash. Wifi needs to be worked on. I tried and wouldn’t connect and please password enable it so its secure. New TVs in the rooms Duvets need covers that cover the duvet, not just flat sheet, duvet, flat sheet. Or the duvets get washed after every guest. Pictures are deceiving. Rooms are older and darker. When Tara was off the person who was on shift was: Very rude I called to talk to Tara about a possible room change the next day and asked for her and I got major attitude even though I was told to call back and ask for her. Im sorry I don’t need 20 questions when I say my name and what room I’m currently in. “ Who is this?”, “ What do you need to talk to her about?”, “ How do you know her?”.

Considering we stayed there 3 nights we didn’t get what we paid for. In the end we paid just to sleep there, no services, no wifi nothings. I understand The Carlton is a Historic Hotel with a reputation, but it doesn’t hurt to bring things up to modern times. Modernize things and clean things up an it will be an AWESOME hotel that we would definitely go back to. Atascadero was a cool town and most of the people we came across...

I stayed here and overall I give it a 9/10

Con: 1) Parking is limited and a bit sketch. You have about a dozen spaces in the rear of the hotel behind some businesses and next to a small apartment complex. Technically, this is public parking I think. The public parking has faded white lines and is ill identified. People park like animals which could be avoided if the white lines were repainted. The main parking is kind of across the street in a small lot. It’s not far at all from the hotel but it seems kinda sketch. I didn’t like leaving my car away from view. I don’t know if it has cameras or patrols but i didn’t see any. I recommend the hotel either installs cameras or that have a security at night.

2. At checkout your instructed to put your key card in box in plain view and access on the front desk. There was no one there when I checked out and twice out of the three times I went by the desk including at check-in. I don’t think this is a good thing to leave the key cards easily accessible to thieves with no one there. As guests are leaving, anyone could easily grab one and go back to the corresponding rooms to loot them. I recommend the hotel at least have a lock box to put them in. Or have someone at the desk at all times like other hotels.

Pros: 1) My room was very clean, spacious, and the bed was really comfortable. If you stay at the Carlton you are essentially paying for the added luxuries and a good nights rest. My room was also very quiet. If rest is your number one priority you won’t be disappointed!

2. The hotel is located near good food, both adequately priced and tasty. If you’re just passing through you can walk a block away to Sylvester’s burgers and you won’t be disappointed with an amazing burger or dog. There are also some bars and a restaurant nearby within a minute’s walking distance to the hotel. A restaurant is also inside the hotel if you prefer and that’s really nice.

3. The hotel is beautiful inside and out and if you’re looking for a good aesthetic atmosphere you won’t be let down.

A couple more things:

1. The hotel is worth the price and I feel I got exactly what I paid for which isn’t always the case for hotels.

2. The hotel has easy access to freeways but noise wasn’t an issue. It gets busy around the hotel so drive safe and watch out for kids as there is a middle school not too far.

3. There’s a lot of places to see around the hotel which I didn’t get the chance to explore but there is a nice big map outside the hotel with all the locals.

4. If you plan on visiting the beach or one of the other great places in the Central Coast, you’re really not too far away (30-50 minutes) depending which beach town. So unless you want to be closer to the ocean I’d highly suggest you looking into the Carlton.

5. I would for sure book here...

BLOODSTAINED BLANKETS, NO FUNCTIONING AC I rarely would rate a hotel this terribly but our experience here has been nothing but horrifying. We checked in on July 4 into a double queen room. Once we got to the room, we saw that the blankets had bloodstains on them. Went down to the front desk to tell them and the person said they don't have extra blankets but offered to give us a new room. We finally got to the new room to still find bloodstains on the blankets. Since it was already extremely late in the night, we decided to sleep without blankets and deal with it the next day.

The next day, we were offered a new room which we went in to again find BLOODSTAINS on the blankets. The staff's response was that the sheets have been cleaned but sometimes the stains can remain. They then switched us to two king rooms out of which one does not have a functioning AC or ventilation so it's essentially heating up by the minute. Upon informing the front desk, we were told they would look into it but they just opened the balcony door and let in bugs into our room. We went down again in hopes of either getting a fan in our room or the AC turned on somehow. At this point, we're just hoping to be able to survive one night in the hotel. We were told by the staff that our only options are to either sleep in the heating room that feels like a furnace or check out in the middle of the night on July 4 weekend. We finally requested them to add an extra mattress into the one room with the functioning AC.

I'm clueless as to how this hotel is still functioning. The rooms are extremely unsanitary - stained sheets, dirty stained carpets, loose screws on doors. There is a layer of dust on almost all furniture in the common areas. It may be driven by some ongoing renovations but the current state of the hotel is just completely unacceptable.

The staff also seems helpless because they don't have the authority to do anything more than just switch you to a different room and hope for the best. The management seems to not care at all.

Please please save your money and do not come...