Asilomar Conference Grounds

Being by the beach was great. I was here for a weaving conference and took a look around the grounds. I was impressed by how quickly the kitchen staff served more than a hundred people in a buffet line, each person getting what they wanted. Our room was family-sized. It could use a refresh around the sliding glass door to the outdoor seating area, but otherwise it wasn’t bad.

For $400 a night, I thought the standard rooms and bathrooms were awful. They tell you there’s no TV or phone, but don’t show what the rooms actually look like. I’m posting pictures so people can see for themselves. Reception was fine, parking was okay, and the outdoor buildings are beautiful. It’s also close to the beach. We were there over Valentine weekend, but I wouldn’t stay again. I’m sure you can find somewhere better for the same price.

The grounds are still beautiful, but after about 40 years of happy visits, this last stay ruined the good feeling for me. I used to recommend the place to everyone. Now we’ll never return, and I wouldn’t recommend it. I don’t know what happened to the staff. They seemed like badly programmed robots, as if management had taken their souls. There are far too many rules, all to help the hotel, and guests don’t seem to matter. The Dining Room was a bad experience too, and the food was horrible. I’d skip it.

You can walk down to the beach, and I really liked the grounds, the charming outside of the buildings, and the game room, lobby, and social hall. The room was another story. Staff called it recently updated and one of the nicer rooms, but I still found it dated and scuffed up. I think they gave us the wrong number of pillows too. Other rooms for four people had four pillows, while ours had only two. It was a full bed, I think, though maybe they thought it was a two-person room. You could see the ocean over the trees. Benches outside would be nice for looking at it.