I was traveling back to Los Angeles from San Francisco. Going down the 5 is so boring, and my friend told me to go down the 1 and stop in San Luis Obispo and go to this spot where you can rent a private tub on the hills and it’s really cheap. It’s only $20 an hour. It’s a perfect pit stop. I timed it so that I could get there right at sunset, and I spent my sunset there.
It’s that kind of place that has Barefoot wine. It’s not super super fancy, which is nice. There’s a little gift shop at the bottom, and you can get half bottles of wine or full bottles, chocolates, etc. You can get a care package for yourself and you can take it up to your bath. You can chill with your cheapo champagne and sit under the trees in a little private bath for an hour.
They also have some group areas, I think they have some kind of waterfall situation. The bathtubs are really cute. They have little enclosures around them, so it’s open air but you have some feeling of privacy. I looked around and you can’t see in other people’s tubs. I feel like they really thought about the lookout points. You can be in your bathtub, take off all your clothes, chill out and it’s impossible for anyone to see you. The water feels kind of average as far as it goes, but they are natural spring water. There was a smell that felt faintly like chemicals.
—Spa Thought Partner Chris
We came here for a romantic getaway and booked one of the rooms with its own personal hot tub on the patio. Reader, the setup was excellent. Admittedly, this hot tub was an affront to the senses (in general, the aesthetics of this place is an affront to the senses, but more on that later), consisting of basically the cheap Costco plastic hot tub that your suburban friend’s mom has in the backyard. But do not be discouraged. Grab a bottle of Costco quality champagne from the gift shop and dull your senses to the horrors of Costco plastic tubs. There were hot and cold temperature handles so that you could adjust the temperature of the water as needed. The patio was completely enclosed so that no pervs could look in, but still left a view of the mountainside – I think I saw peacocks on the side of the mountain while sitting in this hot tub.
The hiking trails available on this property are lovely, and I encourage you to take one of the trails either to the mountaintop, where you can experience gorgeous views of the beach after a strenuous workout on the glutes, or a more relaxed walk that takes you directly to the beach.
The thing to know about this resort and central California in general is that the aesthetics are entirely suburban mom aesthetics. So you’re not going to get the bed of your dreams in the hotel room. Likewise, the “spa menu” of poached salmon and eggs benedict for the diet conscious suburban mom is flavorless and overpriced as all hell. I can’t imagine that there are a lot of delivery options within this secluded area of Central California – you’re probably going to wind up with some turkey sandwiches or Pizza Hut if you go foraging. So do what my parents do, which is bring tupperware full of food, a rice cooker, and a hot plate to expensive hotels to save on the food costs. It’ll probably taste better anyway.
—Carol