I had an unforgettable time at this hotel back in 2005. It was my first trip with my wife-to-be, and this honeymoon preview took us up and down Highway 1 in California. Somewhere along the way, we stopped at this lovely San Luis Obispo hotel. We had a great, great time. The mineral water bath with an added bottle of californian Zinfandel was out of this world. I wish I had stayed longer, since we arrived at night, and as we woke up we realized there was a lovely swimming pool, and we hardly had time to try it. This is one place I'd love to come back to.

I've been coming here for the last 5 years or so. Still a beautiful part of California's central coast. But, the resort is getting too pricey ( $80 for room service: Ceaser salad and a bowl of seafood stew - !!!??!! ), relative to what they offer. The rooms need renovation - for sure. The place is still "acceptable" and the staff is great, but it's not the jewel that it used to be...

I've been going to Sycamore Springs with family since 2003. The property is definetely unique with the mineral hot springs. I like the nature surroundings and the out door tubs. I do have to say that they need to upgrade their rooms. The carpet is old and the furniture is out dated. Also the service is not consistent. The front desk staff varies. Sometime you get great service (mostly from the male staff) and sometimes, especially the females give you an attitude when you check in. That's just something I noticed everytime I go.

However the last time I went, was the last time I will go. I reserved the Fantasy Suite with the sulfur mineral jaccuzzi tub. The back of the suite faces a hill but there is an access to that area from the side for staff and maintenance. My husband and I left our room to use the redwood tubs for 1 hour and I came back to find that my purse had been emptyed. Some one broke into our room and took my wallet. I called the front desk and we called the police. The onsite manager at the time moved us to a room next door. But they didn't comp us for the stay or even question if any of their staff was around the premise at the time. Since the only people that have access to the suite or the back sideof the room would be the staff. I was shocked and felt unsecured to visit the property again. To this day my husband and I have made it a point to stay away from Sycamore Springs. If you visit I would highly reccomend locking your doors and keep everything in your safe. If you don't have a safe in your room, ask for one.

If you like hot pools and the like, this is the place for you! Not only can you get a jacuzi for your room (always mineral water but may or may not be sulfur) but the rentable redwood hot tubs are quite nice as well.

I booked the lowest priced room in the Harmony Building (this is where the rooms have sulfur tubs) with my finace for 2 nights. When I first arrived, I was told that they were 100% booked up and that we had been unexpectedly upgraded to a suite in the newer buildings across the street. While this was good news to my fiance, I was specifically there for the sulfur tubs and thus gently responded to the upgrade with my feelings about the lack of sulfur water in the upgraded suite. The hotel staff was super nice and they immediately gave us 4 passes for the redwood tubs (2 each) which were good for 2 hours of soaking to make up for the fact that the suite only has mineral water in the tubs! While this was not ideal in my mind, it turned out that this was more than adequate compensation for the lack of the sulfur tub in the room and gave us a chance to focus on the redwood tubs a bit more and get out.

The suite was nice & clean and came with a gas fireplace (just flip the switch), 2 shower headed shower, 2 TVs (of which one was a flat screen), a living room, and a deck with a mineral water jacuzi. Everything was super private and we had a great time hanging in the room as well as using the deck jacuzi. One thing to note is that we were there during a large storm and thus the power did go out for a few hours.

The restaurant (Gardens of Avila) is small (I would recommend reservations) but has quite a nice menu with a little bit of everything for everybody. While the prices may be listed as high in other reviews, we found them to be about in line with other simillar places to eat. I had the cioppino while my fiance had the mushroom raviolis. I really enjoyed her dish while mine was just so-so. We also tried Fatcats in the morning for breakfast (just past the power plant near the warf) which was super cheap and super comforty food-wise and I would recommend this place to anyone.

The main focus for anyone visiting should be the rentable redwood hot tubs that dot the hillside. They are all private (clothing optional) and are encased with latice work and wood walls to provide optimal privacy. They are all reachable by a series of walkways that meander up and around the hillside dotted with outdoor lights and oak trees that provide a very natural and peaceful setting in soft lighting. The staff was very accomodating in giving us a broad choice of tubs, and even though they were booked up, we were able to get in with only a 20 minute wait. I recommend the 2 person tub for couples since it seems to hold the hot water a bit better in the smaller space. All tubs have a cold faucet and a sulfur (hot) faucet. Each time we used the tub, we would just turn on the hot sulfur water until the desired temperature was reached. While the complementary passes that we got were for 1 hour each, the max we stayed in any tub was 45 minutes (we were pretty hot at that point) and thus the passes provided ample time to get warm and relax in the woodsy setting.