I stayed at the Motel 6 San Luis Obispo (SLO) South on a Friday & Saturday night for the CSU Cal Poly Open House weekend. With 7,000 students attending the open house, there were no hotel rooms available except at this property.

I was initially excited to see a newly renovated Motel 6, as described by a friend in SLO and seen in the Motel6.com photos, but was somewhat disappointed when I arrived. The photos of the property on the Motel6.com website didn't correspond with the correct property.

Because of the close proximity of the Motel 6 SLO North property, I was initially confused as to the location of the south property. After speaking with the check-in staff at the North property, I quickly found my way to the check-in desk of the south property (If you’re checking in before May 2007, be aware that the road leading to the south property is being reconfigured and is hard to find). The check-in process itself was somewhat pleasant and prompt.

The property looked fresh and clean from the outside. On the inside, my 2nd floor single queen room was clean, but reeked of old smoke. Although I had requested a non-smoking room, it smelled like my room was formally a smoking room with some Febreze sprayed into the carpet. I didn’t try changing rooms because I knew there were none available, given the special event weekend. The bedding was fresh, the furniture was new, the walls looked freshly painted, and the AC/Heat worked perfectly. The sinks were marble and very clean. No internet access, but there is a data port if you’re willing to suffer through dial-up. Also, I requested a room facing away from the freeway, but was still able to hear freeway noise through the walls.

That brings me to my next gripe…noise. The walls are quite thin. You can hear conversations, although muffled, as well as the sound of televisions, doors being closed, and people walking on the 2nd floor walkway. Housekeeping rolls their carts through the walkway continuously starting at 9am. If you plan on sleeping in…don’t. In fact, don’t plan on setting an alarm, the housekeeping carts will wake you up. On the first morning, at 10:30am, housekeeping knocked on my door continuously. I thought housekeeping was knocking on my neighbor’s door until I realized 10 minutes later that they were knocking on my door. I was in the shower and yelled through the door that I was in the shower, but the housekeeper didn’t understand and kept knocking. Finally, after drying off, I opened the door and was greeted with a fresh set of towels. Good (persistent) service.

Check-out was a breeze. Nothing complex because the motel charges you for your room when you check-in.

Overall, the property was better than I expected for a Motel 6. Although I paid $69/night because of the open house, versus the normal $39-$49/night rate, it was still at least $100 cheaper than the next cheapest hotel, the Best Western. Would I stay here again? Ehhh….probably so. It’s cheap, clean, but you get what you pay for.

The hotel staff was friendly, the rate was low. They only had smoking rooms available but the smell was not bad. My favorite part about Motel 6 is that they take pets. This motel is located close to downtown SLO, so it is easy access to whatever you need. I stayed there while travelling, and had no problems with noise whatsoever. Everything worked, the only thing I would 'complain' about was that the shower was relatively small. I am a very low-maintenance person and Motel 6 delivers well for their money.

Stayed there for one night driving up the 101. Place was clean, decent rooms, decent complex, and a great value for your money.

While this appears to be the best deal to be found in San Luis Obispo I would never recomend it for more than a one night stay.

It was clean. I would guess standard Motel 6 fare, although this property opened under another name. It sits very remote at the first San Luis Obispo exit you come to with almost nothing nearby except for a Cosco and Home Depot at the next light.

Have your printed confirmation. She tried to send me to the other location before I could produce the printed document showing the correct address when she suddenly could find my booking.

The rates on the net appear to be some sort of discount when you book them but I noticed they had a printed sign next to desk showing same rates that were much lower than rack rates on card on back of door in room. I would never pay more than I did for this budget hotel.

I would of gladly paid $30-40 more for a good 2.5 or 3 star property but nothing near that was to be found in the area. The Friday and Saturday rates at hotels in the area were just too high in comparison to even be considered for our needs.