The Grove at Pismo Beach

Clearly pictures do not show everything. We stayed in the 2 „queen“ room way way in the back. The room greeted us with a humid musty smell from the dirty carpet. The comforter had a large coffee stain and the room was quite small. At check in we received a complimentary snack voucher but the door to it was closed before 9:30am. We anticipated to stay three nights but one was enough.

Friends and family have been coming here for decades. Clean rooms great staff and service during our stays. Ideal if you love great views. Perfectly located to enjoy all the central coast has to offer. Can't go wrong here.

Where to start? We arrived at Pismo Beach fairly late on May 18. We were a bit shocked that there was no office, then saw the sign saying the office was moved to 102. We went down there and had a number of problems from the start. In addition to the few problems we had during check-in, we were also informed that there was no Bellman, nor was there a luggage cart. I understand that it’s common place to not have a Bellman, in fact, I don’t think we ever have had one. In all the time we stayed in Pizmo, but to not even have a luggage cart? We decided to just go with it, we wanted a nice weekend. The young man gave us a room fairly close to the parking lot - and with me being gimpy last weekend, it was appreciated. When we opened the door I was truly astonished. The very first thing we noticed was that there were no lamps. There was also one nightstand missing. I picked up the phone to call the front desk, but the phone didn’t work, in fact, the phone did not work the entire duration of our stay. I went back down to room 102 to ask about the missing items from the room. He informed me that nothing was missing, that they don’t put lamps in their rooms. That the rooms are just lighted from a bright overhead light in the ceiling. I told him that he couldn’t be serious, who would have a hotel without lamps and he had no answer for me. He also couldn’t tell me why there wasn’t a night stand on the right side of the bed. So, off to Walmart we went. The only lamps we could find that they had available right there were $35 apiece. so I get back to the room plug in the lamps and that makes things better. Then we tried to set up the coffee pot for the morning and it was broken. Given our experience up to that point, we just decided to go back to Walmart and buy a coffee maker . We were determined to enjoy my husband’s birthday weekend, so after our additions, the room was acceptable. But it is definitely not the room that is represented in the listing photos.. I feel like we were on the wrong end of a bait and switch.

CATFISHED! Pictures of the hotel online were beautiful and reviews were good. We get there at 7:30pm, after a 5 hour drive and the hotel was all under construction! The Office was taped off and moved to Room 102, which looked like someone set up a table and computer in an abandoned hotel. Soooo sketchy! No cars, only about 6 worktucks in the parking lot. Only one of the rooms was "ready" (missing lamps, so lighting was bad, and chair in the room was not something I would dare sit on). The other room was a mess! Beds pulled away from wall, pillows and bedding jumbled, no headboards, no nightstands, no lamps, doorjam pulled away from wall so that you could not lock the door, and dirty carpet. I have no idea what the bathrooms looked like because we didn't make it that far. There was a man across the street walking aroung yelling "Hubba bubba bub bubba hubba bubba...". We were told, "Oh don't worry about him, he lives across the street. He's harmless." Yeah, until he isn't, and we have a door that does't lock! No thanks. Pismo Chainsaw Massacre. We asked if there is another room we could have. Pablo replied that this one was supposed to be ready, and then he looked in about 10 other rooms, and came back and said no, that he can offer us 2 choices: we can wait while they attach the 2 headboards or we can stay at another venue. ? We asked if they HAVE another venue. He said no, this is privately owned, not part of a chain. ?? I asked if he means stay at another hotel. He said yes. !!! (With no reservations, for an entire weekend at Pismo Beach, we are going to find another hotel?!) I said ok, we will do that. (Bree was very nice and et me come the next day to take pictures in the daylight.) I asked for a refund, Pablo said AAA will take care of it. I called AAA and they said the hotel has to approve it, but they "will fight" for me. It's been 7 days, no refund yet. Staff seemed sincere and nice. But make no mistake... I was catfished.

Fairly good size budget motel near a shopping outlet center directly off of the 101. It's only a short drive to the butterfly grove and beach area south of the pier, a stretch of which is driveable. But the rooms are compact with little room space for hanging and storing clothes. The room had a coffee maker, microwave, and small fridge. The bath area had only a few toiletries. There was a free breakfast but it was kind of spotty and had limited seating. I found the desk staff to be friendly.