Asilomar Conference Grounds

Grounds were amazing but reminded me of the dorm rooms at UC Santa Cruz. Old, dingy, and very dated. No television or phone in the room. Staff was very nice but I would not stay here again. The pictures on
only show the outdoor areas and the nicest room that has a fireplace. All the other rooms are awful.

I am writing this review without even staying at this place. I made a reservation online — which was and okay experience. But if you want to cancel, that is something else and frustrating. There is no way to cancel online — so don’t spend time trying to find a way to do that. It doesn’t exist. I sent an email to cancel my reservation, but after two days I hadn’t heard back. You have to call. I called the 888 number a number of times, and got a ring, then a busy signal, over and over. So I called the hotel directly, where I was told I couldn’t talk to the front desk, but had to press 2. I never got a menu, so I could I press 2? The front desk lady transferred me, not to reservations, but to the menu so I could press 2 and wait in line. Finally got a human being, who gladly handled my cancellation, but wait, there is more! She told me that my deposit would be refunded in 5 – 10 days. Who the heck is holding on to my money? It should be instantaneous. She told me this is how the banks work. I think not.
Sheesh — if this is the way Asilomar is run, and I haven’t even step foot on the grounds, I’m glad i canceled. Too bad because it looks lovely.

There’s a 1 star because Unilocal doesn’t allow 0 stars. The food was inedible. I would have preferred McDonalds. The front desk people had the customer service talent that would have been good at concentration camps. Guests had bugs in their rooms. The sidewalks are poorly lit. The beds are less comfortable than airbeds. The billing office overcharged us and took DAYS to straighten out. Worst conference space ever.

This is ain’t the «The Ritz Hotel» but it’s a place to reconnect to your soul! My BF and I stayed here on 2÷27−28, this place has a rustic look and it’s comfortable enough for just people who are seeking for relation, peace and quiet. I didn’t had their food since I wasn’t happy with their breakfast menu. Carmel is a few miles so we spent our time eating in Carmel.

The location is amazing. Just a couple of minute walk to the beach and hiking trails. Also, if you are a runner, the road running along the beach is a slow traveled road so it is nice and safe to run with spectacular views.
The rooms are dated because it is a historical property. We had a nice wood burning fireplace which came in handy when the power went out (there was a large rain storm that blew through). The biggest issue was no TV. There are no TVs on site. No big deal if it wasn’t raining our entire trip but it was which meant we were stuck in the room with no way to occupy large amounts of time as we did not bring any books. If it hadn’t been raining we would have been out on the hiking trails. There is WiFi which was sufficient to stream shows, assuming we had power, which we didn’t always have. I did not reduce the rating based on no TVs, just thought it was something others might want to know.
Now onto why I gave it three stars. One of our two rooms had a major ant problem. There were ants in the room when we checked in. We requested they come take care of the problem, and after about an hour or so, someone showed up with a rag and no spray to clean them up. Needless to say, the ants came back. The second time I called someone showed up after about two hours with spray. This time it worked! Yay! Unfortunantly, the ants moved from near the fireplace to in the shower. I once again reported the issue but no resolution. Luckly the ants were black ants and not red but it was an annoying issue that wasn’t resolved over the two nights we were there. The staff was always very nice about the situation but it was never fixed.
I would recommend people stay here but understand that it is dated and lacks a lot of modern amenities. It does have spectacular views, is close enough to the ocean that you can hear the waves all night and has great hiking trails.

Dope getaway for conferences and such. Cafeteria food wasn’t too impressive and the good food is pricy. I gave the rating based on the location and the wildlife.

Great place to unplug and relax. Warm and friendly atmosphere, everyone is so nice here!

The food is not the best but everything else is pretty good. We lived in Ember 1321.
There are deers walking around and you can hear the waves of the ocean. We had a meal plan for the weekend we stayed and I would describe the food to be very bland and tasteless, not my cup of tea.

If you like staying in a place that is trapped in the 1960’s, then Asilomar is the place for you. My wife booked Asilomar through Groupon so you couldn’t beat the price. You also can’t beat the location. It is within walking distance of the beach and you can hear the waves if you leave you patio door open. Although, it was VERY windy, so we kept ours closed. You are also very close to one of the entrances to the 17 Mile Drive.
There were not a lot of people around when we stayed. In fact, we were the only ones staying in the building we were in. So it was a little strange at night, but still nice. Now for those of you who want the fast life, Asilomar is not the place for you. The rooms are very plain. The décor is from the 1960’s or 70’s. There is no clock radio, no fridge, and no tv. Yes, that is right. No tv. However, there is wifi so you aren’t totally in the dark ages. Our room had a fireplace, which was nice. Very rare to find anyplace that will let you have a wood fire anymore.
I would actually stay at Asilomar again. It was nice to spend time with my family and play games that didn’t involve a phone, tablet, or tv.

Asilomar is one of my favorite places to spend time. There are no phones or Tv’s in the rooms but instead… Peace, quiet, the woods, the ocean, birds, deer, other little creatures roaming about… every walk to somewhere is a nature walk… wonderful and such a blessing!

The rating is for them as a hotel, which gets low because of poor solutions to problems, most of which come from impressive hotels hiring bottom-​dollar third-​parties.
The place is just a slightly-​below-​average experience, where you see dumb decisions being made for what you know is some accounting spreadsheet somewhere. For instance, there are signs regarding being green & environmentally conscientious, but then they wrap even the smallest items in plastic, or stock towels so you have to pull them all apart in order to reach one.
It’s not all bad — the natural location surrounding it is lovely, and some of the staffers work very hard to create a good experience. It would be nice if the quality of the stay were less schizophrenic.

Serene and beautiful grounds. The rooms are simple and resemble some 70’s throw back dorm rooms, but on a non-​funny note the beds are comfortable, the bathrooms clean, with large spacious ceilings. I believe that most rooms have fireplaces in them and they have the fire all ready, just light it and you are set. They even stock outside wood bins if you will be up later and want to continue the ambiance. The rooms do not have televisions in them, but look at the location! This place is great for a romantic getaway or a trip with the family. They have several combinations of sizes of rooms that you are sure to find one that fits your needs. See you soon!

Although most of my trip during a conference was ok, I unfortunately had a bad experience with Asilomar that ruined the rest of it. When I was at the conferences, I left a valuable watch, one that was given to me by my father, in my room. When I returned after lunch, the watch was missing. I contacted the lost and found as well as the management but they were absolutely unhelpful.
They told me that they would be in contact after my trip ended but since that day I have heard nothing from them and the few times I have called, there has been no one available to help and no return call.
Definitely not recommended.

I was here for a conference last April and enjoyed my stay.
The room I was in was spacious and beautiful and had its own balcony and fireplace! Logs for the fireplace were provided free of charge. The room itself may be hit or miss if you’re staying for a conference, however, as a colleague chose the same options as me upon registration and was provided with a more dated, dormitory-​style residence (with paper thin walls). Guess I got lucky!
I love the common room here. The huge fireplace in the common room was much warmer than the one in my hotel room and warming up by the fire was definitely necessary at night. The couches and chairs were comfortable, and I found the place super relaxing in general. What a great spot to chat with colleagues! I was grateful for the convenience store attached to the common room, as I visited several times to pick up pharmacy items I’d forgotten.
Meals were provided as part of the conference package and these took place in a large dining hall near the common room. This was very convenient as I could head over to the morning lectures right after breakfast! The meals came with a lot of options, they were pretty healthy (actual fruit and veg, yay), and I found most of the meals to be tasty. For a conference this is was GREAT as I’ve had some pretty horrendous conference food in the past few years. The only things I didn’t like about the meals were that we didn’t have a lot of leeway with portion sizes (I would have preferred more potatoes and less meat for some of the meals), and scrambled eggs were served for breakfast all week. They were good but I just did not want eggs by the end of the week!
Wi-​Fi was fine in the common room but unreliable in the hotel room.
The grounds in general are beautiful and I really enjoyed walking around (and geocaching) during my stay. If I have another opportunity to attend an interesting conference here I’ll definitely take it!

Awesome place to bring the family. Ping-​pong, pool tables, pool, coffee shop, great decks to sit on. We always love coming here to relax.

I came here as a volunteer but I had a pleasant experience.
The food: You have to buy their food, no outside food allowed.
Breakfast burrito– veggie was tasty, chorizo was low quality. Lots of egg, spinach tortilla, salsa offered on the side.
Hot coffee & tea.
Lunch– Lemonade & tea. I had a veggie sandwich which was LOADED! Bell pepper, zucchini, portobello mushroom, YUM! Sides included: pop chips, hummus, Apple or orange, baby bell cheese.
Snack– yogurt parfait, trail mix packs, granola bars.
Staff was spotty.
But nice conference rooms and beautiful location. Close to the beach :)

WATCH OUT!!! DO NOT TRUST THIS HOTEL!!!
Never gonna stay here again!!! They have no idea what basic customer service is.
We booked a room to celebrate our anniversary however 10 days prior to our arrival we had to cancel due to a family emergency… we were told it wouldn’t be a problem and the charges could be applied to a future stay. We were told we could call back and rebook a room and the charges would be applied as a credit to our account as long as we took care of it by the end of the year per Emily.
We called a week later to schedule a trip and were told they could not help us. They would allow us to book another room, no credit or refund was issued and that the charges to our credit card would stand even though we cancelled more than a week in advance… we spoke to 2 managers (Dale and Sean) neither was willing to help. They refused to honor their promise to allow us to reschedule.
If u are gonna stay in this area TRUST ME there are plenty of nicer and better places to stay!!!

You’re paying for the location and convenience. As it’s right by Asilomar Beach, you can’t beat the view. However, the rooms itself are dated, old, and run down. It’s a good place for a family reunion, as they have a dining hall where large groups can eat. Mind you, the meals are mediocre cafeteria food and you pay high prices ($ 25/​person for dinner).

I don’t understand the big hype about this place.
I will give credit to the location, because it is so close to the beach and has gorgeous views of the ocean. But once we checked into Asilomar, I felt like I stepped into a time machine, and went back to the worst summer camp ever!
When we checked in, the gentlemen clearly knew that my husband and I would be staying together, since we booked 1 room, and were both talking to him at the desk. He checked us in and gave us the keys to our room. And once we walked into our room, we were speechless!
The room was the size of my small kitchen in my apartment! The bed was a twin sized bed! How did the guy at the front desk think my husband and I were going to sleep?! By laying on top of each other?! The room was also very very hot. No air conditioning or fans. Very old and smelled like an antique shop. Not a comfortable experience at all. Unless you are a 10 year old going to summer camp and don’t know any better.
We ended up leaving Asilomar that day and decided to stay somewhere else for the weekend. Great place to stop at and admire the views. But I couldn’t imagine staying there — have no desire to go back to summer camp.

This place should be rated higher imho, I think this place alone has 5 star views and accessibility to the beautiful beaches of the Monterey bay. I came here for the first time and stayed a night for a conference. I didn’t know much about this place but apparently some of the buildings are designed by a well known architect. I thought the large Merrill hall building we were in was pretty cool looking inside and out as well as some other buildings. The walk to the beach was only 5 – 10 minutes!
The room we stayed in was nothing fancy, beds and closet and small bathroom… it was called the sand lodge and I like how the rooms had NO TV’s so you can enjoy the ocean and beach and tide pools instead of sitting in front of the TV.
Tide pools here at this beach are awesome! Definitely must see and explore. Hermit crabs, sea stars, shells, anemones, etc
On a clear night you can check out the stars cause I saw a shooting star on the beach.
The «natural» sand dunes and pine trees really gave me the Monterey lifestyle feel and I enjoyed my time here!