Avila Lighthouse Suites
https://www.avilalighthousesuites.com/
Avila Beach, CA (Central CA Coast, 10 mins north of Pismo)
We've been going here for years, it's pricey but beautiful (and gets pricier every year). Summer is the best weather so expect to see some Disney looking prices. Sometimes it feels like everyone from the CA Central Valley escapes the 100+ degree heat over to the Pismo area and this is one of the best places to do that. Rooms and bathrooms are a decent size. All rooms are suites so there is a living room area with a sofabed (sleeps 2), 1 bathroom and a door that separates the bedroom area from the living room/bathroom. Bedrooms have either 2 queens or 1 king in addition to the living room with sofabed. The living room has a mini-fridge, microwave and mini-sink set-up. Lots of drawer space. Suites all have little patios with 2 chairs and a table. The grounds are beautiful. The gardeners do a fantastic job year round, I've never seen a hotel with plants this beautiful. Pool view rooms are floor 1, Ocean view rooms are floor 2, Oceanfront rooms are the two buildings on each side of the pool closest to the ocean. We always request floor 2 with oceanfront rooms so we can see the ocean above the hullabaloo of the street.
Amenities:
-Breakfast! Make your own waffles are great with typical frozen strawberries and whip cream, also have cereals, fruits, hard boiled eggs, pastries. Like a continental breakfast+ imho. Juices, coffee, tea. Snack bars, think Nature Valley type bars, were also available if you wanted to grab and go in the morning. I don't tend to be a fan of hotel breakfasts but I quite enjoy starting my morning with their waffles. Breakfast can be busy if the hotel is full, there is also a small outside seating area in addition to the small inside seating area.
-Pool: pool and hot tub. Standing up on the deck you can see straight out to the ocean. They do close at like 10pm. There is a clear wind block surrounding the pool area which is great. You can go from the beach to the hotel pool in a minute. (Note, not anybody can do that, you do have to use a room key to get onto hotel grounds!)
-Kids stuff: outdoor near the pool is life size checkers, a ping pong table and little putting green (little ok, like 1 or 2(?) holes)
Where is this place again? Avila Beach. VERY small town about 10 mins north of Pismo Beach. Pismo is much more a typical CA beach town, tons of hotels, tons of places to eat, lots of beach, super crowded. Avila is small and due to an oil disaster that led to the razing of this part of the town in the late 90s for clean-up it's all fairly recently built where tourists are. Avila has some population but as far as visiting the town goes it's basically the front street (where the hotel is) and the beach and that's it. This means lower crowds but they also kinda roll up the sidewalks at like 6pm. We usually find ourselves in Pismo for dinner. The hotel is on Front Street and everything there is walkable from the hotel.
Who is this place for? Everyone. We're a family of adults so we often stay here and sometimes go visit wineries during the day and come back for the afternoon. If the weather is beautiful we've been known to spend the whole day between the beach and the pool and front street. I wouldn't recommend it for more than a couple days though, relaxation will become boredom. It's ideal for anyone driving the 101 looking for a place to spend a couple nights and enjoy some beach and pool time without the normal insanity of a big CA beach town.
How to pay for it?! They don't have a points program, so I have only been able to book them via Chase UR. I use my CSR 1.5x redemption rate. Catch: only select rooms are available. The hotel only lets out their oceanfront, pool view and park view rooms to expedia (who lets them out to Chase). Imho go for an Oceanfront or Pool view, avoid the park view. There are a couple Oceanfront floor 2 rooms only accessible via stairs but the other set of floor 2 oceanfront rooms is accessible via elevator so if that's important to you let the front desk know prior to your arrival. I use the hotels website to look at prices to find the cheapest time for when I want to visit and then check Chase.
If you book direct (can't use URs if you do this so I don't) read this for 500 Alaska miles on your stay
https://www.martinresorts.com/alaska-airlines-partner-miles
Downsides:
-the non-super-expensive food in town closes at like 6pm so plan accordingly for dinner. There is a pizza place open late that is good, it is
not cheap but it's cheaper than the sit down food. You can always drive to Pismo and grab some Subway or something (we did that one night).
-the mattresses are hard as rocks, sofa beds also suck
View from our oceanfront 2nd story room
View attachment 324498
(the pier you see is closed, they are in a multi-year process of repairing it)