SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA — San Luis Obispo’s newest hotel project, Hotel Cerro, is a game changer for this charming central coast city. Located in the heart of lively downtown San Luis Obispo, the luxury property occupies almost an entire square block in downtown SLO. It’s design reflects a blend of SLO culture, California’s rich history, and casual elegance. Acknowledging the city’s historic past, Hotel Cerro has incorporated two vintage brick storefronts on Garden Street as an intrinsic part of the hotel’s main façade. Guests will be able to enter through the restored 1920’s Smith building into the lobby and the modern, luxury hotel that lies beyond.
Hotel Cerro celebrates the city’s heritage and sense of place. Designed and built towards LEED Silver specifications, the hotel reflects a synthesis of several periods and design movements: Early Californian/Spanish Territorial; Naturalistic Contemporary; and Wine Country references in the F & B outlets. Additionally, there are late 19th/early 20th Century Shop House/Industrial architectural details in the historic structures that are integrated into the Hotel.
Housed in the turn-of-the-century Smith Building, the hotel’s lobby can be accessed from both Garden Street and the interior valet. From the valet, guests arrive through the Mission Fig Patio into the reception area. Channeling a vintage apothecary, the front desk is constructed from wood, stone and metal, flanked from behind by floor to ceiling washed oak bookshelves.
Separated from reception by a three-sided peninsula style fireplace, a focal point of the lobby’s seating area is a dramatic upholstered t-shaped sofa, as well as a combined distillery and wine room to one side. Additional seating includes a chesterfield leather love seat and modern lowslung linen-covered chairs. Custom designed pieces by Ian Saude Studio include an oversized cast bronze table with a marble top, sculptural bronze floor lamps and side tables as well as two dark metal finish and leather parchment topped coffee tables. Oversized photographic work by artist Carole Paquet grace the walls, and Perfec hardwood floors with custom designed wool area rugs create a warm ambiance in the seating area. White pressed-tin ceilings and a wall of exposed brick are a nod to the historic nature of the space. The room is illuminated by bespoke lighting fixtures including a 12’ long ceiling mounted brushed brass architectural installation.
Airy and welcoming, Hotel Cerro’s 65 spacious guest rooms and suites are designed with clean lines and natural materials. Generous in proportion, rooms range from 350 square feet to suites as large as 920 square feet.
Perched on the second floor of one of the historic structures, the roomy residential-style Penthouse Loft features a double-sided fireplace between the bedroom and living room, a separate powder room and a bathroom with double-vanities and a deep soaking tub. Generous, original windows look out over Garden Street, and a brick wall, wood bow truss beams, polished cement floors and sliding barn doors provide a rustic contrast to modern, custom-designed furniture. With a dining area that seats 8, wet bar and AV capabilities, the space is also appropriate for small meetings and intimate receptions.
The seven luxurious 750 sq. ft. Garden Suites open out to the hotel’s bucolic Edible Garden via a private patio with personal fire bowl. All have fireplaces, wet bars, weathered wide-plank wood floors and king platform beds. With early 20th c. Spanish influences and inspired by Giacometti, the suites, as well as the Penthouse, features custom designed and hand cast genuine bronze side and coffee tables. In addition to an opaque glass-walled shower, the bathrooms feature double vanities and egg-shaped soaking tubs that fill from the ceiling.
Similar in style to the Penthouse, the spacious Loft Suites also incorporate original brick wall and bow truss details from the vintage buildings that form part of the hotel. At 600 sq. ft., the accommodations are spacious, and light filled, thanks to oversized windows in the living space. Furnishings include a leather clad and stainless-steel desk, sleeper sofa and leather upholstered bench, as well as a seating area for two with a custom designed oxidized steel table with a stone top.
The balance of the accommodations are airy and open Cerro Classic rooms with a king, queen or two queen platform beds. Flooring is limestone porcelain in the entranceway and bathroom, with European weathered white oak plank floors in the bedroom area. Furnishings include a contemporary leather-clad and stainless desk and hassock, linen-finish upholstered chair, sculptural side table of oxidized stainless steel and a velvety hand-loomed wool and bamboo fiber area rug.
All accommodations feature goose-down filled pure linen duvets and unbleached 100% cotton Anichini fine bed linens over platform beds, extra-large bathrooms with richly-hued wood vanities and smooth-formed stone counters, Gessi plumbing fixtures, illuminated wall mirrors, makeup mirrors, and glass walk-in showers. Room amenities include plush bathrobes, Spa Cerro’s own line of natural botanical personal care products and complimentary Hotel Cerro water bottles, with filtered water refill stations positioned throughout the hotel. Rooms come complete with Bluetooth audio systems and HD flat panel smart TVs, along with complimentary wireless internet throughout the property. Uniting the rooms are halls lit by freestanding lanterns that sit in niches by each doorway. Finished in dark bronze, the fixtures feature ‘seeded’ antique glass and are reminiscent of early Mission cloisters.
With its own on-property spa, the 4000 square feet Spa Cerro has an oceanmeets-land theme, and in addition to the treatment rooms, it features a rooftop relaxation terrace and a tranquil quiet room. Drawing inspiration from the vast kelp forests found offshore in SLO county, the quiet room features mesmerizing, semi-transparent panels filled with moving bubbles on two walls. High ceilings draw the eye upward to give guests the sensation of being in an underwater environment and dark volcanic stone-like porcelain floors appear to make the floor-plane disappear underfoot in low light. The room is finished with an eco-friendly custom bamboo rug and genuine bronze side tables, as well as cast bronze sculptural fish swimming upwards over a refreshment station. The modern 3-sided fireplace with a hand plastered surround provide the guests with a palpable sense of luxury.
Alongside Spa Cerro and the fully equipped fitness center, a luxurious rooftop Pool Deck offers dramatic 360-degree views of the surrounding rolling hills and countryside. Furnished with sleek chaise lounges upholstered in slate grey and featuring three roomy private cabanas. An intimate bar at one end of the pool, with a pergola that provides a shaded eating area, completes the exclusive space. For added drama, water walls surround both sides of the underlit steps leading from the pool deck to the hotel.
Hotel Cerro’s own Brasserie SLO serves flavorful, Mediterranean-inspired meals from its centerpiece wood burning oven and wood-fired grill. Its rustic atmosphere is complemented by wood look porcelain tile floors throughout. Housed in an original turn-of-the-century former shop, it features brick walls, metal framed industrial windows and a bar reminiscent of the late 19th century. Seating is bentwood and tabletops are marble, lending a classic vintage style.
“In conceiving the interiors for Hotel Cerro, my main consideration was the guest experience. Naturally, we wanted to create a hotel that spoke to the area, that gave first time visitors a ‘sense of place’. Nevertheless, I was not merely interested in highlighting what the Central Coast is, or was, but also what it could be,” explained Ian Saude, Hotel Cerro’s Interior Designer. “I spent many years living away from SLO, both domestically and abroad. So, in coming back, I have experienced it both as a local would and as someone on the outside, looking in. I wanted to capture the relaxed energy — the fresh and unpretentious quality — that is synonymous with the local lifestyle. But I also wanted to reimagine and elevate it to showcase the best this area has to offer: to present it in a way that not only tourists but even longtime residents would find surprising and compelling. Hotel Cerro needed to be totally at home in downtown SLO, but also beyond it — a bit ahead of the curve.”
About Hotel Cerro — Located in the heart of lively downtown San Luis Obispo, Hotel Cerro is the perfect intersection of SLO culture, California’s rich history, and casual elegance. Designed and built towards LEED Silver specifications, Hotel Cerro boasts 65 spacious guest rooms and suites, ranging in size from 350 to 920 square feet. A full-service hotel, Hotel Cerro’s other amenities include a fitness center and spa, rooftop pool deck with 360-degree views, beautiful outdoor areas and a restaurant, SLO Brasserie, which sources ingredients from the hotel’s own Edible Garden. The result is an oasis of sustainably designed luxury in the heart of California’s iconic central coast. Hotel Cerro is located at 1125 Garden Street, between Marsh and Higuera Streets, in the heart of downtown San Luis Obispo. For more information and reservations, please visit http://hotelCerro.com.