“A great place in Paso Robles”
We totally enjoyed our stay at the La Quinta in Paso Robles. It is unlike any La Quinta we'd stayed in before. It is actually owned by one of the grape growing families in the area, and so it's considerably more upscale than any La Quinta of my experience. There was a wine tasting every evening, complete with a nice selection of hors d'oeuvres. There is a gift shop with a large selection of wines, some chilled, along with munchies to go along. The pool area is extremely comfortable. Breakfast was a step up from cold cereal and sweet rolls and included eggs, breakfast potatoes and sausage. The hotel is located some distance from downtown, but Paso Robles is not a difficult place to drive around. This La Quinta is on the east side of town, conveniently located for the wineries along Hwy. 46.
Area recommendations
The downtown area of Paso Robles features restaurants of a quality seldom seen in a town this size. We ate at different restaurants each of the three nights we were there and had a wonderful experience at each one. The other main attraction are the wineries, which are distributed to the east and west of Paso Robles and are the primary attraction of the city. Ask for a good map at your hotel or the visitor's center. Don't expect particularly easy driving to the wineries - on the west side in particular the roads are narrow and windy and used by commercial farm equipment as well as locals and tourists. Visiting three wineries in a half day is about all one could expect.
When to go
I recommend visiting Paso Robles in May, when we went. The flowers and flowering trees and bushes are all in bloom, and it's truly beautiful. The wineries weren't busy and you - and they - have got the time to visit in the tasting rooms.
Getting there
We flew into LAX, rented a car and drove out of LA north toward Bakersfield on Interstate 5. Cut over to Paso Robles on Hwy. 46. Despite what MapQuest says, the drive (with traffic) took about 5 hours. But, it's an easy drive, there's some great scenery just north of LA and then you can mosey back to LA on Hwy 1 at your leisure.
Getting around
You need a car.
Must see
In addition to the wineries (there are over 200 in the Paso Robles area, which ought to be enough for anyone), Paso Robles is a short (35 minute) drive from the Hearst Castle at San Simeon - a must-see if you've never been there.
Dining
The guidebooks for Paso Robles will identify some restaurants as featuring (if my memory is accurate) something like "California wine country cuisine." We ate at three restaurants identified in this way, and the food was excellent at each one. They were: Artisan, Thomas Hill Organics, and Matthew's. Expect to pay $20-$25 for an entree. Each one featured a good wine list, with the obvious focus on local wineries. We experimented with some labels we'd never tried before and enjoyed each one.
