Where to Stay in Paso Robles

Rolling vineyards. Centuries-old oak trees. Hot springs. Paso Robles, California is one of our absolute favorite places in California, and the perfect spot for a weekend getaway!

Paso Robles’ name means “The Pass of the Oaks” and that sums up the beauty you’ll see here. This area is made up of endless rolling hills of golden chaparral, punctuated by centuries-old oak trees, and when the chaparral ends: rows and rows of succulent grapevines and olive trees.

On cold mornings, Paso gets kissed by the coastal fog from the neighboring ocean to the west; then in the afternoon, it is heated by the warm sun coming over the San Joaquin Valley to the east. This unique placement on the Central Coast lends itself to some of the most delicious grapes (and more importantly, wine) you can find in The Golden State. 

I like to describe Paso Robles as a more approachable Napa, because Paso has always felt more down-home, inviting, and accessible than its more elite Northern California counterpart.

Even though wine is king in Paso (there are THIRTEEN wineries per square mile of town – 250 in all), there are loads of things to do in Paso Robles; it’s the perfect spot for a romantic getaway or a trip with friends.

Plus, it’s right over the hills from my seaside hometown of Morro Bay! Although admittedly, growing up here, I can’t say I appreciated wine country. But as an adult, I’m all about it. These days, we visit Paso Robles several times a year!

Before I dive into where to stay in Paso Robles, I have a quick tip that will help you blend in with the locals. First off: Paso Robles’ full name is El Paso de Robles. Did you pronounce that with a Spanish accent? Yes? Aww, good job! Unfortunately, that’s not how it’s pronounced colloquially. Occasionally you’ll hear “Robe-Less” (the proper Spanish pronunciation), but what you need to do is pronounce it in the whitest way possible. I know. It drives my wife crazy too.

Say it with me: Pass-Oh-Row-Bulls. You can also just stick with good ol’ Paso. Welcome to California, where all of our place names are super-Anglicized versions of Spanish words.

Anyway: we’ve already got a guide to the best wineries in Paso Robles (and the best breweries and distilleries) as well as a guide to things to do in Paso Robles already. But today’s guide is all about the best places to stay in Paso Robles, from vineyard bungalows to Mermaid mansions! Let’s get to it.

Psst: Planning a trip to Paso Robles? Check out some of our other posts!

We’ve also got a bunch of travel guides for nearby getaways in California’s Central Coast, where I grew up!

And, if you’ll be visiting Paso Robles as part of a Highway One road trip, we’ve got a few travel guides for that, too:

Paso Robles FAQ’s

Before you pack your bags – plural, one for your clothes and one for all the wine you’ll be bringing back with you – I have a few tips to help you plan your Paso Robles getaway.

• What is the best time of year to visit Paso Robles?

Spring and Fall are both beautiful times to visit Paso Robles. Springtime brings cheerful wildflowers and bright green hills, while fall brings stunning grapevine foliage and vineyard harvest season.

That said: spring and fall are also the most expensive times of the year to book a vacation rental in Paso Robles!

So if you’re on a tight budget and don’t mind missing harvest season, you’ll want to visit in summer or winter instead. Summer in Paso Robles is hot, so you’ll want to book a place with a pool – but you’ll be treated to rolling golden hills and lush vineyards. Winter brings mild temperatures and rain, but January and February are actually early springtime in California – you’ll catch blooming wildflowers and bright green hills as early as late january!

Personally, we find ourselves booking a trip to Paso Robles around Valentine’s Day each year. It’s still off-season for tourists, but it coincides with whale migration and monarch butterfly season as well as early wildflower blooms, and we think it’s the most beautiful time of the year to take a trip down Highway One! Speaking of which, we’ve got two more guides to help you out with that: a 10-day Highway One itinerary (including Paso Robles), and a guide to the best stops along the Pacific Coast Highway.

• Where to stay in Paso Robles, in terms of location?

We recommend staying either downtown or in the vineyards. If you stay downtown, you’ll be walking distance from tasting rooms, restaurants, coffee, shops, and the charming central plaza. And it’s a lot of fun to spend a day walking to tasting rooms and restaurants without needing to worry about driving!

But staying among the wineries surrounding town is a truly unique way to experience wine country: there’s nothing like sipping wine while watching the sun setting over the vineyards. You’ll be less centrally located (typically about 10-15 minutes from downtown Paso) and will need to drive to get to most wineries and restaurants, but I still think it’s worth it!

We’ve included picks for both downtown and vineyard options in our Paso Robles Vacation Rental picks.

• Are there rules or restrictions on Paso Robles Vacation Rentals?

Many major cities (including where we live in the Bay Area) and popular tourist destinations (like Lake Tahoe) have set strict rules regarding short-term rentals, and Paso Robles is no exception. 

Paso Robles short term rentals are subject to occupancy caps, zoning restrictions, licensing requirements, and other guidelines designed to make vacation rentals less disruptive for locals.

However, the good news is that those restrictions will only minimally affect your experience as a visitor. The one main downside to be aware of is that there are limited options for Paso Robles vacation rentals, especially if you’re looking for entire places to stay rather than private rooms. 

But otherwise, you can be confident that booking a vacation rental in Paso Robles is in line with legal guidelines and not disruptive to the local economy or housing market.

That said, if you’re having loud parties late at night, you are being disruptive: keep it down after 10pm!

• Is there anything else to do in Paso Robles besides drinking wine?

First of all, how dare you. Sorry, what I meant to say was: I totally understand why you’d want to consider other activities, and yes! Paso Robles has plenty of other things to do besides wine. Like hot springs, for starters.

It’s also a fantastic place to stuff your face with delicious food – including locally grown olive oil and the famous Brown Butter sugar cookies – and a great jumping-off point to explore the rest of the Central Coast, including my charming hometown of Morro Bay and other coastal beach towns, plus Hearst Castle and the San Simeon Elephant Seal Rookery.

We’ve got a whole bunch of travel guides to this area to help you plan your trip, including a guide to things to do in Paso Robles (most of which aren’t wine-related!) and travel guides to Morro Bay, Cayucos, and the rest of California’s Central Coast!

• Can we get back to the wine, though? Tell me more about the wine.

Listen, I can go on about wineries in Paso Robles for pages and pages. Which is why we have an entire post dedicated to the best wineries in Paso Robles! So head over there for winery recommendations and tips for wine tasting in Paso Robles.

Oh, and one more thing: don’t forget that Paso Robles also has a ton of local breweries and small-batch distilleries, too! We’ve also got a guide to the best breweries and distilleries in Paso Robles.

Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s talk about the best places to stay in Paso Robles.

How we Selected the Best Paso Robles Vacation Rentals

Much like selecting the best wine, when it comes to selecting the best rentals in Paso Robles it all depends on taste and purpose. Are you here for a quiet romantic getaway? A friend trip or family getaway? Bachelor/ette party? Are you hosting your own personal version of The Bachelor? And if so, can we please follow along at home?

Since there are different needs for different trips, we’ve broken our “Best Vacation Rentals in Paso Robles” list into two sections: the best Paso Robles rentals for couples, and the best places to stay in Paso Robles for groups.

For both sections, I looked for reasonably priced options with great amenities and fantastic locations. All of my picks are located either in downtown Paso Robles – walking distance to tasting rooms, shops, and restaurants on the downtown plaza – or in the heart of wine country, surrounded by vineyards.

WE recommended a few vacation rental alternative options, both Airbnb and a few other fantastic choices. If you’re on a budget, your best bet is to rent a VRBO. We recommend booking directly through VRBO because it has fewer fees and more flexible cancellation policies than Airbnb – also, we’re not fans of Airbnb’s unethical track record and lax security!

Where to Stay in Paso Robles…for Couples

Paso Robles is the perfect place for a romantic getaway. Centrally located between both San Francisco and Los Angeles under an hour from the Pacific Coast Highway, it’s one of our favorite places to spend a weekend drinking wine and watching the sunset. (We even joined a local wine club JUST so we had an excuse to visit several times a year.)

I’ve rounded up the best places to stay in Paso Robles for couples (plus a pet-friendly pick, because these days, our romantic getaways always include our fur baby). Let’s take a look!

Vintage Ranch Cottage on a Vineyard

Fans of Netflix’s show Stay Here will immediately recognize this picturesque cottage overlooking rolling vineyards as the Vintage Ranch from Episode 5. (If not, go watch it!) This charming little cottage on a working vineyard was depicted in the show as a great wedding suite, but I think it is perfect for just about any romantic trip.

Although you’ll be 10 minutes away from downtown Paso Robles, the beauty of Vintage Ranch (well…one of them at least) is its close proximity to wonderful wineries. You are a short drive from Le Cuvier, DAOU, Chronic Cellars, and more. You are truly out in wine country! 

Downtown Paso Robles Flat

I’m Californian, so I am culturally required to abuse the word “literally;” however, trust me when I say this is LITERALLY the best location you could ask for when it comes to being in town. And I literally mean literally. 

When people talk about Downtown Paso Robles, they usually use Downtown City Park as a central reference, the park in the heart of the city. But my personal metric is the distance from Brown Butter Cookie Company, which is just off the square and filled with delicious cookies. Priorities.

Regardless of your priorities, this adorable studio is on the same block as both, plus it is located above my favorite restaurant in town: La Cosecha. La Cosecha features some of the best Latin American food we’ve had outside of Latin America, served up by a Honduran chef alongside incredible craft cocktails. We recommend the Honduran empanadas, the fresh ceviche, flavorful grilled octopus, and the Clover Club South cocktail, which reminded us of a raspberry Pisco Sour.

But don’t feel like you have to miss out on all that vino being downtown instead of in the vineyards! Downtown Paso has dozens of affordable and approachable tasting rooms, so you can do a tasting tour on foot before stumbling home safely to your accommodation. This is our favorite way to spend an afternoon in downtown Paso Robles!

• Wine Tasting Tip: We recommend beginning with a wine, cheese, and spice tasting at our personal favorite downtown tasting room: LXV! (Yep: this is also the wine club we joined!) Check out our guide to the best wineries in Paso Robles for more suggestions.

Spanish Ranch on an Olive Farm 

One of the most unique places to stay in Paso Robles isn’t on a vineyard: it’s on an olive farm! Located on the outskirts of Paso Robles, the gorgeous Olive House sits in the middle of a 20-acre working olive farm, with plenty of outside space for you to sit and enjoy all those fancy bottles of wine you pick up from your wine tours!  

Nestled in a hillside and surrounded by views of lush hills, olive trees, and grapevines, this Spanish-style Airbnb has two beautifully appointed master suites complete with fireplaces, private terraces, and a fountain where you can sip your morning coffee and smell lavender, rosemary, lemon, and sage wafting through the air. Ahhh … heaven!

Wine Country Bungalow with Pool & Hot Tub

This charming guest house bungalow has a beautiful waterfall pool and an in-ground hot tub. Need we say more?

Well, we’re going to. There’s also a gorgeous living room with high ceilings, bocce ball, and ping pong. And, you’ll be surrounded by wineries and located just 10 minutes from Brown Butter Cookie Company Paso Robles proper.

Pet-Friendly Cabin Overlooking Vineyards 

Our next pick is located right off of Highway 46 West, nestled between vineyards in the heart of Paso Robles’ picturesque wine country. But best of all, it’s pet-friendly! Because, you know, sometimes you can’t leave your fur child behind. No judgment here – we literally carry around our dog Mulan in a baby swaddle. 

Pet-friendly places are scarce in Paso Robles; but this adorable cabin (which used to be a military bunker!) is also one of our favorites overall.

From the cozy patio and fire pit illuminated by twinkling lights, to the rustic tin roof and stock pool tub, to the kitchen view overlooking Paso’s rolling hills and vineyards: this cabin is wine country glamping at its best!

Plus, your stay will include a complimentary s’mores kit. And if that’s not reason enough to book a trip, I don’t know what is.

Where to Stay in Paso Robles…for Groups

We’re not gonna lie to you: the best Paso Robles Airbnbs are in a higher price range, and if you’re not in the habit of balling out on a $1k/night Airbnb, save yourself some angst and just don’t click on any of our recommendations below!

That said: if you can round up a group of friends or bring your entire family, these are hands down, by far, some of the best (and, honestly, reasonably priced) Airbnbs in all of California.

We’re talking pools, hot tubs, sweeping vineyard views, state-of-the-art kitchens – all in the heart of wine country! Let’s get into it.

Mermaid Mansion in the Vineyards 

Y’all, I found it: the most gorgeous vacation rental of all-time. Seriously: look at this place! THIS is where you’re gonna want to host your personal version of The Bachelor. Yes, I bring up The Bachelor a lot – even in my personal life. It’s an ish. 

This villa, known as The Mermaid, is tailor-made for entertaining, complete with a waterfall pool, hot tub, swim-up bar, bocce ball court, shuffleboard, beach volleyball, hockey table, arcade games (Dance Dance Revolution, anyone?), spa soaking tubs (complete with plants and amazing views), and the list goes on. I mean, there’s even a BAR. Is this a party house or a girlfriend getaway mansion? The answer is yes. Also, can we come?!

As another major bonus, you can bring Fido – it’s pet friendly! AND it’s also on Highway 46 West, close to the vineyards…if you can bring yourself to change out of your bathing suit and venture outside, that is.

The price tag is high – you’ll want to split it with a group to make it budget-friendly. But with space for 14, you couldn’t ask for a better house to splurge on with your friends.

Centrally Located Hilltop Hacienda 

Who says you have to get out of town to enjoy vineyard views? The aptly named Hilltop Hacienda overlooks miles of vineyards, but is still walking distance to Brown Butter Cookie Company downtown Paso Robles! It’s sort of like Hannah Montana was talking about: it’s the best of both worlds. 

The five-bedroom house boasts a gorgeous outdoor hot tub, a private sauna(!), plenty of entertaining space, a dream kitchen, a dreamy soaking tub, and my personal deck goals.

Lounge around a fire pit sipping wine while watching the sunset over the Paso Robles hills, or soak in a hot tub under the stars: it doesn’t get any better than this!

Ready to pack your favorite wine glass and book an Airbnb in Paso Robles? Drop us a comment below!

Psst: Planning a trip to Paso Robles? Check out some of our other posts!

We’ve also got a bunch of travel guides for nearby getaways in California’s Central Coast, where I grew up!

And, if you’ll be visiting Paso Robles as part of a Highway One road trip, we’ve got a few travel guides for that, too:

FOLLOW US!

Hey, save this post for later on Pinterest!

Note: Feature photos are courtesy of Airbnb.