The City of Atascadero is working to bring two hotels to the city near the 3600 block of El Camino Real - the Fairfield Inn and the Residence Inn.
The two hotels will provide 186 new rooms for visitors to the area.
Atascadero’s Deputy Director of Economic and Community Development Loreli Cappel said these facilities will help the city keep up with increasing tourism.
“This just helps meet some of the demand that we aren't filling right now with a lot of our visitors that are coming to town,” Cappel said.
Cappel added that Atascadero has a prime location between two hubs for tourism, San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles.
”We’re so close to all things wine country. We're so close to San Luis Obispo, but this is a beautiful place to be. If you want to get away from some of that over hustle and bustle and those packed crowds on, you know, parents weekend for Cal Poly. So it's a great option and it's a beautiful place to stroll around,” Cappel said.
Tom Stevens has lived in Atascadero for six years and witnessed the impacts of tourism in his home state of Hawaii.
“Having grown up in Hawaii, I'm very familiar with tourism and what can happen when it grows too fast, too big. It was what happened to our islands. I think it strikes me from what I've seen here, that the city is being careful and taking steps to maintain its charm, while also enlivening the experience for people who live here and people who visit,” Stevens said.
While Stevens cautioned the city about progressing too fast, Little Bit 805 Owner, Eddie Herrera, saw increased tourism as beneficial for the city’s struggling businesses.
“The retail industry has been a little slow, especially with all of the rains that we've been getting. But we're hopeful that things will pick up as the summer months come and a new influx in pedestrian traffic,” Herrera said, “Construction of new places here in town is definitely going to have a good impact for the vitality of the downtown core.”
Construction on the two hotels could take a year or two to complete, as they still need to undergo public review and receive necessary permits.
