More than 5,500 students are eligible to graduate this weekend at Cal Poly. This means a lot of families are traveling to the San Luis Obispo area.
The city expects it to be a “sell out” weekend between commencement ceremonies and Father’s Day.
“We anticipate thousands of people to be coming to town to support their Mustangs,” said Molly Cano, Tourism Manager for San Luis Obispo.
“My parents are coming along with my entire extended family,” said Allyson Millard, a Cal Poly senior who was out and about shopping for her graduation outfit Monday.
Millard’s extended family includes 14 people who are traveling from San Diego. They won’t be staying in San Luis Obispo.
“My mom took a really long time to start looking for places to stay and missed the opportunity to stay in SLO,” she explained.”So they are staying at an Airbnb in Paso.”
It’s not her first choice, but there wasn’t much to choose from for Millard’s large family. However, area hoteliers said Monday they do have rooms for smaller families.
“We still have some rooms with two beds, some kings and a couple suites,” said Danny Brewer, General Manager of La Quinta Inn.
La Quinta Inn is the newest hotel in town. Across the street, The Kinney had a few rooms available as of Monday, too.
In San Luis Obispo, there are about 2,200 hotel rooms, according to the city.
Airbnb said in a press release Monday, “Hosts will welcome more than 600 guests this weekend.” So if you plan on getting a last-minute Airbnb, good luck!
“Airbnb has mentioned that they are sold out for the weekend from their perspective. A few of our hotels do still have rooms available,” Cano said.
The city noticed a new trend this year in the hotel bookings.
“With two ceremonies being on Saturday and Sunday evening, we are seeing the trend of people staying longer,” Cano said.
If you plan on going to dinner this weekend to celebrate your graduate, the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce recommends making a reservation. Many restaurants that often don’t accept reservations are taking them for graduation weekend.
Staying at the beach is another option for visitors. Dolphin Bay has one room left for this weekend and the Inn at the Pier said it has rooms available.
