This Underappreciated Wine Country Town Deserves a Visit

Sunset’s Insider Guide series highlights seasonal diversions and secret travel tips from local experts. Follow along as we learn where to eat, drink, stay, and shop.

Photo: Nomada Hotel Group

Meet the Insider:
Kimberly Walker, Founder and Creative Director, Nomada Hotel Group

Location: Paso Robles, California

Kimberly Walker’s hospitality projects have come to define Central Coast cool. Starting with the makeover of the Granada Hotel in San Luis Obispo in 2012, she then completed ultra-hip revamps of the Skyview and Hotel Ynez, creating spaces that embrace local flavor in the fabric of their design. Her two most recent projects, Farmhouse and River Lodge, are in Paso Robles, so we tapped her to give recommendations on where to hang while in this still somewhat underappreciated town in California’s wine country.

EAT

Jesse Cudworth

Drenched in sunshine and style, Ciao Papi is a vibrant al fresco poolside restaurant and bar that serves Cal-Italian eats, refreshing craft cocktails, and a local wine list. The first restaurant in SLO County to receive a Michelin star, Six Test Kitchen is an intimate 12-seat chef’s counter dining experience and offers multi-course tasting menus by Chef Ricky Odbert. Reservations are required. And husband-and-wife team Julien and Courtney Asseo’s Michelin-starred farm-to-table bistro Les Petites Canailles marries French tradition with culinary innovation.

DRINK

Lisa Pretty

Step back in time when you step into the downtown speakeasy at Eleven Twenty Two. 
The Gatsby-esque cocktail lounge offers a secret setting and classic libations presented with dramatic flair. No cellphones are allowed, and there are limited reservations. Alchemists’ Garden is where the magic happens. This cocktail bar’s creative menu showcases the artistry of mixology with drinks that are almost too pretty to drink. Tin City is a walkable hub of over 40 businesses that highlights everything Paso Robles has to offer, including tasting rooms, distilleries, breweries, and cideries like Barrelhouse Brewing Co., Tin City Cider, and Hubba Wines.

DO

© Claire E. Hartnell Photography

Embark on an intimate hot-air balloon flight over scenic countryside with Balloons Over Paso. Its sunrise excursions conclude with a Champagne toast and breakfast treats upon landing. Before wine, Paso Robles was sought out for its naturally occurring hot springs. Soak up the healing properties and vineyard views at River Oaks Hot Springs’s private outdoor artesian mineral spa tubs. With 40,000 vineyard acres, wine tasting is a given. Booker, DAOU, Tablas Creek, JUSTIN, and Niner Wine Estates are a few of our go-tos. The expansive exhibition at Sensorio offers immersive outdoor art installations, like Bruce Munro’s acclaimed Field of Light, which features more than 100,000 glowing spheres that illuminate the rolling landscape. Set within the space that was once the Old Paso Robles Opera House circa 1919, Libretto hosts world-class jazz, blues, classical, and operatic musicians.

STAY

Nomada Hotel Group

Farmhouse has a fresh take on a classic main-street motel. The property offers 26 cottage-style guest rooms nestled around a vibrant gardenscape featuring firepits, fountains, rose gardens, citrus and olive trees, and a lush dog-friendly lawn. Our newest property River Lodge is a midcentury motel turned retro-chic resort with 28 guest rooms and lively landscaped grounds with firepits, hammocks, and a large 21-and-over pool and hot tub.