Embassy Suites is the only kid friendly hotel in San Luis Obispo with an indoor pool. This town has many outdoor activities like hiking, biking, and is close to the ocean as well. All of this would be great if only it didn't rain on your vacation in June! Curse you climate change! Fortunately, the shallow (3.5 to 5.5 feet deep) indoor pool and hot tub made it so our kids didn't want to leave. That, combined with other amenities such as free shirley temples and snacks made our stay very comfortable. The hotel also provides free board games in the large enclosed central atrium that made it easy to want to stay in.

The room was quiet and a good size with 2 queen beds in their own room with a view of the surrounding parking lot and shops. The bathroom and a hall with another sink divide the bedroom from the living room that has a view of an interior enclosed courtyard and is furnished with a desk, hide-a-bed sofa, chairs, TV, etc. All told, our suite could sleep 6 comfortably (assuming the hide-a-bed was comfortable). The hotel staff were all courteous and helpful. Cribs are provided if necessary. There is an excellent breakfast bar (included with the room) with everything you could possibly want. The made-to-order omelets were excellent. The kids went straight for the junk cereal (fruit loops -not allowed in our house but when on vacation.... OK). With a regression to my college days I stuffed myself and skipped lunch ;)

When we asked the concierge about kid-friendly activities he only suggested the Children’s Museum. I wish he would have suggested more options. In his defense, given that it was raining and we arrived on Friday, the activities were a tad limited. From personal experience, I enjoy Farmers Market, which happens on Thursday evenings (canceled if it is raining though). There is a great little art museum downtown as well. In addition, there are several beach towns and Montana De Oro State Park all within a 15 to 20 minute drive.

The only negative thing is that this hotel is located in the southern part of town, not within walking distance of downtown. So to get downtown where a good chunk of the action is you would have to either bike or drive. It’s a 15 minute bike ride or a 5 minute drive. There are 3 city-owned parking garages downtown so parking is not a problem unless it happens to be on a day when there is a parade, bike race, farmers market etc. Be sure to check the SLO City website for information on all the different activities that happen in this wonderful city.

I would recommend this hotel to friends and family even though it is away from downtown, especially if the weather isn’t cooperating with your plans.

PRO'S -
Great indoor pool for the kids
Provides free kid friendly snacks, drinks, and board games
Awesome free breakfast
Free one-drink happy hour
Clean, spacious rooms
Friendly accommodating staff
Close to shopping

CON'S -
Can't walk to downtown
A bit pricey (around $230 a night) but I believe worth it given all that is included

This review is based on a complimentary stay at The Embassy Suites . I received no other compensation and the business owner did not state any requirements that I express a particular point of view. The opinions I express are entirely my own.

We found this museum just the right size for a one day visit. My children (4 and 8 at the time) really enjoyed all of the exhibits. Some museums have one or two that are a hit but this one had 4 that stood out with my family. The one we spent most of the time in was the dinosaur exhibit. The life size dinosaurs were really something. Even for me and I'm over 6 feet tall! The second favorite was the tunnel with lava flowing in the floor. This was in the geology exhibit. Lots of super cool crystals and minerals to look at as well. The kids loved trying to walk through the lava tunnel without being burnt to a crisp. That kept them occupied for like an hour by itself. Another favorite was the space exploration area. They have a camera mounted on a replica mars rover that you can remote control. Very entertaining for our 4 year old. We had to pull him off in order to give other kids a chance.

One other thing we enjoyed was an area that had live animals in it. My kids got to pet a snake, look a huge lizards and see giant insects. The staff in this area were very friendly and knowledgeable and we all had a great time in this portion of the museum.

We packed some food in the car so we were able to escape the infamous ABQ restaurant food. I can't even imagine the museum food. Don't tell my mom who lives there but i still can't seem to find a decent restaurant in ABQ! The gift shop was typical. Oh and don't forget to get a penny stamped on the way out!

This is a great little beach and day use park area. The beach is protected from the prevailing Northwest swell and you can even launch a boat. Most people only launch their kayaks though. There are hiking trails through the area and some pick nick benches. Restrooms too (thankfully)!

The kayakers provide great entertainment for the kids as they come back in, sometimes with fish and sometimes they get rolled over in the small surf!

Little ones will enjoy the small creek that flows under the bridge, across the beach and into the ocean. We always seem to end up in some large scale water management project worthy of an engineering stamp. Don't tell fish and game! If the tide is low you can even see some sea life scurrying on the rocks in the tide-pools.

Afterward, Cambria is a great place for dinner too or if you forgot to bring lunch and a snack. Restaurants are a 1 minute drive south.

Well, after driving for hours through the desert south west of America I saw the sign for Meteor Crater and remembered visiting there as a child and thought to myself, "The kids will love this!". So, I took the family on the 10 mile (20 round-trip) or so detour off highway 40 to see this big hole in the ground. If you are traveling east on 40 and you hit Winslow you missed it.

Realize that this is on private property and is run by a private enterprise. This is not a State or Federal park which explains the $15 adult and $8 for kid ticket prices. Now, I felt that was a tad high for my tastes but once you are 20 miles out of your way in the middle of the desert what choice do you have? So, $46 later we find ourselves in the gift shop which has all the typical tourist junk found along highway 40 through these parts but also a Subway sandwich franchise! Nice! My boys love subway so bonus points for that.

On the way out the door for the walking tour which I think anyone who is not in a wheelchair or oxygen could probably do (but that's just me), you can touch a very large meteorite. Pretty cool. This thing is like 3 ft long. The kids were not nearly as impressed as I was. Oh well. The tour guide was very pleasant, entertaining, and well spoken. Sad to think about all those people who lost their fortunes mining and hoping for something of value to come out of ground instead of water.

The views are spectacular. The terrain is awesome and the air was fresh. I still have good memories but will probably skip it next time we go through.

We belong to the local cub scout troop and were lucky enough to get to spend the night on this ship. We slept in the bunks on sub-level 3 and I will never again forget my earplugs! Kids up late, parents snoring, thudding from anything moving. I was lucky to get 3 hours sleep. OK, just had to vent a little. The thin mattresses hung from chains off the ceiling were actually pretty comfortable. (newfound respect for our sailors of WWII). Here's hoping the new ships have better sleeping quarters for our guys!

Aside from that, this was a fantastic trip! Lots of things to look at. Real fighter jets and helicopters in hangar bay as well as a space capsule from the Apollo missions. This is the ship that picked up Neil Armstrong and his team after walking on the moon for the first time. You can even walk in Armstrongs first footsteps back on earth that are painted on floor.

Like on the first line of the info sheet says, everything on this ship is hard steel so no running is allowed. I'm 6-2 and had to duck almost every step of the way. All of the stairs are very narrow and very steep so this is not a tour for any children under say about 7 or who have difficulty navigating ladders. For my son the gift shop was VERY interesting. Don't miss the chance to get real dog tags made. They have an original dog tag machine and can create personalized tags for you for $5 each. Also, don't miss the bridge, flight deck, torpedo bay, engine, and anchor rooms. These are must see areas.