Hotel Cerro reopens in SLO after coronavirus shutdown. ‘This is our second chance’
A new luxury hotel in downtown San Luis Obispo has reopened for business after shuttering March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Hotel Cerro reopened on Thursday for bookings at its location in the heart of downtown.
Hotel Cerro’s restaurant, Brasserie SLO, reopened Friday to hotel guests and the public for breakfast, lunch and dinner, with expanded outdoor seating options at its The Fig Tree Terrace.
After years of planning, Hotel Cerro announced its long-awaited opening in January — only to shut down two months later when the pandemic first hit, along with other local hotels.
“I look forward to welcoming guests back to Hotel Cerro and providing a safe environment for all travelers, be it for business or a much-needed change of scenery,” Natalie Ward, the hotel’s new general manager, said in a news release. “We are confident that the steps we have taken will provide our guests with the confidence to thoroughly relax and enjoy their stay on the scenic Central Coast.”
Ward told The Tribune on Thursday the hotel is looking “beautiful and we’re very excited about the reopening today.”
“This was a very complicated project to put together,” Ward said. “The very inception of the idea was around 15 years ago. ... They say you have one chance to make a first impression. This is our second chance. We feel it’s a time to offer a safe haven that gives people a chance to relax and enjoy their stay.”
Hotel Cerro takes steps to ensure health, safety
Hotel Cerro announced it is taking several steps to ensure health and safety, including amenity bags for guests with face masks and sanitizer. All employees are required to wear masks, and housekeepers must wear personal protective equipment when cleaning rooms, changing gloves between each room.
“Linens and towels are changed at checkout or by request; both are laundered in-house at high temperature,” the hotel said in a news release. “Mattress pad and pillow protectors are laundered between guests.”
Tables at the Brasserie SLO restaurant will be six feet apart, according to state guidelines for restaurants.
Hotel Cerro staff will undergo wellness checks to make sure they’re healthy and guest who appear sick won’t be allowed onto the property.
Downtown inns reopen after coronavirus closures
Hotel Cerro isn’t the only luxury inn in downtown San Luis Obispo to reopen after a coronavirus-related closure.
Hotel San Luis Obispo, which initially opened in October 2019, reopened its doors in late May.
San Luis Obispo County officials limited bookings at local hotels to up to 50% of capacity under an executive order that went into an effect May 17. That restriction was lifted June 5, though non-essential travel is still not allowed.
“We continue to emphasize that now is not the time for leisure travel and to remind potential visitors that the statewide order restricting non-essential travel remains in effect,” Borenstein said in a news release June 5. “The greatest public health vulnerability in our county is the spread of COVID-19 from other areas experiencing high rates of infection.”
On Friday, rooms at Hotel Cerro within the next month were available in the $400s and $500s, while lodging at Hotel San Luis Obispo was available in the $300s.
Ward comes to her new job as Hotel Cerro general manager from New England, where she recently headed up her own hospitality consulting firm. She also served as the regional director of operations for Main Street Hospitality, which owns and manages several hotels in the Berkshires in western Massachusetts.
Ward takes over for Shaun and Beverley Matthews, who ushered the hotel through the San Luis Obispo opening process, and have since returned to their native country of England.
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