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Brad A. Johnson

Food & Travel

Brad A Johnson
  • Blog
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    • Food Photography
    • Travel Photography
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Quick Look: Hotel Cerro & Brasserie SLO, San Luis Obispo

  • December 26, 2021
  • Brad A. Johnson
Hotel Cerro debuted in downtown San Luis Obispo in February 2020. That was inauspicious timing. One month later, everything shut down, if only temporarily. The pandemic understandably had an impact early on. The hotel’s signature restaurant, Brasserie SLO, cycled through multiple head chefs in very short order. But now that travel is bouncing back and chef Derek Brooks (formerly of the Hermitage Hotel in Nashville and Pelican Grill in Newport Beach) is fully settled in the kitchen, things are looking up.
Hotel Cerro in San Luis Obispo (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)
Hotel Cerro in San Luis Obispo (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)
Hotel Cerro in San Luis Obispo (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)

My time at Hotel Cerro last month was too brief — just a quick dinner and sleepover on a road-trip to San Francisco — so I didn’t have much opportunity to relax and explore. But this much was obvious: The Cerro has breathed new life into the town’s historic core. While most of the 65-room hotel was newly constructed, the block-wide project preserved and incorporated two vintage storefronts on Garden Street that date to the 1920s, one of which now frames the brasserie and the other, the lobby. It’s a sexy marriage of old and new. There’s a pool on the roof, a 4,000 square-foot spa and a sprawling chef’s garden on the second-floor courtyard. 

Here’s a quick look around: 

Duck confit at Brasserie SLO at Hotel Cerro in San Luis Obispo (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)
Roasted bone marrow at Brasserie SLO at Hotel Cerro in San Luis Obispo (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)
Brasserie SLO at Hotel Cerro in San Luis Obispo (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)
Beef bourguignon at Brasserie SLO at Hotel Cerro in San Luis Obispo (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)
Herb-roasted chicken at Brasserie SLO at Hotel Cerro in San Luis Obispo (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)
Basque cheesecake at Brasserie SLO at Hotel Cerro in San Luis Obispo (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)
Croque madame at Brasserie SLO at Hotel Cerro in San Luis Obispo (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)
Gin cocktail at Brasserie SLO at Hotel Cerro in San Luis Obispo (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)
Lemon meringue pie at Brasserie SLO at Hotel Cerro in San Luis Obispo (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)

The restaurant: Brasserie SLO serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s a French brasserie that draws as much inspiration from France as it does from nearby farms and wineries. Chef Brooks makes an excellent croque madame for breakfast and serves wonderful duck confit and beef bourguignon at dinner. But he’s also got a classic Santa Maria-style wood-fired grill to play with. A wood-burning oven, too. He makes use of the latter for roasting marrow bones, which he finishes with California-grown beech mushrooms, as well as an herb-roasted chicken that he serves over a bed of creamed local spinach. 

The hotel has its own distillery adjacent to the brasserie, but I get the feeling they haven’t ramped up the bootlegging activity just yet. Meanwhile on the backside of the hotel (on Broad Street) there’s going to be a small storefront pie shop called Sweet Life of Pie, which hasn’t opened yet because of the pandemic, but the pies are available now in the brasserie. 

The room: We checked into a garden suite with a private terrace adjacent to the chef’s garden. The suite featured two gas fireplaces: one indoors, the other on the terrace. The bed was extremely comfortable, wrapped with a goose-down duvet and great pillows. Bathrobes, slippers, complimentary water bottles, fantastic toiletries, ample USB ports, a mini bar stocked with local wines… I can’t think of anything missing. 

The public spaces: The lobby faces Garden Street and is a charming spot to gather, surrounded by great art. And it’s hard not to fall in love with the hotel’s art collection throughout the property. The rooftop pool offers sweeping views of the town and the surrounding mountains, including Cerro San Luis Obispo and Bishops Peak, two of the peaks that make up the Nine Sisters. Unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to check out the gym or spa because we were only here for a lightning-fast pitstop. But next time for sure. 

Hotel Cerro in San Luis Obispo (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)
Hotel Cerro in San Luis Obispo (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)
Hotel Cerro in San Luis Obispo (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)

Bottom line: Hotel Cerro officially makes downtown San Luis Obispo an overnight destination. This hotel is very comfortable, and the brasserie is absolutely fantastic.   

Rates currently start around $255, but prices are already skyrocketed for the spring; 1125 Garden Street (valet is on Marsh Street), San Luis Obispo, California, 805-548-1000, hotelcerro.com

For more travel inspiration and photos, I invite you to follow me and join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

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Brad A. Johnson

Brad A. Johnson is a writer and photographer specializing in food and travel. His work has been honored by the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards, James Beard Awards, World Food Media Awards, Food Photographer of the Year Awards, Society of Features Journalism Awards and others. Based in Southern California, Brad currently serves as Editorial Director of the new luxury consumer travel magazine of the Global Travel Collection (launching Spring 2023).

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Brad A. Johnson
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Writer. Photographer. Traveler. Restaurant Critic.

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