New luxury hotel with a rooftop pool is under construction in Paso Robles. Here’s a look

A new luxury hotel is beginning to take shape in downtown Paso Robles.

The AVA Hotel, whose walls and columns are going up on Pine Street, will bring 151 rooms and a variety of amenities to the city, extending the Paso Robles downtown corridor to the train station.

The luxury resort will feature a rooftop pool and bar, multiple restaurants, event space and retail shops, Debbie VanSteenwyk told The Tribune.

“It’s something Paso has needed, a high-end hotel downtown,” said VanSteenwyk, who owned the property before selling it to a hotel ownership group, of which she is a member.

Renderings on the hotel website show a modern aesthetic with indoor greenery, high ceilings, wood beams and neutral colors, with high-end finishes throughout the hotel rooms and resort grounds.

The hotel was designed to “fit in with Paso Robles,” VanSteenwyk said. “We tried to make it blend.”

AVA Hotel features 3 restaurants and space for weddings

The AVA Hotel plans to include three restaurants on the property: one high-end restaurant, a fast-casual option with patio seating and a rooftop bar and restaurant that sits alongside the pool, VanSteenwyk said.

The hotel will also have an event space that can be used for weddings, birthdays, conferences and more, she said.

Retail shops will also be located along Pine Street, though its still too early to say what stores will be operating out of the building, she said.

Lodging for Paso Robles tourism gets more sophisticated

“The tourist market is going upscale,” Paso Robles Community Development Director Warren Frace said.

The AVA Hotel’s name is a nod to the wine region’s official moniker, the Paso Robles American Viticultural Area, or AVA, she said.

“We thought it was a fun thing to attribute to the wine region,” she said.

Frace said luxury lodging such as the AVA Hotel will help provide more lavish options for tourists visiting the wineries.

Downtown Paso Robles hotel may attract visitors but locals will benefit

The parcel where the AVA Hotel will be located used to be Hayward Lumber, a fixture of Paso Robles since the 1800s, VanSteenwyk said.

VanSteenwyk went to the Historical Society and pulled up maps that showed the buildings that were on the property where the AVA Hotel will someday sit.

“It’s been 12 years since I’ve had this vision, and it’s taken a long time,” she said. “It’s not just something we started doing recently.”

The AVA Hotel is being built by San Luis Obispo contractors JW Design & Construction and will be operated by Azul Hospitality Group, which operates other hotels in San Luis Obispo County.

Frace pointed out that the hotel help the city generate new revenue after Paso Roblans voted to increase the transient occupancy tax (TOT) by 1% in the previous election. The tax is tacked onto hotel rooms and is used to fund city projects, Frace said.

“That does give the City Council more funding for local projects to benefit the residents that live here in town and kind of strike that balance between the impacts of tourism,” Frace said.

Luxury hotel will have its own parking lot

Parking continues to be a big concern for Downtown Paso Robles, but The AVA Hotel will have its own prking lot to support hotel guests and staff, Frace said.

“We really made sure we had a lot of parking,” VanSteenwyk said. “And we have retail spaces along Pine Street.”

The first floor is nearly complete and the project is expected to be finished in the late spring or summer of 2025, VanSteenwyk said.

Bookings will be managed using the Hilton Curio Collection, which helps boutique hotels manage reservations, she said.

“We’re still working on a lot,” she said.

The Ava Hotel is located at 944 Pine St. in Paso Robles.