Central Coast accommodation pricing - What gives?

I am currently looking at spending 3-4 days in September exploring Central Coast wineries and I am taken a bit back by the prices of hotels in places like Lompoc and Santa Maria.

150USD does not seem to get you much more than a Motel 6 or a Holiday Inn at best and Airbnb is pretty much the same story.

What am I missing here? Is there some secret American OTA that Europeans does not know about that I should be using instead?

I realize that there is a big chunk of affluent local tourists and that there are not that many keys to go around, but the prices seem on-par with HK, Paris, London etc. for the mid-range market.

Any tips or recommendations for any kind of accommodation are much appreciated.

US hotel prices are currently through the roof everywhere … post-Covid leisure travel means cooped up Americans are willing to spend anything to vacation

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You found a mid-level hotel for only 150 a night? Congratulations.

Supply and demand. Closest vacation spot to Silicon Valley.

Look to stay in Solvang or Buellton instead - more centrally located for SBC winery explorations. Reach out if I can help.

A lot of Central Coast towns (Carmel/Monterey specifically) are extremely anti-vacation rental which for its part does some to limit supply and therefore let hotels keep overcharging.

Meanwhile in SF there are JdV hotels and things normally $300-$450 for like $140-$225 but that is looking in the next week or so. You could just be looking too far out and the prices are high right now for people who don’t have flexible plans and will pay the price now to secure a room.

Thank you everybody for your inputs. Appreciate you taking then time.

Thank you, Larry. Very nice of you taking the time and offering help. Being from Denmark myself, Solvang looks pretty intense though. Like how the world would look if Danish grandmothers had won the war. Seems to be a bit more rooms there, so I’ll have a look around.

If you (or anyone else), have any favourite restaurants or wine bars that you would suggest in SBC, that would be much appreciated.

Similar, if there are any wineries that is a must-visit, I would love your inputs. I will try to get appointments at Whitcraft, Domaine de la Cote, Scar of the Sea and ABC when I get closer to the date, but any other suggestions would be very welcome.

Thank you in advance.

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Rasmus,

I hear you about Solvang - but it’s not that scary . . .

Lots of great restaurants but it’ll depend upon whether you are in the Santa Ynez Valley or Santa Barbara proper. Let me know when you decide.

As far as wineries go, what are you looking for? Some interesting choices thus far, but let me know more please. There are about 200 or so in SBC. And I’d love to host you at tercero if interested.

Cheers.

Amazing, thanks for all the help, Larry.

I did not have that many more wineries in mind. Not a region that I am very well-versed in. But I have enjoyed the wines of the 4 I mentioned immensely, although very different styles.

Thank you for the invitation. I will definitely take you up on the offer once I get closer to the date. Will shoot you a DM if you do not mind. Thanks again!