I have booked an evening tour at Hearst Castle for late September but would like to do another tour the next morning so that my wife can see more during daylight. The website says that the evening tour "features highlights from tour one, tour two, and tour four". Does anyone know exactly what is covered in the evening tour, and which other tour might be most complementary? The obvious choice would be tour three, but it seems to spend all of its time in the guest rooms - Hearst Castle is known for its tapestries, its antiques, its views...why focus on its guest rooms? Any advice would be appreciated.

I would also like to find a nice place to stay in nearby Cambria, preferably avoiding the basic motels and over-doilied B&Bs. And restaurants: what is this Sow's Ear that keeps popping up on this site?

Thanks.

The Sow's Ear is a restaurant in Cambria. www.thesowsear.com It's one of our favorite places to eat in Cambria. Cozy, quaint, excellent food and service. The country fried steak is a specialty here and the only place I'll have this entree.

Their salmon in parchment paper is divine and the fried brie appetizer is also excellent. Once you go there, you'll see why I love it so much.

Cambria is a great place, I love it. You should try The Cypress Cove, it's quaint, but not overly-done. The Fogcatcher Inn is also very nice, they have a pool there, but guests of the CCI can use it.

I've also heard good things about the Cambria Pines Lodge, but we haven't stayed there, as we like the oceanviews from our window. Avoid the Moonstone Inn, it's received bad reviews here, anyway.

The Pelican Suites are very nice, pricey tho and the rooms looked pretty dolled up from the website. Have a nice stay in Cambria! ***kim***

Well, there's a focus on the guest rooms because some of the best tapestries and antiques are in them, and some of the best views are from their windows!

There are smaller guest houses on the grounds of the castle, and their furnishings, antiques and views are comparable if not more spectacular than those in the main building. I think I remember that Cardinal Richelieu's bed was in one of these.

The most spectacular sight at the Castle is the outdoor pool. You will want to see it both at night and in the daytime, but I think it's incorporated in all tours. I would also not miss the main dining room, Hearst's and Marion Davies' suites in the towers, and at least one of the guest houses.

On our last tour, I was also impressed with the outdoor pool. We went on the tour which also showed the indoor pool, which is also amazing. We had such a hokey tour guide tho, we got stuck being the only two people with him, it was weird. He was boring and rather unprofessional. I wonder how they much they screen their tour guides sometimes, LOL!!

I was also disappointed that we didn't see the zebra everyone raves about. I just wanted to get back to our hotel for a swim in that gloriously heated Fireside Inn pool that trip! ***kim***

Thanks for the great B&B advice, but I am still confused about choosing tours. Apparently all the tours visit both the indoor and outdoor pools, so that's taken care of. johncharles also recommended the guest rooms, the main dining room, and the tower suites. Does anyone out there know which if any of those is covered by the evening tour, and which daytime tour to choose for the best parts of the Castle that aren't seen in the evening? I tried calling the reservation line, but wherever that call center was it didn't sound like any of the people there had actually been to the Castle.

bobludlow: If you happen to stop by or stay at the Madonna Inn (100 unique rooms) in San Luis Obispo, please post a trip report.

Donna

You're going to need someone who has been on all tours at every time of year to answer your question, because I believe the night tour at this time of year is different from the evening tour during the holidays etc... I remember the kitchen being facinating, but it has been many years and I don't remember the specific tour numbers that coincide with the "highlights." There is an IMAX movie there that may help you as well as many coffee table books to purchase. Perhaps you could look through one before you take your tour and then decide for yourself. You will be amazed by any tour you pick. Enjoy!

bobludlow, if you have not yet happened onto this web site yet, you might want to check out its description of the night tour and what other tour to take to complememt it:

http://gocalifornia.about.com/cs/hea...earstnight.htm

Note the author of the article you see at the above site feels that you see most of the highlights of Tours 1 and 2 on the night tour, and recommends Tour 3 or 4 in the daytine to complement it. She also says that the night tour includes not only both pools but the largest guest house (Casa del Mar), the Hearst quarters in the main building, the kitchen and also "living areas" by which I would guess she means the refectory and dining rooms, both musts, which would be the logical place for the living history performers who are part of the night tour to interact.

Personally, I have only taken tours one and two. Between three and four, as you say, obviously the least duplication of all may be with tour three, since Casa del Mar is duplicated on Tour 4. But my recommendation, if you don't take both, would be to take Tour 4. I think that it's possible that there is the least duplication between the night tour and tour three because the night tour is trying to hit the most outstanding highlights and tour three is the one with the least of those. It appears that a lot of it is the North Wing, and my impression is that may be the least opulent and interesting area. It is the most recently built part, and money was getting tight for Hearst by then.

Tour 4 centers on the gardens and grounds and I think that would be seen much better by daylight. Even though Casa del Mar is duplicated in this tour and the night tour, I think it would be better seen by day, with its sweeping views of the Pacific. I would enjoy seeing Casa del Monte and its mountain views, which is on the third tour, but I think you will probably get plenty of good monuntain views touring the grounds on Tour 4. The grounds are very beautifully and artfully done, with many statues and terraces as well as great varieties if trees, plants and flowers. However, if you are more interested in interiors and art objects, you might prefer taking tour three and seeing Casa del Monte which is not on the night tour. But for myself, I think I'd choose #4.

The last time I was there I believe I took tour #4. It included the gardens, the guest houses, the pools, and the amazing kitchens. It was wonderful and September will be a perfect time to see the beautiful grounds.
The Blue Whale Inn in Cambria has lovely rooms.

Yes, the Blue Whale Inn is nice. The rooms aren't overly done, but there are canopy beds with lots of Laura Ashley type fabrics on the bedspredas and window seats. We enjoyed our stay there. ***kim***

Thanks for the great link, johncharles. I will probably pass on the third tour (since I've also heard elsewhere that the newer rooms just aren't as impressive) and decide between 1,2, and 4 the morning of - whatever I didn't get enough of on the evening tour.

And thanks to everyone for your B&B advice, butI just found a coupon for Best Western that had not expired yet, so we will stay there instead.

Is it the Fireside Inn? It's a nice property. I enjoyed their pool temperatures there, nice and yummy warm. Also a nice jacuzzi and the breakfast in the am is served in a quaint room with views of the pool.

Located right across the street from Moonstone Beach. Or is it for the San Simeon property which isn't as nice, IMO. ***kim***

bobludlow, I'd be careful about assuming you can pick your tour the morning after. They often sell out. And remember a lot of Californians know that late September is a great time to be there. If you want to be sure of the tour you most want, or of getting one for sure, reserve.

As you know from my last post, I agree with you that the #3 tour and the North Wing rooms it emphasizes sounds the least interesting. If #4's emphasis on the grounds and gardens doesn't send you, though, I'd go with #2 over #1 to complement the night tour. I have taken these two, and from the description of the night tour it sounds to me like #1 is the one which most duplicates it. While the night tour apparently goes to the Hearst suite, some of the other areas in the upper stories of the main building emphasized in #2 are apparently not included in the night tour and I found them very interesting--the meeting room, the library, some of the other suites near Hearst's.

I've presented a different view from Kim's on the Best Western Cavalier (the one on the beach at San Simeon) before and will again. If (and only if) you can get one of the oceanfront rooms, you will be about as near the surf as you can stay anywhere on the California coast. I have stayed in one of those rooms more than once and really enjoyed them. If you can't get one of those rooms, or sleeping right next to the surf doesn't interest you, then there is little that is special about this hotel other than that it is very convenient to the Castle.

I will confide to you that I've found Cambria disappointing, although it has many other admirers on this forum besides Kim. But I have read some other dissenters here who, like myself, see it as an attempt to imitate Carmel that isn't quite successful. I can't see it as a worthy travel destination in itself, just something that exists to get the dollars of people who are in the area for the Castle. It always seems like there's lots of traffic, and it takes a long time to get in and out of. I haven't found that time worth it, and when visiting the area I'd rather stay on the beach, away from town.

The BW Cavalier Resort is a run-down piece of property. I made it a point to go and tour it, just to make a point on these boards. I would never in a million years give this property my time or money! The grass is dead, the pool is stuck out in the middle of nowhere and the entire property needs a remodel/update, IMO.

Cambria is not trying to imitate Carmel. That's hysterical! I enjoy both Cambria and Carmel and we have stayed in both places many times. They both have their own unique things to offer.

bobludow, go to Linn's in Cambria for some of the best chicken pot pies ever! Also, the Fermentations has wine tasting there. Very nice place to sample some of the area wines.

Seekers glass is also very nice. I collect their small, colored marbles for my glass case in my office. ***kim***

I can't see Cambria trying to imitate Carmel--they are very different.

We stayed at the Burton House Inn last month; it was wonderful and reasonable. It was nice to just be able to stroll the shops and eat dinner without getting back into the car.

Click on my name for a detailed description of the Burton House under a Cambria question.

Sounds very nice, Jayne. I'm glad you enjoy Cambria as much as I do. I purposely didn't have EOS deliver our wine to our home so we would have an excuse to get over there. I put a picture of myself on Moonstone Beach in our local paper with a Father's Day message to my dad, since he knows I'm a big fan of Cambria. I've got him sold on the place, also! ***kim***

Try the Sea Chest restaurant for seafood. It's on Moonstone Beach drive but I don't think they take reservations.

The night tour is excellent, with the "performers" it makes it seem like you're in another world. You will see a bit of everything on the night tour also.
I definitely wouldn't stay at the BW at all, very run down and dirty looking. I would opt for Moonstone Beach or some of the cute hotels in Cambria. Forget about staying in San Simeon, nothing but trashy motels.

Have an excellent time no matter where you go, the important thing is seeing Hearst Castle.

The Sea Ches is actually right next door to the Mariner's Inn. We dined there a few months ago. The ambaince is nothing to write home about, the seafood is very fresh and prepared to perfection. I had the salmon which was excellent. The do NOT take credit cards or reservations.

People start lining up outside the restaurant around a half an hour before they open. We were the first in line. Another couple brought a bottle of wine that he shared with us while we were waiting. We chose a table by the window. They also have a very good lemon tart with raspberry sauce for dessert.

How long is the night tour? I may be interested in this for our next trip. I'm tempted to try the Pelican Suites, but will probably end up at the Fogcatcher. I think this property is just so quaint and I like the feel of the place. (Sister property to the Cypress Cove.)

Has anyone been to the Black Cat lately or Bistro Sole? Two places I want to try in the future. Sergio's closed and a wine shop/restaurant has opened in it's place. (Next door to Wearable Images where I purchsaed a beautiful, hand-painted beach bag.) ***kim***

bobludlow, different strokes for different folks. Cambria just has never appealed to me as a destination town when I've visited there, although I'm sure there are worthy places to stay and eat there that I haven't tried. There are many of those in places that I respond to better in general, and I'll probably try them instead.

Somehow, despite the outrageously dirty and run-down condition of the Best Western Cavalier represented to you above, it has managed to become the top rated property (of 11 reviewed) in San Simeon on Tripadvisor.com, based on 25 user reviews. Each one of the nine 2004 reviews there gives it four or five stars out of five, and every one specifically mentions its cleanliness. dirtiness and shabbiness claimed by some posters above. Check out the detailed reviews there before rejecting that property.

I've just topped a July trip report on Cambria and San Simeon by nytraveler, who stayed at the Best Western Cavalier and liked it, and has the same view of Cambria as a Carmel imitation that doesn't quite make it that I do.