The Asilomar Conference Grounds is the recommended lodging for ISWC 2018. Asilomar offers accommodation in the form of ensuite rooms and cottages. A cozy, quaint design to all of Asilomar’s historic sleeping rooms, along with spectacular ocean views from many of the standard rooms, make Asilomar a very unique experience for its guests. Lodging at Asilomar includes breakfast and dinner (lunch is provided by the conference to all attendees).
There are rooms with multiple beds available for sharing among several attendees. The cheapest option for ISWC 2018 attendees is to book a shared room at Asilomar, which comes out cheaper compared to staying elsewhere in the area and dining out. Roommate requests are made directly with Asilomar.
Given the location of the ISWC 2018 venue, we highly encourage attendees to stay at Asilomar!
ISWC 2018 is held in an area that is generally expensive (more so than previous ISWCs). To help attendees decide where to stay, we compiled a summary of estimated expenses for 6 nights of lodging plus 5 dinners (assuming that breakfast is included in hotel rates, and based on a flat dinner rate of $34).
| Asilomar shared room (all meals included) | $1,000 |
| Asilomar single room (all meals included) | $1,550 |
The Crocker Dining Hall at Asilomar provides all 3 meals and is open to all attendees regardless of whether they stay at Asilomar. While Asilomar can cater to unexpected diners that stay lodged off-site, Asilomar does not guarantee that there will be sufficient food for all such unexpected diners, on any given occasion (e.g., if 50 people stay off-site and decide to have dinner at Asilomar, it is unlikely that Asilomar will be able to serve food to all 50).
| Cheapest hotel/inn within a 6-minute walk | $1,183 |
| Average hotel/inn within a 6-minute walk | $1,530 |
There is only 1 restaurant near the hotels/inns mentioned above. While these hotels/inns have enough rooms for a lot of ISWC attendees, the one small restaurant close-by will certainly not have the capacity to cater to all of those. The alternative would be to eat at Asilomar, or further away in Pacific Grove/Monterey. There are no obvious savings by staying in these places, indeed this option will likely end up more expensive than staying at Asilomar depending on food and transportation expenses.
| Cheapest hotel/inn within a 20-minute walk | $980 |
| Average hotel/inn within a 20-minute walk | $1,105 |
These hotels/inns are 20 minutes away (walking) from the nearest restaurants in Pacific Grove, and 20 minutes away (walking) from Asilomar as well. These hotels/inns are fairly isolated, they have no dining options around, and while there is public transportation to Asilomar it is not very frequent. So these hotels/inns are quite detached from the conference. The price difference here compared to a shared room at Asilomar is slim, and excludes transportation which may be necessary.
To get the best experience and value out of ISWC 2018, the local organization strongly recommends that attendees book their accommodation at Asilomar.
There are multiple accommodation options in downtown Monterey. Due to the distance and the lack of transportation options between Asilomar and Monterey, it is recommended that attendees find lodging within walking distance (even those with a car). This will ensure that attendees will make the most of their participation without worrying about the (limited) public transportation, driving, parking, etc.
There are several accommodation options within walking distance from the Asilomar Conference Grounds. While some of these options may be cheaper than Asilomar, they would not provide a remotely similar experience compared to staying within the Asilomar State Park. It is important to note that, as pointed out before, the dining options around Asilomar are very limited; there is the Asilomar restaurant and 1 other restaurant.