Ventana Big Sur
Big Sur, CA
30,000 Hyatt points/night (transfered from UR)
(Adults only property)
Stayed here for 2 nights for my birthday and was upgraded to The Cottage, which was just incredible. Was told due to being Explorer and it being my birthday.
The same dates next year, rack rate is about $2000/night. With the resort fee being waived for award stays, add in taxes, cpp comes out to 7.8. I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to top that, lol.
The Cottage was spacious, with super comfortable bed, sitting area with fireplace, and wet bar. But the best part was the huge balcony facing the canyon, with private jacuzzi, large round lounger, and hammock. Though I didn't get to use the hammock since it rained on and off and never got dry.
The service was wonderful, friendly and unpretentious. At these expensive places, I always worry if it'll be a little snobby. It was not at all. When we sat down to check-in, the friendly receptionist put me instantly at ease. She went over the activities - the free guided hike around the property, yoga, and the social hour. We made it to the social hour once. There's wine and I think gin/vodka and tonic. From reviews, there used to be cheese. But we got spiced popcorn and spiced nuts. A tiny disappointment that they're not more generous with the food. She also gave us a list of nearby restaurants that they could drive us to in their electric Volvos. We decided to go to Deetjen's one night and they made the reservation for us. I loved that they can handle requests by text. No cell reception at Deetjen's though, so they had to call Ventana to come pick us up.
The valet drove us and our luggage in an electric cart up to the cottage and showed us where everything was. They use the carts to drive you anywhere you want on the property. Mostly, we chose to walk and enjoy the grounds. Every request and every pick-up was done extremely quickly. I never felt like we were even waiting at all. I couldn't help but think back to my other high value redemption, the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay, where we waited half an hour for the valet to get our car, lol.
We had dinner at their restaurant, The Sur House, one night. I was expecting fancy frou-frou food (big plate, tiny food), which I enjoy on occasion. But it was surprisingly hearty. The mussels appetizer looked entree sized, we were a little puzzled, lol. My favorite was the black pasta dish, but too bad that was actually typical appetizer size. Everything was delicious.
Ventana Inn is just an amazing property. I feel so fortunate to have found this hobby to be able to experience it. Don't think I could ever bring myself to pay rack rates. Would love to go back. ❤ Thinking October for our anniversary should have better weather. Doubtful we'll get so lucky with an upgrade again, lol.
Balcony and outside of the cottage. There's a small view of the ocean from the porch.
Social House (reception, lounge, pool table, social hour, coffee and tea):
Grounds:
We missed the guided hike, so did a small one on our own. Didn't want to do the whole loop, so cut through the garden (with chickens):
) in pretty busy traffic. We probably should have hung around the airport a bit - it seemed really nice- but DH wanted to get to the hotel 
.
There are also goats in a barn nearby. Some other paid activities we didn’t do include falconry, archery, and bee keeping. We passed by the archery on the way to the family pool and DS was bummed that it’s 13+ (he’s 12). Weather was in the high 50’s, but the kids swam in the heated pool. I liked that they give bottled water freely - at the pool, at the hike, and a bunch of bottles in the mini fridge in the room. They also have water refilling stations located around the resort. The pool wasn’t too crowded, and it was easy finding spaced out loungers.
