Originally Posted by
LRMErnst
Great review, thank you for all of the details. I'm considering booking a rewards stay here for my girlfriend's birthday next month. She has been on property a few times as a day guest, and has really enjoyed it.
I was reading through the TripAdvisor reviews, and a lot of the gripes I read had to do with the fact that the hotel is "open" to the public, and that it loses some of it's exclusive charm. (I realize that most hotel bars and lobbies are open to the public.) To this end, the reviews mentioned that it was crowded and noisy. Did you experience any of this when you were there? Is this reason enough to choose the Guest House over the main building?
Thanks!
Sorry for my very late reply. I just revisited this thread only today. Even though you have likely come and gone from the hotel in the interim, I'll post my two cents worth for folks with similar questions...
Originally Posted by
ntamayo
That complaint is mainly due to the fact that the hotel gives public access to the beach, and the walk along the coast winds through the golf course and the fire pit area. It's also a popular venue for weddings, also near the fire pit area. I've stayed in both areas, and Guest House does offer the isolation that some guests are looking for. However, I haven't found much issue with the crowds and noise given the expanse of the property.
I second these comments. We didn't find it crowded or noisy at all. As I noted in my review upthread, though, we stayed in the Guest House, which is more private than the main hotel. The part of the main hotel that we mainly accessed was the lounge, which was never crowded and which I'd recommend splurging for if you're going to be spending a lot of time at the hotel.
Originally Posted by
blacke61
Speaking of public access and isolation, although the property grounds are beautiful the property is located right next to a trailer park.
Well...it depends what you mean by "right next to." I'd say it's about a 10-minute walk from the main hotel building, and in any event is situated such that you really are not aware of it while at the hotel in terms of seeing or hearing it. What's more, it also depends on what you mean by "trailer park." It's a smallish area for about 50 (?) vehicles that seems to be for just temporary use, mostly by folks visiting with huge Winnebagos and other expensive vehicles, rather than some permanent, sprawling settlement.
Originally Posted by
bhrubin
Booked for 2 nights midweek on award stay in late April/early May. Bringing our dog, celebrating our 9th wedding anniversary with a trip up the coast.
What's to do in the vicinity? We have friends who live nearby, but wanted to get a sense of any good hikes, cute towns, galleries, etc that might be worth a stop. We already are in SF and SJ quite often, so staying in the more remote/pastoral parts of the peninsula will be very appealing.
Thanks for any 411!
First of all, the RC HMB is a special place that I'd heartily endorse for an anniversary get-away. Enjoy!
The town of Half Moon Bay is nearby and is a cute town with restaurants, galleries, shops, etc. In my review upthread, I mention a quirky general store in the other direction and a great hiking trail (one of several in the area) that the concierge directed us to.
Originally Posted by
brianinok
The wife and I are considering going to this property in late March / early April 2019 for our anniversary. We have never been. Seems like many of you are regulars. We think we'd like a fire pit room, which we can get using points + cash. I am PPE, but I don't think I'd like to leave the room type to chance. And the rates are pretty high around then (often $1,000+) so it seems like a good use of points. Are the partial ocean view fire pit rooms (in the main building) good rooms? I'd prefer more of an ocean view, but you apparently can't book those with points + cash.
Can't say for certain what the difference is between the partial and full ocean view fire pit rooms. But if
this resort map is any indication, perhaps the two stretches of fire pit rooms in the main hotel are the ones facing west toward the sea (presumably the full ocean view), just to the north of the Ocean Terrace/Ocean Lawn area, and those facing south toward the golf course (presumably the partial ocean view). Of the two, those facing south seemed far more private and preferable, in that there's much less foot traffic passing by. And it seemed that from both those facing west from the main hotel and those facing west from the Guest House (where we stayed and really liked), there's a slight hill that means you don't get an absolutely full ocean view if you're sitting down by the fire pit anyway.
Anyway, this is all conjecture on my part. You might want to confirm this info with the hotel itself. FWIW, were there over an early April weekend ourselves this year and got upgraded to the full ocean view at the Guest House, which I think was due to a combination of celebrating a special event, writing ahead to the hotel management to make the request because of the special occasion, and the hotel probably not being full.