It has been a couple of months since the last trip reports, so hopefully this will be helpful to those that have stays coming up or during the colder months.
Recently completed a Tuesday to Friday stay. Booked the Santa Lucia Studio with King Bed via Amex FHR (posted a review on how the process went in the Amex FHR thread) and requested a complimentary upgrade to any room with an outdoor tub through the Amex travel portal. The day of check-in, I saw that we were assigned a Vineyard Oak Studio with King and Outdoor Tub. The room was great and the balcony overlooked the golf course and valley. We liked how the fireplace could be used both indoors and outdoors.
It rained one day, so we ordered room service for breakfast. Another day, we walked to the restaurant (Valley Kitchen) and ordered breakfast to go. Both of these services were an extra charge. It was a $7 delivery fee and 10% to-go charge. When we were dining in, we enjoyed the food, but the service could have been a little bit better. There were no more than seven, maybe eight tables max at any given time. Between the 2-3 servers and 1-2 expos, it felt that they could have been a bit faster and attentive with only eight tables, half of which were just two-tops.
We did not do any guided activities or checked out the River Ranch area so cannot speak to that, but the walks around the property were nice. We were close to the Corral and going up there to check out the animals was fun.
There were some inconveniences, but they were addressed quickly. There was a mix-up when we first arrived and was promptly issued an apology. We also kept finding ants in places that did not make sense, so they moved us to a Hilltop Ranch Suite with King Bed and Outdoor Tub. It was nice and spacious. Low-key wished there was a fireplace in the living room, opposed to just the bedroom. We had trees covering the view outside our balcony, but that just meant more privacy.
We were granted a 4pm checkout but left much earlier than that so we could head over to Alila Ventana Big Sur. The final bill waived resort fees, all breakfast charges, including the delivery and service fees, and the $100 FHR credit went towards dinner charges. Overall, a great stay. Although, I am not sure if we will come back. Maybe as part of a family reunion during the warmer months.