coterie

Last time I stayed, I was given 2 rooms next to each other. There is a small hallway that is private to just the 2 rooms, so our families basically kept the doors open when needed. The hallway is also blocked by the window so keeps the wind out and gets nice and warm with the afternoon sun. I believe most of the layout throughout the buildings are like this. Hope this helps.

DealDetective

Thanks for the feedback from both of you about the connecting rooms. I would love to get the townhouses, but they are not showing available right now (unless they've been blocked out for us!) The kids are old enough to stay in their own room, but we'd like to have some quality time with them. I just didn't want to request the connecting rooms only to find they are the worst in the house!

Quasiconvexity

Had a great stay here over the holiday weekend. Had booked an oceanview King using Hyatt's Welcome back awards and was assigned to Room 522 which had great views. The property itself is great, and the staff were efficient and friendly. ^^ for free bike rentals and complimentary valet parking. The bikes were perfect to get into Point Lobos state park - the line of cars waiting to get in was really long, while we were able to ride right in. Will update post later in the week with pictures. Great stay overall, and this is our new favorite place on the central coast. ^

hotelfanatic

Had a one night stay b4 the holiday weekend. Asked if is possible to be assigned a room with a sofa bed. Nicole got right on the phone with the GM and was able to secure room 512 (best room on the block). Diamond status really means something at this property. Also, securing 512 was made easier since we only stayed 1 night. 512 is an end unit with windows facing 2 directions with 1 BR and 1 LR with the sofa bed. This is a beautiful property and we liked it better than either the Maui or Waikki properties which we just returned from. Hands down, best CA resort IMHO. And maybe the west coast.

francophile

I checked-in for one night this past weekend. Nicole is fantastic. Her friendliness and professionalism made the check-in process very pleasant. She would fit right in at a top-tier Four Seasons property (so therefore, not Aviara). In the evening, we asked her for some more matches to light our fireplace and she was incredibly gracious.

I walked by room 512 en route to the ice machine near room 528. Though 512 does have a nice corner position with windows facing two directions and a large living area, people passing by the walkway can easily see inside into the living area. So while this room is quite spacious, you give up some privacy unless you close the curtains.

Valet parking staff were friendly and eager to help. I asked the clefs d'or concierge for suggestions for places to visit on the way to lunch at Post Ranch Inn and while she was friendly I wished she was more explanatory and specific about places instead of just giving me a map with recommended sights.

We had a light dinner in the lounge area of the main restaurant. The food was fine and appropriately priced given the surroundings.

The person delivering our room service breakfast was also very cheerful.

Overall, a very positive stay.

I Love Award Travel

I also stayed here during the holiday weekend using BWB free nights. I was told that the property was completely sold out so no upgrades were available for Diamond members. I had my fingers crossed for a townhome upgrade after reading all the reviews on this thread. But they did give us two rooms that were opposite each other (535 and 537) which ended up working quite well for us.

One downside to my trip was the heater in one of our rooms. When we turned it on, flames sparked beneath the fire place and I guess the fan went out. Housekeeping took a look and said they didn't have a spare part available so they gave us a portable heater for the weekend. It did the job but not quite the same. Was also a bit disappointed with my experience at the Pacific Edge restaurant. The view was stunning but one of the shades was broken so the sun was shining right into our eyes during the first part of dinner. Also, didn't think too highly of the service we received or the Prix Fix menu ($89 for 4 courses). Wasn't too good of a deal considering that the portion size seemed a bit small for what I considered the main course.

But all in all, I agree with the consensus. This is a beautiful property and definitely a great place to redeem award stays. Also, taking SanDiego1K's advice, we flew up from San Diego via Allegiant Airlines. This turned out to be one of the best flight deals I paid for in cash ... $275 for 4 ppl r/t non-stop. Would definitely like to come back again.

SanDiego1K

I am heartbroken that Allegiant is ending its service between San Diego and Monterey at monthend. I had already booked the Highlands for my husband's birthday weekend in 2011. Without Allegiant, it will be much more time consuming and expensive for us to get here.

notquiteaff

We spent two GWB nights at the Highlands Inn this weekend. Overall enjoyed our stay. I always love visiting the Monterey area (nice getaway from the Bay Area), and this was our first opportunity to stay at the Hyatt.

Check-in was great. Got ocean view King room with a nice view.

First night we had dinner in the lounge. Very good service, great views, and the food prices were fine.

My wife decided she wanted to try Pacific Edge the second night (wish I had gotten a restaurant.com coupon or packed more Costco certs). Overall wasn't too impressed. The food was okay (my "medium rare" steak was closer to well done than rare, but I am not too picky). The butter was ice cold and nearly impossible to spread on the one piece of bread we were offered. The server dropped the food off and never came back to check if everything was okay or if we wanted another drink (I was sitting there with my empty diet coke glass for a while).

California Market for breakfast was great. Diamond $32 voucher for each day didn't quite cover the breakfast cost for us, but that's okay. Service was great and efficient (coffee mug was never empty), and we loved the food.

Warning for those who don't like stairs: there are LOTS of them all over the property. I saw one elevator, near the pool, and it was broken. I recently had ankle surgery and am still a bit mobility challenged (just got rid of crutches last week), so I considered it part of my physical therapy.

DealDetective

With all the recent glowing reviews of this property, I had high expections that led to some disappointment about my recent 3 night stay. As someone mentioned earlier in the thread, a person's experience here will vary depending on their room assignment. Since we were traveling on FFNs as a family of 4 with 2 teenagers, we needed to book 2 rooms, so I requested connecting or adjacent rooms. It turns out they do have a set of connecting rooms, but they are probably some of the least desirable rooms in the hotel (515 and 517). Located in a stone building from the original inn situated on the far side of the property from the lobby, they are the smallest, most oddly-configured rooms I've ever seen. From the door, there are a couple of steps down to a hallway with 2 chairs that sit outside the bathroom, then there is an area just large enough for a King bed and fireplace. The clearance between the foot of the bed and the TV/DVD player mounted on the wall of 517 is so narrow, I bruised my shins on the corners of the bed. Neither room has a desk or table of any kind on which to place a room service tray, but 515 has a narrow dresser that also serves as a stand for a nice sized TV. Of the 2 rooms, 517 is slightly smaller than 515 with a small TV and no dresser. There were no electrical outlets in 517 available to recharge cell phones or a laptop other than the one by the bathroom vanity. The highway noise awakened me early every morning, even with the doors and windows closed, but when the heater was running it seemed to drown out the cars and trucks as white noise. On the positive side, the room had been completely renovated recently such that it was not obvious that this was in the historic part of the hotel. (Note that these rooms do not have the spa tubs, just a standard combination shower/tub.) We really enjoyed the fireplace with the wood all ready to light. The robes are my favorite kind with a microfiber fabric lined in soft terry that is nice and warm. They sell for $90 in the gift shop and I wish I had bought one.

It was dark when we checked in, so I was eager to see our wonderful full ocean view in the morning. It was an ocean view with trees and oceanfront houses in the foreground such that you could not see the shoreline with the dramatic rock formations Highlands Inn is known for. Breakfast at the California Market was good, but the only table available our first morning was in a dark interior corner with a view of the gift shop. Not exactly the view I had in mind. The other 2 days we were seated in the main dining area, but never got a window seat.

Cell phone service can be an issue here. My daughters couldn't get a signal with T-Mobile, but our phones with wi-fi calling ability were automatically connected to the TMobile hotspot. The wireless service connection via a TMobile daypass worked fine, but it always seems to take forever to make the initial connection. On the topic of technology, don't follow the directions of most GPS systems to reach the hotel. Ours navigated us up a dark, winding, narrow road to approach the hotel from the back. The bellboy told us they were aware of the problem, but the GPS maps won't get corrected for another year or so. In the meantime, the Highlands should place a warning on their website to follow their directions and not a GPS.

We found the service throughout the hotel to be friendly and helpful. The concierge had some great recommendations including a whale watching trip that was unforgettable. (If you are in the Monterey area, they say the whale watching is the best they have seen in 10 years, so don't miss this rare opportunity.) The night staff was put to the test on the final night of our stay when the fire alarm malfunctioned, waking us up in the middle of the night. I called the front desk and they quickly sent Security to the room. He was surprised there was no fire in the fireplace or smoke of any kind. Actually the alarm was sounding in both of our rooms. He could not identify the problem, so he decided to remove the smoke alarms, which were on the walls above the bed. There was no way to position a ladder to access the smoke alarms, so my tall husband had to stand on the beds and remove them. Unfortunately, that did not squelch the alarm, which was sounding from an adjacent speaker, so he had to also disconnect the speakers in both rooms. I spent the rest of the night worrying that this wood-shingled hotel was going to catch on fire and we would sleep through it. The next morning I inquired with the front desk whether they had identified the problem and I was told it was the second time it had happened this week and was caused by the battery on the fire panel. I was very surprised to hear they hadn't fixed it after the first time it happened. When we checked out, they were very apologetic about the incident and informed me they were comping our incidental charges for our stay, which I appreciated.

Had I been paying $500 per room/night, I would have felt totally ripped off by the experience. For free, I really can't complain, other than having had to use twice as many award nights to accommodate our family of 4 as I would have at most domestic properties. If I were to book a paid stay here, I would probably spring for a townhouse unit that could sleep 4 with plenty of space, kitchen, living room and a Jacuzzi tub to ensure a better experience.

kenbo

With Sprint, we had no signal in our room. We even forced roaming and got nothing. We were able to get signal in the lobby though.

We also had the same problems with our GPS taking us on Fern Canyon Rd. We have a Garmin unit. Had we stayed on Highway 1, there is a Highlands Inn entrance less than half a mile down the road after the GPS tells you to turn. Jumping on Fern Canyon Rd. added an additional 5 minutes of uneasy driving.

SanDiego1K

DealDetective, my heart sank as I read the account of your stay. Did you talk to the Front Desk Manager as to whether any other room assignments might allow you access to your teens, while giving you better views? Was there nothing at all that they could do for you? It seems as though putting all four of you in a townhouse - or even one of the timeshare units - would have been better than the dregs that you got.

Quasiconvexity

Our GPS led us astray as well, but we spotted the sign on Highway 1 and were able to make it up with no problems. We took the Fern Canyon Road approach the next day when biking and while it was great to bike on, I can imagine it would cause some unease the first time approaching the property as it is winding and looks like it might not lead to a resort. No problems with Cellphone signals with AT&T - surprising given how often my calls get dropped in LA!

DealDetective

Thanks for your concern. We did investigate other options after the first night, but I felt the search was limited to rooms in our "category." There would have been trade-offs with even closer proximity to the highway noise and more stairs to climb and the rest of the family didn't really want to hassle with moving. (Of course, the kids were in the "better" of the 2 rooms!) I specifically asked about room 512 which is close to 515 and would have allowed us to move and leave the kids in place, but was told it was not available. Interestingly, it appeared to be vacant for the remainder of our stay. In fact, it was offered to us to move to in the middle of the night when they couldn't shut off the fire alarm.

kenbo

That sucks!

notquiteaff

Depending on where I was in the room and how I held the phone, we had either very poor or no signal on Sprint. But to my surprise, I got *excellent* AT&T coverage. So good in fact that I couldn't reproduce the "death grip" problem with my iPhone 4, which is otherwise really easy to demonstrate here in the Bay Area.

Darn new-fangled technology. I just followed the sign