Last edit by: SanDiego1K
Dinner reservations and activities: email [email protected]
Big Sur Smokehouse is closed at least thru end of July 2023.
Your stay includes all meals, whether in-room 24 hours a day, lunch on the Sur House Terrace from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., or dinner at The Sur Houseour award-winning restaurant that is open for dinner from 5-9 p.m. Please see our dining menus here.
Signature experiences:
Morning Movement (Tai Chi, Yoga, Meditation, Big SurCus Poi Dance)
Coast Ridge Hike
Bees and Big Sur
Falconry
Foragers Hike
Redwood Hike
Sur House Social
S'mores
Astronomy
July 2023 activity schedule:
https://www.ventanabigsur.com/pdf/JU..._AtAGlance.pdf
Big Sur Smokehouse is closed at least thru end of July 2023.
Your stay includes all meals, whether in-room 24 hours a day, lunch on the Sur House Terrace from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., or dinner at The Sur Houseour award-winning restaurant that is open for dinner from 5-9 p.m. Please see our dining menus here.
Signature experiences:
Morning Movement (Tai Chi, Yoga, Meditation, Big SurCus Poi Dance)
Coast Ridge Hike
Bees and Big Sur
Falconry
Foragers Hike
Redwood Hike
Sur House Social
S'mores
Astronomy
July 2023 activity schedule:
https://www.ventanabigsur.com/pdf/JU..._AtAGlance.pdf
Ventana Big Sur- Alila - REVIEW MASTER THREAD
#1501
Moderator: GLBT Travelers & Hyatt Gold Passport
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: CVG
Posts: 15,300
peteropny - co-mod - Hyatt
Last edited by peteropny; Aug 23, 2021 at 5:17 pm
#1502
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 2,449
Curious how this property is with cancellations on award stays within 14 days. Just in case there's a Covid related closure of if a fire breaks out in the area or a road closure happens suddenly? Anyone have any experience cancelling within 14 days on the award stay once you are the past the cancellation policy? Explorist tier here if it makes any difference.
#1503
Join Date: Jul 2021
Posts: 132
Just wanted to add a few thoughts to the thread based on my recent stay.
Service was mostly good, but certainly didnt blow us away. Would be disappointed if paying cash. Food was very good for all-inclusive, overall Id give the food a solid 8/10. I highly recommend you try at least one lunch at the Smokehouse. Everything is included and the meats and sides were all great.
Resort is beyond breathtaking and the rooms are excellent. The views, gardens, and overall setting truly are magical. Was one of the most beautiful places we had ever been (no hyperbole) and we have traveled all over the globe. We didnt even see the sun for the first couple days because of the fog and it still didnt take away from the beauty.
Drinks add up fast $$$. I would recommend bring a bottle or two of wine along.
Admittedly the forest showers were a gimmick, but a gimmick we absolutely loved. Id pick that over the hot tub personally, mainly because there are two other great hot tubs on-site. I also much preferred the privacy of the patio on the forest shower suites compared to some of the other room types.
If you care to read about our one small annoyance, read on:
We arrived around noon and had to wait until 4:30 until our room was ready, but we were upgraded to a Big Sur Forest Shower Suite. We had to check out and then back in for our third night due to two separate bookings and they made us leave room by 11am and told us unfortunately our new room wouldnt be ready for a few hours which was a bummer. We asked them to reach out to us if our room was ready early and they said they would watch for us and let us know, but they seemed a bit irritated we asked? I noticed by 12:15 my phone showed a digital key available for our new room, but we just thought it was a mistake/it wouldnt work until later. By 3:30ish we were a little restless so I thought Id just try the digital key, and it worked. I texted the front desk asking for a second robe (one was missing) and they had seemed like they had no idea the room was ready, and our guess is that it was ready by 12:15 which made the whole situation a little irritating. On the plus side, we got another bottle of Prosecco for our anniversary
Service was mostly good, but certainly didnt blow us away. Would be disappointed if paying cash. Food was very good for all-inclusive, overall Id give the food a solid 8/10. I highly recommend you try at least one lunch at the Smokehouse. Everything is included and the meats and sides were all great.
Resort is beyond breathtaking and the rooms are excellent. The views, gardens, and overall setting truly are magical. Was one of the most beautiful places we had ever been (no hyperbole) and we have traveled all over the globe. We didnt even see the sun for the first couple days because of the fog and it still didnt take away from the beauty.
Drinks add up fast $$$. I would recommend bring a bottle or two of wine along.
Admittedly the forest showers were a gimmick, but a gimmick we absolutely loved. Id pick that over the hot tub personally, mainly because there are two other great hot tubs on-site. I also much preferred the privacy of the patio on the forest shower suites compared to some of the other room types.
If you care to read about our one small annoyance, read on:
We arrived around noon and had to wait until 4:30 until our room was ready, but we were upgraded to a Big Sur Forest Shower Suite. We had to check out and then back in for our third night due to two separate bookings and they made us leave room by 11am and told us unfortunately our new room wouldnt be ready for a few hours which was a bummer. We asked them to reach out to us if our room was ready early and they said they would watch for us and let us know, but they seemed a bit irritated we asked? I noticed by 12:15 my phone showed a digital key available for our new room, but we just thought it was a mistake/it wouldnt work until later. By 3:30ish we were a little restless so I thought Id just try the digital key, and it worked. I texted the front desk asking for a second robe (one was missing) and they had seemed like they had no idea the room was ready, and our guess is that it was ready by 12:15 which made the whole situation a little irritating. On the plus side, we got another bottle of Prosecco for our anniversary
#1504
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: IAH
Programs: UA 2MM, Hyatt Diamond, SPG Gold
Posts: 2,150
If you care to read about our one small annoyance, read on:
We arrived around noon and had to wait until 4:30 until our room was ready, but we were upgraded to a Big Sur Forest Shower Suite. We had to check out and then back in for our third night due to two separate bookings and they made us leave room by 11am and told us unfortunately our new room wouldnt be ready for a few hours which was a bummer. We asked them to reach out to us if our room was ready early and they said they would watch for us and let us know, but they seemed a bit irritated we asked? I noticed by 12:15 my phone showed a digital key available for our new room, but we just thought it was a mistake/it wouldnt work until later. By 3:30ish we were a little restless so I thought Id just try the digital key, and it worked. I texted the front desk asking for a second robe (one was missing) and they had seemed like they had no idea the room was ready, and our guess is that it was ready by 12:15 which made the whole situation a little irritating. On the plus side, we got another bottle of Prosecco for our anniversary
We arrived around noon and had to wait until 4:30 until our room was ready, but we were upgraded to a Big Sur Forest Shower Suite. We had to check out and then back in for our third night due to two separate bookings and they made us leave room by 11am and told us unfortunately our new room wouldnt be ready for a few hours which was a bummer. We asked them to reach out to us if our room was ready early and they said they would watch for us and let us know, but they seemed a bit irritated we asked? I noticed by 12:15 my phone showed a digital key available for our new room, but we just thought it was a mistake/it wouldnt work until later. By 3:30ish we were a little restless so I thought Id just try the digital key, and it worked. I texted the front desk asking for a second robe (one was missing) and they had seemed like they had no idea the room was ready, and our guess is that it was ready by 12:15 which made the whole situation a little irritating. On the plus side, we got another bottle of Prosecco for our anniversary
#1505
Join Date: Sep 2020
Programs: AA EXP, BA Gold, VS Gold, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Platinum, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 3,911
Admittedly the forest showers were a gimmick, but a gimmick we absolutely loved. Id pick that over the hot tub personally, mainly because there are two other great hot tubs on-site. I also much preferred the privacy of the patio on the forest shower suites compared to some of the other room types.
#1506
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
Programs: A3*Gold, SPG Plat, HyattDiamond, MarriottPP, LHW exAccess, ICI, Raffles Amb, NW PE MM, TWA Gold MM
Posts: 100,334
Aren't Globs guaranteed a 4 pm checkout here? That should also work if you're changing rooms.
#1507
Join Date: Sep 2020
Programs: AA EXP, BA Gold, VS Gold, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Platinum, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 3,911
#1508
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: SFO
Posts: 4,902
We brought a few bottles for our stay. We took one to dinner and paid the $50 corkage and enjoyed another bottle with dinner in the room one night (no corkage fee for that )
We had a similar situation where we had to check out of one room after two nights and move to a different room for the third night. I had advised the property we had 2 reservations for consecutive nights a few weeks in advance of our stay, but they still were unable to block a room for the entirety of our stay. This is really basic stuff for any property, much less one that charges $2K+ per night, and Ventana Big Sur seems to screw it up with some frequency.
We had a similar situation where we had to check out of one room after two nights and move to a different room for the third night. I had advised the property we had 2 reservations for consecutive nights a few weeks in advance of our stay, but they still were unable to block a room for the entirety of our stay. This is really basic stuff for any property, much less one that charges $2K+ per night, and Ventana Big Sur seems to screw it up with some frequency.
#1509
Join Date: Jul 2021
Posts: 132
Did they proactively stock the outdoor showers with toiletries for you? When I've stayed in a shower suite there was nothing out there at all, which I found a little odd. I also didn't find that the water got very hot, which made it a little too brisk for a sunrise shower.
Our showers got plenty hot, but were sensitive to even the slightest temperature tweak so it always took some adjustment. Was nice to put a fire on early AM and step out of outdoor shower into a toasty room.
We are Globs and we didnt even get 12p checkout, they made us checkout at 11 and we sat around without our bags for 4.5 hours, and were also downgraded to a standard suite which was still beautiful, but we preferred the privacy and beauty of the forest view.
#1510
#1511
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: JAX
Programs: UA Plat MM, AA Gold MM, Marriott LTT, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 3,770
How were you downgraded to a standard suite? Did you book a premium suite that was downgraded or were you upgraded to a premium suite on the first reservation and then moved to standard suite? If you did not book a premium suite, then you were not downgraded. Changing rooms is what I expect on separate reservations if upgrades are involved.
#1512
Join Date: Jul 2021
Posts: 132
How were you downgraded to a standard suite? Did you book a premium suite that was downgraded or were you upgraded to a premium suite on the first reservation and then moved to standard suite? If you did not book a premium suite, then you were not downgraded. Changing rooms is what I expect on separate reservations if upgrades are involved.
It was just the way the room transfer was handled that we didnt like.
#1513
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: JAX
Programs: UA Plat MM, AA Gold MM, Marriott LTT, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 3,770
If you booked standard room and upgraded to premium and then standard suite, then that was great. I used TSU for both times we stayed at Ventana and were upgraded to premium suite both times.
#1514
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: IAH
Programs: UA 2MM, Hyatt Diamond, SPG Gold
Posts: 2,150
We had a similar situation where we had to check out of one room after two nights and move to a different room for the third night. I had advised the property we had 2 reservations for consecutive nights a few weeks in advance of our stay, but they still were unable to block a room for the entirety of our stay. This is really basic stuff for any property, much less one that charges $2K+ per night, and Ventana Big Sur seems to screw it up with some frequency.
#1515
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: IAH
Programs: UA 2MM, Hyatt Diamond, SPG Gold
Posts: 2,150
This was our situation and it was far from great. Wasting the better part of a day waiting for a room is a serious screwup on Ventana's part. In our case, there was no attempt at any service recovery either while we were there or in response to the after-stay survey I submitted. The closest was the property offered to move our suitcases from our old room to our new room. Had I known we would be without a room for so long, I would have kept our bags so at least we could have changed clothes.