soartoday

Yes, you can pick more than one if you need.

We are here now as well, and I think they are experimenting with the new menu still. Two nights ago it was indeed 4 courses, but dinner took over 2 hours.

lexi123

Ugh that's pretty disappointing. Food was great when we went last Labor Day weekend, and it looked like the "new" menu still had a bunch of legacy items, although none of the simple preparation options that used to be at the bottom of the old menu that are now part of in room dining. It looks like the PDF on the website is just from this past weekend, so that's wild that they change the menu so frequently.

oc2005

The good news is they do change up the menu nightly -- I was afraid we'd get tired of the same very few dishes, but they did mix them up tonight (though is was still only 3 courses/5 options). They also did encourage us to get more than one dish per course if we wanted, and you can get an entrée size main of a appetizer (which we did). I did notice a weird thing that many of the items don't quite match up with the description, so watch out for that especially if you have an allergy/aversion. Menu and pics below.

​​​​​​​Also, highly recommend the falconry for any animal/bird/nature lovers -- worth every penny (pics also below). I think my wife hit the nail on the head what this place is -- adult (luxury) summer camp. We're definitely returning, and next time we're planning on 3 nights since 2 seemed a little quick.

drewdawg199

I was told by the front desk that the menu on their website is the latest. Hoping that is the case next week.

oc2005

Looks like they have updated the dinner menu on the site to reflect the new 3 course/5 choices menu they currently have. Interestingly it also now lists a price ($95 for 3 courses) - wonder if that means they are reopening dinner service to non resort guests?

skj

The Sur House has been open for lunch and dinner to outside guests for at least a month now (when we were there).

drewdawg199

They sure did, they updated the website menu last night or this morning. Have a 5 night stay coming up, not happy at all with this new menu.

Lomic

Yeah, the new menu does look fairly thin. I'd be apprehensive on a five night stay too. Maybe they're limiting the standard menu to allow for more interesting nightly specials? Since they have a new executive chef, that would be my hope. I guess it depends on how much freedom the property owners are giving him.

drnilescrane

Spoke to Chef when we stayed last week.

The plan is to do an A menu and B menu, and rotate between the two. Average stay is 3 nights so that covers most people.

That being said, it does look like the same number of items in total as the single menu. The food is so rich - everywhere - by the third night I ended up just doing the simply prepared menu. That's with me skipping lunch.

drewdawg199

is the simple still an option? That would help.

Cmag211

I also just noticed that they opened up the pool and other facilities to the general public via resort pass. Not a huge deal, but a bit of a turnoff at a $2,000+ a night property, IMO.

https://www.resortpass.com/hotels/alila-ventana-big-sur

nsx

It looks like they sell only 4 passes for any given date.

drnilescrane

New owners specifically said they were going to start mining for ancillary revenue at the spa and the restaurant - we shouldn't be surprised that signs of both of those initiatives are starting to pop up.

I also said something flippant in this thread a year ago about how close to 90% of guests staying here must be on points... and I believed that based on my trip roughly one month after they reopened with the all inclusive model.

After this trip, I'll absolutely take that back. You can tell who is paying cash and who is on points (and I say that as a points traveller who also loves Four Seasons).

They currently have 50 rooms to sell, and at least 6 of those are for standard redemption. I don't know how many standard suites and premium suites they sell on points (and within that group, they aren't obligated to make all of them available for redemption).

As we know, the goal is to sell out 100% of the place 100% of the time for maximum Hyatt reimbursement. Upgrading Globalists to suites so they can re-sell the rooms again close in is part of that. Talking to people around the place, it seems like a lot of people do swoop in for the last moment, < 24 hours notice redemption as part of a larger trip.

Staff seem be incentivized in some way based on this happening - I know they earn gratuities based on occupancy.

Matt4200

This property, while nice and Adults Only, is not worth $2,000 a night for a base room, not even for the Big Sur Suite.

I think most here would place the value per night at $600 a night, if a complimentary upgrade to a Suite is expected than possibly $800. Both valuations are including the All Inclusive program.

Those paying cash rates either have money to blow or are on a group rate which is negotiated and not publicly available.

Let’s say they sell all 60 rooms every night of the year and it averages to $1,000 per room per night with Hyatt Reimbursements, Group Rates and everything coming in. That’s 60k per night and 22 Million a year and that’s assuming less than 50% of the standard rate and not even increasing for suites.

For such a Small property that revenue level is insane. There are many many properties 5 times the size (300 Rooms) that don’t even make half that (11 Million), some not even 25% (5.5 Million) of that.

ralphs

The post right before you seems to imply that this crowd is becoming more prevalent.