boolean64

Yeah i guess everyone prioritizes differently. I've stayed at Carmel Valley Ranch. I much preferred the overall experience at ventana even with the service misses than had i stayed at carmel valley ranch and had flawlessly executed delivery of utensils and napkins. I would have been more irritated with the letting things sit in the car situation. But life is too short and vacations at this point too few and far between to let the little things get to me. I do have to re-iterate that it has not been "months" for ventana to get their act together. they have been shut down hard until they reopened july 15.

ashley1245

Just checked out after a two night stay for 30K per night. Before arrival, the hotel emailed me and asked me to fill out an info sheet with the reason for the visit, our interests, etc. I lucked out and, after stalking their webpage, I found availability for two nights over my actual birthday. So, in my info sheet I mentioned that we were celebrating my birthday. On the day before arrival, the app showed that I had been upgraded to a Big Sur Shower Suite. I am currently an Discoverist.

Upon check-in, we did get a Big Sur Shower Suite, which was a corner unit and had a beautiful view of the redwoods. The room had a hammock, two chairs, and an outdoor shower on the patio. It was a beautiful room and I thought it was very nice of the hotel to upgrade us. We did the free property hike, which is led by an actual outside tour guide as opposed to a hotel employee. We were the only ones who showed up, so it was like a private tour and we liked our guide who taught us about some of the plants and trees around the property. We also did our own hike over to the camping and 'glamping' area as I was curious about what it looked like.

For one of our lunches, we opted for the 'Picnic in the Redwoods'. I enjoyed the experience and would recommend it. It was very peaceful, and we could hear the birds, etc. The picnic menu has 4 choices. We ordered 3 of the 4, and I felt a little sheepish ordering 3 instead of 2 (one per person). However, I am glad we did as the portions were very small (the hotel did not bat an eye when I asked for 3 items instead of 2).

We did the s'mores one night, and I also liked that. They have two different types of s'mores sets available. One bag has a traditional s'more and then the pastry chef creates a custom s'more kit for the other option. While we were there it was a gingersnap cookie with a ginger infused marshmallow and milk chocolate. Fun!

We enjoyed the dinners and breakfasts as well. During our property hike, we saw the property's chicken coop which provides eggs for the restaurant. We also saw the property garden where the majority of the herbs and veggies are harvested for the restaurant. We really enjoyed the breakfast eggs and various herbs and greens. We thought most of the food was very good.

We did have some service issues:

1-when we checked in, another guest was there complaining that he had called the front desk 4x and no one answered. During our stay, we called the front desk a few times for random questions or requests and no one ever answered. (None of my calls were an emergency, and we are pretty laid back so I wasn't bothered by it, but I'm mentioning it here because others have commented about service issues.)

2-when we went to dinner the first night, the hostess said, "Happy Birthday." I said thank you but told her that my actual birthday was the following night. She said, "oh, well then let me make some notes on your reservation for tomorrow night then." I saw her then typing into the computer. The next night we arrived at dinner- a different hostess was working, and no mention was made about my birthday. This hostess mentioned that she was newly hired and was nervous. (Not a big deal, actually, but the first hostess sort of created an expectation that something might be done the following night, but then nothing ever happened. Again, I didn't really care and figured it was simply an oversight by the new hostess.)

3-upon check-in, the hotel delivered a bottle of wine to our room. I thought it was a very nice gesture. The bottle of wine retails for $11.99. Again, I didn't care and it was the thought that counts. However, if I had paid the cash rate, I doubt the hotel would've sent a $12 bottle of wine.

I'm only pointing out these service issues because they've been discussed recently. My husband and I had a wonderful time and I thought this was an amazing redemption for the points. The property is incredibly quiet and feels very secluded. We had no trouble staying away from people and felt completely safe. The housekeeping manager was fogging each room with some sort of industrial disinfectant machine as the guests checked out. All of the dining tables were sufficiently spaced, etc. I felt like this property gives you the rare treat of being able to vacation safely during this crazy time. I would never pay the cash rate here (and honestly could never afford it), but it was a special treat for us.

SanDiego1K

I've noticed several reports of the phone not being answered for service calls. We were given a number that we used for texting. It worked quite well. We used it to make bookings for meals, get more firewood, have our car brought up and more. I've just looked at the stream of texts and noted they don't answer it from 11pm to 7:30am. Otherwise, they were quite responsive.

ralphs

Just cancelled a two-night res for standard room (30k/night) Aug 30 - Sep 1. Needed the points to upgrade my upcoming stay from a king bed to a premium suite (Vista Hot Tub) from 30k/ni to 60k/ni.

abcx

Once again, didn't seem to go back into inventory!

Kacee

There's a reported lag of around 30 minutes.

platbrownguy

Nice review -- thanks for the detail.

As for the wine, I am constantly amazed at how frequently a very expensive hotel sends up a cheap bottle of prosecco or red, while I've had a number of less expensive properties ($200-$300/night) send up a nice Champagne or Bordeaux.

Given the relatively cheap swill that Ventana was serving at the happy hour (entry level Four Roses, not even Small Batch let alone Single Barrel), the $12 wine does not surprise me. (And it is indeed the thought that counts--and there are plenty of good $12 wines out there!)

UAflyer93

Stayed here last year, and while the hotel was beautiful, I remember the service being very poor (e.g., phones going unanswered, front desk not following up, dead insects in the pool, food just OK, etc.) The hardware was 5 stars, but the service felt more like a 4 star hotel (e.g., Hyatt Regency) than a "true" Alila (and I say this having stayed at the Alila in Uluwatu). That said, the spa (especially the outdoor treatment rooms) and the hot tub were wonderful. While I wouldn't pay cash to stay at Ventana, you can't really complain about the value when staying on points, and I've booked another stay (using points) for next year.

I recently stayed at Calistoga Ranch (Auberge Resorts) in one of their lodges, which is about the same price as Ventana (now that Ventana is charging ~2k/night), and that truly felt like a 5 star hotel. There were some minor misteps, but overall the experience was much more luxurious. I have a hard time seeing myself pay more than $1,000/night for Ventana. For the price they are charging, if on a paid stay, I'd much rather stay at Post Ranch, or a hotel like Twin Farms (where the base rooms are much larger). That said, maybe the experience has changed /improved now that they are all-inclusive.

Troopers

Wait, outdoor spa available and hot tub open?

UAflyer93

My bad! Meant to say I stayed "last year." That was a typo.

236Dakota

Could someone please confirm that the rooms have a coffee and/or hot water device for making coffee and tea. We tried to call in to ask but ran into the same problems mention above; no one answers.

OxyTrojan

yes a nespresso pod machine and bottled water plus tea bags that can be warmed with scalding hot water from the filtered water machines outside of each building

boolean64

And 99% sure i recall a tea kettle next to the nespresso machine.

liondragonx5y

Yeah I remember this as well, and they give you tea bags.

myperks

checking out now and yes there is a kettle and Roshi-branded tea bags... didn’t even realize the water station had hot water. Only icy cold water.