Kacee

Purple Air better than AirNow.

Big Sur

sfvoyage

I actually look at both tools. According to this article, one isn't necessarily "better" than the other, not that I'm any expert at all:

https://www.sfgate.com/news/editorsp...I-15514576.php

Kacee

You're right that's a subjective assessment. I, and most people I've talked to about this, find PurpleAir more useful because (a) it has sensors in lots more locations, and (b) it updates in real time. "AirNow" is not actually "air now"; it's a summary over time, culled from a relatively small number of sensors.

madderlake

Anyone on property now and can speak to the smoke situation? I'm at Carmel Valley Ranch and no smoke or smell of smoke whatsoever all week. We drove down as far as Garrapata and the same, but didn't drive further south yet into Big Sur....

Upgrademe731

Just checked in. No smoke. Property is great so far.

madderlake

Great, thanks!

fls114

We are due to arrive on Monday. It looks as if all of the state parks are closed. Wondering what this means for accessing hiking or any of the views the area is known for. Anyone there now with some insight?

I'm sure we can enjoy the relaxation at the hotel, but having never been to Big Sur, would be pretty disappointed if we can't actually see most of the sights.

madderlake

@fls114 - I'm currently in the area and yes all the parks are closed still as of today and probably not opening for the holiday weekend (unless there's a surprise?) One park that is open is Garrapata in Carmel - we did the coastal trail the other day and it's gorgeous. But that's all I've been able to find open so far. Driving from Carmel to Big Sur today so will be on the lookout along Hwy 1 and report back if I see anything else that looks open!

fls114

thanks for the update! Doubting much more will be open by the time we arrive but we can hope.

Gberg

Stayed last night and left today. Amazing weather and no trace of smoke but apparently yesterday was the first day like that.

roder

Just completed a two-day stay over Labor Day Weekend (Saturday-Monday). A few notes.

1) I booked this stay last minute (Friday), when suddenly a 30k/night room was available. I think what happens is when people staying on awards get their rooms blocked/check in and receive an upgrade (which the hotel is good at), it re-opens the award category rooms. I spoke to another guest who saw the same on Saturday morning, probably after my room was upgraded. Just wanted to provide this data point as this can open up options for folks looking to book last-minute.

2) I received an upgrade to a Pacific House Suite. Really more of a Junior Suite but we was very happy with the room. These rooms are the only ones that have gone through a significant renovation and we loved the design and finishings. This was really my biggest concern about the property since most of the other rooms I have seen pictures of were more rustic and not my style. The Pacific House was perfect and had some distant ocean views, too. That being said, the private hot tub was unusable because it was way way way too hot. I didn't bother trying to get this corrected.

3) Concur that dinner and breakfast at Sur House are the highlights of the stay. Food was wonderful, service was great. Amazing that it was included in the award stay (doubly better with the 15-25% points rebate). Mock-tails were delicious, too. They seemed to be free at dinner but charged by the pool.

4) Yoga was (supposedly) cancelled both days that we were there. Apparently, the instructor was impacted by the fires, which is understandable. However, on Monday morning, despite a text message saying it was cancelled 10 minutes before the class start, we heard from other guests that it actually did happen as scheduled. Very strange.

5) We did the "Starbathing" Alila Experience, and the guide was excellent. We had heard about the experience through the "ranger chat" after the social distancing hour. The GF was immediately excited as she loves stars and we signed up for the following night. Shame on us for not asking the price first.. Shocked to find out it was $150/pp. I could understand this price if it was a private tour, but there were ~10 people on the excursion so the hotel collected $1500 for a 2 hour night "hike" which basically just followed the house walking path. I was even further disappointed by the extremely weak snacks provided afterwards (unwashed fruit, some random granola packages, etc). If you want to go see the stars with a bit less light pollution just bring a flash light and just go to the "Sur Vista Wedding Terrace" and/or follow the house walking trail and save yourself $300+.

6) Food by the pool, and the picnic, were both fine but nothing remarkable. Again, nice that it was included.

7) There was really not much to do on property, or in Big Sur in general. Most of the resort activities were cancelled, the state parks and beaches were closed, and obviously route 1 was shut down just south of the hotel. It was also wicked hot (100+), so hiking wasn't really feasible. But nevertheless, hotel has an amazing location when things return to semi-normal.

8) Housekeeping was delivered normally, including turn down service. Mini-bar was not refreshed, despite our asking for more Almonds.

In general, we really did enjoy the stay and were thrilled that we had the opportunity to experience it. That being said, I do take issue with this "all inclusive" branding the hotel is utilizing. It's really more like "mostly inclusive", particularly with alcohol not being included, confusion surrounding things like Mocktails, stinginess about asking for an additional item in the picnic basket, etc, which all seems a bit silly to me when you are talking about rates of $2500+ a night.

beachfan

Thanks!

Was the pool crowded?

roder

On Sunday, the meadow/main pool was busy, all of the seats were taken in the area and we actually relocated to the mountain pool which was basically empty.

Monday the meadow pool was much quieter.

1fan

The Mountain pool is clothing optional. Just finished 6 nights everything was great except for several room service mistakes. We already booked next September.

sfvoyage

On Sunday, was the pool itself crowded, or just the pool area with occupied seats? Were guests able to swim laps in the pool?