partsunknown

Stayed 2 nights in a standard room, then morning of check out decided to book a suite that opened up because we were enjoying it a lot and honestly the weather has been phenomenal here, unlike back in SF.

Dinner at Sur House all three nights. As the previous poster said, order whatever you want. Customize as you wish. One night I just got a platter of steak which was amazing. The chef, Keith Potter has left, and they’ve brought in a chef from another Hyatt property in Chicago (awesome guy) whose redesigning the menu and making updates. So it’s changing but highlights were the smokehouse breakfast, the smashburger or the steak and

Did the ocean vista picnic and I can’t stress enough avoid this at all costs. Lasted about 5 min before the wasps were getting aggressive. Poolside is nice, and doesn’t have this problem. Hot days surrounded by rosemary bushes just guarantees a problem with wasps (happened at dinner too) but there’s little you can do.

In room dining and late night were quick. We didn’t have any notable service issues. Our orders were never wrong and took between 30-45 min to prepare. Again, order as much as you want.

Mocktails are NOT free. While all the staff were the highlight of the trip, had a discussion at the end with the front desk after being charged. Was told anything they have to “make” is extra drinks wise, even if there is no alcohol. Thought this was a little cheap for the property, but they waived it and lesson learned.

Social hour was great, with wine and various cocktails rotating. Night time s’mores with Pinot now in the same area (small fire pit outside check in). Unable to have any fires (outside gas) so redwood cathedral is a no go.

We ended up getting upgraded the first two nights into a fireplace king which was kind of pointless since you can’t use the fireplace. The final night in a spa suite was great, though the room in the Bay House must have been the least pleasing location. I’d avoid it (has a partial ocean view but also a service path directly behind).

Really can’t stress how pleasant the staff were, outside the mocktail conversation, had so many great talks with everyone. They seem genuinely excited to have guests and get you whatever you need. The property has a way to go before it can warrant a $2,000+ price. Not even $1,000+ level right now but mainly due to COVID constraints. Simple things like at check in, the guy seemed like a college kid who kept forgetting to mention things or told us something and the manager behind him corrected him. Just really new. Staying here it was obvious who was coming in from LA or SF with FU money and just paying the price, so with time it’ll continue to improve and the staff will continue to get more refined for a luxury resort. Spoke with the GM, Sean, who said Hyatt is loaning more senior staff to refine the property. But on points, especially at 30K, it’s a steal right now.

Once the hot tub and the Japanese baths open I would definitely be back. The property also went from 60% to 90% occupancy this weekend onwards.

Bonus: local parks are closed but there are winding paths through the redwoods or coast ridge rd (dirt rd currently closed to off-road vehicles) adjacent the Sur House provides a pretty moderate hike to some killer views. You can go for miles!

madderlake

@partsunknown great review, thanks! Can you specify where the 'winding paths through the redwoods' and 'ocean road adjacent to Sur House' are please? When I was there we hiked down to the glamping area and around there a bit but it definitely wasn't miles lol. Would be curious to know how to access these alternative hiking routes on property and did you find them yourself or did staff point them out to you?

By the way, we had the same experience at dinner (Sur House) getting swarmed by the wasps and had to vacate early ... staff said it's rampant right now.

Sean is great! Glad you had a chance to meet him

partsunknown

For sure, so the miles reference was to the Coast Ridge Rd. It’s technically a fire/service access rd. We saw it our first night since it’s right next to the dinner patio at the Sur House (entrance right before the main gate, or small one on the path between the redwood cathedral and Sur house). Then one of the staff started chatting with us and said it’s the best “trail” since it goes some 20–30 miles but you get up into the ridges behind the property. You can see the sunrise or sunset, and since it’s closed right now to vehicles it’s not really traffic’d.

in the redwoods I think we’re talking about the same thing. There just seemed to be so many paths (some arguably not real paths but we kinda just wandered and ended up near the clamping area after winding along the little creek).

antonius66

Yeah I agree with partsunknown in their review as it matches my thoughts and review mostly. I will also further reinforce as they said...avoid the vista picnic. The view was unimpressive because most of the vista is covered and blocked by trees and bushes anyway and like everywhere else...wasps. Frankly, both picnics (we did both) are fine and all, but the amount of food is fairly meager and if you wanted the meal to be more about the food than the location, they are kind of a waste. It was nice to eat in the redwood cathedral but again, if you want to get more food and drinks etc, it is not the way to go. Wasps were definitely a major issue at all meals for us. We had 1 mocktail at dinner and it was never charged to the bill so YMMV.

nsx

That forecast turned out to be almost exactly right. Weather was good Wednesday and it kept getting better all week.

Other reviews are accurate in the details. This property and its people knocked my socks off. When the weather is right it's an exotic vacation you can drive to.

nsx

The hotel seems almost sold out this weekend. The weather is perfect and it looks to remain so for a while.

I have seen both King with Fireplace and Big Sur Forest Shower Suite. My impression is that any room is a great room.

Incidentally, Highway 1 fully reopened Monday night. You can drive all the way through, although the fire damage will be sad to see.

myperks

They are slowly changing Sur House dinner menu. Haven’t updated online yet but no more crab starter. Instead there is a grilled octopus dish. New chef starting to blend in new dishes for the fall menu, apparently one dish at a time.

Any “mixed drinks”, including non alcoholics are chargeable, so mocktails or mixed sodas are menu priced.

S’mores at night is in front of reception due to fire restrictions but now includes happy hour drinks with the pre-made s’mores.

nsx

Don'f be afraid to try the octopus. It's quite tasty. Try it your first day in case you decide you love it.

myperks

It was quite tasty. This and the beets are the best starter menu items from the summer menu.

nsx

Smoke from the Napa fire is predicted to arrive at Big Sur late Thursday. There's no telling how long it will remain. Ugh.

Kacee

Here now and it's very hot with a gusty wind from the North (i.e., the wrong direction). Not too smoky when we arrived yesterday, but it's gotten considerably thicker this morning. Booked at Carmel Valley Ranch for the weekend and will have to decide before 3 pm today whether to cancel. Forecasts are optimistic for the weekend, but the experience lately has been that these hot, windy conditions pretty consistently persist beyond the forecasters' expectations.

nsx

This weekend looks essentially smoke-free and cooler starting early Saturday according to windy.com, although the wind will still be from the north.

jman8888

Since you're there right now- do you know if they'll be switching to their fall menus soon?
Also- in the rooms, does it still feel smoky? Wondering if there are HEPA filters in the rooms...

Kacee

No idea.
Not noticeable in the rooms, at least not yet. The only filtering is whatever they've got on the individual underwindow A/C units (think Holiday Inn).

nsx

Those units are so noisy that you will probably shut it off all night, making filtering irrelevant..