Ventana Big Sur is an adults-only resort in Big Sur California. Ventana is part of Hyatt’s Alila luxury brand and currently the only Alila property in the United States (although a second Alila is being developed in Encinatas, north of San Diego). We stayed four nights in early March and paid 30,000 points per night. A friend with Globalist status booked our stay for us as a Guest of Honor reservation. This gave us all of the perks of top-tier Globalist status during the stay (free breakfast, suite upgrade, etc.). Cash rates at Ventana are often over $1,000 per night, but rates were under $600 per night during our stay (Note: cash rates are now even higher since they’ve become all-inclusive). Even then, 30,000 points per night resulted in very good value for our points especially when considering that we didn’t have to pay resort fees (Hyatt doesn’t charge resort fees on award bookings).
UPDATE: Ventana rates now include 3 meals per day and they still charge the same 30,000 points per night! (hat tip: One Mile at a Time). This makes Ventana an even better deal than before! The Hyatt website lists the following inclusions: Dining in-room (all meals), poolside on your dedicated chaise lounge (lunch), or at The Sur House (breakfast and dinner). Convenient, healthy, and inspiring snacks to take on the day’s adventures, along with complimentary keepsake reusable water bottles. The Ventana Big Sur picnic program. Access to indoor and outdoor fitness studios. Volvo chauffeur service within a three-mile radius. The Excursion Outpost, featuring complimentary items for your use on picnics, hikes, and more.
Ventana Big Sur Bottom Line Review
Wow. Wow. Wow. Did I say “wow”? Wow.
My wife and I loved everything about Ventana. The property itself is beautiful. The surrounding area (Big Sur) is fantastic. Our suite was awesome. We plan to return often.
This is not the place to go if you want to play golf or tennis. You won’t find those options here. This is not a place to bring kids — it’s adults only. This is a place to relax, to enjoy nature at its most beautiful, and to bring your dog — dogs are welcome here.
- Points Price: Category 7, 30,000 points per night standard, 25,000 off-peak, or 35,000 peak
- Point value: Excellent. Base rooms often cost over $1,000 per night, so even at peak award pricing you’ll often get 3 cents per point value or more.
- Location: Excellent. Big Sur is a gorgeous area. The drive itself, along highway 1 is breathtaking.
- Resort Dining: Excellent. Breakfast was very good and the ocean view when seated outside was incredible. We ate dinner at the resort restaurant (The Sur House) once, and it was fantastic.
- Room: We were upgraded to the Vista Hot Tub Suite. It was a huge one-room suite with a very large and private rear patio featuring nature views and, of course, a hot tub. We loved everything about the suite.
- Complementary Activities:
- Morning Yoga and Tai chi (we didn’t do either)
- Guided property hike daily at 10 am (this was very good)
- Cocktails and snacks daily from 4 to 5 (loved this)
- Pet friendly: We didn’t bring a pet, but there were many dogs on property and they seemed very happy.
- Service: Excellent
- Turn-down service? Yes, daily turn-down service included delicious chocolates.
- Resort fee: $50 per day, includes valet parking. Keep in mind that Hyatt doesn’t charge resort fees on award stays, so we didn’t have to pay this. Those with top-tier Globalist status don’t pay on resort fees on paid stays either.
- Misc:
- Welcome gift: We had notified the resort ahead of time that we would be celebrating a major anniversary and so they delivered a bottle of Prosecco and chocolate covered strawberries.
- No phone service for me: I can’t remember the last time I went four straight days with no phone signals. I use Google Fi which is on T-Mobile’s network. T-mobile seems to have given Big Sur a hard pass. My wife had service most of the time via AT&T.
- Hyatt Elite Benefits: Excellent…
- We were upgraded to a suite the day before check-in (we could see the room assignment through the Hyatt app)
- Breakfast was free, up to $82 per day, either at the Sur House restaurant or for in-room dining. If the weather is good, I highly recommend going to the Sur House.
- The desk agent proactively told us that we were eligible for 4pm late checkout (but we didn’t need it since we had a plane to catch).
- Would I stay again? Duh.
Photos and captions follow…
