Ventana Big Sur, An Alila Resort

“Our Happy Place”

We were going to cancel our trip as I broke my ankle and was in a special boot. We decided to go anyway and were happy we did The staff was very accommodating to all my needs. Thank you for allowing me to still have a great time! The food and service are impeccable. The views and location cannot b… more

We were going to cancel our trip as I broke my ankle and was in a special boot. We decided to go anyway and were happy we did The staff was very accommodating to all my needs. Thank you for allowing me to still have a great time! The food and service are impeccable. The views and location cannot be beat! Our “Happy Place” Thank you

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“Trees have never smelled so good!”

Just got back from a 3 night stay at Alila Ventana Big Sur! It was booked 9 months in advance (Feb for Nov stay) when I was able to find point availability at 45k/night. I couldn’t actually find 3 nights in a row, but I was able to book 2 nights and then 1 night separately, so I did that and just h… more

Just got back from a 3 night stay at Alila Ventana Big Sur! It was booked 9 months in advance (Feb for Nov stay) when I was able to find point availability at 45k/night. I couldn’t actually find 3 nights in a row, but I was able to book 2 nights and then 1 night separately, so I did that and just had them link the reservations. I also applied a GOH award (first time using one, and figured if there was ever a good time to try it, this would be it)—which they were able to apply to all 3 nights together. Here are my thoughts on the experience in pros/cons: Pros: 1) GOH upgrade really came through and I could not have been more pleased; I had booked the most basic level room at a “lowly” 45k/night, but thanks to a GOH award (and probably my mentioning we were celebrating an anniversary), we were upgraded to “The Cottage” (room 53)—a totally private, separate house at the top of the hill, complete with a huge deck overlooking the woods, hot tub, hammock, fireplace, jacuzzi, etc. Super romantic, spacious, secluded. Room wasn’t ready when we checked in early, but they said it would be worth the wait, and they were totally right about that. Only downside was that it was a bit of a hike up the hill/not the most central, but I was very OK with the extra steps. They also provided a little welcome amenity of fancy sparkling lemonade (we don’t drink alcohol) which was much appreciated. Bed/pillows were super comfy. The room’s fridge was nicely stocked with water/soda and snacks (complimentary). Our GOH also came with complimentary valet service which was nice. Everyone received refillable water bottles upon arrival and there are water filling stations around the property. Noticeably, this property did NOT hand out any sort of tote bag like a lot of properties do these days…that would’ve been nice, not only as a souvenir (easy branding/advertising!), but also to just have a spare bag to bring things to the pool… 2) Overall great customer service—every single person we encountered was so friendly, kind, and genuinely there to help. It felt at times there were more staff members than other guests, which is very impressive. The concierge team was very responsive via email leading up to the trip answering my questions/helping plan our stay, and while there, they continued to be very responsive via text, answering questions quickly. The shuttle service was very impressive—when we didn’t want to walk the 12ish min in the dark to/from dinner, there was always a golf cart ready to take us anywhere we needed. Turn down service was also great; we appreciated finding new little treats in the room.  3) I was pleasantly surprised by how good the food was—I had been a bit skeptical of how the food would be just because it’s AI, but on the whole, it was quite good. Desserts and breakfast smoothies were the two exceptions; didn’t love any of the desserts, and both smoothies we tried were disappointing. Also appreciated their flexibility in boxing things up if we wanted to take anything to go for later, or just to take a hot coffee/tea with us after breakfast. Smart of them to have a separate little pool lunch menu too, just in case you didn’t want to interrupt your pool time, and who doesn’t love a poolside meal on a sunny day? There was also never a wait for a table, which is great. There were s’mores offered from 8-10 each night so we took advantage of that one night which was fun. Also just generally appreciated they always had iced tea/lemonade and snacks available in the social house for a quick refreshment. The sunset view from the Sur House was gorgeous—and even if you don’t want to do a 5pm dinner, they have happy hour from 4-5 which includes a complimentary beverage (non-alcoholic versions too).  4) Overall atmosphere: I do get the hype of this place when it comes to atmosphere. It truly is gorgeous, the trees smell amazing, the views are incredible, and it’s so quiet and peaceful. It doesn’t feel crowded—there’s no competition to get pool chairs or anything like that. The 2 pools are lovely, as are the hot tub options, and the poolside seats are comfy and padded, with plenty of towels provided. As an adult-only property, there are no kids running around so it’s generally a very quiet and peaceful place (surprisingly a lot of dogs though!). Because we were only there for 3 days, we spent the entire time on the property and didn’t venture out (scheduled a buffer day on either end so we could explore Carmel/Monterey separately).  Cons: 1) The biggest flaw here is the spa. A friend had warned me about it being rather small, but I hadn’t fully believed her…until I experienced it for myself. It’s a major letdown. The spa feels like it was a second thought and makes no sense at a resort of this price/caliber/hype. There is one tiny waiting area, no separate mens/womens locker room, only one bathroom to change in, no indoor sauna/jacuzzi, no relaxation room…nothing noteworthy. The prices are outrageously high (steeper than Miraval) but without any of the luxury/privacy/zen you’d expect. I had 2 services booked—first was a couples massage which was outdoors (I had been given the option); I was inclined to say yes to the outdoor option because it was unique to this property. Unfortunately, this was a bad call. It turns out the outdoor massage area is just outside the spa, about 30 ft away from the pool/hot tub open to anyone at the resort (so we could hear guests and staff around the deck area)—so it was noisy and didn’t feel private at all. By the time we realized this would be an issue, it was too late to change our minds. The massage itself was also not the best; we had opted for a hot stone one and my husband’s therapist seemed to spend more time jangling the hot stones around then actually using them. I was tempted to cancel my other treatment 2 days later, but decided to keep it since it would be indoors and different enough. Unfortunately, this one also wasn’t the best. Even though it was indoors (upstairs in one of ~5 treatment rooms), it was only on the second floor and while the view out to the ocean was lovely, it offered no privacy for changing and the therapist didn’t make any effort to close the curtain, leaving me to finally do it myself midway through the session. The therapist also was quite chatty; although she was very nice, it was just not the relaxing experience I’d hoped for. The spa staff was very kind and responsive when it came to booking/scheduling so no complaints there. Overall, I just found their whole spa experience super disappointing and not up to the caliber you’d expect of this resort. They have so much beautiful space to work with, so it makes no sense why this tiny spa is so crammed in this one spot semi-attached to the main social house/pool area—IMO, it would make much more sense for them to build an entirely separate, larger, impressive structure elsewhere on the property—and then fully deck it out with all the amenities you’d expect of a 5-star spa resort.   2) Can’t really blame the resort for this but still worth noting—there are woodpeckers and they can be annoying. Luckily they didn’t wake us up too too early (I was afraid we’d hear them at 5am), but they were definitely going at it by 7ish. So not a lot of sleeping in. Perhaps they favor some rooms over others, but they definitely liked ours.  3) I wasn’t the most impressed by the programming offered…perhaps I’ve been spoiled by Miraval (sorry to keep comparing it), where I’ve gotten used to having so many options. This schedule was a bit more limiting and if you’re only there for 3 days, there’s only so much you get to experience and it’s a bummer to see things on the calendar the day before/after your stay that you didn’t get to do (though I believe you can pay for private sessions for many of these things if it’s that important to you). Most of the yoga/meditation classes were at 8am, so if I wanted to sleep in, there wasn’t a later option for me to do instead which was a bummer (why not offer a sunset yoga too?!). One of the (paid) bee activities we’d signed up for was rained out and we weren’t able to suit up, so we’d been told we could cancel free of charge or stay in it and the session would compensate in some other way (making honey infusions)—so we opted to still do it, but it turned out to just be one tiny 1.5 oz jar each and not a ton of educational content…not at all worth the steep price tag for the session. One of the hikes we’d signed up for we totally missed—nobody showed up at the meeting point so we figured we missed them, so we rushed to try to catch the group on our own…only to realize they never even had left (nobody had shown up?) which seemed like a big miscommunication on the part of the programming/front desk crew. The one thing we enjoyed was the soap making, probably because we each got to actually make 3 unique bars and it was reasonably priced. We also did “wildcrafting” which essentially was just a tour of their little farm, with the chance to cut things to make our own herb/flower bundles…it was complimentary so no major complaints, but it would’ve been more cool to learn about pressing flowers or something like that. All in all, I think it’s a bit of “the luck of the draw” when it comes to which days you’re there and what’s offered, but I think there’s some room for improvement when it comes to programming here.  4) Gym was on the small side—I didn’t use it so I really can’t complain a ton about that, but worth mentioning anyway. They did have 2 Peloton bikes so love to see that. Also thought it was weird there was no bathroom directly attached to the gym, and the space they use for the yoga classes isn’t a part of the gym. If they were to ever actually do a big spa reno, it would make sense to attach a larger, more substantial gym and yoga/workout studio to that new space.  Overall consensus: I’m very glad I finally made my way out to Big Sur to see what all the hype is about here—and I do see the appeal. I was happy to spend the points on this place, but I would not shell out the steep cash rates for this property. It’s admittedly very scenic and quiet and the fresh, Big Sur air felt so great to breathe (trees have never smelled so good!)—and perhaps that’s hard to put a price tag on. I do think I’d return if they were to ever do a major renovation and update their spa to a Miraval-level caliber…otherwise, I’d be more willing to spend my points/$ at another Miraval property. If I were to return, I do think 3 nights was a good amount of time here, and I’d probably spend a day venturing out to one of the nearby national parks and get off property for a few hours. I hadn’t done any research as far as timing goes and had only specifically been looking for November because that’s when we had to be in CA for a separate work trip, but mid-November turned out to be a GREAT time to visit. Besides our check-in day which was rainy/foggy for a few hours, that storm quickly passed and we had almost 3 full days of sun and temps in the 50-60s which was very pleasant (good hot tub weather, perhaps not quite warm enough for the pool). Only downside was coming after daylight savings and losing an hour of daylight!

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“Destination hotel”

The hotel is the destination. There are a few things to do around Big Sur, but if you are staying here you're likely to spend most of your time in the resort. What's great? The staff, the rooms and the views are all amazing. The food is good. Why not 5 stars? The woodpeckers drove us nuts. The s… more

The hotel is the destination. There are a few things to do around Big Sur, but if you are staying here you're likely to spend most of your time in the resort. What's great? The staff, the rooms and the views are all amazing. The food is good. Why not 5 stars? The woodpeckers drove us nuts. The staff tried to shoo them away, but if you are offered room 58, think twice. The room design is awesome, but some rooms lack the absolute privacy that is expected in this price range. We've also stayed in the Post Ranch Inn across the street, and we both preferred the PRI. That said, I recommend this hotel also.

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