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Alila Ventana Big Sur, which has been part of Alila since 2018, after a multimillion dollar refresh, is an adults-only resort exclusively open to guests 18 and older. That makes it popular among couples celebrating a honeymoon, anniversary, or birthday.
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Alila Ventana Big Sur Location and Check-In
Alila Ventana Big Sur is located at 48123 Highway One in Big Sur, about an hour's drive from Monterey and Monterey Regional Airport (MRY), about a 3 hour drive from San Francisco, and a 2.5 hour drive from San Francisco Airport (SFO). If you're driving an electric vehicle, there are regular as well as Tesla chargers. We checked in around 2pm, and were able to enjoy a late lunch at Sur House before going to our suite.
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Vista Hot Tub Suite
We'd reserved a Big Sur Spa Suite, which is 619 sq. ft., with a jacuzzi on the deck, but the team generously upgraded us to the Vista Hot Tub Suite (773 sq. ft.), with an open plan king bed and seating area by the wood burning fireplace.
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There were complimentary refillable water bottles on the table for us, but disappointingly, no other amenity or card, given the birthday celebration that we'd noted.
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The large stone bathroom has double sinks, a separate toilet chamber, a walk-in shower, and soaking tub.
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The expansive outdoor deck has loungers and a hot tub. Unlike some hot tubs that seem to be barely tepid, this one was definitely hot, such that we could only submerge in it a few minutes before sitting on its rim and only keeping our feet in it.
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The Sur House
The Sur House is the resort's only restaurant, apart from the Big Sur Smokehouse, so it's where you'll most likely take all your meals unless requesting in-suite dining. Fortunately it's quite good, although in our experience dinner was its weakest showing.
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For lunch, our favorite was the quesadilla with Oaxaca cheese and smoked tri tip steak, although we'd have appreciated more guacamole than was served with it.
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The Ventana Burger was fine and a very large serving, although not that memorable.
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Don't miss the Happy Hour, when a complimentary cocktail is offered; during our stay, it was the Marine Layer, made of gray whale gin, lavender, citrus, and prosecco, with a lavender smoke bubble atop it:
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The dinner menu during our visit:
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For dinner, the highlight for me were the Prawns with Chimichurri sauce, which were excellent and very fresh. My husband's strawberry gazpacho was only ok.
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The Uni pasta was recommended to us by our server, but barely tasted of uni, so I wouldn't order it again. My husband's sea scallops were better.
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Pacing was off, it took an inordinately long time between our main course and dessert, such that we nearly gave up and left. While freshly baked, the desserts weren't memorable at all.
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Breakfast was a better experience, especially the crab avocado eggs benedict.
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Swimming Pools and Garden
While we're more inclined to walking than lounging around a pool, the pools are lovely, especially the Infinity Hot Tub with views of the redwoods, but also the Meadow Pool. It's hard to believe, but the current Meadow, which is sometimes used for special events and has a distant view of the ocean, used to be a staff parking lot.
If you cross the meadow and go down the hill a bit behind the pools, you'll find the resort's garden, which when we visited had fresh strawberries, sunflowers, flowers, herbs, and even some passion fruit.
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There are also the Japanese Baths, which are a nice place to soak at night, gazing up at the night sky since there's no roof:
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Hyatt Prive Benefits and Upgrades
TravelSort Clients enjoy Hyatt Prive benefits at Alila Ventana Big Sur, including a $100 credit per room per stay and the following potential upgrades that can be confirmed in advance, depending on projected occupancy:
- 1 King Bed with Fireplace to 1 King Bed Deluxe with Fireplace
- 1 King Bed Deluxe with Fireplace to Big Sur Suite
- Big Sur Suite to Big Sur Forest Shower Suite
- Big Sur Forest Shower Suite to Hot Tub Suite
- Hot Tub Suite to Big Sur Spa Suite
- Big Sur Spa Suite to Pacific House Suite
- Pacific House Suite to Big Sur Villa
- Big Sur Villa to Coast House Suite
- Coast House Suite to Cottage
- Cottage to Vista Hot Tub Suite
The Verdict
We enjoyed our stay at Alila Ventana Big Sur, especially the views, our upgrade to a Vista Hot Tub Suite, and many of the dishes we tried at The Sur House. Our celebration, however, wasn't recognized by the resort with an amenity, service at dinner was very slow to the point that we nearly gave up on waiting for dessert, and we found breakfast a much better meal than dinner. Overall a beautiful setting and staff that are friendly and accommodating, but service needs to improve if Alila Ventana Big Sur is to compete in the luxury segment.
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