Over the past 20 years, we have enjoyed the Big Sur coastline in California at least a dozen times. It’s one of our favorite spots! But you should know I accept no sponsored posts or stays, so the following Alila Ventana Big Sur review is my honest opinion…I paid for it myself…with points. Making it a free stay.
Read on to learn how you can do that below.
With its sparkling wild coast, dramatic cliffs, and phenomenal redwood forests, Big Sur is truly a magical place like no other!
There’s something about the scent of redwoods mingling with ocean air that is so restorative.


My Alila Ventana Big Sur Review
The short review: I give Alila Ventana Big Sur a 9 out of 10 for providing a stunning guest experience.
It’s a beautiful property with friendly, helpful staff and unique, satisfying complimentary and paid experiences. I deduct one point for food but more on that below.
Steve and I first stayed here more than 20 years ago, before it was owned by Hyatt in the days before it was an all-inclusive resort. It’s even better now than it was then!
The property is a luxury boutique adults-only resort but allows dogs. (We saw so many cute pups here. You can even order special organic chicken and rice meals for them haha.)
There are 54 guestrooms arranged around the 160-acre property in secluded groupings (plus the villa) making your stay feel secluded and peaceful.
The cash rate for rooms is $2 to 3,000 per night depending on the type of room and time of year.
Or you can book with points/miles which is what we did. This property is widely regarded as one of the best values for point redemptions anywhere!


Read more on California travel:
• Best things to do in Big Sur
• 12 amazing road trips from San Francisco
• My favorite getaways from San Diego
• 26 national parks not to miss in the west
What’s included in the “all-inclusive” rate?
• Unlimited food (eat at the restaurant, pool, reserve a picnic lunch for hiking, request room service)
• A happy hour cocktail/mocktail and charcuterie board
• S’mores around the firepit in the evenings
• Valet parking and EV charging
• Access to pools and the Japanese baths.
• Certain complimentary “experiences” like guided hikes, morning meditation, and forest bathing.
• Access to all property amenities like the fitness center.
• Turndown service (that includes fun free gifts)
• Keepsake reusable metal water bottles
• Volvo chauffeur service within a 3-mile radius
• Complimentary gear for use on hikes and picnics.
What’s not included:
• There is a $10 delivery fee for each room service meal/drinks request. This is new in 2025 and I do think that’s disappointing for an all-inclusive luxe hotel.
• Certain “featured” experiences. There are many cool things to do here, from leather crafting and botanical pours to fermentation, yoga, and soapmaking classes! The price depends on the class.
• Spa services
• Alcohol, mocktails (except for complimentary drinks at Happy Hour), and any non-alcoholic beers. You’re also expected to tip on these purchases.

Chris’s Top Alila Ventana Tips:
• Arrive very early on your first day. Your room may not be available until check-in at 4 pm (although ours was ready early at 1 pm!) but you can enjoy an additional complimentary lunch the first day, use the pool and hot tubs, and book all the complimentary and featured experiences you like.
• Plan for extra drive time if coming from the south. Highway 1 at the south end of Big Sur has been closed for two years now due to a massive road washout during a flood. You’ll need to travel north to Monterrey and drop into Big Sur from there which sadly adds one hour.
• Stay on property during your whole visit. Indeed, there are many wonderful things to do in Big Sur! But there is so much to enjoy at Ventana—plus all your food is included—that I recommend you stay and enjoy it all. Consider adding an extra day in Monterey, Carmel, or Big Sur elsewhere to see more of the area.

The Rooms and Suites
These are so fabulous! The rooms are all sun-bleached cedar with rich leather and wood.
You can choose from a king bed room or various types of suites, including a suite with an outdoor shower or hot tub. There is also a villa and glamping sites available on property.
All of the rooms and suites come with fireplaces and unlimited free bundles of easy-to-light clean-burning wood. You can cast from your phone to the TV to access your Netflix account.
We booked a king bed but were upgraded to a beautiful shower suite…possibly because I disclosed I’m a blogger.
However, Hyatt does sometimes upgrade guests if there is availability…even if you have no Hyatt status like me!
Everything was in tip-top shape. Nothing broken.


If you’re tempted by a suite, I’d recommend the outdoor hot tub for a winter stay and possibly the outdoor shower for a summer stay.
Truth be told, our terrace was in the shade during our January stay and we didn’t venture out there much because brrrrr!
Both types of suites include terraces with big, comfy hammocks.
The room came with so many wonderful surprises! The fridge was stocked with complimentary candy, Big Sur bars (OMG delish), sparkling water, and soda.
Be sure to note any special occasions when the concierge contacts you in advance of your stay.
We were celebrating my one-year cancer-free anniversary so I was very touched when they delivered a wildflower bouquet and a few minutes later, a carafe of Champagne!

Turndown service (which you can also skip if you prefer) came with a beautiful nightly gift. The first night was a feather with a brief history of its symbolism in Native American culture.
The second night was a sage bundle for burning.
I learned during my “Wild Apothecary” class that burning sage isn’t just about clearing negative energy (as used by many Native Americans and healers today) but it also has anti-microbial properties to clear pathogens.
Think dust, mold, pet dander, insects, and more. I’m totally going to burn sage in my house now. Nature is truly miraculous.


How to Stay at Alila Ventana on Points
Note: I have no affiliation with any of the sites or credit cards mentioned below! Just my personal recs based on my own experience.
If you are interested in using credit cards to earn points to spend on free hotels and flights, there are many excellent resources. Check out The Points Guy and also Just Get Out of Town.
A major discussion of how to earn and use points is well beyond the scope of this post. It can be a complex topic and I’m no expert.
That said, one of the easiest and best way to use points is on Hyatt properties. One important thing to know about accruing points is to choose one “ecosystem”, (like Chase cards for Hyatt points and also its airline transfer partners).
Since every card has its own transfer partners, you should choose based on where you want to use points.
Keeping this in mind, when you’re ready for a new card, check out the best “bonus offers” for various cards at The Points Guy above and choose the best one based on your spending.
For example, in Jan 2025, you can get a Chase Sapphire Preferred card with an annual fee of just $95 and earn 60,000 bonus points when you spend $4,000 in the first three months. You’re already two-thirds of the way to a Ventana Inn stay! (Or open one card for you and one for your spouse and turn that $180 in sign-up fees into a free $4k Ventanna getaway…if you can meet the combined spending requirement.)
Hyatt points pricing is dynamic; it changes daily based on availability and other factors. When I was searching, the best offer I found was two nights for 45,000 points each.
I suggest keeping an eye on availability on the Alila Ventana calendar at MaxMyPoint for convenience. You may find a good last-minute deal if you’re persistent and flexible. Otherwise, many people book this popular property a year out!
When you find dates for the right points, you’ll just go into your credit card account portal and transfer to your Hyatt account, which is instantaneous.
Then you’ll book your stay on the Hyatt website, just as you would for any other stay. I just gifted a birthday stay here to my daughter by picking dates, transferring points, and then calling Hyatt to put the reservation in her name. Easy!
Dining at Alila Ventana
So here’s the thing…the food was good…but I wouldn’t call it memorable. It’s mostly organic. They make their own fresh pasta. And many of the veggies come from the on-site garden so what’s not to love, right?
It’s hard to say because it’s all very beautiful but for me, it was missing that last 10 percent wowza flavor profile in about two-thirds of the things I ate.
I’m not typically a resort traveler so maybe this is a resort thing. I’m not really sure.
Plus, lots of other reviewers disagree with me on this point so you’ll have to decide for yourself. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think. 😉
Still, the portions were mammoth and I thought there was a good selection. And omigosh when is the last time I had dessert twice a day?

We ordered room service for breakfast twice. There’s a smaller room service menu but I thought the breakfasts were quite good. Steve loved his chorizo scramble.
It took about 30 minutes for breakfast to arrive on both mornings.
And it arrived hot…which is impressive since they have to deliver it from The Sur House Restaurant which is a short drive away.
It’s easy to make requests for anything you need by text. Extra cream for coffee? Extra blanket? They’ll be right over.
When the concierge contacts you before arrival, they’ll ask you to make dinner reservations for the days you’re staying. The Sur House restaurant is cozy with a roaring fireplace.
But I suggest you request at least one meal outside on the terrace. Ask to be seated cliffside with the best ocean view!

The Walk through the Woods
I think this was my favorite thing about our stay!
It’s about a 12-minute walk between the resort’s rooms and Sur House, the restaurant where you’ll be three times a day for meals…and a fourth time, too, if you opt into the 3 to 5 Happy Hour for your free mocktail.
Which you should totally do. They serve a cocktail or mocktail upon your preference called “The Marine Layer.” This is how it looks:

If you’ve ordered the cocktail version—when those bubbles pop—a bunch of smoke disperses which is super cool!
But back to the walk through the woods…It was literally a 12-minute walk between our room and Sur House and omigosh what a walk it was.
It starts out as a paved trail into the forest until you’re walking on the forest floor among towering redwoods and then up a small hill on a gravel path and through the rustic iron gate to Sur House.
So incredibly beautiful and peaceful. The perfect way to stretch our legs before and after a meal. We’d usually see a single couple along our walk.

There are all kinds of hikes you can do on the property.
Steve did a (free) 45-minute guided redwood hike one day and a (free) two-hour guided coastal ridge walk the second day. He loved learning all about the local plants and birds from the knowledgeable guide.
Don’t miss the “Circle of Life” grove where you can stand in the center of a grove of giant redwoods. It’s such a peaceful, protected feeling!
If you’d rather skip some (or all of the walking), you can just request a driver to ferry you to the restaurant and back via golf cart.


Alila Ventana Experiences
When the concierge contacts you ahead of your stay, they’ll email you a list of scheduled activities for the week of your arrival.
There are so many great options as I mentioned earlier and many are complimentary. You’ll need to reserve all of them (complimentary or paid) before your arrival.
You can even help harvest Ventana’s garden. They donate produce to the community.
I signed up for the “wildcrafting apothecary”, a $60 paid experience, and really enjoyed it. Since I was the only one who signed up, it was essentially a private class.
I really enjoyed my time with Katie who was incredibly warm and welcoming as she taught me all kinds of interesting facts about herbs and flowers native to Big Sur.
I’m now in love with orange Calendula flowers. They are so pretty when dried, anti-inflammatory, and edible, too.
They’d be amazing in a salad or on a charcuterie board. I’m planning to plant some from seeds soon.
If you take this class in summer, you’ll forage for yourself in the resort’s beautiful garden for these plants but in winter they were pre-collected.
We melted beeswax and then I added whichever flowers and herbs I wanted to make a healing and beautiful salve.
After that, we used a similar process to make a stunning, layered bath salt.

The Japanese Baths, Pools, and Spa
There are two pools on the property and two hot tubs.
It was a little chilly during our January visit for sitting by either of the pools but what an epic view from the main pool!
I’d definitely plan a good part of the day here when it’s warmer.

There’s also an infinity hot tub (!) just to the right, facing the mountains, here. And you’re welcome to order food and drinks all day from the pool menu.
Soaking in the Japanese (hot) baths offers an intimate and romantic experience.
This is such a serene environment. There is a women’s only and a men’s only area as well as a co-ed space in the middle.
Be aware that the Japanese baths are open 24-7 and are clothing optional.
There’s no locker room here so the best plan is to dress in the robe provided in your room and put it back on to return to your room.

I did not book a spa appointment so I can’t speak to my personal experience here.
Unfortunately, you can’t apply points to spa treatments as you can at some Hyatt properties and they are rather pricey!
However, the spa menu looks lovely. You’ll find everything from craniosacral therapy, facials, and Reiki to aromatherapy and a whole array of specialty massages.
You can even enjoy a couples massage in an outdoor cabana with ocean breezes and the scent of Redwoods washing over you. Yes please!
FAQ
1. What’s the weather like in Big Sur?
One thing that surprised me on past visits is that there can be a thick marine layer over the ocean in the summer when the weather is otherwise sunny and lovely.
On one June visit, I reserved a cliffside table for lunch at the nearby Post Ranch Inn and all I could see was dense white fog out the window!
With climate change, all bets are off these days.
But many head to Big Sur in winter for fewer crowds and to watch the big ocean waves roll in with dramatic storms. In Jan 2025 though, we had sunny and clear days but cool, with overnight temps in the 40’s F and highs in the high 50s to low 60s.

2. What’s included in the all-inclusive rate? What’s excluded?
In short, your room, food, parking, tips, and some activities are included. You can order food to your room all day but the property implemented a $10 delivery fee in 2025.
Expect to pay for alcohol, NA cocktails, and beer (plus tip) as well as for featured experiences, and spa services. See the beginning of this post for complete details.
They will also put a $500 hold on your credit card to ensure charges will go through and reconcile that with actual charges at the end of your stay.
3. How many nights should I book at Alila Ventana?
We stayed two nights, arriving at noon on the first day, and thought it was the perfect length for our stay.
If you’re looking to maximize experiences and spa treatments while also enjoying downtime in your room and at the pools, I’d suggest a third night.
Enjoy! Alila Ventana Big Sur makes a rejuvenating getaway.

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