I’m still relatively new to the blogging world, and after posting about my trip to Europe, considered quitting while I was ahead. However, this trip that my wife and I recently took to Big Sur was too good not to share! This was easily the best hotel experience I’ve ever had. In this post, I’ll show you what makes the Alila Ventana Big Sur one of the best hotels of all time, I’ll share some tips and tricks to maximize your stay, and, if you read to the end, I’ll show you how to book it for free using points!

About the Alila Ventana Big Sur

For those of you who haven’t heard of it, the Alila Ventana Big Sur is a quaint hotel tucked into the mountainside of Big Sur. The 160-acre property overlooks the Pacific Ocean, and, with only 54 rooms on-site, offers a private, intimate, and relaxing environment. And it’s not just about lounging around—there are plenty of activities, from guided hikes to yoga sessions, all designed to help guests connect with the stunning surroundings. The resort’s dining is exceptional, thanks to a top-notch chef who creates culinary masterpieces from local ingredients that are mostly grown in the hotel’s garden. Oh, and did I mention the hotel is all-inclusive? I’ll dive into the details of our stay and share what made it so memorable.

What’s Included in the All-Inclusive?

Contrary to the term, “all-inclusive” doesn’t really include “all.” Alila Ventana Big Sur would better be classified as a “some-inclusive.” However, the “some” that is included is more than enough to have an incredible experience.

Here’s what’s included in the all-inclusive price:

Here’s what’s not included in the all-inclusive price:

There are a few exceptions to some of these things, which I’ll talk about a little bit later. If you read to the end, I’ll also go over cash cost vs points cost for booking this resort.

Arrival & Check In

The resort is located off the main road running along the coast in Big Sur. Upon arrival, you’ll want to follow the driveway to the top. When you arrive at a fork in the road, keep left to go through the rusty gate (if you keep right, you’ll drive all the way to the top of the resort where the Sur House restaurant sits). There will be a spot to buzz in and let the hotel know you’ve arrived. Once the gate opens, you’ll be able to drive on a windy road to the resort valet area, where they will valet your car for no charge. You can also leave your luggage in your trunk and the staff will make sure it ends up in your room.

Here’s a key tip: although the resort check in time may say 4:00 PM, I recommend arriving earlier in the day. Even if your room isn’t quite ready when you arrive, you’ll be able to use all of the resort amenities for the day while you wait for your room. This means you are able to hike, use the pool, attend an activity, and even dine at the restaurant for lunch — all before your official check in time. Val and I found it was a great way to maximize the value of our stay. As an added bonus, our room was even ready a couple of hours before our scheduled check-in time.

Our Room

The rooms aren’t all in one area; they are spread out in different sets of buildings throughout the property. As we were walking to our room, I felt like we were at summer camp walking past all the different cabins!

When we originally booked our stay, we had booked a standard room. However, when we checked in, the woman at the front desk generously upgraded our room. All rooms at Alila Ventana Big Sur are nice and are well worth it. The main difference between room tiers has to do with the placement and view of the room as well as some slight differences in room size and amenities. Some rooms face the pool and others look out at different parts of the neighboring forest. To my knowledge, I don’t think the area where the rooms are located is high enough to grant anyone a clear view of the ocean.

The attention to detail in our room was insane. We were greeted with a welcome note, as well as two reusable water bottles for us to keep. The hotel has multiple water refill stations located throughout the grounds, so we were always well-hydrated.

We had a mini fridge filled with drinks, a cabinet filled with snacks, and a Nespresso machine, all included with our room. They provided us with binoculars and walking sticks, should we choose to venture out into the wilderness. The corner of the room featured a nice fireplace and a basket stocked with firewood, making for warm and cozy nights. The resort even lets you have s’mores supplies delivered to your room so you can roast marshmallows in the fireplace and eat a nice dessert curled up by the fire.

Our room also featured a full size tub with bath salts, as well as a bathroom filled with almost every toiletry needed—mouthwash, extra toothbrushes, razors, shaving cream, makeup wipes, cue-tips, tubes of toothpaste, lotion, floss, etc. But the best feature by far was our balcony, which included a rope hammock for lounging and a private hot tub for the two of us. Stargazing wasn’t easy from the balcony hot tub, but I tried nonetheless!

Every evening, we received turndown service, where we’d return from dinner to find our bed made, our room tidied up, and our shades drawn. The staff even left a special note and different surprise gift on the bed for each night we were there. This was by far the nicest hotel room I’ve ever stayed in!

The Food (and Drinks)

Okay, this section might be a little long because there is so much I could say about the food. First of all, it’s fresh—almost all of the ingredients are grown on-site in the hotel’s garden or sourced from the local area. Second of all, Alila Ventana Big Sur has an on-site sommelier and bar. Third, there are dining options offered around-the-clock and in multiple locations on-property. The resort also offers BBQ via their on-site Big Sur Smokehouse, but it was unfortunately closed during our stay, with no timeline for reopening. But, the Sur House met our needs just fine —the cuisine is high quality, and when paired with the Big Sur views, makes dining at the resort an unforgettable experience.

Here are the different dining options that you’ll have access to:

• Breakfast (at the Sur House from 7 AM – 11 AM)
• Lunch (at the Sur House from 11 AM – 2:45 PM)
• Dinner (at the Sur House from 5:30 PM – 9 PM)
• In-Room Dining (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and Late-Night Dinner)
• Poolside Dining (11 AM – 5 PM)
• Social Hour / Sunset Hour (at the Sur House from 4 PM – 5 PM)
• Doggie Dining (for dogs at the Sur House or in-room from 7 AM – 10 PM)
• Hikers’ Lunch (picnic meals delivered to you between 8 AM and 11 AM)

Val and I tasted many of the dishes so you can have a better picture of what’s offered and what’s worth ordering (but mostly just because I wanted to eat more of the delicious food!)

Breakfast

Breakfast was fresh and light enough that it won’t sit heavy if you choose to hike afterwards. Though the breakfast menus don’t show it, you can order any kind of coffee drinks—hot or iced. the coffee drinks aren’t necessarily at the level of your local café, but they’re not bad by any means. There are also fresh juices on offer at the Sur House; just ask your server what they have for the day. Their orange juice was delicious!

Lunch

Lunch can be had at the pool, in your room, or at the Sur House. Although it could be nice to have lunch by the pool or in your room, the resort charges a $10 delivery fee to bring the food to you, even though the food itself is free. This is a recent policy change; I think the goal is to reduce food waste with people ordering copious amounts of food that they don’t end up eating. We did poolside delivery once and it wasn’t bad. However, the poolside and in-room delivery lunch menu is significantly reduced compared to the one at the Sur House. That’s why I recommend making the trek over to the Sur House. Not only do you eliminate the $10 charge and get a more robust menu, but you also can catch a glimpse of the blue of the ocean and feel a nice breeze as you dine.

Unlike dinner, the breakfast and lunch menus allow you to order unlimited appetizers, sides, and entrees, so don’t hesitate to try whatever looks good! The Sur House will also do to-go containers and cups, so you can always order something else to take back with you to your room or to the pool. I would often order a smoothie or coffee drink for the afternoon on my way out.

Sunset Hour / Social Hour

Dinner

Dinner is by far the highlight of the dining at Alila Ventana Big Sur. It’s hard to go wrong with anything you order. If the evening is clear and not too windy, you’ll get to dine on the patio overlooking the ocean, with heaters for every table. If the weather is cold and foggy, there’s an indoor area of the Sur House which is cozy and warm like a ski lodge—especially with the fireplace going.

When you first check in, the front desk will ask you for times you want to request for your dinner reservations each evening. Val and I varied our times to eat, doing both earlier and later. I recommend choosing at least one night to have a reservation for ~30 minutes before sunset. Dinner plus the sunset over the ocean makes for a wonderful experience. Don’t sweat your outfit; there isn’t any dress code for dinner.

The “rules” for dinner are a little bit different than the ones for breakfast and lunch. Here are the all-inclusive dinner rules: you can have unlimited appetizers and sides, and then it’s one entree per person. Any additional entrees are $25 a person (not too bad of a deal considering what the cash prices are for some of the menu items!). All the entrees are top-quality, so you should be satisfied no matter what.

Here are some of the dinner dishes we tried and how we’d rate them:

In-Room Dining

To be honest, because the dining experience was so great at the Sur House, we rarely used the in-room dining option. I thought I’d be using it a lot more, but I found myself pretty stuffed by the end of each meal. However, I did manage to try a couple of items, which unfortunately, ended up being my least favorite of our stay:

Desserts

The desserts are another outstanding aspect of the resort. These are available at both lunch and dinner from the Sur House. You can also order them as part of the in-room dining menu, but the dessert menu is slightly more limited and you’ll have to pay that $10 delivery fee. And yes, we tried a lot of desserts!

Overall, the dining was an excellent experience. We felt no need to leave the resort to get food. Alila Ventana Big Sur already has everything you could want: top-tier food with great service and an excellent view.

Activities & Experiences

The resort also offers a variety of experiences for guests to enjoy. Some are complimentary and some are an additional cost. All of the experiences require an advance booking, which can be done via using a code and link sent via email about a week before, or they can be booked at the front desk at any point during your stay.

Here are some of the experiences available to book at the time of our visit:

• Redwood Hike (complimentary)
• Coast Ridge Hike (complimentary)
• S’mores (complimentary)
• Bees of Big Sur Class and Honey Tasting (complimentary)
• Sunrise Yoga
• Leathercrafting
• Axe Throwing
• Falconry
• Foraging Hike

You can view the full, most up-to-date list of experiences here. If you’re trying to take full advantage of your stay, experiences can also be booked into the early afternoon on the day of checkout. We took advantage of this—the hotel took care of our bags upon checkout and we were able to dine and attend an experience after our stay had technically ended in the system. I highly recommend doing a few of the experiences, especially the Coast Ridge Hike. The guides (especially Katie) are quite friendly and knowledgeable of the area, and they are always brainstorming new and unique experiences to offer guests.

When not participating in booked experiences, there are a few other amenities throughout the property that guests can enjoy. We particularly liked the Social House, and often found ourselves sitting next to a fireplace and playing scrabble, one of the many games and puzzles they have on their shelves. It’s also the place to swing by to grab some afternoon tea, or to cook evening s’mores. Near the front desks in the Social House sits a shelf full of vinyl records available for guests to take back to play on their room’s record player. By far, the highlight of the Social House is the bowl of bananas on offer! (just kidding)

Additionally, the hotel offers golf carts that will drive you between buildings on the property if you don’t fancy the nature walks. Another cool perk we learned about on our last day is the chauffeur service that they offer. Essentially, if you dine at another restaurant off-site or visit another part of Big Sur within a 3 mile radius, you can call the hotel and they’ll send a vehicle to pick you up, free of charge. While we didn’t personally use this service during our stay, it’s nice to know that there are options for people who want to check out nearby hikes and scenic spots that the area has on offer. You can ask the front desk more about this service upon check in.

The hotel offers two pools. One overlooks the garden and has a distant view of the Pacific ocean; the other pool is tucked away between the rooms, and it tends to be the less-frequented one of the two.

Right below the second pool are the Japanese hot baths, which you have to try! The hot baths are best enjoyed at night where you can look up and see the stars. Both this second pool and the Japanese hot baths are clothing-optional, so be warned!

Next to the spa area, you’ll find the infinity hot tub, which sits high among the redwood trees, making for the perfect forest view. You can order food and drinks to this spot, making for a perfect place to post-up and enjoy the scenery.

How to Book

Booking a stay at the Alila Ventana Big Sur is a relatively simple process, but finding points availability can be somewhat tricky. The best time to find availability is either about a year out (when award availability on the calendar opens) or to book a stay last-minute (when availability opens up from people cancelling 1–2 weeks out).

To find availability, you’ll need to pull up the hotel through Hyatt’s website, as the Alila Ventana Big Sur is now under the Hyatt hotel umbrella. You can start with plugging in your desired dates and hope to get lucky, but for the best odds, I recommend just plugging in dates about a year from the day you run your search. For example, if the date you run your search is August 31, 2024, the last possible date you’d be able to book is August 30, 2025. So, plugging in August 27 to August 30, 2025 would be a good starting point.

Pulling up the points calendar shows you how many points you need per night to book a room. You can switch the calendar to show minimum points needed for a suite as well, but I recommend leaving it at “standard room.” For the most part, you’ll see the points requirement to book a standard room listed as 45,000 points per night. However, this number can change occasionally based off peak or off-peak dates, so be sure to reference the calendar and total up the number of points you’ll need for your desired length of stay.

Now it’s important to note, this calendar doesn’t show actual availability; it just shows what the rate would be for that night if you were to find availability. You’ll have to manually search each set of dates to find if there’s award availability or not. You can also navigate to the end of the points calendar to see the furthest possible dates that are open for booking (dependent upon actual availability, of course).

If you’re struggling to find available dates, I’ve had some luck using a tool called MaxMyPoint. There’s a premium version, but you should be able to make use of the free version just fine (the premium version just gives you realtime availability). MaxMyPoint lets you select a hotel and it will aggregate all its availability. You have the option to toggle a calendar view or a list view, which will show you which dates are available, which type of room is available, and how many points you’ll need for each night (though always make sure to confirm how many points you actually need with Hyatt’s points calendar).

Alila Ventana Big Sur tends to have the most points availability when booking a suite. However, suites cost more points. The best deals will be the standard rooms, coming in at 45,000 points per night. The blue rectangles are what you’re looking for. You can ignore the green (since you’re not going to be paying cash) and you can also ignore the purple and black, unless you have tons of points to burn!

The list view is helpful for quickly scanning more dates, but it’s harder to tell at a glance what is what. You can ignore the blue on the list view. It doesn’t mean Standard Room like on the calendar view—it just is indicating whether a date is a weekend or not. The second column tells you how many points the room is (45K, 66K, or 90K), and the fifth column tells you what type of room it is (you’ll want to look for “Std Room”).

Once you’ve found availability, you can click on the date and MaxMyPoint will redirect you to Hyatt’s website to book. Or, you can go to the Alila Ventana Big Sur subsection of the Hyatt site and run your search for those same dates manually. Don’t forget to activate the “use points” slider when running your search. Hyatt will either notify you that there’s no availability with the dates you selected, or if there is some sort of availability, it will direct you to a page like this one:

Now, notice how there is only a “Suites” tab listed. Usually this means that all the standard rooms have been booked up. You can still book a suite with points, but it will cost you more—between 66,000–90,000 points per night. But if you’re like me, and you don’t want to splurge, there is hope!

Sometimes Hyatt won’t show standard room availability unless you’re booking for a certain number of nights. In the example above, my dates are only from September 21–22. But if you were to extend the dates of your stay by 1–2 days in either direction, you might see standard room availability open up.

In this case, by adding an extra day at the top of the page, I was able to trigger standard room availability starting from 45,000 points a night.

To book, you’ll need to first be signed in to your Hyatt account. Sometimes you’ll be able to get to the checkout page to see what your total points needed is (remember, it says from 45,000 points a night; it may not be 45,000 points every night), but if not, you can check the points calendar for the dates you’re planning on booking and just add the total together. When I originally booked our trip, all nights ended up costing the same amount per night, for a grand total of 135,000 points for 4 days and 3 nights.

Once you know the total amount of points needed, you’ll need to move points to Hyatt (unless you already have a stash of Hyatt points). Chase is a transfer partner of Hyatt, meaning I was able to move Ultimate Rewards points I had earned from Chase credit card bonuses, like the one I got from earning the welcome bonus on the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. If you have any form of small business, the Chase Ink Cash/Unlimited/Preferred cards are also great for earning Ultimate Rewards points (even though Chase markets the bonuses as “cash back”).

All I had to do was log into the Ultimate Rewards section of Chase portal, click on “transfer points to partners”, and select Hyatt. If it’s your first time transferring to Hyatt, you will be asked to enter in your name and Hyatt loyalty number so Chase knows which Hyatt account to move the points to. Keep in mind that the name on your Hyatt account and the name on your Chase account must match in order for the transfer to go to (if they don’t match, you’ll need to reach out to Hyatt to have your name changed to match what’s on your Chase account. The points transfer is pretty much instantaneous, so after a quick refresh of the Hyatt page while logged in, the points will appear. Then you’re free to book!

An important note: don’t do a “test” transfer from Chase to Hyatt (or any other travel partner for that matter.) Multiple points transfers in a short amount of time will often trigger Chase’s fraud alert, which could result in your points taking multiple days to move to Hyatt instead of it taking a matter of seconds. If you find points availability, you never want to take multiple days to book it, as you risk it getting booked by someone else.

Had I not used points to book our stay, we would’ve spent a total of $7,794! Using points for travel doesn’t necessarily mean 100% free travel, but it sure can save you thousands of dollars if you’re willing to put in a little bit of work. I’d say this trip and the savings were well worth the extra effort!

Final Thoughts

Staying at the Alila Ventana Big Sur was such a memorable trip for us. It was a nice change of pace from the busyness of the city. The ambience, the excursions, the food, the amenities—there are few places that do it as well as they do. If you’re looking for a mental reset, I highly recommend you give this place a try. This trip wouldn’t have been possible for us without using points, and hopefully with the tips I’ve mentioned, you’ll be also be able to make this trip a reality.

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Link to this article: samcarleton.com/bigsur