This is the trip I had been looking forward to all year. Ventana Big Sur had been on my radar for a couple years. I considered going last fall but my husband was not yet comfortable traveling, plus a large portion of California near the resort was on fire so the air quality was poor. I consoled myself by booking a trip for this year.
Ventana Big Sur is an all inclusive resort that is part of the Hyatt portfolio. It's a Category 7 hotel so the "cheap" rooms are 30,000 points while the suites are 48,000 - 60,000 points. I didn't care if I had a suite or not; I just wanted to go! The 30,000 point rooms are somewhat hard to come by though so I stalked the website daily until some rooms opened up. You have to search (I believe) a minimum of 3 nights for points available rooms to show. I finally scored our rooms on November 3, 2020 and booked 3 nights for October 12-15, 2021. Cash price was $8246.04. I spent 90,000 Hyatt points.
Getting There We flew Southwest from Indianapolis to San Jose, then rented a car. I have a Companion Pass so my husband flies free on any flight I fly.
The outbound flight was booked with a Southwest voucher from a Covid cancelled free flight from 2020. The return flight was booked with 11,225 Southwest points.
I logged on to check in for my flight the morning of Sunday October 10th and discovered Southwest was in meltdown. 800 flights had been cancelled on Saturday and more than 1000 flights had already been cancelled on Sunday. We were flying out Monday morning. The plan had been to fly to San Jose, arrive shortly after 3 pm, then drive down to Monterey. We'd have dinner on Old Fisherman's Wharf and spend the night in Monterey before driving the rest of the way down to Big Sur on Tuesday.
Ugh!! Dread set in. What if our flight on Monday got cancelled? Time for a back up plan.
I checked for back up flights on Southwest for later on Monday or Tuesday and quickly discovered that there was absolutely NOTHING available ANYWHERE until Wednesday. I started checking other airlines and all airports within a reasonable driving distance from both Indianapolis and San Jose. If I wanted to fly out on Monday on another airline it was going to cost us $1000+ a ticket. I found a Web special on American Airlines for Tuesday morning at 6am for 13,000 AA points a ticket. Being an award ticket, it was fully refundable. BOOM!! DONE!
Let me just say, it's a darn good thing to have a handful of award points in your back pocket for situations like this.
Monday October 11, 2021
My husband checked Flight Aware in the morning and found that the plane that was suppose to take us from Indy to Las Vegas (where we had a connecting flight) was suppose to originate in Jacksonville, fly to Atlanta, then Indy, and that flight was already showing as cancelled in Jacksonville. However, our flight in Indy was still showing as ON TIME.
Ugh. I ate a good breakfast and we made sure everything was in a carry on. It was going to be a long day.
We got to the airport an hour and a half before boarding in case it was a zoo. Surprisingly it was relatively quiet. We were suppose to fly out at 10:40 am. Shortly before 10am we saw the dreaded DELAYED sign. We were delayed 2 hours so this only gave us 30 minutes to make the connection in Vegas and I already knew that Las Vegas was a zoo. There were NO flights out a Las Vegas on any airline for Monday afternoon that would take us anywhere near San Jose. I looked up the drive time. 8 hours...
We landed in Las Vegas and found that our flight to San Jose was also delayed 2 hours. Umm, yay? We tried to get into the Centurion Lounge so we'd have a place to sit and eat a meal but it was an hour wait to get in and we didn't have that much time. We ended up with cold salads at the gate. I also canceled my flights with American for Tuesday morning. Interestingly, when I opened my AA app to cancel the flights I found an offer from American for $525 a seat if I would agree to take a later flight to San Jose as they were oversold. I was too anxious and distracted at this point to consider the offer and quickly just cancelled our flights but I kinda wondered later... what if? Could I have taken the offer and then cancelled? Oh well, I guess I made someone happy they got a seat on Tuesday morning.
We finally, finally got to San Jose. Thankfully there were plenty of rental cars. We were both tired and hangry. We ended up at a brew pub in Watsonville, a little city on the way to Monterey, for dinner and pulled into our hotel around 9 pm - which is midnight Indy time.
I had booked theHyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa using a Hyatt category 1-4 free night certificate. We were upgraded to a golf course view room (cash rate $248 a night) but I would have fallen asleep on a cot at this point as I passed out in bed as soon as I got to the room.
Tuesday October 12, 2021
I first visited Monterey in 2016 when I ran the Big Sur Marathon. At that time I had come by myself, then met up with my running friends John and Abbie, but I had always wanted to return with my husband so we would eat out on Old Fisherman's Wharf and go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
I was better in the morning. We had breakfast at the Sea Root restaurant. This was included in our stay with my Hyatt Globalist status. We then checked out and headed over to the aquarium.
When I was here before, I didn't have time to go to the aquarium so I was excited to go. Tickets were a hefty $50 each so we planned to look at everything and take our time. You have to buy your tickets online and select an entry time however once you get in, you can stay as long as you like and they will even stamp your arm if you want to leave and come back the same day. Starting November 1, 2021, you will need to show proof of full vaccination or a negative covid-19 test to enter.
I took SO many pictures! My favorite was the jellyfish exhibit. I think I could watch them undulate and float all day.
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| Purple Striped Jelly Fish |
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| We found Nemo and Dory |
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| Angelfish |
After several hours at the aquarium, we walked over to Old Fisherman's Wharf for a late lunch. When I was here in 2016 I remember that all the restaurants had people out front giving clam chowder samples and this area is known for it's calamari. Well, no free samples now but I wanted clam chowder and calamari. We ended up at Crabby Jim's. We got a free fried calamari appetizer and I got a calamari sandwich with clam chowder and the BEST seasoned fries; so much food we couldn't finish it all. By now it was 4pm. It was another hour drive to Big Sur. We had dinner reservations at Ventana at 6:15pm. Time to go!
The Big Sur Marathon starts in Big Sur and goes north up Highway 1, the Pacific Coast Highway, to end in Monterey. Along the way I saw some of the most breathtaking scenery I had ever seen. Again, I wanted to share this with my husband as we drove down the coast. We stopped just south of the Bixby Bridge for a photo. During the Big Sur Marathon there is a pianist that plays a grand piano on this bridge.
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| Bixby Bridge is in the background; it was really windy too! |
We got to Ventana just before 6pm. Thankfully they were able to push our dinner reservation back to 7:30 pm. All meals are included but you have to reserve a time for dinner. Meals are served outside on a patio overlooking the Pacific ocean. I had originally scheduled ours between 6:15 - 6:30 pm as I wanted to eat at sunset.
Another unexpected surprise we got was when everyone from the guy at the gate to our server at dinner congratulated us for our anniversary. I must have put some comment in our reservation last year that it was our 25th anniversary this year but I sure don't remember it!
Our room at Ventana was a King Bed with Fireplace (Unit 31). The room was plenty big for our needs. It had a little patio that overlooked a forest view and a kitchenette area with seating.
We had a drawer full of snacks and a refrigerator full of drinks that were all included too. We were told at check in that our rooms would not be serviced unless requested but if we needed any more snacks or drinks we could request more at any time. Same goes for firewood. We had 3 bags of wood - you just put the bag in the fireplace and set the whole thing on fire - but they would bring you more any time.
Dinner and breakfast are served at The Sur House. You have to walk a 0.3 mile trail through the woods to get there. You can also request a golf cart ride along the service road if you don't want to walk.
Dinner was nice but the problem was we were still too full from lunch to enjoy it; like so full I couldn't even finish my meal, never mind even thinking about dessert. I had Spring Chicory Salad and Garganelli Pasta while my husband had the Carrot Soup and Spring Chicory Salad; he was too full for a main course. He did comment that the Carrot Soup was fantastic.
After dinner there is a fire out in front of the Social House and there are s'mores kits to either take to your room or make at the fire pit. We ended up taking a kit to our room but were too full to make our s'mores. There is no way you will go hungry here!
Wednesday October 13, 2021
We decided we didn't want to put "real clothes" on to walk all the way over for breakfast in the morning and ordered in. Problem was, by the time we decided to order at 8:15 am, the earliest they could deliver it was 9:30 am. Oh well. We stayed in bed until breakfast came, then ate out on our patio.
After breakfast we decided to walk around the property to get our bearings. We walked over to the Meadow Pool and Infinity Hot Tub around 11am. There were only 2 people there and the Ocean Meadow, which is a large grassy area with views of the ocean, was empty. We then did the hike that goes around the property.
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| This was a picnic area called the Redwood Cathedral |
You can order lunch out by the pool but after stuffing ourselves the day before, we wanted to be hungry for dinner so we ended up lounging in the room for the rest of the afternoon and grazing on our snacks.
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| Our snack drawer |
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| What came in our fridge |
For dinner, I ordered the asparagus salad as my appetizer and the dry aged NY strip for my meal. My husband got the Spanish octopus appetizer and the rack of lamb as his meal. I got the flourless chocolate torte for dessert and he got the lemon tart. The food was presented beautifully.
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Spanish Octopus
blistered pepper, sunflower ajo blanco, madarin, aleppo vinaigrette |
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Asparagus Salad
asparagus, lentil salad, poached egg, aleppo pepper, vanilla bean vinaigrette |
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| Flourless Chocolate Torte |
After dinner we had a fire in our fireplace and made plans on where to hike the next day.
Thursday October 14, 2021
Having learned the day before, we put in our breakfast order the night before and got breakfast delivered to us at 8:30 am. I got French Toast and my husband got a Chia Seed Breakfast Bowl.
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French Toast
macerated blueberries, basil, elderflower, creme fraiche, streusel |
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Chia Seed Breakfast Bowl
acai, seasonal fruits, pistachio, candied ginger, cardamom |
We then drove out to do some hikes.
First stop was McWay Falls at Julia Pfieffer Burns State Park. It's an 80-foot waterfall that goes right into the ocean. You have to stay on the trail so this is as close as we could get.
Next stop was Parthington Cove. The trailhead is right off Highway 1 so we basically parked on the shoulder and walked the 1.1 mile trail down to the ocean. Here we spotted some sea otters but they looked like little black blobs when we tried to take pictures of them.
Here you could walk all the way down to the ocean.
We drove back to Ventana for lunch and ate at the Smokehouse which is a barbeque restaurant on the property. Quite honestly, save your calories.
I wanted to lay by the pool after lunch but then discovered that every lounge chair out by the Meadow Pool, Infinity Pool, and Ocean Meadow was full. I think it was because the pool was the only other place besides your room that you could get lunch. I ended up walking over to the Mountain Pool at the other end of the property and there were open lounge chairs there, but it was also buggy. After about an hour I walked back over to the other pool and just got in the Infinity Hot Tub since there was no one actually IN the hot tub or pool. I got in the pool after that, then saw that people were finally leaving and snagged a lounge chair up on the sun deck.
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Finally snagged a lounge chair!
That is the ocean in the horizon |
For our final dinner, I got the Spanish octopus appetizer and Roasted Halibut as my meal. My husband tried the Shrimp Salad and Fogline Farm Chicken. He thought the chicken was the best dinner he'd had here. My octopus was disappointingly over done and the halibut was soggy. I got a Stone Fruit Galette for dessert and my husband got Snickerdoodle Ice Cream.
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Stone Fruit Galette
It was mostly crust :( |
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| Sunset view at dinner |
After dinner we wandered over to the firepit and made s'mores. We met a couple from Southern California and talked to them for awhile. They were on their honeymoon and also celebrating their 40th birthdays. They had just come down from Napa where they had had dinner at the French Laundry. It had been a 16 course meal. Goals. We then had another fire in our fireplace before going to bed.
Friday October 15, 2021
I decided to walk over to the Sur House in the morning for breakfast. There was only one other table there when I arrived at 8 am and it was nice to sit and watch the ocean. I enjoyed a latte and tried the Squash Frittata. Honestly, it wasn't exactly my favorite thing. It looked a lot better than it tasted... and I still have no idea what midnight moon is! I then got a cinnamon roll that was a little better and called it a meal.
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Squash Frittata
roasted and pickled squash, garden greens, cider mustard vinaigrette, midnight moon |
We checked out after that, took some final pictures, and hit the road to go hiking at Point Lobos State Natural Reserve.
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| Ventana Big Sur |
We got to Point Lobos around 11am and found that the parking lot was full. The park ranger directed us to park on the shoulder of the highway so we parked there and walked in. We hiked the Lace Lichen Trail to the South Shore Trail to go to Sea Lion Point. You could hear the sea lions even before you could see the ocean.
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| Sea Lion Point |
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| The sea lions are on those rocks |
We continued on the South Shore Trail until just south of Weston Beach where we took the Mound Meadow Trail back to the park entrance.
After our hike we stopped in Monterey for lunch and got pizza before driving on to San Jose.
We booked the Hampton Inn San Jose Airport for our final night as it was minutes away from the airport and we had a 6:30 am flight out. We found a local Greek restaurant for dinner.
Saturday October 16, 2021
Another long day, although not quite as long as our day coming out.
We got up at 4 am and got checked out by 4:30 am. Rental car got returned just before 5am and then on to our gate. Thankfully there were no delays and we left promptly at 6:30 am.
We had a 3 hour lay over in Denver. The Centurion lounge was very conveniently next to our gate with no wait this time. We had both breakfast and lunch in the lounge. Flight to Indy left on time and we got home at 5:30pm.
Travel Hacking Summary, 6 days, 5 nights
Southwest flight IND-SJC x 2 : Free travel voucher/Companion Pass + $11.20 tax
-cash value $228.59 x 2
Southwest flight SJC-IND x 2: 11,225 Southwest points/Companion Pass + $11.20 tax
-cash value $346.98 X 2
Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa, 1 night : Hyatt free night certificate
-cash value $248
Ventana Big Sur, 3 nights : 90,000 Hyatt points
-cash value $8246.04
Hampton Inn San Jose Airport, 1 night : $115.82
Hertz car rental, 5 days : $260 (my husband paid for this with a corporate rate)
Total out of pocket expense: $398.22
Total saved with points: $9645.18
I could have used 35,000 Hilton points for the Hampton Inn but the room rate was inexpensive enough that I decided to save my Hilton points and earn more Hilton points by paying cash.
Using points allows us to vacation at places I would otherwise never pay cash for, plus it allows us to spend more on activities and restaurants while vacationing and not worry about our spend since we have already saved so much on flights and lodging. That being said, I think I'm checking Ventana Big Sur off my list. It was nice but not THAT nice. The food was beautiful but mediocre at best. There are SO many things to do around the resort but I felt obligated to eat my meals there since they were included so this made us schedule our activities around our meals. The area is absolutely beautiful and I definitely want to come back, but will stay somewhere else next time.
