Big Sur Lodge

Loved the big room (double rooms) for my family and me. The reality is that it’s the same price as some of the «nicer» lodges in the area. So I may consider those in the future.
But this was a really good set-​up for a family of four. Plus, the inns in the area wouldn’t allow my kids to stay there.
The state parks and national forests around Big Sur are incredible. So much better than Monterey and Carmel. The hikes were absolutely incredible along the beaches and in the mountains. What a great vacation.

I have been incredibly hesitant to write a review in regards to having my wedding reception here… Brides read on!
I’m not sure how to appropriately rate this but after thinking about it and myself not having any reviews to go off of when I was wedding planning I decided to give future brides some advice. Plus I just saw that two brides have recently left reviews identical to my issues!
I hate to sound like I’m just bashing a person but my biggest problem was with the Event Coordinator. First of all out Event Coordinator was a very difficult person to work with. They will tell you one thing and then later when you bring it up act like you made this up. Word of advice, do everything via email so that you can later reference what was said. You will be referencing these emails A LOT. Perhaps even print them out and start organizing them for easy reference? Color code them? Sticky tabs?
My bigger problem with the Event Coordinator is how I felt as though the emails came across as thought I was being spoken down to and were also rude. It got so bad that my husband had to call and ask them to no longer communicate with me because they were being so rude. The Event Coordinator then proceeded to argue with him about how they are not rude! My husband like most grooms didn’t want to be this involved with wedding planning but it was finally bad enough and it was the only choice.
On the bright side my reception was awesome. EXCEPT they did run out of food which kind of blows my mind given we had 34 people total. Yes 34!!! 34 and they ran out!
However I had the most amazing kitchen staff for my wedding reception. The waiters were amazing! My mom even called corporate just so she could tell them how exceptional they all were. There was a kitchen manager over seeing the reception and she was on top of it. She made sure every detail was handled. Minus the food shortage.
Also when we went into food taste our waiter was sooo attentive and made us feel so special. The chef also was so sweet and made sure that our tasting was perfect. Trying to organize my food tasting with the Event Coordinator was extremely difficult… But at least the food tasting part was great!
Brides I know it’s difficult to get married in Big Sur with such limited options. In the end our reception was perfect even with all the frustrations and challenges that came with the Event Coordinator.
Lastly, Big Sur Lodge. PLEASE change your photo book you show of past events. It’s cringe worthy. It looks like someone took photos on their Razor phone and printed them out. They are a terrible representation of what your reception can look like. Perhaps if you have a better relationship with your bride and grooms and you can ask for a few of their professional photos of the reception to use. I would gladly let you use mine if you promise to burn that photo book.

Having just returned from a wonderful 3 days in one of the well-​equipped cabins, we are still marveling about the wonderful service, amenities, and comforts of our cabin, and the attending staff, both on the grounds and at the lodge. Rene’, the GM, was a gracious and accomodating host, at the upper lodge and pool, and at the main lodge and restaurant. Our waitress, Sabine, was efficient, pleasant, and entertaining. We also enjoyed chatting with Grace at the front counter, who we found was a summer «transplant» worker from a college in Florida. We have been visiting the Pfeiffer Big Sur area since the late 60s, initially in the campground, and now, as Sr. Citizens, in the lovely and modernized cabins… While I thought we’d miss the phones, TVs, and computer (no-​way we’d pay for «iffy» WiFi), we found the experience to be rewarding, rather than lacking. We’ll be back, and thank you to all the wonderful staff.

Very nice accommodations in a bucolic setting. The lodge and the cabins are in a beautiful setting in the woods. Our cabin had a nice, large bedroom with a skylight in the ceiling. It was nice to look up at the ceiling and see trees towering above through the skylight. Very helpful staff. We definitely would stay here again.

I’m not surprised to read so many reviews mentioning rude service. We had one person who was very helpful upon arrival, but beyond that we actually found it to be markedly unpleasant. One employee (Kamilla, I believe was her name) was particularly rude and so, finally, just before we left, I commented on it to her.
I told her I felt she had been very unpleasant to us two days now and I’d be mentioning it to the management. I got a curt «you do that.» It left such a horrible impression on me of the inn, which was really disappointing, particularly as we were there celebrating our wedding anniversary. We had had a nice welcome, but this was the most brazenly rude service I’ve received in my memory.
I agree with an earlier poster who urged for customer service training. The location of this inn is incredible, and from one of the stewards of our state parks, one would hope for better. I won’t be recommending the lodge.

I should have looked at reviews before booking. As a rule, I do. But I had just plunked a bunch of time trying to find space at Yosemite, without success, and figured that a place called [State Park] Lodge with fairly nice pictures would be a good bet. For the price I wouldn’t stay there again.
Pros:
— Great location. Walking distance to many trails. Short drive to more trails and some truly stellar restaurants. Also, the nearness of Monterey is a plus.
— Bed was comfortable. We both slept very well.
Cons:
— Confirmation emailed about 12 hours after ordering the room. Weird. Why wouldn’t it be automatic?
— There was serious dry rot in the bathroom. Both of us had the shiver-​inducing experience of accidentally stepping on it and sinking a bit into the floor.
— Wifi’s not included. Okay. That information should be on the website and prominently. But those rates? And time-​tiered and limited to one device. Seriously? Archaic. Sketchy.
— The restaurant was pretty overpriced for the quality. We had dinner and breakfast there that were far inferior to meals with had elsewhere around Big Sur and in Monterey. The main reason we went with the lodge over Airbnb as we usually do was because of the convenience of the restaurant. Not worth it.
— A better hiking trail map is sorely needed. Almost useless and the on-​site wayfinding was also poor. Investing in a better map design would cost a few thousand dollars up front, a dozen or so dollars per check-​in. But people would keep the map, remember the map, and want to return to the lodge. I can’t state strongly enough how big of a lack this is, especially given the weirdly backwards wifi policy.
Overall: It was a great long weekend. We will go back to Big Sur, but not to Big Sur Lodge. Too bad.

It is all about location. These are cabins in a state park (run by a concessionaire) with the lodge — check in, restaurant, general store– near by. Not a hotel, not a resort… but again .“what a location”! The redwoods are awesome.
We stayed April 4 – 7 2016, 2 cabins. Had reserved a cabin with a queen and 2 twin beds with fireplace. Cabin 7 actually had an extra queen in a separate room (would’ve slept 6). Plenty of room. Bathroom had a heat lamp (actually 2) so it was toasty. Shower adequate with nice Hot water. Fireplace worked fine, and wall heater to supplement. Quiet.
2^nd room reserved was a kitchen unit with queen. Table and chairs seated 5. Comfortable and quiet. Kitchen unit wasn’t well equipped for daily meal preparation but had the basics. Had to call staff for missing items and they were able to provide some, not all.
Kids enjoyed the heated pool. Nice sunny spot.
We thought the food at the lodge was excellent. Excellent service for our meals there. And helpful wait staff.
Perhaps the front desk has changed recently as we had attentive staff.
The general store personnel were also helpful.
HOUSEKEEPING could use more direction. Not so attentive.
But this is BIG SUR, the trails, beach, beautiful drive on highway 1 are unforgettable.

I had a great time at big sur lodge! We stayed in a double queen room with a fire place! It was awesome. We had a log of fire wood each day, tea & coffee to enjoy on our porch and plenty of space! We had a nice & clean shower with lots of towels. The complimentary soaps they give you smell SOOO good! The lady at the desk (she was older and working at night) was so friendly & fun!
The only reason I take away a star is because we arrived at 11:55 for lunch but they didn’t open the kitchen back up till 12 and the guy at the café was really rude to us and didn’t really let us know until we had to «bother» him enough to ask.
Overall a good experience! Nice, quiet & beautiful!

I made a reservation over the phone 8 months before my stay. I reserved a suite with 2 queen bed bedrooms — we were very clear about this on the phone — and when I arrived, they put us in a one bedroom. When I spoke to someone at the desk to express the privacy that we expected, they said my only option was to upgrade to a kitchenette room at over double the price since all of the two bedroom suites were booked. When I asked to use internet to check my email reservation confirmation, they said I would have to pay for internet and that they could not look it up on their computers. I offered to pay a small upgrade fee for the privacy, but not to pay double the price for the kitchenette room since we had no need for a kitchen and had booked so early in advance. The General Manager had left for the day and would not be available to talk to me all weekend, so they spoke with him on the phone and he confirmed that they would only allow us to stay in one room all together unless we paid double the price. Not to mention the bathroom was flooded and it took over 24 hours to fix after reporting twice.

Pricey. No amenities. Rude service. Unhelpful with questions about the area.

We stayed here for the first time this weekend. Deborah helped us at the front desk and she was super friendly and accomodating. She recommended lots of activities and things to see during our visit. Will definitely stay again.

I WOULD NOT suggest any bride ever use this lodge as their reception venue. I wish I didn’t have to give them any stars.
I should have know from the start when their event coordinator Sarah did not find my wedding important enough to give me the time of day. I got engaged in December of 2014 and started planning and trying to talk to Sarah in January of 2015 for a January 6, 2016 wedding date. She informed me on a number of occasions that she did not have time for me because I was a 2016 bride and she needed to worry about 2015 brides. I would let things slide because I knew that i had a year. But as time went on and she refused to be responsive I started to get upset. The GM tried to smooth things over, but it turns out there is no one at that resort who is competent. We were passed through 2 – 3 other staff members before our event.
They didn’t get our room block together until June, when guest called to book in the room block most our guest stated that the front desk couldn’t find our room block and they spent 20 – 40 minutes on the phone with the front desk staff trying to locate the room block and place my guest in the right rooms.
We went in August for food tasting because we wanted a Taco Bar which was not on their buffet options. The food we tried was great. The food at our event was not. Plus an entrée was missing and they ran out of food, and never brought more to replace it. we had 65 guest at our wedding.
We prepayed for an open bar up to $ 2500 and requested only two types of beer and one red and one white wine be served to our guest. By 5 pm they had Already ran out of the beer we requested and they started just replenishing it with whatever they had. Which is not ok. When someone has an open bar and wants a specific beer, the venue needs to make sure that there is enough beer for at least that much money. They ran completely out of alcohol by 9, we had not hit the $ 2500 limit. Our event went until 930.
Our reception was from 3pm to 930. Not ONCE in those six and a half hours did a manager, banquet captain or GM come up to our event to check in with us.
It has been almost a month after my event and I am still dealing with them to clarify all the different charges on our cards. No Bride should ever be treated how they treat people, and no one should ever have to deal with the staff at this lodge. It is horrible. I wouldn’t recommend them and we will never go back.

We booked our room weeks in advance. They lost our reservation and made us pay 500 $ a night. Staff and manager was rude and inconsiderate. The kitchen was horrible. Shameful this exists in such a beautiful place.

If I could give the Big Sur Lodge negative stars I would. Much like almost ALL of the other reviews, I too have had a HORRIFIC experience with their COSTUMER SERVICE team. The front desk was incredibly rude when we walked in and tried to inquire about where our rooms were located that we booked for a future weekend.
AND SARAH BOUHABEN (sales manager) is by far the most DISGUSTING example of costumer service. I called about having a wedding block there, she hung up on me, refused to give me any information, told me to go to her website where all of the requirements are listed (which of course they are not), said they don’t do buy-​outs (which they do according to the website) and basically said tourist will book rooms with us, so we don’t need your business. UNBELIEVABLE!!!
Never in all of my life have I ever experienced someone so willing to work so hard to refuse their company income and business.
Gloria J. –After the rude customer service I received multiple times, trusting your staff to host one of the most important days of my life is 100% off the table. It would be a shame for anyone who books their wedding with you bc I only see it ending in tears. Hopefully, they will check Unilocal first and see how terribly rated your service is by most of the reviewers.

We had a large two bedroom cottage with two queen beds and two twin beds. Plenty of space for us. The setting is nice in the park. The rooms are not thoroughly vacuumed so manage your expectation. The bathroom was fine. Wish they had ceiling fans. The room got warm in the afternoon but opening doors for cooling breeze also brought in bugs. They provided a big fan which we used — it worked but was loud.

Place was cool. As far as condition the lodge was pretty much what I expected – a little dirty, a little smelly, but smack in the middle of Big Sur. Great.
Why 3 stars? Coming in from Ohio, our first night at Big Sur Lodge we ate at the restaurant on sight. I got the Black & Bleu Burger. No less than 2 hours later I was trying to stifle the sound of my vomiting to keep from waking our 1 year old that we hauled across the country. This lasted all night and ended with me sleeping on the bathroom floor. The next day we headed out and I had a hard time keeping up because I couldn’t eat and had no energy. I slept at the table at a restaurant as my friends and family ate around me. Just how I wanted to spend my vacation!
When we mentioned this to the staff, they didn’t seem too concerned that I had gotten food poisoning from the restaurant. Seems par for the course after reading reviews.
Tl;dr: Stay here but bring your own food and hope the stove works.

The room is nice, clean.
Living in forest is so relax.
Do not expect any service or tourist suggestion.
They don’t give a shit.

We stayed in a single with a very comfy king size for 2 nights. It was a nice getaway from usual hotels. Cabin style, no TV or phone. This made it more peaceful and relaxing. Every room is close to trails and the restaurant and shops on site, however, you don’t want to walk from your room down. The roads are very narrow and treacherous when a vehicle is coming through, especially at night were visiting almost nothing.
The restaurant here is amazing! We had dinner the first night. The coffee is great at the café. We had a nice patio on the front of our cabin and sag outside one night and watched the wild turkeys wander around.
It is kind of difficult to find at night. The sign isn’t clear when passing on the main road. Parking is limited in the front as the the hotel lobby parking lot also serves as a public (with daily permit) lot for the trails on site.

Def read the reviews; a few people mention that in addition to things I also experienced and may affect your stay. Nothing terribly crazy, but there are some common ‘dislikes’ about this place:
smoke stains on fireplace walls
rude front desk service
in need of upgrades
pricey (I get that it’s Big Sur)
Having said that, though, we didn’t spend much time in the room, there’s so much to do. The location is, hands-​down, the best. The walk to Pfieffer Beach was a fun challenge. You get a national park pass with your stay, too, so that’s rad.
The pool is great, the turkeys are great, and you’re right in the middle of everything. This is by no means a spa or resort, though. I can’t overstate how hot the rooms get during the day, and the AC unit did not work at all.
Final note, there was crib in our cabin??? A crib.
Ew.
I appreciate that Big Sur Lodge checked in with me.
It was cabin 20 of Big Sur Lodge; there’s a unit under the window that reads the temperature, and there are arrows to increase/​decrease it. My mistake if it’s not AC.
I agree that Pfieffer isn’t really walking distance, only the young lady at reception told us it was «just across the street, then a mile hike down to the water,» when really it was about a mile and a half north, then another mile down.

The lodge itself is decent as far as park lodges go, however the two stars I am giving this place are for the poor service at the front desk. I expect somewhat friendly service if I am paying $ 200+/night to stay at a hotel. I was completely appalled when the front desk staff told us to use the pay phone when we asked if we could borrow their phone to call my cousin’s wedding coordinator to make sure we had not missed our shuttle. There is absolutely no cell phone service at the lodge so I think they should at least provide a phone in the main building as a service to lodge guests especially for emergencies.
There were a few positives to our stay:
(1) Food at the lodge restaurant was surprisingly tasty. I recommend both the eggs florentine and the huevos rancheros
(2) Gift shop was cute. I bought a vintage Big Sur magnet here
(3) Access to the park. There was a nice trail to the waterfalls that was easily accessible from the lodge
(4) Friendly volunteer at the discovery center (not affiliated of the lodge, but I enjoyed it nonetheless)
Additional Negatives
(1) No map of nearby hiking options for guests. I would think that this would be a must given their vicinity to the hiking trails.