Big Sur · Hotel shortlist
The best hotels in the historic centre, Big Sur
Fiona Gallagher Australia and New Zealand
These are my five favourites in Big Sur, out of the 72 that qualified. I read what other travellers scored them before I picked, so the order follows the guests, all five scoring 4.6.
Alila Ventana Big Sur is the one I would book myself.
Highest rated of the five
Alila Ventana Big Sur
★★★★★4.6 from 1,001 reviews
Alila Ventana Big Sur comes out on top of this list, and not narrowly: 4.6 from 1,001 guest reviews is a score that holds up at that volume, which is the whole test here. A perfect ten from nine people does not beat it.
It is a 5 star property, found under city centre and around $2571 a night on the dates we checked.
72 hotels in Big Sur qualified for this list and five made it. Post Ranch Inn is the one I would book if the first is full.
Why it works for this trip
- Poolsomewhere to cool off between walks
- Spatreatment rooms on site, no booking a taxi for it
- Air conditioningthe one that decides a summer trip
- Restaurantdinner downstairs on the night you land
- Bara drink without going back out
All five, ranked
-
1
Alila Ventana Big Sur
★★★★★4.6 from 1,001 reviews
- Pool
- Spa
- Gym
- Restaurant
- Bar
- Parking
-
2 -
3 -
4Villa Mara Carmel
★★★★★4.9 from 164 reviews
- Bar
- Parking
- Pet friendly
- Air conditioning
- Accessible
-
5Premium Central Big Sur location, pool spa, spectacular south views, 5 acres
★★★★★4.911122 from 312 reviews
How this list was put together
72 Big Sur hotels qualify for this list. We ranked them on guest rating, then on class, and took the top five.
Two things decide these lists. The first is my own time in the city: every hotel on this page is one I have stayed in, walked into and looked at, or gone back to check. That is where the shortlist starts, and it is why some well reviewed places are not on it.
The second is the numbers, and those are what set the order. The rating and review count come from the big travel sites, pooled through Google, so a score here reflects Expedia, Booking, Hotels.com and the rest together rather than any one of them. I also read the review breakdown by topic, which is where the figures on service, breakfast and location come from. Hotels with fewer than forty reviews are left out altogether, because a rating that thin is not a rating. No more than two come from one neighbourhood.
What I do not do is move anyone up the order. The ranking is the guest score, highest first, and nobody pays to be on the list.
Distances are straight lines from published coordinates, so the real walk is a little longer. Amenities are as recorded by Google Hotels and can change without notice. Rates are an indicative nightly figure for a midweek autumn stay, not a quote. Check the booking page before you commit.
Fiona Gallagher Australia and New Zealand
Half her year is already on research boats, so holidays are deliberately dry land. Long-distance hiking routes in the off season, alone, with nothing being measured.
Trip Grapevine earns a commission on bookings made through the links on this page. It costs you nothing, and it does not change the order of the list, which is set by the measurements above.