Swinging into Spring: Review of the Carmel Valley Ranch

The last time I went to Carmel Valley Ranch(you can read the review here) I had a wonderful experience. Everything from the amazing rooms and super friendly staff to the general ambiance of the resort, was simply amazing. After having visited a variety of properties in last few years including Hyatt Regency Waikiki, Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Incline Village, Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, and several others, Carmel Valley Ranch has been by far my favorite property. As a pet friendly destination, this was the perfect place to take my parents and our dogs of a little vacation for my Dad’s birthday.

Booking Carmel Valley Ranch with Hyatt Points

Base rooms at this property during off peak weekends are typically upwards of $800. During normal times or peak season, rooms can be easily over $1,000. For our visit, rooms were going for about $800-900, but since it was considered off peak, I was able to use 21,000 Hyatt points per night giving me a redemption value of over 4 cents per points! To top things off, I was also able to utilize a suite upgrade certificate and book us into a Ranch Suite with King Bed which were spectacular.

Carmel Valley Ranch – Ranch Suite

The suite was extremely spacious and contained a large living room with a small dinner table, a large bathroom with a separate shower and tub, along with a separate door for the toilet. The bedroom was also splendid and has high ceilings, a gas fireplace, and a TV. The suite was well furnished and completed with a Nespresso machine(When did Nespresso become a necessity in luxury hotels?). As a globalist member, I was also given a nice welcome card and a complementary bottle of red wine.

Food

As a Hyatt Globalist, you get complementary breakfast on all stays. Each hotel or resort has varying rules, with some only offering continental breakfast or a smaller grab and go area. Some places offer full service at their restaurant for globalist members. Carmel Valley ranch follows the later and were able to get a complimentary full breakfast per day either at the Valley Kitchen a restaurant near the check in area or through in-suite dining/room service. Having two adorable doggies, we chose the later and had food delivered daily. While the menu was small, we were able to order a solid amount of food. On busier days, it did take a couple of tries to get in touch with the In-Suite dining team to place an order.

On day one, we order two sets of bacon, eggs, and potatoes set(also comes with toast), a smoked salmon bagel, granola and yogurt, and a fruit plate. We also ordered a pot of coffee but they forgot to bring it. Not a big deal since we did have a Nespresso to fill our caffeine needs. On day two we ordered a little more but did 2 yogurt granola bowls, two pancakes, two smoked salmon bagels , a fruit plate, and a rancher’s omelette. We also had 3 coffees and one orange juice for my brother. We over ordered and ended up having extra food which we saved for our post workout recovery.

We also had dinner one night at the Valley Kitchen. The food was alright and rather pricey but the weather was not too great so we preferred to stay in the property.

Amenities

The property is also lush with activities with a combination of family friendly things such as meeting the farm animals, paper boat racing to daily fitness classes and tastings. During our visit, my parents did a farm visit and hilltop yoga, while I attended one of the spin classes. The spin class was very challenging and lasted about an hour, but 10/10 would do it again!

The property is situated in a serene valley that offers splendid hiking trails, some of which were guided by property staff. In addition, the property also had a family rec center that seemed to also be open to the public. While this wasn’t a big deal, some might find it annoying to have a shared gym with outsiders.

My Thoughts

With phenomenal service, a friendly staff, and an extremely pet friendly policy, Carmel Valley Ranch was just the right spot to celebrate my dad’s birthday. We were able to relax and have a blast with both of our dogs. While the weather was on the cooler side, it was still warm enough for hill top yoga and hiking. My dad had a wonderful time and really enjoyed being able to bring our dogs along to a luxury resort. The great value I got from booking with points continues to highlight the importance of the World of Hyatt and Chase credit card collection. Hyatt continues to leave a great impression and while this is my second time at this property, I will surely be back in the near future!