When I first read about Carmel Valley Ranch, I knew I had to check it out. The website describes it as tasty s'mores, tasteful suites, artisan treats, and playful activities on a 500-acre oasis focused on fun.
Carmel Valley Ranch is just over two hours south of San Francisco, about 20 minutes from Monterey. Since we had planned to take the little vacationista to Hawaii for her 6th birthday, it was a perfect excuse to break up the flight and spend a weekend at Carmel Valley Ranch. The hotel is part of American Express' Fine Hotels + Resorts Collection so booking with an AMEX Platinum card will give you special perks like free daily breakfast for two, $100 experience credit, late checkout, etc. You'll need all of the perks you can get because everything around the property was very expensive.
We flew direct from DFW to Monterey Regional Airport and arrived at night. Since it was the little vacationista's birthday, I arranged birthday decorations in the room through the hotel for $75. The decorations ended up being a banner, two balloons, some party hats, cookies and cupcakes. And they set everything up in the wrong room despite having verified with the concierge multiple times (Grandma and Grandpa were with us in a separate room and the decorations ended up there). Would definitely skip this for anyone considering.
ROOMS: The resort has all suite accommodations. We booked the one bedroom ranch suite, which was very spacious. We probably could have just stuck with a studio suite and saved some money since we were hardly in the room.
We received a welcome bag with water bottles that could be refilled around the hotel and there was a bottle of wine in our room.
There's also a daily activity calendar with all of the activities happening around the hotel.
DAY 1, MONTEREY/CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA: We decided to head over to Monterey on day 1, starting with lunch at Schooner's inside the Monterey Plaza Hotel and Spa. I had requested a table overlooking the water and the views were amazing. Overall, the food was very good.
Then it was over to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which the little vacationista really enjoyed.
After a few hours at the aquarium and some relaxation time at the hotel, we decided to head into Carmel-By-The-Sea for dinner. The town is adorable and our dinner at Carmel Grill House was fantastic. Sadly, it appears that the restaurant has closed down.
DAY 2, EXPLORING THE HOTEL/MONTEREY: Since we didn't spend much time at the hotel on day 1, we decided to check out some of the hotel activities on day 2. After breakfast at the hotel restaurant, we walked around the grounds and through the vineyard. We also did the garden meet and greet, where the little vacationista spent time feeding the chickens.
We decided to go back into Monterey for lunch and ended up at Fish Hopper. Great views, touristy, food was expensive and just okay.
We walked around the shops afterwards, and the little vacationista was able to grab some loot from It's Sugar!
Back at the hotel, we stopped by the Market and Creamery for some fresh churned ice cream. It costs extra money but it was a generous portion and they had a topping bar. We also stopped by to taste some cheese and honey later in the afternoon, which was just okay.
For dinner, I had reserved a table in the Wine Garden at Folktale Winery and Vineyard. The winery itself is adorable. We planned to eat dinner here, ordered way too much food, and we were pretty unimpressed with most of it. I'd recommend going for wine and some snacks and head somewhere else for dinner.
DAY 3, DRIVING TO SAN FRANCISCO: We had breakfast at the hotel on the last day. Then it was off to San Francisco, with a stop along the way at the Din Tai Fung in Santa Clara. We stayed at the Grand Hyatt at SFO this evening, which I would definitely recommend, since we had an early morning flight to Oahu.
OVERALL: The resort was adorable, but expensive. We really didn't get to participate in many activities since we only had a weekend in the area. Is Carmel Valley Ranch really a relaxing retreat and an oasis that is focused on fun? Maybe, but you'd probably have to stay longer or not leave the resort to really enjoy the offerings. For now, I can cross it off our list and move on to our next destination. See you there!
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