There has been a buzz these past few weeks about Monterey County listed as a Top Ten Wine Travel Destination 2013 in the February 2013 issue of Wine Enthusiast.

Three items over the internet got me thinking about Monterey County wineries this week. First was Points, Miles & Martini blog where I saw this Top 10 news. A comment on the blog struck a nerve that I couldn’t shake off.

I’m not so sure about Monterey, CA –  I thought it was all trinkets and knick-knacks with over-priced wine.

My reaction is to think this person did not stray from the tourist areas of Cannery Row and Fisherman’s Wharf. I walk down to the Monterey waterfront regularly for the sea life. The vineyards of Monterey County are not located in Monterey.

Second internet item about wine is an email I received about the Pebble Beach Food & Wine Event April 4-7, 2013. I’d like to attend that event.

Third item is the River Road Wine Trail Event February 9, 2013. There will be 11 Salinas Valley wineries participating. $30 per ticket for a few more days until they increase to $45. This seems like a good day to get a Monterey County wine education.

To recall the last time I was walking around Monterey County vineyards I had to step back a year to January 2012 when I made a drive to Cachagua Valley on a 75 degree winter day that also happened to be my birthday.

Galante Vineyards Wine Tasting in Carmel, California

Driving from the Galante Vineyards wine tasting room in Carmel to Galante Vineyards is about 23 miles out of town, east on Carmel Valley Road and then south over the rough mountain Cachagua Road for the short-cut route. Or drive over 30 miles the long way to the southern entrance and far less nerve-racking route to Cachagua Road from Carmel Valley.

View of Santa Lucia coastal mountains range from atop Cachagua Road via the westerly mountain road from Carmel Valley Road.

Galante Vineyards, Cachagua Road, Carmel Valley 

Cachagua General Store

A wine enthusiast is lucky to find gas and food among the vineyards in Cachagua. If the General Store does not meet your needs, then time to drive to Carmel Valley Village, 13 miles away by the longer and easier road route.

Google Maps Carmel-by-the-Sea to Cachagua region vineyards in Monterey County.

Rather than get into the merits of whether Napa and Sonoma County wineries are passé, I thought I’d take a drive out Carmel Valley Road in January 2013 and check out some of the wineries and sights along the way. Once I got into Monterey County Wine Country it looked to me like horse and cattle ranches still seem to outnumber the vendors and vineyards in Carmel Valley.

Carmel Valley, Monterey County, California

Napa County and Monterey County both have about 45,000 acres of vineyards. Monterey County is geographically 5x the size of Napa County. Napa County has twice as many wineries open to the public than Monterey County.

Nearly all Monterey County vineyards are located in the Salinas Valley (98%). Monterey County River Road Wine Trail is having a Valentine’s Passport 2013 event on Saturday February 9 with 11 participating wineries for $30.

River Road Wine Trail vineyards on the west side of the Salinas Valley at the base of the Santa Lucia Mountains. Highway 1 runs the length of the Big Sur coast on the other side of the Santa Lucia range. Carmel Valley Road is the most accessible road cutting west to east through the coastal mountains.

Carmel Valley Road

Carmel Valley accounts for about 1% of vineyard acreage in Monterey County. San Antonio and Hames Valleys are the other 1% of vineyard acreage in the far southern portion of Monterey County, about 100 miles southeast of the city of Monterey off Highway 101.

Carmel Valley wineries are the closest vineyards to Monterey and Carmel hotels.

Sitting in a restaurant in Monterey or Carmel, checking out ocean views is one way to drink local Monterey County wines or visit a wine tasting room for a large variety of local appellations. Most Monterey County grapes are bottled elsewhere. Check out that Napa Valley winery label carefully.

Carmel Valley is the hot spot of the Monterey Peninsula on those foggy summer days when the moisture won’t leave the coast. Ten miles inland on Carmel Valley Road usually means bright sun and swimming weather in summer months.

Quail Lodge is a resort that closed down its Carmel Valley hotel in the great recession. The Quail Lodge rooms are being remodeled and reopening April 2013. I received an email for a good value $125 rate for initial bookings March 26-April 18, 2013 including parking and breakfast.

Quail Lodge, Carmel Valley, California

Earthbound Farm is an organic produce market and café on Carmel Valley Road for a bite before or after the wineries.

Chateau Julien, 8940 Carmel Valley Road, is the first winery encountered traveling east along Carmel Valley Road.

Chateau Julien estate, Carmel Valley Road

Vines in winter.

Carmel Valley Ranch is a Joie de Vivre hotel member and one of the resort hotels in the valley. This property was remodeled a couple years ago by John Pritzker (Hyatt Hotels family member). Carmel Valley Ranch hotel rooms are located at a high elevation on the hillsides of the Santa Lucia above Carmel Valley just west of Garland Ranch Regional Park.

Garland Ranch Regional Park is between Mid-Valley shopping center where there is a Safeway and basic services and Carmel Valley Village, 10 miles east of Highway 1. Garland Ranch park is 8.6 miles east of Highway 1. This area is a 3,500 acre preserve along the south side of the Carmel River with trails from 200 ft. to 2,000 ft. in elevation. Horseback riding, hiking, picnics and a place to get your feet wet in summer are features of Garland Ranch.

Garland Ranch park warnings. I have encountered a few rattlesnakes over the years. I count myself kind of lucky not to have ever come across a mountain lion. If I do, I will let out some primal scream. Really! That is what you are supposed to do along with raising your arms up high and waving them about.

Bernardus Lodge, Carmel Valley

Bernardus Lodge is both a resort hotel and winery. This luxury hotel is a member of LHW, Leading Hotels of the World and has made the Condé Nast Gold list for hotels every year since 2004.

Bernardus Lodge vineyards, Carmel Valley. The restaurant and bar of the Lodge is a relaxing place to visit for a drink and some food.

There were a few deer grazing across the street from these vines.

Carmel Valley Village is another location with wine tasting centers for several of the local wineries.

• Parsonage Village Vineyard
• Georis Winery
• Bernardus Winery
• Boete Winery
• Boekenoogen Winery
• Heller Estate Organic Vineyards
• Joullian Vineyards
• Talbott Vineyards

Georis Winery, Carmel Valley Village

Monterey County as a wine destination is easily accessible from Carmel, Carmel Valley and Monterey hotels. The Carmel Valley Road runs 50 miles from Carmel through the Santa Lucia Range and meets up with the Salinas Valley along Arroyo Seco Road near Greenfield. A drive along River Road to the wineries on the west side of the Salinas Valley and Highway 68 back to Monterey/Carmel is about a 100-mile loop.

There are plenty of outdoor activities in Carmel Valley, Arroyo Seco and the Monterey Peninsula for days of entertainment. I have driven this loop in the past for swimming, hiking and camping in Arroyo Seco. One of these days I might try the 100-mile winery tour of Monterey County.

Sources:

Why Monterey Beat Napa as California’s Top ‘Wine Destination’ – Laird Harrison, KQED blog Jan 28, 2013.

Monterey named top wine travel destination for 2013 - Jeanne Cooper, SF Gate Jan 8, 2013

Monterey County General Plan – Agricultural and Winery Corridor Plan October 2010

Ric Garrido, writer and owner of Loyalty Traveler, shares news and views on hotels, hotel loyalty programs and vacation destinations for frequent guests. You can follow Loyalty Traveler on Twitter and Facebook and RSS feed.

LHW 1928 RIP

The Good News: Some people got the $19.28 rate for a luxury hotel during the revamped 1928 promotion last Thursday.

The Bad News: I wasn’t among the lucky.  Although Lucky, BoardingArea.com blogger of “One Mile at a Time,” was successful.  His online name fits.

Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) promoted their October 1, 2008 online 80-minute sale heavily in September.  The hype was so widely promoted that their reservations system crashed.  Three weeks later the sale was back on.

Thursday, October 23, 2008 I logged on 7am and dutifully filled out the form for only two hotels, although the option for four choices was available.  The deal was good, but no so good that I would fly across the country or to another country just for a two-day cheap stay at a luxury hotel.

My primary objective was to get a night at the Bernardus Lodge in Carmel Valley so I could create a review for my future CarmelTraveler.com website.  $400 per night is above my economic comfort level, even though it can be a business write-off in my case.  I don’t make the kind of money with Loyalty Traveler (yet) to be throwing down $400+ per hotel night.

My second choice was Sedona’s Enchantment Resort and Spa and I picked dates when I knew I would be able to drive to Arizona for the stay.

I submitted my reservation request in minute 4 of the 80 minute time frame.  From what I have read on FlyerTalk, there does not appear to be anyone, or very few, who had a successful request from minute 4 to minute 80 of the promotion.  It truly was a speed event.

Even more unfortunate to those of us who actually planned viable hotel stays was the LHW hotel request option to receive any hotel reservation at the discretion of LHW.  Several persons posted in the FlyerTalk thread that the LHW hotel and/or dates given are not a viable option and the guest has no intention of using the successful $19.28 hotel reservation.

I held out hope for a discount room until today, a week after submitting my hotel request, and I received the following email from LHW:

Dear Richard Garrido,Thank you for participating in The Leading Hotels of the World’s 80th anniversary USD 19.28 Sale. We are sorry to inform you that we were unable to fulfill your travel request.

We appreciate your support and interest in our brand, and hope to bring you more celebratory offers in the future. As previously promised, all personal information obtained from you with regard to this promotion will be removed from our database. Should you wish to receive updates and news from The Leading Hotels of the World, please feel free to sign up for our e-newsletter at www.lhw.com.

Thank you again!
The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd.

Congratulations to all the successful guests. 

As for this Loyalty Traveler – LHW 1928 – Rest in Peace.

My prior post on the LHW 1928 promotion has links to the earlier Loyalty Traveler LHW 1928 posts or you can link to all the LHW posts using the Categories links on the left side of page through Category “Leading Hotels of the World”.

Leading Hotels of the World $19.28 Promotion for 80 Minutes on Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) is the largest luxury hotel brand around the globe.

Bernardus Lodge, Carmel Valley, California, Leading Hotels of the World participating member in 1928 promotion

The LHW Offer:  6,000 luxury hotel rooms — 96 luxury hotels — 45 nights — $19.28 room rates

… if you are lucky enough to secure a reservation.

Booking Window: Wednesday, October 1, 2008 beginning at 8am Eastern time for an 80 minute window at $19.28 rates.

Eligible hotel stay period:  November 1 – December 15, 2008 is the stay period eligible for $19.28 room rates.

Registration required at this LHW link to be eligible for $19.28 rates.

Maximum of one hotel reservation per household and maximum 2 nights at $19.28 rate.

LHW 1928 Promotion Terms and Conditions – link here.

Bernardus Lodge croquet lawn, Carmel Valley, California

Steps to success:

1.      Register for LHW promotion here.

2.      Study the hotel properties.  Pick your top 3 to 5 hotel locations for destinations that you are confident in being able to travel to during the 45 days eligible for the $19.28 rates.  

3.      Remember one reservation per household for a maximum two nights at $19.28 per night.

4.      Keep in mind that hotel urban locations tend to have better availability on weekends and resort locations tend to have better availability on weekdays.  This may or may not be the case for this promotion.

Bernardus Lodge pool, Carmel Valley, CA

This is a good promotion for exposing travelers to the Leading Hotels of the World group of luxury accommodations.  And this is an incredible opportunity for hotel room rate savings with the most expensive luxury hotel brand in the world.  A news report last February showed the average room rate for the Leading Hotels of the World hotel members in 2007 was $470.  This group of hotels had the highest average room rate of the luxury hotel segment. 

1928 is the year the Leading Hotels of the World was founded hence the $19.28 promotional rates.

Bernardus Lodge lobby seating, Carmel Valley, CA

Total room night sales of 1.65 million in 2007 with fewer than 250,000 of those rooms booked over the internet at www.lhw.com may be a primary reason for this discount promotion.   With five of six hotel room nights booked for LHW stays not happening through the lhw.com website this promotion is a good marketing tool to increase reservations traffic over the internet.

Promotions like the 1928 online promotion are a clever marketing strategy for increasing LHW brand awareness, new Leaders Club members, and lhw.com website activity.  The Leading Hotels of the World has over 450 hotel members and about 84,000 rooms worldwide.  A bit more than 20% of the LHW hotel members are participating in this promotion. 

Bernardus Lodge cabin room surrounded by spring flowers, Carmel Valley, CA

Leaders Club is a $300 membership hotel loyalty program for Leading Hotels of the World.  For hotel travelers who plan to stay at a LHW member hotel on regular paid rates, the Leaders Club is a means to complimentary upgrades that will likely result in a rebate equivalent to the membership fee after one hotel stay.  Complimentary membership to Leaders Club is available for newsletters and special offers, but don’t expect the complimentary upgrades with a complimentary Leaders Club membership.

Bernardus Lodge fountain and rooms, Carmel Valley, CA

Geographic regions for 97 participating

hotel members in the 1928 promotion.

South Africa    2 hotels

South America    5 hotels

Caribbean    2 hotels

North America    14 hotels

Europe    63 hotels

Asia    11 hotels

Bernardus Lodge tennis courts, Carmel Valley, CA

If at first you don’t succeed…try…try…try again.

The past month has seen me frustrated with trying to secure these “first-come, first-served” promotions with unsuccessful attempts at getting the Sheraton San Diego for $5.01 a couple of weeks back (LT post here) and prior to that the Super 8 Motels $8.88 rooms (LT post here). 

Bernardus Lodge Spa, Carmel Valley, CA

While I don’t count on landing this incredible hotel deal, the opportunity to book a luxury hotel room night selling for less than 5% of the average daily rates for most of these participating hotels will have me setting my alarm clock, and readying my mouse finger for scrolling and clicking at 5am California time Wednesday morning, October 1. 

Bernardus Lodge Ingrid’s Vineyard, Carmel Valley, CA

Hyatt Highlands Inn, Carmel Highlands, California

An article I read today about Leading Hotels of the World members stated average room rate for 2007 was $470 per night for these luxury hotel members.
http://www.breakingtravelnews.com/article/20080208114856638

$8 Cups of Beer! Pinch Me, I’m Luxuriating.

I took time out this weekend from the internet and writing to go hang out with the mostly rich and predominantly beautiful crowds at the golf tournament. I spent Saturday at the ATT Pro-Am mingling around the Lodge at Pebble Beach and the 18th hole.

The constant work of adding to my knowledge base of luxury hotels combined with honing my skill of refusing to buy $8 cups of beer is demanding.

Golf? What Golf? I had to come home on Saturday and check the internet to find out that Vijay Singh was tied for the lead. And my wife, who spent all day there at the Pebble Beach tournament yesterday, was there not watching the tournament. She did not even find out there had been a play-off for the winner until she got home. They had ATT wireless “Golf Caddy” devices one could arrange to rent for free, but I thought it would be easier to follow play than it turned out to be. In retrospect, I wish I had tried the Golf Caddy. Golf is much easier to follow on TV and more interesting to watch on screen.

The people, however, well, that is another story altogether. The crowd spectacle reminded me of the Superbowl half-time show last week watching the young crowd dancing at the Tom Petty Band. The appeal of Pebble Beach is simply being somewhere exclusive and of course there is star appeal. The ATT Pebble Beach crowd, hanging around the Lodge and around the 18th green was surprisingly young, lots of drinking, lots of cigar smoking, and lots of cell phone talking and photo taking of Kevin Costner, Don Cheadle, Kenny G, and others (despite the ban on cell phones at the tournament).

The ATT tournament raises money for charities, but I’d appreciate a better system of wealth re-distribution than $8 cups of beer and $3 water bottles on a sunny, hard-to-find shade day.

And my question: Why place the outdoor cigar lounge at the 18th green, adjacent to the primary path to the golf tournament play?

As a non-smoker and boycotter of $8 cups of beer, I waited for golf play to end, walked over to the Pebble Beach Company Store 200 yards away, and picked up a six-pack of Stella Artois. My idea of a fun golf day is sitting above the 18th green on the bleacher stands, drinking with friends after the crowds left, and listening to the rock band play below at the cigar and beer café.

5-Star guerilla tourism.

Locals joke about the seasonal timing of the ATT Pro-Am. Winter here on the Central Coast of California, the Monterey Peninsula, and the golf courses of Pebble Beach is typically like everchanging wave sets. The occasional crash of a torrential winter storm blows in from the vast Pacific, a few periodic mild storms, and generally lengthy periods of no storms and high pressure sunshine. The torrent passed through California a week ago, and we have been in high pressure all week on the California coast, for sunshine and golf. The temperature kept rising, a couple of degrees every day, to peak at 70 with slight ocean breezes here on the coast over the weekend. Golf by the sea in Pebble Beach at its finest.

InterContinental Carlton Cannes

Friday afternoon, I caught the Season 4 final Entourage episode where the lads are in Cannes. I was interested to rewatch this show since I wrote a feature piece discussing how to find hotels in Cannes for Hotels-and-Points.

The article shows a detailed online search starting with Kayak and TripAdvisor and following those site leads to Orbitz, Skoosh, Priceline, Expedia, otel.com. Then, I searched several InterContinental Hotels Group websites looking for their rates and special offers. Each search path led to a different hotel result as I made choices based on user ratings and reviews. Kayak and TripAdvisor provided several leads, all within a $30 range as I searched 4-star hotels in $120-$180 range. Ultimately the “Online Reservationist” shows how to land the InterContinental Carlton Cannes for $170 per night, tax included – a full $80/night less than Priceline quoted for IC Carlton. This was only $14/night more than the Kayak.com lead for a 4-star hotel and $16 less than the TripAdvisor 3-star hotel lead based on the #1 TripAdvisor rated hotel for Cannes, France. The InterContinental Carlton Cannes was rated #3 for TripAdvisor hotels. The deal is IHG 2 Nights for Price of 1 special offer through April 30, 2008.

There are good location shots of the lobby, entry way, building profile, beach and dock shots of the InterContinental Carlton Cannes throughout the Entourage show. I laughed so hard seeing Drama thrown out of the IC Carlton for complaining about the lack of an oceanview room upgrade.

The InterContinental Carlton Cannes is 5-star hotel class according to Expedia and TripAdvisor ratings and is part of the

Conde Nast Traveler 2008 Hotels Gold List.

http://www.concierge.com/bestof/goldlist/

In January, I studied the regional lists of more than 700 hotels making the 2008 Conde Nast Traveler Hotels Gold List and Reserve List. I categorized the major loyalty program hotels for Starwood, Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton, and InterContinental Hotels Group. A full 20% of the hotels listed are available for room redemption using hotel points. My statistical research is in the February issue of Hotels-and-Points.

My interest in the survey analysis was to examine brand appearance for loyalty program hotels allowing room redemption using points compared to the total hotel list. The Gold List and Reserve List offer a broad-based sample of luxury and high-end upscale hotels around the world. My analysis shows that loyalty program hotel points are a valuable currency to earn and spend for travelers wanting to stay in finer hotels.

In short, my analysis of the Conde Nast survey shows (in elementary poetry form):
• Starwood’s the Star, and Luxury Collection is the popular European selection
• Hyatt is definitely the Parks and Grands, so fit these hotels in your travel plans
• Marriott, the JW appears a lot, but on these lists the Ritz-Carlton hotels dominate the Gold spots,
• Hilton, Conrad, InterContinental, which I personally think are alright, on the CN lists are mostly out of sight.

The Lodge at Pebble Beach
This weekend I experienced my own domestic hotel 5-Star Class and Conde Nast Gold List ambience while spending time at the Pebble Beach Lodge. The Pebble Beach peninsula is land, golf courses, resorts, and private homes owned by a private corporation in a gated community, sandwiched on the California coast and hills between Monterey, Pacific Grove and Carmel. The ATT Golf weekend reminded me that I like hotels and resort locations when they are quiet and uncrowded.

Walking the grounds and drinking $8 beer on the terrace is luxuriating at 5-star prices when you can watch a beautiful sunset and the waves crashing in the cove. The ATT golf tournament security limited Lodge access to all, but the highest tiers of VIPs. I felt like Johnny Drama getting no respect. My friend was inside the Lodge and my cell phone locked in her car (I followed the rules of no cell phones at the tournament) and security kept me outside the Lodge and unable to make contact.

The Conde Nast Traveler Hotels Gold List has 39 hotels in California.

The Post Ranch Inn and Ventana Inn are remote getaway locations on the Big Sur coast, 35 miles south of Monterey.
http://www.concierge.com/bestof/goldlist/2008/regions/northamerica/usa/california/bigsur

Bernardus Lodge in Carmel Valley is ranked #3 on Gold List in Hotel Service in the USA and is known locally for its restaurant and wine selection.
http://www.concierge.com/bestof/goldlist/2008/regions/northamerica/usa/california/carmelvalley

The Highlands Inn is a Hyatt Regency and Vacation Club hotel located 8 miles south of Monterey in Carmel Highlands. L’Auberge Carmel missed my attention when I originally drafted this piece. There are 7 Gold List hotels in Monterey County.
http://www.concierge.com/bestof/goldlist/2008/regions/northamerica/usa/california/carmel_by_the_sea

The Inn & Links at Spanish Bay and The Lodge at Pebble Beach are both on the Gold List.
http://www.concierge.com/bestof/goldlist/2008/regions/northamerica/usa/california/pebblebeach

Seven hotels on the California Gold List are Monterey County locations. Spanish Bay, Pebble Beach, Highlands Inn, and Post Ranch Inn have some rooms with excellent ocean views.

The Hyatt Highlands Inn is a Category 5 Gold Passport Hotel property. A free night takes 18,000 points. The September 2007 Hotels-and-Points article described how to use the Faster Free Nights promotion to get a room at the Highlands Inn for under $150/night. Room rates are as low as $215 currently in off-season.

Locally in Monterey County, California, 1 of 7 hotels as a member of a major corporate hotel chain participating in a points-based frequent guest loyalty program mirrors the overall Conde Nast Gold List of 1 in 5 of the 535 Gold List hotels, as part of five major hotel chains. There are 107 hotels on the 2008 Gold List which are affiliated with the major hotel corporations of Starwood, Hyatt, Marriott, Hilton, and InterContinental and 104 of these Gold List hotels are available for free nights using hotel points.

The value of loyalty and the cost of luxury are apparent in a room rate analysis of Monterey County’s Gold List hotels. Room rates demonstrate the value of hotel loyalty programs when looking at a 5-Star hotel getaway and the Highlands Inn on Faster Free Nights award stay.

Current Listed Room Rates
for 6 Monterey County, California hotels on Conde Nast Traveler 2008 Gold List.

Post Ranch Inn, Big Sur ( Special Note: No one under age 18)
Butterfly Room $550 to $725/night Forest and Mountain View
Tree House Room $895 Forest and Mountain View
Coast House $1,060 Ocean View.
Post Ranch Inn
Winter special offer for two nights is $1,140 for Butterfly Room ($40 more than rack rate, but with spa treatments added) or
$2,040 for Coast House ($80 off rack rate and with spa treatments). The Winter Special “Spa and Wellness Escape” package has the value added feature of two 1-hour spa treatments.

Ventana Inn, Big Sur – Valentine’s Day “Passion from the Heart” Package includes two room nights, dinner for two, and two 50-minute spa treatments. Price begins at $850 for guest room (regular rates are $350/night) or $1,200 for suite (regular rates are $638/night for Big Sur suite).

Bernardus Lodge, Carmel Valley
$415/night Premium Garden room;
$685-$815 for Luxury Spa Room;
$1,065 – $1,970 one- and two-bedroom suites.
A special offer currently available for Sunday through Thursday nights at the Bernardus Lodge is $475 night for Garden room and two 50-minute spa treatments. Or $485 night with a $150 dining credit at the famed Marinus Restaurant. Again, value added items are available in package offers without reducing the room rates for lodging only.

Spanish Bay Inn, Pebble Beach
Garden View $580/night
Ocean View $815
Suites $1,150 – $2,495/night

Pebble Beach Lodge
Garden View $675/night
Ocean View $925/night
Suites: $1,550 – $2,195/night
http://www.pebblebeach.com/page.asp?pageName=2007_Offers_Lodge_Spa_winter_20070522

Hyatt Highlands Inn, Carmel Highlands
Weekend stays
Ocean View $465/night
Senior rate (62 or over) $395.25
Ocean View Townhouse $635.00/night
Weekday stays (Sunday-Thursday)Ocean View
AAA rate = $215.10
Ocean View Townhouse (AAA rate) = $368.10

Hotel Rates for 2 nights in Monterey County at 2008 Gold List hotels:

Post Ranch Inn, Big Sur
http://www.postranchinn.com/packages.shtml
$1,140/2-nights Butterfly Room (includes two 50-minute massages)
$2,040/2-nights Coast House (includes two 50-minute massages)

Bernardus Lodge, Carmel Valley (mountain views, about 10 minute drive to Carmel Beach)
http://www.bernardus.com/lodge/rates/index.htm
$950/2-nights (Garden View room with two 50-minute massages) or
$970/2-nights (Garden View room with $150 dining credit)

Ventana Inn, Big Sur
http://www.ventanainn.com/packages_internet.asp
$850/2-nights Guest room (Dinner for two and two 50-minute massages)
$1,200/2-nights Big Sur suite (Dinner for two and two 50-minute massages)

The Lodge at Pebble Beach
http://www.pebblebeach.com/avail_rates.asp
$2,035/2-nights Ocean View (+ 2 massages)
$1,535/2-nights Garden View room (includes tax and two 50-minute massages)

Spanish Bay, Pebble Beach
http://www.pebblebeach.com/page.asp?id=2139
$940/2-nights Garden view
$1,290/2-nights Ocean view

Hotel has special offer for 4th night free that may be slightly less than Ocean View room winter special offer currently $645/night.

Hyatt Highlands Inn, Carmel Highlands
http://www.hyatt.com/
$430/2-nights Ocean View room (AAA rate Sun-Thu)
$736/2-nights Ocean View Townhouse (AAA rate Sun-Thu)

View of Pt. Lobos from Highlands Inn

My travel recommendation is come to Monterey and stay at the Hyatt Highlands Inn midweek.

A loyalty traveler can use the money saved to eat at Bernardus Lodge and visit the winery in Carmel Valley.

Spa and play or just walk the golf courses at Pebble Beach. Plan a meal at The Lodge’s Club XIX or eat at Roy’s in Spanish Bay and have drinks on the terrace by the fire pits at sunset.

Post Ranch Inn has off season free tours midweek, and you can dine at Ventana Inn, or go further down the coast to Nepenthe on the cliffs.

[originally posted Feb 11, 2008 at www.loyaltytraveler.net/wordpress]