Review: Hyatt Carmel Highlands

The Hyatt Carmel Highlands has been on my wish list for a while. When my family and I headed to Big Sur for a road trip a few weeks ago, I took the opportunity to try to arrange a stay there.

It exceeded my expectations in all aspects: We got upgraded to a townhouse suite, received complimentary breakfast for our entire group and enjoyed stunning views throughout the property. Here’s my complete review of the Hyatt Carmel Highlands in Big Sur:

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About the Hyatt Carmel Highlands

The Hyatt Carmel Highlands is located on a hilltop just off the Cabrillo Highway. The hotel was built in 1917 and had a storied past as the Highlands Inn before it was acquired by Hyatt in 1995. It has won numerous awards and is recognized for its incredible views of Big Sur.

The Hyatt Carmel Highlands is located just 1.5 miles from Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, which is truly one of the most stunning places on earth.

How I booked the Hyatt Carmel Highlands points

The Hyatt Carmel Highlands is a Category 6 Hyatt hotel, requiring 21,000 to 29,000 points per night for a standard Garden View room.

When I was researching rates, the Hyatt My Elite rate was $450. Despite the relatively high paid rates, I would never book a Garden View room for 25,000 points per night. My sister stayed in one during this trip and it had the most awkward, claustrophobic floor plan of any hotel room I’ve ever seen.

I was pretty happy about getting an Oceanview Townhouse Spa Suite for just 12,500 points + $150 per night. We scored two of these suites along with a Garden View room and were given breakfast for 12 as part of both mine and my sister’s Hyatt Diamond benefits. I wrote up a brief post about how I managed to book this stay on cash + points for $0 out of pocket, so I won’t bore you with the details again.

Hyatt Carmel Highlands timeshare rates

The Hyatt Carmel Highlands frequently offers discounted stays in exchange for attending time-share presentations. My sister did this a few years ago and reported that the sales pitch wasn’t especially aggressive and she received a $89 rate for a 2-bedroom suite.

Checking into the Hyatt Carmel Highlands

The Hyatt Carmel Highlands is perched on a hill, with incredible views of the bay. Despite it being a gloomy day, the scenery was still beautiful.

Everyone else parked the cars and worked on unloading their stuff while while my sister and I checked us in. The hotel was incredibly generous in extending Diamond breakfast for everyone in my group.

We had two Townhouse Spa Suites and a Garden View room. I quickly got the keys and handed them out so everyone could settle in. Luckily, our two Townhouses suites were next to each other and the Garden View room was just a short walk up.

Townhouse Spa Suite at Hyatt Carmel Highlands points

The two Townhouse Spa suites were next to each other and fairly close to the lobby. While there is limited parking on the road leading to the rooms, the hotel does offer complimentary valet parking. If you have a lot of stuff to unload, you can park in one of the temporary spots outside of the rooms.

Rates for the Oceanview Townhouse Spa Suite were over $750 per night at the time, but all it took was Hyatt Points + Cash and Diamond suite upgrade award to get the room. The suite was two stories, with a bathroom, kitchen, living room, and balcony upstairs.

Townhouse suite kitchen

The kitchen was fully equipped, with cooking utensils tucked away in drawers like nobody had ever opened them and a Keurig coffee maker propped on the counter. For a while now I’ve been torn between getting a Nespresso vs. Keurig machine. The Nespresso machines are definitely prettier, but I think Keurig wins my vote for their Green Mountain Coffee K-cups.

I’ve said this before and it still rings true: I know nothing about coffee, except that the more sugar I add, the better it tastes. However, this was a really good cup of coffee!

On the living room side table were a pair of binoculars, which was a nice touch since Ric from Loyalty Traveler tells me you can sometimes see humpback whales from the property. I didn’t catch any that day, buy my niece and cousins had fun trying to spot them.

The Townhouse Suite balcony had seating for two and was the perfect place to enjoy the ocean views. You’ll notice the smell of smoke all around the resort, but especially on the balcony, due to everyone using their in-room wood burning fireplace. It’s actually nice.

If you’re unfortunate enough to be working while at this hotel, you’re in look: Because the balcony has a power outlet, so you can plug in your laptop if you need to.

The sliding door leading to the balcony didn’t close properly, but overall the suite was in great shape.

Townhouse Suite bedroom

The Townhouse Suite bedroom was downstairs. A sliding door separated the bathroom from a large bathroom outfitted with a jacuzzi.

Overall, I think the suite was nice but a bit on the cramped side – though it is designed for four, with a pull-out couch in the living room (which was very comfortably by the way). It was also pretty dark on both levels and the living room, especially, could have benefited from a few extra ceiling lights.

Breakfast at California Market

If you somehow end up in a room without views, eating on the deck of California Market will more than make up for it. That day, it was very cold, so we all sat inside. Surprisingly, there wasn’t much of a crowd at breakfast. Hyatt Diamond members receive complimentary breakfast, something the hotel extended to my whole group.

The menu was actually reasonably priced. No $40 breakfast buffet here – most items were priced around $15. I had the Point Lobos Eggs Benedict, which came topped with dungeness crab and avocado. While it was delicious, the hollandaise sauce was way too sour.

Hyatt Carmel Highlands lobby lounge

The Hyatt Carmel Highlands lobby lounge was spacious and had beautiful views of the bay. There were several power outlets by the window, perfect if you want a place to work. There is also a large telescope in the corner if you want to get a closer look at what’s swimming in the bay.

When I sat down, it was fairly empty but eventually a few timeshare salesmen and their victims sat down nearby.

Hyatt Carmel Highlands service

The service at this hotel was wonderful overall. Housekeeping made quite a few trips to our rooms in the middle of the night to bring bedding and towels, but they were always pleasant about it. When you hear, “It’s a beautiful day at the Hyatt Carmel Highlands, how may I direct your call?” in an unreal voice, you might want to forego your usually curt “Agent”. It took me two calls to figure out I was talking to a person rather than an automated system.

We had a great experience and were especially grateful that they let us check out late. The Hyatt Carmel Highlands seems to always be sold out, but if you can manage it, it’s worth staying here – especially if you can reserve the Townhouse Spa Suite with ocean views.

Dining out near the Hyatt Carmel Highlands

We found a charming little family-run restaurant near the Hyatt Carmel Highlands called Cafe Stravaganza, where we feasted on pizza and kebabs. The Philly Cheesesteak Pizza was especially good. If you like a crispy crust with lots of gooey cheese and tender slices of steak, wear lose fitting jeans because you will pack it in my friend. I ate six slices but could have easily eaten the whole pizza my sister and I were sharing.

The service was excellent, with both the waitress and owner checking on us several times. We were told that the restaurant sometimes closes early because people in Carmel “don’t usually eat dinner at this hour” (around 8:30 PM), but they were gracious and never rushed us.

Final thoughts on the Hyatt Carmel Highlands

I had a great experience at the Hyatt Carmel Highlands and look forward to going back soon. If you’re ever in California and are looking for a picturesque coastal town with a great hotel, look no further than Carmel.