With cash prices of $2,000 a night or more, Hyatt's Alila Ventana Big Sur is one of the most aspirational properties in the world. It gets rave reviews for its serene location on California's coast and excellent amenities – and everything but alcohol is included in your stay, even when booking with points.
So what's the problem? It's borderline impossible to book with World of Hyatt points: You can regularly search the entire calendar without finding a single standard-night award bookable with points … until now. We recently uncovered a ton of availability at the Alila Ventana next winter and sent a deal to our Thrifty Traveler Premium+ subscribers – the ones who also subscribe to get our hotel alerts as well as a constant stream of flight deals.
And now's the time you'll want to book it. With massive changes on the horizon for Hyatt as the hotel chain overhauls its award chart, booking a night at the Alila will soon cost you at least 55,000 points a night … or as much as 75,000 points per night. Right now, you can lock in a stay next December, January, and February for 45,000 points per night.
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Our Thrifty Traveler Premium+ members gobbled up some of the best of this drop of Alila availability, but there are still plenty of dates out there – especially next January and February. This is more availability than we've seen at this prized property in nearly a year.
If you've got Hyatt points (or transferrable Chase points or Bilt Rewards), this is an unbeatable opportunity to book for 45,000 points per night. That may seem steep, but it's a small price to pay for an adults-only all-inclusive resort that typically costs $2,500 or so – especially considering the fact that you can book this property with points, period, is extremely rare.
And again: This same property may cost you substantially more points in the coming months. Book now or forever hold your peace.
One small hitch to keep in mind: There's a two-night minimum stay. But once you pull up here, two nights will feel like the bare minimum.
Even though the Alila Ventana Big Sur is an all-inclusive resort, it prices out based on Hyatt's category 1-8 award chart. The property is a Category 8 property, which means a standard room can cost as few as 35,000 points per night or as many as 45,000 points per night. Unfortunately, every night we're seeing standard award availability is pricing out at the highest 45,000-point rate. Compared to the cash rate, it's still a pretty incredible deal.
Given that Hyatt is a Chase transfer partner, you likely have the points needed to book – and we can't think of a better way to put Chase points to use than this. If you and your favorite travel buddy both have Hyatt (or Chase) points and want to pool them together to book, members can combine their Hyatt points together to piece together a longer stay.
Alila Ventana Big Sur is located on the coast of Central California, about 2 1/2 hours' drive south of San Francisco (SFO) or two hours south of San Jose (SJC). Better yet, book your flights into the small coastal airport of Monterey (MRY) – the hotel is just an hour drive to the south.
Whether you book with a mountain of cash or points, everything but alcohol is included in your stay. Sorry, families: This resort is adults only.
One last thing to beware of: If you need to cancel, be sure to do so at least 14 days in advance of your stay. After that, Hyatt will force you to forfeit one night's worth of points.
How to Book the Alila Ventana Big Sur
- Log in to your World of Hyatt account, search the property, add your dates, and make sure you select “Use Points” before clicking “Find Hotels.”
- Use Hyatt's new “Points Calendar” function to zero in on award space. Be sure to search for at least a two-night stay, and watch out: Hyatt might switch your search to only suite inventory, meaning you'll see higher-priced awards. Switch it back to “Standard Room.”
While the award space is spotty through the fall, you should be able to easily find availability to book a standard room with one king bed in December through next February, in particular.
Bottom Line
Here's your chance to book one of the most coveted all-inclusive resorts in the United States with Hyatt points.
While some of this availability got gobbled up instantly after we sent an alert to Thrifty Traveler Premium+ subscribers, there's still decent standard room award availability to book the Alila Ventana Big Sur from December through February 2027. It's easily one of the best Hyatt properties on the planet.
What's left of this award space surely won't last long … and in a matter of months, this property will set you back far more months. If the Alila Ventana Big Sur has been on your list, book quickly!
Photos courtesy of Hyatt Hotels
Thanks for this helpful summary! Do you know when there might be another big drop? I’m seeing availability for a year out from now but no 45,000 points/night stays.
There is no way to know for sure, but we are constantly monitoring award availability.
They’re actually a category 8 property. Alila doesn’t fall under the All-Inclusive umbrella, so even though Ventana is an AI, they’re not a Cat E.
Same amount of points, though!
Cheers.
Thanks for catching that! I have updated the story.