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. The resort gets rave reviews for its serene location on California's coast and excellent amenities – plus, everything but alcohol is included in your stay, even when booking with points.
So what's the problem? It's easily the hardest property on the planet 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 in early 2026 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 this alert was one of our best yet, spotlighting more standard room award availability (bookable for 45,000 points a night) at this prized property than we've seen in almost two years, with plenty of dates for a two-, three-, or even four-night stay from January through May 2026. Our Thrifty Traveler Premium+ members gobbled up some of that availability, but there are still plenty of dates out there – especially next March and May.
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If you've got Hyatt points (or transferrable Chase points), this is an unbeatable opportunity to book for 45,000 points per night – or some dates for 35,000 or 40,000 points per night in December. 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. And the fact that you can book this property with points at all is extremely rare.
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.
Alila Ventana Big Sur is located in Big Sur 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.
Hyatt is a Chase transfer partner, and we can't think of a better way to put some Chase points to use than booking this pricey property – especially if you're working on earning the massive 100,000-point bonus on the *chase sapphire preferred* (which is ending soon!)
It's a slightly convoluted process, but Hyatt members can combine their points together. That means you and your go-to travel companion could combine your points into one pot and book a longer stay together.
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.”
- Try searching for one-night reservations at a time to ensure every night of your planned stay is available. If not, Hyatt will show you far more expensive suite availability – or nothing at all.
While the availability is hit or miss, you should be able to easily find availability to book a standard room with one king bed in both March and May 2026, 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 January through May 2026. It's easily one of the best Hyatt properties on the planet. This award space surely won't last long – 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.