Ripplewood Resort — Hotel in Monterey

(Your Last) Resort - Ripplewood

My family and I booked 3 cabins at Ripplewood for Labor Day weekend 2024. We made our bookings in August of 2023 because we knew the holiday would result in limited availability.

Fast forward to check in time and our meeting of the owner, Carol. She asks what brings us to Big Sur, and we mention that some family friends are getting married next door. Her face immediately sours and she militantly tells that we should pull the plug on the DJ (Who had a strict 10pm curfew anyway). We initially thought she was joking, but she proceeded to talk incessantly about how it's a terrible thing that people want to get married in Big Sur, and repeatedly told us to sabotage the wedding.

After what was probably the most awkward check in experience of our lives, we make it to the cabins. We were in joint cabins (12A and 12B), and Cabin 14, which seemingly haven't been tended to in the past half-century; with incredibly limited amenities, and very thin walls. At all hours of the day and night, you hear the noise from the Highway, animals (hopefully) scratching on the walls, as well as people stumbling into their cabins, or latecomers checking into cabins they cannot find. During the day it is particularly noisy as one of the only gas stations in Big Sur is operated by Ripplewood.

On the day of the wedding (Saturday), Carol seeks us out and begins her manifesto yet again, telling us to pull the plug on the DJ (all while trying to speak over the incessant noise of the highway and her gas station). She then walks off, with a self righteous fist in the air (a la Rocky Balboa).

The wedding at Glen Oaks was lovely. Spending virtually no time at all at Ripplewood all evening, we quickly and quietly went to sleep after returning.

After the events of Saturday we spent a nice day in Monterey on Sunday, only to return to notes taped to our cabins saying that there have been noise complaints about us, and that should we have any questions we should go see Carol in the store. We then spend the next 48 hours trying to contact Carol in any capacity. She was nowhere to be found in the general store, the clerks at the store tried contacting her and they could not reach her.

Eventually on Monday afternoon, we are able to get her on the phone via one of the clerks at the store. After sharing that we would like to address these complaints, Carol says we can either talk to her over the phone, or schedule a time to meet with her later in the week (we were checking out the next morning).

After relaying very few questions through the clerk and on to Carol, we determined that Carol herself had made the noise complaints. Her cabin is on the edge of the Ripplewood property, closer to cabin 15 and 16 (which had been having loud bonfires Friday and Saturday). When we tried to ask additional questions, Carol promptly hung up on the clerk and we were left with no further clarification.

Carol appears to have a deep-seated hatred toward the other lodges around hers, and rather than act hospitably towards her guests, seems to prefer antagonizing them should they be there for a reason she doesn’t approve of. It seems she would sooner run Ripplewood into the ground before conceding to celebratory events or family gatherings.

Though we had tried to further discuss these issues with Carol herself, she was not confident enough in her actions to speak with us personally. We did see her walking around the property on our last day (after trying to meet with her), and she certainly noticed us outside of our cabins. Yet she made no effort to further communicate with us, even when we had come up to the general store to talk.

If you're looking for a comfortable/relaxing place to stay in Big Sur, look elsewhere. If you're looking to simply enjoy nature, forgo Carol, and...

My family and I booked 3 cabins at Ripplewood for Labor Day weekend 2024. We made our bookings in August of 2023 because we knew the holiday would result in limited availability.||Fast forward to check in time and our meeting of the owner, Carol. She asks what brings us to Big Sur, and we mention that some family friends are getting married next door. Her face immediately sours and she militantly tells that we should pull the plug on the DJ (Who had a strict 10pm curfew anyway). We initially thought she was joking, but she proceeded to talk incessantly about how it's a terrible thing that people want to get married in Big Sur, and repeatedly told us to sabotage the wedding.||After what was probably the most awkward check in experience of our lives, we make it to the cabins. We were in joint cabins (12A and 12B), and Cabin 14, which seemingly haven't been tended to in the past half-century; with incredibly limited amenities, and very thin walls. At all hours of the day and night, you hear the noise from the Highway, animals (hopefully) scratching on the walls, as well as people stumbling into their cabins, or latecomers checking into cabins they cannot find. During the day it is particularly noisy as one of the only gas stations in Big Sur is operated by Ripplewood.||On the day of the wedding (Saturday), Carol seeks us out and begins her manifesto yet again, telling us to pull the plug on the DJ (all while trying to speak over the incessant noise of the highway and her gas station). She then walks off, with a self righteous fist in the air (a la Rocky Balboa).||The wedding at Glen Oaks was lovely. Spending virtually no time at all at Ripplewood all evening, we quickly and quietly went to sleep after returning.||After the events of Saturday we spend a nice day in Monterey on Sunday, only to return to notes taped to our cabins saying that there have been noise complaints about us, and that should we have any questions we should go see Carol in the store. We then spend the next 48 hours trying to contact Carol in any capacity. She was nowhere to be found in the general store, the clerks at the store tried contacting her and they could not reach her.||Eventually on Monday afternoon, we are able to get her on the phone via one of the clerks at the store. After sharing that we would like to address these complaints, Carol says we can either talk to her over the phone, or schedule a time to meet with her later in the week (we were checking out the next morning).||After relaying very few questions through the clerk and on to Carol, we determined that Carol herself had made the noise complaints. Her cabin is on the edge of the Ripplewood property, closer to cabin 15 and 16 (which had been having loud bonfires Friday and Saturday). When we tried to ask additional questions, Carol promptly hung up on the clerk and we were left with no further clarification.||Carol appears to have a deep-seated hatred toward the other lodges around hers, and rather than act hospitably towards her guests, seems to prefer antagonizing by them should they be there for a reason she doesn’t approve of. It seems she would sooner run Ripplewood into the ground before conceding to celebratory events or family gatherings||Though we had tried to further discuss these issues with Carol herself, she was not confident enough in her actions to speak with us personally. We did see her walking around the property on our last day (after trying to meet with her), and she certainly noticed us outside of our cabins. Yet she made no effort to further communicate with us, even when we had come up to the general store to talk.||If you're looking for a comfortable/relaxing place to stay in Big Sur, look elsewhere. If you're looking to simply enjoy nature, forgo Carol, and...

We recently attended a wedding in Big Sur and chose Ripplewood as our lodging due to its convenient proximity to the wedding venue (right across the highway). We booked cabins 12A, 12B, and 14. At check-in on Thursday, when we mentioned that a wedding had brought us to Big Sur for the first time, the woman checking us in - Carol - made a face and said “when you see the DJ, make sure to unplug his equipment”. It was awkward, but we brushed it off. We were excited to be together as a family to celebrate our friends, and to explore the beauty of Big Sur.

The cabins, as mentioned in other reviews, had bare minimum furnishings, and very small shower stalls, but overall served their purpose as we wanted to spend as much time as possible exploring and weren’t looking to spend much time indoors. We had anticipated the lack of wifi service and planned accordingly - there’s minimal service all along Highway 1, so it wasn’t surprising. After our encounter with Carol, we remained mindful of the “house rules”, many of which revolved around wanting to preserve the tranquility of nature.

On Saturday, we stopped at the general store before the wedding, Carol saw us once again, wagged her finger at one member of our party (who was not present for her previous comment about the DJ) and said “remember what I said about the DJ”. Again, it was awkward, but prompted us to remain very conscious about being quiet when returning to our cabins that night. After the wedding we spent a little time chatting outside cabin 12 before heading to bed. During that time, we heard talking and laughter from the cabins to the northwest of us, we were considerably quieter.

On Sunday, after being out all day in Monterey, we found notes taped to the doors of 12A and 12B stating “there were complaints about noise last night as well as Friday night”, with instructions to see Carol at the store if we had questions. On Friday night we had spent some time stargazing (again, just outside cabin 12) but we were not rowdy by any means.

Upon visiting the store on Monday, Carol wasn’t present, but the staff member who was there implied that the complaints had come from Carol herself! She did not make any mention of the Friday night “noise” when she spoke to us before the wedding on Saturday, and refused to give clarification or details when we tried to speak to her about it on the phone on Monday!

Interestingly, the resort is located on arguably one of the busiest areas of Highway 1, and contributes to that fact by hosting a gas station as part of its general store. From our cabins we could easily hear traffic from the highway, and on Friday morning we were even awoken to what sounded like construction work (moving boulders or something of the sort).

Despite adhering to all the rules set in place by the resort, we felt we were singled-out/targeted as rowdy simply because we had mentioned we were attending a wedding! Had we not attended this wedding, we never would have found ourselves in Big Sur, and as first-time visitors to the area, Ripplewood had the opportunity to make a good first impression and to gain repeat customers (as we certainly want to return to explore more of this beautiful part of the country). Instead, the next time we find ourselves in the Big Sur area, we will look elsewhere for...