Leaving Santa Cruz and the awesomely kitschy Hotel Paradox, we drove the scenic route through the Santa Cruz Mountains before dropping down into Half-Moon Bay, CA, for the final stay on our coastal road-trip, the Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay.
Review: The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay
Full Disclosure: We visited this hotel during the pandemic (when resort services were limited).Â
Image: marriott.com
Arrival & Parking
Following the Miramontes Point Road, we arrived at a small guard shack where we were confirmed as hotel guests and instructed to pull our car around to the valet area at the entrance of the Ritz-Carlton.
There was no self-parking at the Ritz Half Moon Bay, only valet parking which had a mandatory nightly rate of $54 per night.
We were warmly greeted by name (which is always strange to me), ushered into the lobby, and then shown the way to the front desk.
The Marriott Bonvoy Redemption
The nightly rate during our stay started at $1,107 for a room.
However, because the Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay was a Marriott Bonvoy Category 7 property, I was able to book the room for just 50,000 Bonvoy points.
This was an exceptional redemption value for Bonvoy points at 2.21 CPP.
Along with the [mandatory] $54 dollar valet parking fee, there was also a mandatory resort fee of $50 dollars (plus $3.50 in taxes).
The Lobby & Check-In
I arrived to find several people in line ahead of me waiting to check-in.
When it was my turn, the woman working at the front desk was very friendly and welcoming.
She engaged in some small-talk while pulling up my reservation before thanking me for my Bonvoy loyalty.
“Sir, I see you are a Bonvoy Platinum member, as such, I want to thank you again, and I would like to upgrade you to an ocean view room. And sir, the particular room I’m giving you has one of the best views on the property,” she said with a smile.
She then handed me several flyers [in a welcome package] before offing me my choice of red or white wine as a welcome beverage (I went with the red).
The front desk
The welcome beverages
The Room Upgrade
The upgrade to the “Ocean View, Guest room, 1 King, Ocean View” room was a value of about $110.
Maps Of The Resort
Image: marriott.com
Image: marriott.com
The Room Key
The Welcome Letter
The Elevator Area
The Hallway
The Room Entrance
We were pleased to find our room on a higher floor, with the windows wide open to the incredible view outside.
The woman at the front desk was right, this had to be one of the better views on the property (more on that below).
The Bedroom Area
The bedroom area was not particularly large (as you can see from the photos below), but it was clean, elegant, and comfortable.
It was decorated in an attractive “muted” oceanic theme, with accents evoking the shells and rocks of the California Coastline.
The Office Desk Area
The Living Area
You can’t tell from the picture, but this was a “deep couch”.
Room Amenities
The room as adorned with high-end amenities, from the Ritz-Carlton branded wine-opener to the Ritz-Carlton branded glass water-bottles.
There was a Nespresso coffee machine and a white-noise machine next to the bed.
The white-noise machine
The Bathroom
The large bathroom was cleaned to a shine and well-lit.
There was a bathtub [for one], a shower, and a water-closet.
Purple Water by Asprey London was the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay toiletry brand of choice.
In Room Dining Menus
The View From The Room (Afternoon)
Although there was a storm nearing from just off the coast, the view from the room (and the 18th Hole) was still incredible.
The View From The Room (Morning)
Panoramic photo
Walking The Resort (Interior)
The interior of the resort was stunningly elegant and picturesque from almost any direction.
The lobby fireplace
The lobby wine cellar
The lobby bar
Walking The Property (Exterior)
As beautiful as the Ritz-Carlton’s interior was, it couldn’t hold a candle to the rugged natural coastal beauty of the property’s exterior.
I fear [due to the impending storm] my pictures don’t do the property justice.
The units with fire-pits
The 18th Hole
Check out the coastline on the 18th Hole!
The Public Access Beach
There was a gorgeous public beach adjacent to the Ritz-Carlton to the South.
The easy and mostly flat sidewalk treks along the bluffs for about 10 minutes, leading guests directly from the resort to the beach.
Check out that view!
The public access beach
A view looking back toward the Ritz-Carlton on the bluff
The Conservatory
During the pandemic, dining was held in a make-shift outdoor venue on the ballroom terrace.
It felt like a “real” restaurant and was kept adequately warm by the fireplace and portable heaters.
The Conservatory Dinner Menu
Image: marriott.com
Image: marriott.com
Image: marriott.com
Dinner At The Conservatory
For dinner, we went with the Pacific Scallops, the Half Moon Bay Cioppino, the Niman Ranch Pork Osso Bucco, and the [off-menu] Baked Alaska for dessert.
In general, we found the food at the Conservatory to be “good” but not “great”.
The Cioppino was the best dish by far; however, we could have easily skipped the Osso Bucco and the Baked Alaska.
Pacific Scallops
Half Moon Bay Cioppino
Niman Ranch Pork Osso Bucco
Baked Alaska
“The Legendary Ritz-Carlton Service”
The service, as you might expect, the was generally great overall.
The one flaw in the service came when we decided to use the Marriott Bonvoy app to order a foam pillow (because I can’t sleep on down pillows) and a couple extra toiletries for the bathtub.
As you can see from the app below, we ordered the items at 7:15 pm.
By 8:15 pm, we still hadn’t received any items or even a confirmation [through the app].
After an hour and 10 minutes, I reached out through the chat feature of the same app. This time, I got a chat response within about 10 minutes, apologizing for the delay.
After waiting another 30 minutes (so about 1 hour and 50 minutes total), the items finally arrived. However, they brought me another down pillow(!) (not the foam pillow as I requested) and they only brought me 1 soap instead of 2.
Aside from the pillow, this was not the end of the world. But “legendary service” it was not; rather it was a very basic failure on a written request through their [Marriott’s] own platform.
The Bottom-Line Review: The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay
In the end, we were very impressed with our stay at the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay overall.
It was a beautifully romantic and upscale property exactly as advertised.
At just 50,000 points, it’s perhaps one of the best redemption values in the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio.
Sure, the valet was a little overpriced, as was the dining, but that’s also to be expected in California when paying for secluded coastal luxury.
We are already planning on a return visit (and staying even longer), and I’m hopeful they’ll get my foam pillow request right the next time. 😉
Final Rating: 9 out of 10.
