Ventana — Big Sur, USA

bedroom with double bed with white bedding
(Image credit: press)

For four decades, Hollywood producer Lawrence A. Spector’s Ventana Inn has been a favoured hideout for reclusive movie stars as much for its incomparable location on the Pacific coastline, as for its 160-acre property bristling with ancient redwoods, oak trees, and meadows. 

And now, after a resort-wide renovation by Carmel-based architects Ray Parks & Associates and San Francisco-based interiors firm Brayton Hughes Design Studio, it has reopened under the banner of the Alila Hotels and Resort group. The 59-room property, which also includes a new glamping programme with 15 safari-style canvas tents, marks the Asian hotelier’s long-anticipated debut in North America. 

Happily, Kip Stewart’s original design of weathered cedar has been retained, with San Francisco-based interiors firm Brayton Hughes Design Studio adding Asia-lite fabrics and patterns, and Japanese hot baths. 

Meanwhile, in the Sur House kitchen, chef Paul Corsentino pairs lofty views of the Pacific with locally sourced seafood, free-range meats, herbs and vegetables harvested from an onsite organic garden, and a 10,000-bottle cellar. 

hotel room with bathtub

(Image credit: press)

hotel room with balcony

(Image credit: press)

open bath area with bathtub

(Image credit: press)

Alila Ventana Big Sur

(Image credit: press)

Ventana camping big sur

(Image credit: press)

INFORMATION

Website

ADDRESS

48123 Highway 1
Big Sur

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Daven Wu is the Singapore Editor at Wallpaper*. A former corporate lawyer, he has been covering Singapore and the neighbouring South-East Asian region since 1999, writing extensively about architecture, design, and travel for both the magazine and website. He is also the City Editor for the Phaidon Wallpaper* City Guide to Singapore.