Ripplewood Resort

So I'm only reviewing the breakfast here, I have no idea what the cabins are like.... I ate breakfast here twice in 2014 and my whole group loved it. The breakfast burrito was unreal back in the day, I remembered it so fondly I made a special trip today since I was in Monterey. Honestly what the hell happened? My burrito had nothing in it other than eggs and a scant amount of cheese with about a teaspoon of sour cream on top. I wanted a burrito not 3 eggs and a tortilla. Still had a great day in big sur as its hard not to but the breakfast here completely sucks now. We over heard two other close tables that had similar complaints. The breakfast was basically just eggs, no other flavor. I was so bummed as this place used to make an epic breakfast burrito, save your stomach space and go somewhere else.

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 accommodations.

My cabin was nestled in the redwoods beside the Big Sur river. 1930's era Cabins are clean and well maintained. Quiet, peaceful place to stay.

My partner and I stayed in Cabin 14 and had a great time! If we are in the area again we will absolutely stay here. No cell reception or internet which we used as an excuse to disconnect for a few days while doing other things in the area. The host provided wood for the fireplace/firepit each day we were there. Room was a little hot when we arrived but quickly cooled off with the abundance of windows. The cross breeze was great. We also accidentally left a shirt which they happily mailed us when we contacted them. The store was also equipped with everything we could want including smores stuff, and the restaurant had wonderful coffee and breakfast. Thank you folks for a wonderful stay! Hope to stay again sometime soon! They also answered the phone immediately when we called to book, which was much appreciated after we had called a handful of other places that didn't pick up their phones. The service was great!

Ate at the cafe. The French toast was unique and the potato gratin was sumptuous!