Overall, this is an adequate place to stay, and the most affordable option in the area (other than camping). The room was clean and spacious, furnished with a couch and armchair in front of the fireplace, a small table with chairs, and a coffeemaker and coffee. The skylight and pitched ceilings were a nice touch.

The location is great - right inside Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. It's also close to the Big Sur ranger station and other nearby state parks (we hiked at Julia Pfeiffer State Park). It's very convenient to actually be inside the state park.

One problem is the room temperature -- the last week of March, it was probably in the 40s at night, and not much warmer in the room (no central heating). We had a room with both a fireplace and a gas-powered heater (but we weren't allowed to run both of them at once). The fireplace was nice, but didn't provide a ton of heat. They also provide an electric space heater, which we ran at night. There was plenty of bedding, so as long as you are prepared, it shouldn't be an issue.

The firewood provided by the lodge was slightly damp, so building a fire was somewhat difficult. But when we called maintenance to come and start a fire with drier wood, they came within 10 minutes of our call.

Tip: If you're itching to get out on the trail, don't eat breakfast at the (overpriced) restaurant that's part of the lodge. We waited over an hour for our coffee and oatmeal because there was only one waiter working the entire dining room. Meanwhile, it was a beautiful day outside and it was an hour spent inside instead. You're much better off picking something up to go. You can also buy pretty decent sandwiches in the lodge's snack bar ($7) to eat on your hike.

This is a fine alternative to the pricey resorts nearby. Our room was $187 per night, and we didn't have trouble booking a room two weeks in advance for the last week of March.

Enjoy!

My husband and I stayed here for 3 nights in February. Now we knew this was a lodge and not to expect top quality, but there were definitely some issues with the place.

The main one being that the rooms were very cold especially between midnight - 7 am when the sun came up. As noted in previous reviews, you can't run the fireplace and the heater, due to a carbon monoxide risk. So the first night we ran the fireplace, which was OK until the fire went out around 2am. My husband woke up and checked the temperature and it was 48 degrees in our room. So we turned on the heater, but it never warmed up past 54 until after daylight sank in.

The 2nd night we learned from this experience and ran the heat. But even so, the temperature never got above 64/66 in the morning.

The rooms were older-styled, but we didn't have a problem with that, knowing we were staying in a lodge in the Forest Preserve. But for $221 per night, I did expect some heat in my room. Again this wasn't an issue during the day, the room was warm when the sun was up, but at night ... brrrr!!

The good news? The shower was hot, real hot, which you needed given the cold mornings. It was really nice.

The location in the middle of the state park was perfect for us as we headed both north up to Monterey and south down to San Simeon to see Hearst Castle, and were still able to take hikes.

The restaurant was mediocre. Dinner service was pretty good, the food was OK. Breakfast service was spotty. We're early risers - the place is supposed to open at 8am but staff were late one morning so it was closed until they arrived. We did get free coffee though due to the wait.

We learned from these experiences and began eating dinner/breakfast off site. The Big Sur Roadhouse is excellent for dinner.

There were other little things that the Big Sur Lodge could do to make itself better in my eyes. Even though we stayed in a non-kitchen lodge, for example, a mini fridge in the unit would have been nice to store our soda, water, beer, etc. Also a wine bottle opener/beer can opener would have been appreciated - we had to buy one.

The coffee pot/coffee in room was nice, but the pot didn't work very well. You couldn't pour coffee without spilling it all over.

To sum it up, the Big Sur Lodge needs to fix it's little problems - and the one big problem - mainly the heat issue. My husband and I do plan to come back to the area again sometime and I'm not sure where we'll stay. We can't afford to splurge $1,000 a night at the Post Ranch. We'd consider staying again, but we'll most likely try our luck elsewhere.

We've stayed at the Big Sur Lodge before, and this was not our best experience there.

You can't beat this location for day-hiking with - or without children. You are literally in the middle of the redwood forest and the trail heads are just a stone's throw from the cabins. No TV or phone, no internet hookup. Because of the forest, it gets dark early - very dark.

The weather when we were there was warm and our kids really enjoyed the heated pool. Plus, when you stay here, you also get a pass to the other neighboring State Parks, where there are also beautiful hiking trails.

That's the good............... now for the not as good........

First of all, I had read that the lodge rooms are undergoing remodeling (much needed). I asked for a remodled room with fireplace.........and booked way in advance. The clerk told me no problem. We arrived and had a yet-to-be-updated room without a fireplace - and no rooms to switch to. The registration staff was very nice and could not imagine what had happened (even though my reservation said fireplace on the billing form).

We didn't really care about a newer room, but a fireplace would have been nice....it gets cold at night and the wall heater is noisy. The beds were comfortable and warm, bathroom shower stall had a large, ugly, patched hole in the floor! Rooms are very dated and tired, but we knew not to expect a five-star hotel. Remodled rooms look nice (I peeked into one). Walls in all cabins are thin - the woman next door our first night snored so loudly, my children thought they heard a bear!

Secondly, the restaurant, which in the past was excellent and reasonable, is no longer either. The food was nothing special and is now expensive - especially for what you get. The service was surly and not attentive, despite very few customers. We were very disappointed. (The dining room view remains gorgeous). They have a moderately priced kids menu. (I saw one woman ordering two meals off the kids menu, to go. I didn't see any kids with her. :) (Smart!)

We will probably not stay here again. If we did, next time, I would book a kitchen room (so we can cook our own food).

Hopefully, all the units will be remodled soon? It seems there maybe a third of the way through. I'm not sure if the kitchen units also have fireplaces, but if you want a fireplace, be really, really sure the booking person knows what they're talking about. Middle units NEVER have a fireplace. The cabins are bunched in groups of connected threes. You want an end unit!

We explored the area quite a bit this trip and found some other nice places to stay. There is a really cute B&B down the road to the South. With the prices of food along this stretch of the Hwy. a place that includes a meal, is a good thing.

No phone, no TV, no e-mail--just the exquisite world of Big Sur. In certain respects the Lodge is basic: a one-entree restaurant, for example. But the cottages are entirely adequate, especially with updated heating for those cold mornings, fireplaces that work, really smart showers, and the amazing quiet. There are excellent restaurants nearby, including those at the incredibly pricey hotels just up the hill from Pfeiffer State Park, where the Lodge is located. I don't know why one would want to pay $1,000 a night to sleep and bathe when the lodge is about $190. Plus your day-tag admits you to all state parks in the area. All that aside, is there a more beautiful spot in the world than the coast down from Big Sur?