Couldn't sleep very well because the tiny electric wall heater made so much noise everytime it was turned on. We stayed in cabin 1. The other cabins must have gas heaters since they mentioned to check the thermostat and make sure the heater works in the room because sometimes the pilot light goes out after a storm.
Continetal Breakfast was pretty standard bagels, danish, fruit salad coffee tea etc.
The view was great out the window. It was fun to watch the hummingbirds fly around.

It is nice to be in a place that does not have cell phones or TV. The down side is it 20 plus miles to go eat somewhere else.

Food was not Nepenthe just average. Don't get the Ceasar salad ($14) if you like anchovies because there were none.

Our 2 nights in #10, one of the oldest cabins was terrific..an un-comparable view of the coast, very nice room with gas fireplace, and a fine continental breakfast included. It's pricey AND well worth it. Had dinner al fresco with takeout from the lodge's restaurant and it was great. Excellent hiking just north at Julia Pfieffer and south at Jade Cove. Lodge staff was friendly and helpful.

You just can't beat the view here, day or night. The whole complex is perched high on the cliffs overlooking the ocean. This is a very remote, peaceful location. There is no civilization for miles. The sunsets and nights skies were fantastic. The lodge was built when highway 1 was opened, and the cabins are rustic but comfortable and clean. Bathroom was tiny, but clean. Best water pressure in the shower - thumbs up. We stayed in #8 - view was fantastic. No telephones (our cells didn't work here - but there is a working pay phone near the cabins), no TV, no need - there is just too much to do along Hwy1. Overall give this place an A-. We couldn't cram it all in (Cambria to Santa Cruz) and am looking forward to coming back. There is a small mini-mart if you need anything here. Ate dinner here once (ehh, view was fantastic, food wasn't). We were up and down the coast so much it didn't matter - there are other places to eat. Breakfast at Gorda was good, also try an Ambrosia burger at Nepenthe (and enjoy the sunset). Breakfast at Deetjen's Big Sur Inn was excellent (we were impressed because it was Thanksgiving morning and it was clear they were getting ready for Thanksgiving lunch/dinner at the inn that morning) - best blueberry pancakes.

My husband and I stayed at Lucia Lodge on our way up the Pacific Coast Highway to Big Sur. It consists of 10 rooms overlooking a breathtakingly beautiful rock formation and the Pacific Ocean.

We stayed in one of the rooms a little further back from the cliff. Sorry, I don't remember the number but if you start counting from the farthest room, there are four rooms right on the cliff. They're more money and a little bigger than the others. There is a chair to sit on outside the cabin and a fence at the end of the cliff (I suppose so nobody falls off). then you have the rooms in back of the parking lot. The first two are not good as they do not face the cliffs and the ocean but the rest of them are fine. You get a little less view than the four on the cliff, but we thought it was pretty spectacular even so.

The dinner in the restaurant was okay at best. I would recommend that you buy something in the store - a sandwich for example, rather than spend $60 on a below average meal. Breakfast the next morning was fine and sitting out on the veranda across from the cliff was spectacular. They also have an extensive two story patio which is probably open in the summer. It was not open when we were there in October, but you could roam around the area without problems.

We contemplated staying at Big Sur Park and Deetjen but the cottages looked so bad on the internet that we decided to spend the extra money at Lucia. We were very, very happy we did. Lucia's view is amazing while the Park and Deetjen are in the forest and have no view at all. We only found that out the next day when we drove past there.

The help was very friendly and very nice at Lucia. We would definitely go back there again.

Hope this is helpful.

Dalya H
Skokie, IL