Welcoming guests for over a century, this stunning retreat offers Owners and guests the ultimate in amenities, location, and nearby activities. With its relaxing whirlpool spas, fire pit with Adirondack chairs, dramatic Pacific views, and access to the adjacent Hyatt Carmel Highlands hotel’s premier dining, this is a perfect place for meaningful time together. Off-site, enjoy everything Big Sur has to offer, like scenic drives, hiking, biking, fishing, beaches, coveted golf at Pebble Beach, and plenty of wine-tasting opportunities.
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Nestled in a picturesque setting that many guests appreciate, Hyatt Vacation Club at Highlands Inn offers a serene atmosphere with nostalgic charm. However, some visitors express disappointment in the hotel's value, pointing out that the rooms require urgent modernization and the amenities fall short, with non-functional pools and dated decor.
While the service receives mixed reviews, including friendly interactions and issues like valet parking troubles, the housekeeping standards vary, leaving some guests dissatisfied.
Location
Picturesque
Atmosphere
Charming
Rooms
Dated
Value
Expensive
Cleanliness
Mixed
Service
Inconsistent
Amenities
Underwhelming
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I recently stayed here March 21 through the 23 and really enjoyed the view of my unit. The sliding doors gave way to breath taking views of the ocean, allowing the fresh ocean breeze to come in during the morning and evening times.
However, everything was not as fresh as the view. To start things off, on the morning of the 22nd we woke to an army of ants in the kitchen who had spoiled our lunch for the day. Furthermore we discovered more ants on the nightstand next to the bed. I went down to the front desk to personally address this issue. The gentleman working the front desk said he would give us a $40 refund for the inconvenience and send someone to fix the ant issue. Unfortunately, he did not follow through with the refund. He also displayed poor customer service skills during the conversation. Upon arriving back to the room from the days adventures, we where greeted with the heavy fumes of bug spray filling the room. On top of this, the house keeping did a subpar job in touching up the room. The linen of the bed was changed, but the pillows where left on the floor. The extra blanket was thrown on the couch unfolded. We are accustomed to the higher standards of travel which is why we chose the Hyatt and splurged on a suite for our stay. For the price we paid we expected a higher standard of service and quality but did not receive that. This is also what we expect for the price we payed, a high level of quality, but we did not receive that. In other words, the ball was dropped. After my experience of talking in person with the front desk, I did not feel comfortable to notify the staff about the issue of the house keeping. Although we did enjoy the location of the resort, our feelings were hurt by the treatment of the staff.
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Date of stay: March 2020
Value
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Ryan Rance, Owner at Hyatt Vacation Club at Highlands Inn
Responded Apr 1, 2020
We are very sorry about the issues with the ants, housekeeping and also the level of service you received. This is not the norm nor is it the experience we want for our guests and we'll be sharing your review with the appropriate managers so we can improve on the way our staff handles situations in the future. We dropped the ball with you and truly apologize this happened. We hope to welcome you back in the future for an all-around better time, thank you for sharing your review.
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We are owners at another Hyatt Residence Club and used our timeshare points to book a two night Christmas stay here in a two bedroom unit. Cash rates are very high, and points requirements are very high too. For some reason, a one bedroom costs as a two bedroom in points, and a two bedroom costs as a three bedroom in points at this place, while the quality does not support that, being below other Hyatt Residence Clubs, in my opinion.
The location is great. Point Lobos is spectacular and is a short drive away, you could even walk there from Hyatt. The grounds are nice. The unit itself, however, is dated and shows its age. I understand it's a very old property, and it shows.
Our unit was not ready past the check in time of 4PM, and because of that they comped some drinks and snacks while we waited - a nice touch. There are only 5 two bedroom units there, 1 of them is garden view. We requested an ocean view, but of course got the only garden view unit 407. There was no view from it, as it faces a walkway and other units. Because of that, we had to keep the curtains closed at all times for privacy and it was very dark inside. The nicest thing is a large jetted tub in the master, and another smaller jetted tub upstairs. Real wood fireplace is very cozy. There is a full kitchen, but no laundry in the unit.
There are free bike rentals, but the bikes are not maintained and are in a very bad shape. There is one pool and a couple of small hot tubs on the grounds. I was worried about a possible noise from the highway, but it was very quiet, so not an issue.
Overall, a nice resort in a gorgeous location, but overpriced and value is not there.
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Date of stay: December 2019
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from HyattHighlands, Manager at Hyatt Vacation Club at Highlands Inn
Responded Feb 5, 2020
We appreciate you taking the time to share your review as it lets us know the things you enjoyed and also the areas that we need to improve. We missed the mark with you and apologize this happened. We do hope you'd consider giving us another try in the future for a better experience, thank you for the review.
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We visited the Hyatt Highlands during Covid and booked with the Friends and Family discount that Hyatt is offering to healthcare workers, as my girlfriend is a Medical Assistant.
We received a complimentary upgrade to a deluxe suite due to our Discoverist Status which was a nice surprise. The room was huge, two stories, two full bathrooms, a full kitchen, a living room, and fireplace fully stocked with chopped wood to make fires. The room was a little dated but still in great clean condition.
Pool area was very nice. Since we traveled during Covid the hot tubs were closed off but the view from the one by the pool looked amazing. Also it is worth noting that the restaurant was closed as well.
We loved that there was covered parking in many of the spots on the property. The location of the hotel is extremely close to hikes and trails by the beach as well as Carmel-by-the-Sea and Carmel Valley, which is a must for wine tasting. The hotel also acts as a great gateway location to Big Sur as you can easily do day trips there.
We would return to Hyatt Highlands if we were able to find another great deal as we did for this trip, otherwise we would like to try another hotel in the area to compare as we generally prefer a more modern touch. Overall it was a lovely stay.
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Date of stay: August 2020Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Ryan Rance, General Manager at Hyatt Vacation Club at Highlands Inn
Responded Aug 6, 2020
We're glad you both had a lovely stay with us at our rustic, coastal hotel. We're sorry about some of the amenities being closed due to covid and understand this would be disappointing. We hope to welcome you back in the future, thank you for the review!
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My husband and I traveled to the Hyatt Highlands Carmel for two nights for my birthday. The hotel is in an amazing location on a cliff overlooked the ocean just south of Carmel-by-the-Sea. The staff were all friendly, helpful and wonderful in every respect. We had an ocean view fireplace room that was amazing for those two reasons. There was a fire built for us to just light each evening. I loved that they included things for their guests that many expensive hotels end up nickel and dimeing guests over. The night we arrived there was a complimentary wine tasting with hors d'ouvres in the lounge. When we checked in we were offered complimentary bottles of water (which is pretty standard today) OR bottles of sparkling wine (not standard). There were plenty of added ports in the room giving ample availability for charging phones, laptops, batteries, etc. I can only speak for the room that we were in, but I'm assuming the others had a similar need of being updated/upgraded. The room itself was nice enough, but the main problem was the bathroom and dressing areas. It looked very old, worn and dated. For a historical property with the reputation that the Carmel Highlands has, I expected much nicer finishes in the bathroom. The closet doors would not stay closed/open but slid to a half open place all the time, making it awkward to get things in and out of the closet. The doors were scuffed and worn too. Having a front deck overlooking the ocean and a rear deck overlooking the pool/garden area was quite nice. But the door to the rear deck was initially installed inside out with the screen inside the door rather than outside. That was odd and not a building mistake I would have expected to see on a higher end property. All in all though, it's a nice place to stay. The service was wonderful, location was stunning and perfect for just hopping directly onto Highway 1 to head either up or down the coast for a beautiful, scenic drive.
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Review collected in partnership with this hotel
Date of stay: January 2020
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from HyattHighlands, Manager at Hyatt Vacation Club at Highlands Inn
Responded Jan 14, 2020
We're glad you had wonderful service from our staff and we appreciate your feedback regarding the areas that need improvement. We will be sharing your comments with the appropriate managers so we can look into this specifically. We hope to welcome you back sometime, thank you for the review.
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The staff at check in were nice however they did try to switch me to a townhouse suite which is considered standard when I had booked a one bedroom ocean view suite which is considered a premium suite.. To their credit they did honor my request for a top floor.
Trying to find my building/room was difficult. Yes they do provide a map however the numbers on the buildings and doors were hard to see , that is if you could find them at all. It would be nice if the management put more visible signs out.
Cleaning staff did a great job, robes and the remotes were still in plastic bags , however I still wiped everything down as an extra precaution. The staff also provided kleenex and toilet paper unused and still wrapped as well as a still wrapped sponge in the kitchen. Staff did leave a still wrapped toweling paper . This I thought was great until I looked at the ends and it appeared that it had either sat on a dusty shelf for an eternity or it was dropped in dirt.
Staff did ask if I needed assist with my luggage , were very kind and patient when I was trying to find my room.
I would not rate this place as a motel 6 but the furniture did look tired ,the chair should have been replaced it was so worn and the rug needed cleaning. The wood baseboards and legs of the furniture were scuffed and worn. The saving grace of this hotel was the view.
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Date of stay: November 2020
Location
Cleanliness
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Ryan Rance, General Manager at Hyatt Vacation Club at Highlands Inn
Responded Nov 25, 2020
Thank you sincerely for taking time to provide feedback, particularly about our staff. We value your observations and will share them with our staff so that we can improve our guests' experiences. We hope to welcome you back for an all-around better stay.
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Ugh, the hyatt carmel residence club has decided to provide minimal service during Covid. We have stayed at other hyatt residence clubs (Tahoe) and many hotels who have figured out how to have some food options available, not hyatt carmel, nothing. They could set up some outdoor options but I guess it’s too much trouble and they don’t seem to care. Our room wasn’t ready so we had dinner in carmel and had to go upstairs for the key and find out the bellman was on his break so no help with luggage. We are two 67 year old ladies and could have used a hand but I guess we saved on the tip! Despite having a full kitchen they only provide 2 mugs, 2 plates so you need to immediately wash stuff. Stay somewhere else, they really don’t care about customers.
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Date of stay: October 2020
Location
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Ryan Rance, General Manager at Hyatt Vacation Club at Highlands Inn
Responded Nov 6, 2020
Thank you sincerely for your feedback. We regret that your experience was not of the service standards that we set for the hotel. We have shared your comments with our front desk and bell staff and will strive to do better. Thank you again.
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We come to Highlands inn almost every year, having gotten married here, and we usually come around my birthday. We really love this place, but after this last experience, I would be hesitant to return. My family stayed at Highlands Inn 7/11-7/13, and there were some significant issues relating to cleanliness at the hotel. It's a bit ironic that the hotel is touting cleanliness, since our unit was not cleaned well, especially the bedding. Upon arrival, I inspected the bedding and found two stains, one on the cover, one on the flat sheet. That was immediately alarming, so I notified housekeeping, who then dropped off 2 sets of "fresh sheets." I did not feel the need to re-inspect since I asked for fresh sheets. It was not until later at night when my kids were ready for bed, and I was putting on the new sheets, then I discovered more stains on the "fresh" sheets. If it was not bad enough the first time, this was really gross beyond belief. I also looked at the extra bedding in the closet for the sofabed, and discovered a stain on the pillow case. At that point, I did not want to touch anything on the bed, not knowing how it had been cleaned, whether anything was even changed before we arrived. I informed the front desk, who was apologetic and they asked housekeeping to bring more sheets and pillows, and said they would housekeeping to first inspect. The front desk manager offered us a $100 credit for that night. The last set of sheets and pillows delivered seemed fine, but it was close to 10 pm, we had an active day, my kids were tired, and I was simply exhausted from examining these issues that should not have been issues in the first place. I considered checking out early, but we had a full weekend planned and I did not want to disappoint my family. I could not sleep most of the night, because I was fairly certain there must have been other issues relating to cleanliness but it was just not visible. We are very disappointed by this experience - we simply expect far better from a place like Highlands Inn. I wrote to the Hyatt CEO when I got home and no one at Hyatt ever responded. It is pretty hard to unbelievable, given hospitality services, retailers, etc. are typically very responsive to customer complaints..
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Date of stay: July 2020
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
If you're staying as a Hyatt Residence Club (HRC) member don't bother... while the location is amazing unfortunately the rooms given to HRC members are horrible. I've stayed as a HRC member twice now, once in 2017 in room 412 and again in Feb. 2020 in Room 222. Both occasions the rooms were so dirty it made our skin crawl. I've also stayed here twice as a World of Hyatt guest which were night and day better rooms. The rooms allocated to HRC owners have towels that are worn and yellow, the appliances such as bath tub look and feel dirty and the carpets are disgusting to look at and walk on. 1/4 inch of dust on top of fireplaces. HRC members are taken for granted as it's guaranteed income for HRC. If you book this location do so using the World of Hyatt or pay cash as any other hotel guest...these rooms are far better based in my experience of staying in rooms 507 and 512. Carmel Highlands Inn HRC owners get seriously short changed compared to rooms Joe public are allocated. Somethings wrong with that.
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Date of stay: February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
My wife and I had a one night stay at Highland Inn and it was better than I expected. Although I was only a lowly Hyatt Discoverist, we were upgraded to the 1 bedroom townhome which had some stupidly amazing views. We enjoyed lunch at California Market and the prices are actually quite reasonable for the location and the view.
Besides the view, we loved the wood burning fireplace and the extra large jacuzzi. Great after a day of hiking and wine tasting.
Only downside, in my experience, was the bad wifi and the mediocre pillows, but I wasn't there to use the internet and the pillows might be a preference thing.
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Review collected in partnership with this hotel
Date of stay: January 2020
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from HyattHighlands, Manager at Hyatt Vacation Club at Highlands Inn
Responded Feb 4, 2020
We're so happy you had a spectacular visit with us and enjoyed lunch at our restaurant and the wood-burning fireplace. We hope to welcome you back again, thank you for sharing your review!
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We have been visiting Carmel every January for the past 35 years. Throughout the years we have stayed at the Lodge at Pebble Beach, Spanish Bay, Cypress Inn ,Lobos Lodge and many others. Highlands Inn is now our favorite. The ambience of rustic peacefulness with the Best Oceanview around. We stopped coming here when they became timeshare a few years back but we decided to give it another try and we were very impressed. The rooms are a little bit dated but that’s the beauty of this place. We stayed at a two-story townhome with an amazing ocean view. The service was excellent from check in at the front desk to check out. Eric was very helpful in checking us to our room, housekeeping was very efficient and papers delivered timely every morning. Every staff member seem to really care and give the best customer service Making sure you are happy. Will definitely be coming back. Looks like they got their mojo back.
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Date of stay: January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from HyattHighlands, Manager at Hyatt Vacation Club at Highlands Inn
Responded Feb 4, 2020
Thank you for the wonderful review. We're so happy you chose to stay with us again and that we're your new favorite! Were appreciate you sharing your experience and look forward to welcoming you back!
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The laundry room is very small, only a couple of machines there. It could be a long wait for your turn. Unlike at other Hyatt Residence Clubs, there are no washers and dryers in the rooms, not even in the largest two bedroom units.
I am not completely sure about this so suggest you ask Hyatt. That said:
If you’re talking about the units closest to the ocean which are entered by approaching from the poolside, then yes I *think* those are hotel rooms. I have never stayed in one of those. The other units further away from the pool are Hyatt Residence
There are more places to choose from in the Carmel area.
PRICE RANGE
$398 - $703 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
hyatt carmel highlands hotel carmel, highlands hotel hyatt carmel, carmel highland inn, carmel hyatt
LOCATION
United StatesCaliforniaMonterey CountyCarmel
NUMBER OF ROOMS
142
Prices are provided by our partners, and reflect nightly room rates, including any mandatory fees. Taxes not included. Please see our partners for more details.
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