This Iconic Big Sur Hotel Convinced Me The Best Honeymoons Are Staycations

That ended up being a fantasy. Circumstances changed during our engagement that scaled the larger San Francisco wedding we’d begun planning into a backyard ceremony in Marin County with just our immediate families, and our far-flung two-week honeymoon became a three-day trip down California’s famously scenic Highway 1 to Big Sur.

Now, on the other side of a two-night stay at one of the most romantic properties in the country, neither Peter nor I would trade our backyard honeymoon for all the sand in the Namib Desert. We have the Post Ranch Inn to thank for that.

A homestead turned haven above the Pacific

The Post Ranch Inn’s story starts with a homestead. In the 1860s, William Brainard Post and his wife Anselma Onésimo bought 160 acres in Big Sur and started a cattle ranch. Their son married a woman from a neighboring family. The two families combined their land, establishing what would later become the location of the Post Ranch Inn, which began to take its current shape when Mickey Meunning was brought on as the hotel’s architect in 1987. The Post Ranch Inn officially opened in 1992 under the stewardship of Post’s descendants.

Some things have changed since those early days. Renovations have been ongoing since the early 2000s. Sustainability efforts, from self-sourced well water and Monterey County’s first commercial greywater system to solar power and reusable materials, continue to evolve. In 2020, the property added a falconry experience to its programming, and last year, after the Michelin Guide introduced its Key distinction for excellent stays, the Post Ranch Inn earned three of them — the most a property can be awarded, similar to the star rating system the guide uses for restaurants.

Guests pay a lot for that excellence. (Room rates can range anywhere from roughly $1,500 to $4,000 per night.) That includes a long list of celebrities, the breadth of which the public may never known given the premium the hotel places on discretion. But what matters more than any update, accolade, or A-list check-in is what hasn’t changed at the Post Ranch Inn. Despite its status as one of America’s most coveted stays, the Post Ranch Inn remains a laidback property stitched together by a network of dirt trails with all the humility of a homestead.

Guests seem to honor that ethos, too. Except for one brash couple I encountered at the meditation pool one afternoon, everyone I observed on the property seemed like anyone else I might’ve seen walking around a nearby campground: calm, kind, and down-to-earth. It’s almost as if travelers don’t just choose the Post Ranch Inn — it chooses them, too.

A property designed for romance

I refer to guests, broadly, as if there’s a wide range of clientele at the Post Ranch Inn. In fact, the adults-only getaway is patronized primarily by couples.

When I mentioned to Lauren Pisano, the hotel’s events and guest activities manager, that I suspected as much during a site tour on my first day, she chuckled (albeit in low tones to respect the vast but not sterile quiet that permeates the property).

“I mean, that’s basically it,” she told me.

Pisano chalks this up to the privacy, mainly. (Seconds before telling me as much, she asked us to be mindful not to take any photos with visible guests or of rooms with outward-facing windows as we golf-carted past several coast-facing accommodations.) But it’s also in the air.

“There’s a difference between a property that’s romantic and a property that was built for romance and intimacy,” Pisano told me. She identifies the Post Ranch Inn as the latter. “It lives and breathes that, with each other and with nature.”

It’s not just the fact that the property trickles down from Big Sur’s clifftops into a perfect little valley framed by the Pacific Ocean and the Santa Lucia mountains that fulfills this romantic property. (That includes one particularly scenic perch near the meditation pool that’s been known to backdrop elopments.) It’s also a conscious choice reflected in the accommodation infrastructure and upheld by the hotel staff, some of whom were born and raised on the property.

There are 40 guest rooms and suites at the Post Ranch Inn. Regardless of their square footage, accommodations primarily have only one bedroom, and all of them — from the treehouses to the oceanview suites and the expansive standalone houses — are outfitted with king beds.

“We don’t do rollaways, none of that,” Pisano told me.

Peter and I stayed in one of the treehouses, named Hathaway. (Many of the rooms are named after Big Sur homesteaders.) Meunning designed these treehouse-style accommodations to sit nine feet above the ground on stilts to minimize their impact on the roots of the surrounding redwoods and oaks. The interior design brings the woodsy setting inside, with a smart combination of reclaimed wood, stone, and windows. As far as I know, Hathaway’s windows are the only ones among the treehouses that provide a view of the ocean.

Smaller details are equally thoughtful. We arrived to soft music playing through a Sonos system, a bottle of welcome wine, and a complimentary minibar spread that read like a deconstructed charcuterie board. In the bathroom, small but considerate touches like radiant floor heating, a powerful shower, and a pocket-size tube of Coola face sunscreen reinforced the idea that nothing at the Post Ranch Inn is accidental.

Dining that reflects the landscape

I’d describe the dining experience at the Post Ranch Inn the same way I’d describe the property at large: refreshingly relaxed, quietly romantic, braced by excellence.

Breakfast is simple, with choices like avocado toast, a classic eggs Benedict, and parmesan-y oatmeal with cherry tomatoes and lacinato kale. In addition to housemade baked goods, the Post Ranch Inn sources breads from the semi-local Ad Astra Bread Company.

Peter and I enjoyed our first breakfast in our room after spending the morning on our private patio watching the light layer of morning fog burn off over the water. The next morning, we ate breakfast on the patio of the Sierra Mar restaurant, where the fog never seemed to clear. The near-mystical setting rivaled the comforts of dining in-room, but the real perk was loading up paper to-go bags at the make-your-own granola station for our drive home.

Our more memorable meal at Sierra Mar was dinner the night before. It was the first time we saw the space, designed so that every table faces the ocean through angular glass walls that, in some cases, slide open for patrons to get a perfect photo.

We opted for the tasting menu with wine pairings — drawing from the restaurant’s cellar of 13,000-plus bottles — rather than order a la carte. The daily seasonal tasting menu is inspired by what’s fresh from the sea and what’s growing in the Chef’s Garden, a corner of the property that’s left open for guests to walk through.

Our dinner began with a housemade lentil cracker topped with basil, tahini, and pickled citrus, followed by an herb salad with greens from the garden, flowers, radishes, shaved cured egg yolk, and a preserved citrus vinaigrette. Next, we savored a trio seafood delights: kimchi-topped oysters, a sea bass tartlet, and an abalone and king trumpet mushroom skewer.

Between courses, steamy slices of Ad Astra sourdough accompanied olive oil and aged balsamic vinegar (and disappeared almost as quickly as they arrived). A pan-seared oyster mushroom from the garden followed. The cashew-sprinkled dish brought us into a comforting interlude — small ceramic cups of roasted guinea hen broth — then onto a lamb dish with pesto, smoked yogurt, and charred spring onion. For dessert, we ate Earl Grey ice cream with citrus marmalade and an assortment of small, sweet bites.

Amenities that keep you on the property

It’s a travel-writing trope to say that you never need to leave a given hotel to be happy. This is so true at the Post Ranch Inn that it caused Peter and me slight distress. Before arriving at the property, we envisioned ourselves making the most of the Central California coast, splitting time between hikes in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, stops at Nepenthe for slices of its beloved banana cream pie, and restful moments back in our treehouse. In reality, we only left the property once, driving a Lexus convertible that we certainly hadn’t arrived in.

The Post Ranch Inn keeps a fleet of Lexus vehicles on the property at all times. These are the cars that staff use to shuttle guests around upon request. You can also arrange to take these cars out, including a convertible that can be all yours for up to four hours, pending availability. (The one caveat is no night drives; the service only runs until 6 PM to avoid guests driving in the dark or being tempted to get behind the wheel after having drinks in town.)

Beyond our brief joyride up the coast, we spent the rest of the time on the property bouncing between the three pools (two heated infinity pools and one larger pool by the fitness center), walking the property’s nature trails, getting massages at the Post Ranch Spa, and browsing the arts and goods on display at the Mercantile & Gallery. The hotel also facilitates complimentary activities such as yoga, meditation, and guided tours of the Chef’s Garden — but our favorite experience had to be falconry, led by Master Falconer Antonio Balestreri.

An experience rooted in respect

The Post Ranch Inn’s falconry program is a weekly offering that brings guests face to face with birds of prey (priced at $200 per participant). The experience introduces several raptors — including a Peregrine falcon, a Great Horned owl, and a Harris’s hawk — while Balestreri delivers a lesson in their biology, conservation, and role in the surrounding ecosystem.

Our group of five gathered around the falconer by the property’s pond, settling into a loose half circle on wooden benches as he launched into what could have been a TED Talk entitled “The World According to Falconry.” We learned that the practice began in the Middle East nearly 10,000 years ago — predating most civilizations — and is considered the oldest sport in human history. We learned that Shapespeare often drew from falconry, giving the world enduring phrases like “bated breath” and “wrapped around my little finger.”

We also learned about the birds of prey that Balestreri unveiled, one by one, including the fact that the Peregrine falcon is the fastest animal on Earth, capable of diving at more than 300 miles per hour — four times a cheetah’s top speed. It also represents one of the greatest conservation comeback stories after near-extinction caused primarily by the pesticide DDT. The two-hour session was gripping, educational, and irreverent, owing to Balestreri himself.

In many ways, Balestreri is a testament to the Post Ranch Inn’s values. While he delivers a memorable guest experience, there’s no question where his loyalty lies: his birds.

“These birds are part of my family,” he told our group at one point. “I take a lot of pride in them. I’m not here to entertain you.”

Balestreri establishes a clear set of rules for interacting with his animals, which includes the opportunity to fly a couple of them. He’s similarly protective over the guests who participate in the falconry experience. From the outset, he emphasized consent around photography — not because he or his birds mind but because fellow participants might.

“A lot of people on this property are incognito, okay? That might not be your husband. That might not be your wife,” he said, gesturing to me and Peter. “You might not even be human. You might be an alien. These might not even be my birds. Who knows, guys?”

This is the cadence of Balestreri’s falconry experience. It’s direct, at times funny, often tangential, and on rare occasions offensive to guests who pay a lot for the experience of staying at the Post Ranch Inn and are presumably used to getting their way. According to Balestreri, he’s gotten a few complaints.

“You know who backs up me?” He says. “They do,” referring to Post Ranch management.

That support speaks to something larger at the Post Ranch Inn: a shared respect for boundaries, whether they belong to wildlife, guests, or the landscape itself. In that kind of environment, you can’t help but be present and focus on what really matters — in my case, the beginning of a lifelong partnership.

While Peter and I still have plans to visit Namibia one day — perhaps after the larger wedding we were originally planning — this will always be our one true honeymoon. And now we have new travel goals to fantasize about: annual trips to the Post Ranch Inn.

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