This past December, I was lucky to finally get the chance to stay at the Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay. Usually, the place is ridiculously expensive, but thankfully, for my fiancee’s birthday, I was able to use points plus cash to reserve a night in a fire pit terrace room. Using points was a big way to soften the blow to my wallet.
The drive up to the property was beautiful. As with other Ritz-Carlton properties where I’ve visited, check-in was easy, seamless, and professional. We also got a glass of wine upon arrival. It was the inali Pinot Noir from Atsina Cellars in the Russian River Valley, which was excellent. I ended up ordering a bottle through room service later on.
The room itself, like other Ritz Carlton rooms, was gorgeous. There was nothing too big about the fire pit terrace room (it was not a suite). That said, it was very well taken care of and had nice, calm colors. It definitely had the seafarer vibe. And because it was my fiancee’s birthday, they added some balloons for a nice touch!
The room decorations were standard Ritz-Carlton, from the nice, soft bed to the bathroom look. The main draw of the room was without a doubt, the view and the fire pit.
The view from the room was spectacular! You could clearly see the ocean and the cliffs, and you could just walk right outside to them. The fire pit was great. My main regret is that we actually didn’t get to use it that much.
As we didn’t have too much daylight left after checking in (it was December, after all), we decided to explore the grounds outside. There was a bagpiper, but he was finishing up as we had started to explore. The grounds, however, were absolutely beautiful!
There were fantastic views of the property, the ocean, the nearby golf course, and the cliffs. I only wish there had been more daylight. Luckily though, it was at least a sunny evening.
After exploring the hotel grounds during daylight, we went back to the room to freshen up a bit before dinner. For dinner, I decided to treat my love to a nice dinner at Pasta Moon. It was a short drive in downtown Half Moon Bay. The food and pasta were delicious (and my fiancee loved the mussel appetizer), but the cocktails were what really stood out. I noticed one on the menu called ‘Atticus Finch’. It looked similar to a Manhattan (my favorite cocktail), and since it was named after one of my favorite book characters, I felt the need to try it. I’m glad I did. It was quite tasty!
The next day, we awoke just in time to have some breakfast at Navio. Again, the service was second to none, just like the rest of the hotel. I would definitely love to come back here for dinner someday.
After breakfast, we decided to explore the grounds a bit more. We walked down to the beach south of the hotel. We walked right along the ocean and got some great pics. It was a picture perfect birthday weekend for my girl.
After checkout we decided to do one more iconic Half Moon Bay thing. On the drive back to San Francisco, we stopped by for an afternoon snack at Sam’s Chowder House. We had some of their famous New England clam chowder and some delicious calamari. It was definitely worth the stop.
And that was our quick twenty four hours in Half Moon Bay
Platinum Bryan 