VENTANA BIG SUR LATE NIGHT SNACKS

In Ventana, where I stayed in October 2020, there is an activity in the hotel, in addition to the previously introduced Beverage Social Hour, for guests to enjoy s’mores and hot chocolate for two hours starting at 8 pm every day at the same location as the Beverage Social Hour.

I already ate dessert at dinner and thought it was a bit gluttonous to also go for s’mores. However, I thought eating one or two marshmallows that had been softened by bonfire would be a good experience. Unfortunately, I had to get a pre-made s’more because the hotel didn’t have enough sticks available to roast the marshmallows. A s’more is a piece of chocolate surrounded by the roasted marshmallows, all contained within two Graham crackers. The hot chocolate was spiced with cinnamon.

Staying at an all inclusive hotel gives options that you might not normal take advantage of, like ordering a snack after 10 pm with room service. I used the jacuzzi on the deck, lit the fireplace in the room, and I was ready to take advantage of the late snack opportunity.

For the midnight snack, I decided to order the Late Night Platter, which includes cheese, charcuterie, crudité and edamame hamas. I thought that the one champagne I brought was a little too much for the snack, so I also tried to order beer with my snack.

Hmm … no one answered the phone when I used the hotel provided phone in the room until an automated voice directed me to leave a message. Since I didn’t know when the message might be checked, I called the hotel from my cell phone. The person who answered the phone told me that room service is not open, so if you need something, use the phone in the room, dial 0 (instead of room service), and order the late night platter. I followed the instructions, but when I tried to order beer, the person on the other end of the call couldn’t understand me and in the end I had to spell beer … b-e-e-r. This has never happened to me in an American hotel before. They finally understood what I was requesting, and then they told me to get my beer from the minibar. From the start of our stay though, there was never any beer (or alcohol) IN the minibar! He explained that he couldn’t serve alcohol because the bar was closed, so I ordered sparkling water instead. Despite the free non-alcoholic drinks, the staff indicated that it was actually too late to request sparkling water but they would make a special exception. I was surprised by the surliness of the person on the phone who responded. Although it was delivered quickly, there was no vegetable stick or edamame hamas per the menu, but I gave up on this day because it was troublesome to interact with the same staff.

I had a feeling that I would be too full after eating s’mores and the midnight snack, and I probably did a little too much the first day because I was staying in all-inclusive hotel for the first time. When the fireplace burned out and the lights were turned off, I fell asleep in a quiet world of silence, except for the sound of acorns rolling on the roof.