We had a soon-expiring Bonvoy free night certificate and were happy to find an available one-night stay at this luxury resort. We found that we were able to squeeze a lot of enjoyment out of our one night--although it would obviously be more relaxing to be able to stay longer.
We have stayed at most of the luxury beach-adjacent resorts in the Orange County area and all are nice, but we think this one may have the nicest setting of all. The Resort at Pelican Hill and the Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach are both very nice properties, with available shuttles to beautiful beaches. But they sit higher on the bluffs, making it much more difficult to take a casual walk to the beach. The Ritz, while not on the beach itself, is only a short walk downhill through a paved pathway with gorgeous views. The resort still does run a golf-cart-type shuttle to/from the beach, so you can use that, or at least take it back uphill to the resort after having a nice walk along the beach.
One note about our front desk experience reveals how the Ritz staff is empowered to make customers happy. We had booked a Resort View Guest Room using our certificate and a day or two prior to our visit, the Bonvoy app noted that I was booked in a "coastal view" room. When we checked in, Eric told me that we had been upgraded to a nice coastal view room and that our request for feather-free pillows and bedding had been noted and provided. But when we went to the room, the pillows and bedding had feathers/down, and the view was mostly of a large wall separating the resort from the next property over. We called down to Eric and asked if this was, indeed, the right room since the bedding had not been prepared for us after all; we also mentioned that while we could see the ocean from the balcony, we could not see the "coast" due to the prominent wall blocking the view. Eric asked for a few minutes to see what he could do.
We explored the resort and then checked back in with Eric. He told us that he secured a room on the other side of the resort and would have a bellman help us with our (minimal) luggage for the move. This was great because the bellman filled us in on the resort's offerings and guided us through different buildings to the one furthest from the room we were initially given. The new room was de-feathered and had a superior view to the north/west. We were really pleased with the switch and thank Eric for ensuring we were happy, even though we were only using a certificate for the stay. (See photos of the view from our balcony, including a nice sunset.)
Although we only had an hour or so to do so, we did hang out at one of the two pools. There were plenty of lounge chairs, towels, sunscreen dispensers, and shade. A waitress come over quickly to provide ice water for us and did not seem at all preturbed when we told her we were only staying for a few minutes and didn't need to order anything.
It should be noted that this is not a great property for exploring the area by foot--other than walking to the beach. To get to non-resort restaurants and shops, you need a car or rely on rideshares. If you have a car, the valet service is very efficient (just text down a few minutes ahead of time for the valet guys to retrieve your car), although overnight parking is expensive.
Overall, this is a classy, luxurious, well-staffed resort in an enviable setting with glorious beach views. We look forward to going back.
