Pretentious & Overpriced with Poor Service
By A Yahoo! Contributor, 9/13/06
The comfort stations were not maintained (no fire in the fireplace). The tent (in the Cypress area cost=$260/night) was small, rickety and creaked. The bed was very uncomfortable and there wasn't much to do at night. We expected to relax with peace and quiet, but instead the crickets and stars were interrupted by a wedding and live band. For this reason Costanoa chooses to block off the spa because they don't want you to disturb the wedding guests, so don't expect to sit in the jacuzzi until the wedding is over if you happen to visit on a Saturday night. Also, the walls around the spa are high so you can't see any of the great scenery.
The location and view was amazing, but overall not worth $500/night for a hotel room or $260/night for cold tent (you have to walk through the dark to the bathrooms in the middle of the night).
There is white table cloth dining in the evenings and no where to get a cup of coffee and chat. When my guest and I walked into the restaurant (remember that most of the area is a camp) we were told that we could not get a cup of coffee to go because the bartender was too busy. When we pushed, we discovered that he was the bartender and wasn't busy at all. He was very irritated that he had to help us.
There were also a ton of screaming children (and I have a three year old, but for some reason it was very very bad here)
I was given a weekend at Costanoa as a gift and would never pay to visit again. Just stay in Pescadero or downtown Santa Cruz - it's so cute there.