Mixed feelings
I want this to be a fair review and to represent all aspects of my experience. The Lodge is a stunning and gorgeous property. The rooms are comfortable and a really nice luxurious feel but more old-world/comfy/cozy vibe as opposed to shiny and marble. I love the hotel.
For the positive, as described the Lodge is a beautiful place, with its wood furniture, luxe cottage/getaway feel and beautifully maintained grounds (golf course) with ocean views. Service staff are great as well as you could expect from a 5 star resort, and our guests enjoyed the setting and service.
However, there were a few bumps in our experience as a couple holding our wedding here.
1) The team was VERY slow to respond to emails during the months leading up to our wedding ( I would almost call it unresponsive). Literally, I would wait 2 to 4 weeks for a response, then follow up with a phone call and/or another email to try to contact them about the same questions/issues. Yes, I understand if it is more than a few months out from an event, they have other events coming up sooner which they need to prioritize and I have no problem with this. However, it was a highly unpleasant experience for us and I imagine for any other couple trying to plan their wedding. It felt like we were constantly chasing them to get any response, like pulling teeth. By six weeks out from our wedding, we had still not received a banquet event order with details for our wedding and it was stated in our contract with them that this would be provided by 6 weeks out. We actually did not receive the final banquet event order until about 3 or 4 days before our wedding. This was highly stressful for obvious reasons as well as the fact that we were planning a destination wedding (travelling to Socal from Vancouver, Canada). By the time the order was sent to us, we were already in SoCal (thus traveling and staying in hotels, with all our friends and family also arriving from out of town), and it was very overwhelming that close to the wedding to have to still be trying to finalize details. Again, I understand that the hotel has other events they cater to, but literally the week of the wedding was pushing it and I feel they could have been more considerate of this point and the clients' experience.
2) We wanted to hold our wedding here because we loved the look of the property and grounds. There were wedding photos on their website with couples standing on the cliff overlooking the ocean, and we really wanted photos with this particular backdrop. I believe we had also mentioned this to our contact and no one told us it would be an issue, for almost a year from the time we signed the contract with them until our wedding date. Literally on the day of our wedding, before we were about to take couples' portraits, we were told that we would not be able to go to this location we wanted to for photos because there was a change in management and they would not allow anyone there unless they were a golf player? It was disappointing to say the least. One of the biggest selling points to us was this particular view. Secondly, they should probably remove the wedding photos showing this view from their website promoting their venue for wedding, if couples are no longer even allowed out there.
Overall, the Lodge is a lovely place to stay. I would reconsider holding your wedding there unless you can somehow guarantee the response times throughout your planning process (this is the biggest thing), and if you don't mind that you cannot take any photos in a place they, a) advertise as a location to be used for wedding portraits on the venue and, b) is obviously a core selling point in the aesthetics of this place that it makes no sense you are not even allowed to go there on your wedding day. The service is five star if you are on site. Especially considering that this place is not inexpensive, response times and some aspects of how the wedding was handled were definitely not five star.