Overall, the two score the same.
COMO Metropolitan London leads on service (+2.5); Post Ranch Inn on wellness (+2), rooms & design (+1), location (+1) and dining (+1).
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London, United Kingdom · Como
Ali on the door and Maryam and Vasil at the desk get named constantly, often for small things like sorting luggage or a birthday gift.
A 54-room Como hotel on Park Lane in Mayfair, within walking distance of Hyde Park and Buckingham Palace.
Read the full verdictIf you reserve via this button, we might earn a not-so-fat commission. Helps keep the lights on.
Big Sur, USA
The hot pools and forest trails draw consistent affection.
A cliffside luxury inn in Big Sur, California, with tree house and ocean-view rooms overlooking the Pacific.
Read the full verdictOut of 20. The bars start at 10, so half a point still shows.
Overall Level
Overall: COMO Metropolitan London 16.5 out of 20, Post Ranch Inn 16.5 out of 20.Service +2.5 Why
Service: COMO Metropolitan London 18 out of 20, Post Ranch Inn 15.5 out of 20.COMO Metropolitan London: Ali on the door and Maryam and Vasil at the desk get named constantly, often for small things like sorting luggage or a birthday gift.
Post Ranch Inn: Falconry sessions and staffers like Derek and Tim get singled out for going far beyond the job, but several guests describe cold front-desk treatment and slow fixes.
Rooms & Design +1 Why
Rooms & Design: COMO Metropolitan London 15.5 out of 20, Post Ranch Inn 16.5 out of 20.COMO Metropolitan London: Rooms lean calm and minimalist, with heated floors and Japanese toilets, though one traveller found the look too generic for London.
Post Ranch Inn: Treehouses and cliffside coast houses use reclaimed wood and glass well, but multiple guests call the older rooms dated and note thin walls between Coast House units.
Location +1 Why
Location: COMO Metropolitan London 18 out of 20, Post Ranch Inn 19 out of 20.COMO Metropolitan London: Steps from Hyde Park and a walk across the park to Buckingham Palace, with easy access to Mayfair shopping and theatre country.
Post Ranch Inn: 1,200 feet above the Pacific with condors, whales and redwoods on site; everyone agrees nothing else in the area compares, though summer fog can erase the view entirely.
Dining +1 Why
Dining: COMO Metropolitan London 15.5 out of 20, Post Ranch Inn 16.5 out of 20.COMO Metropolitan London: Nobu on the ground floor gets singled out for breakfast, though the wider food and drink program feels secondary to the rooms upstairs.
Post Ranch Inn: Sierra Mar’s tasting menu and garden-grown produce get real praise, but portion size, a flat breakfast buffet, and inconsistent kitchen nights come up often.
Wellness +2 Why
Wellness: COMO Metropolitan London 13.5 out of 20, Post Ranch Inn 15.5 out of 20.Post Ranch Inn: The hot pools and forest trails draw consistent affection, but the gym is small and dated and the spa went through a disruptive renovation.
Strengths of COMO Metropolitan London
Strengths of Post Ranch Inn
Trade-offs of COMO Metropolitan London
Trade-offs of Post Ranch Inn
Only at COMO Metropolitan London
Only at Post Ranch Inn
The pitch here is simple: a Mayfair address, a five-minute walk from Hyde Park, and a staff roster that seems to remember your name by the second morning. Ali on the door shows up constantly, greeting kids with presents and handling luggage without being asked twice, and the front desk (Maryam, Vasil, Iolanda) gets thanked for the same thing over and over: fast, warm, no fuss. Rooms run calm rather than showy, caramel tones, velvet, marble, heated bathroom floors, and more than one guest mentioned a Japanese toilet and automatic blinds framing the London Eye.
Where it gets complicated is money. One guest was hit with a £350 charge for alleged carpet stains after checkout, with thin documentation and only a partial refund offered; that's a real risk at these rates, and worth asking about at check-in if you're travelling with kids. The design itself splits opinion too: some find the minimalist look a genuine relief from London's usual chintz, others think it could be a hotel in any city and doesn't feel distinctly London at all. The food and drink program is Nobu-adjacent rather than a destination in its own right, and there's no real spa story to speak of, so this isn't the pick if wellness is the point of the trip.
Book it for the location and the people at the front of house, both of which show up constantly in what guests say. Skip it if you want a hotel with a view (Four Seasons Park Lane is a block away for that) or a serious spa. For a couple or a family wanting Mayfair with genuine warmth at the door, it's a strong, dependable choice.
The case for Post Ranch Inn is the cliff itself: rooms tucked 1,200 feet above the Pacific where you watch condors ride thermals below your deck and whales breach past your breakfast table. Nobody argues with the setting. The Tree House and Coast House rooms disappear into the landscape rather than sitting on top of it, and the falconry demonstration and the forest trails through old-growth redwood genuinely earn the time you give them. Sierra Mar, the lone restaurant, backs it up with produce from an on-site garden and a wine list worth asking to see the extended version of.
Where it costs you is in the gaps between the big moments. Treatment swings from a staffer tracking down fresh aloe leaves for a sunburn to a front desk that won't budge on a four-hour late checkout even at low occupancy, quoting a half-day fee on the spot. A mandatory service charge gets added on top of rates already north of $2,000 a night, which a number of guests find galling when they're also expected to tip in the restaurant. The gym is small and tired, the older rooms can feel dated next to the newer builds, and book an ocean-view room in June through August and you're gambling: the coastal fog can sit there for your entire stay and nobody on staff will tell you that going in.
Three or four nights is the right length; a full week turns repetitive unless you're pairing it with Carmel or just want to do nothing. This isn't the place for anyone who wants Four Seasons-level polish on every interaction, or a hotel that explains its pricing before you ask. It's for a couple who wants one specific, unrepeatable view and is willing to pay what this stretch of coastline costs to sit still on. Book it for the cliff and the quiet.
We’re Sofie and Nicolas, and we’ve stayed in hotels like these ourselves. Tell us what the trip is and we’ll tell you which one we’d book, and why. We’re not really a booking service, but a few times a year we plan one properly for someone; if that’s what you’re after, say so.
It's just the two of us, so we take on a handful of trips at a time. If we're full, we'll say so. We reply within a working day. The hotel pays us, not you: your rate is the same as booking direct, and the perks come on top.
COMO Metropolitan London: Ali on the door and Maryam and Vasil at the desk get named constantly, often for small things like sorting luggage or a birthday gift. Post Ranch Inn: The hot pools and forest trails draw consistent affection.
COMO Metropolitan London is ahead on how you’re looked after. Post Ranch Inn is ahead on winding down. COMO Metropolitan London adds Urban; Post Ranch Inn adds Wellness, Adults-Only, Architecture and Countryside. Both are tagged Design, Culinary and Romantic.
COMO Metropolitan London leads on this. COMO Metropolitan London: Ali on the door and Maryam and Vasil at the desk get named constantly, often for small things like sorting luggage or a birthday gift. Post Ranch Inn: Falconry sessions and staffers like Derek and Tim get singled out for going far beyond the job, but several guests describe cold front-desk treatment and slow fixes.
Post Ranch Inn leads on this. COMO Metropolitan London: Rooms lean calm and minimalist, with heated floors and Japanese toilets, though one traveller found the look too generic for London. Post Ranch Inn: Treehouses and cliffside coast houses use reclaimed wood and glass well, but multiple guests call the older rooms dated and note thin walls between Coast House units.
COMO Metropolitan London is in London, United Kingdom; Post Ranch Inn is in Big Sur, USA.
Fat Voyage scores every hotel out of 20 across five dimensions — service, rooms & design, location, dining and wellness — read from the trip reports in the most active luxury travel communities, critics’ reviews and verified guest reviews, with the long, detailed and recent ones counting most. Nothing is paid for, and no hotel can buy a place.
