Calmada Boutique Hotel

Our large group had a great time at this place. We stayed three nights. Feedback was very positive across the board — adults and kids alike. We have been coming to the park for 19 years now and a few things we especially enjoyed about this place: 1) the climate (it really is 20 degrees cooler than the Park); 2) the décor (the interior decoration is elegant and well done); 3) the night sky — due to the low light pollution the stars are very visible there; 4) the private hiking trails — the property backs up to BLM land; 5) the expansive outdoor seating — in addition to the large veranda/​gazebo area, the outdoor porches seem to go on forever and there are lots of other places to sit and chat around the grounds; and 6) the outdoor lighting including the lighting on a row of trees down the property is incredibly well thought out. The property and home are both expansive, private, and spacious.

This place is fantastic. It’s off the beaten path, but packed to the gills with all the amenities you’ll need. I’ve been out here twice and love the isolation (and the fact that every room has its own restroom). The property butts up against wilderness, so you can walk right out the back door and get some good wandering in. 15 minutes from Pappy and Harriet’s. Not sure why it suddenly got a deluge of bad reviews. From the ones I read, my guess is some guests tried to throw a big unapproved party and the owner /​neighbors caught wind of it. This really is an awesomely funky property. Be respectful and you should have a great time. I’ll definitely be back.

After seeing the photos of the house and talking with the owner the place seemed perfect ! Once we arrived I met with the owner and he seemed very nice. Gave me a tour of the house and what not. Was very excited to spend the weekend at this amazing property ! Until less then 24 hours later when the owner showed up in the middle of my private event and made a huge scene ! He was incredibly rude and made my guest feel very uncomfortable. After hours of speaking with him and having to call the cops to get him to leave we were able to continue the event. The following day we paid extra to have the house longer but because of what had happened everyone wanted to leave ASAP so we didn’t have to see this rude man again. We left the house in perfect condition and went on our way with bad memories from this awful experience from him.
A month later the horrible owner had the audacity to send a letter with all sorts of egregious charges. He pretty much wanted us to pay for a new kitchen for his home. He is a terrible owner and I would not recommend renting this property .
It’s a shame because the house was lovely and it’s on beautiful land but it’s defiantly not worth the headache and expense!

Owners were incredibly rude. They had the nerve to try and spy on us during our private party. Even after we had paid for the venue. Also accused us of damaging the property even after we left it in pristine condition. Neighbors were unwelcoming. I highly suggest staying away from this place.

Horrible owners. horrible experience. Over charged and rudely harassed by near by neighbors… pool infested with bees wich makes no sense… go to Disneyland stay away from these money grubbers

Easily the worst experience I’ve ever had renting a place.
Benoit starts off extremely friendly and accommodating, but when it’s time to checkout he starts pointing at random items and accuses you of breaking them.
He just tried to sue me for $ 6,050, but fortunately justice was served and he lost the case.
All I was trying to do was celebrate a nice birthday out there, but the house is nothing like it’s advertised. It’s been condemned by the neighbors, a lot of the structures are not up to code according to the code enforcer, and he’s not legally even allowed to call the property ‘a resort.‘
He has cameras everywhere, but when asked about them he says they’re for security. As it would turn out, they are also intended to spy on you during your stay there.
Please do yourself a favor and pick another spot to have a good event at. This place, the owner and his wife ruined by ability to have a good time.
i would never recommend this property to anybody, especially at the inflated rate the owner thinks it’s worth, I assure you — IT IS NOT.

PS — I did finally get a refund check but only after I had my attorney (brother-​in-​law) draw up & send a letter — in response Benoit first demanded we provide a copy of the cashed check. Whaaat? Ok. So, we did. Then, he did send a refund check but, he shorted me like $ 15. No clue why. True Story.

I’m a bit late with my review, we got married here in October and rented out the entire resort. We had a wedding with about 65 guests. Everything about our stay was amazing. Benoit and the chef are great, friendly and cater to your needs. They’ve assisted me every step of the way in the wedding planning and they even let me know the tricks of the trade to make my wedding planning easier and cheaper!
The grounds are amazing! You have so many options for your ceremony and reception. We chose a sunset ceremony with a mountain view and a dinner inside the beautiful resort building. I will try and post pictures later from my wedding.
The building had six rooms that are all unique and customized. The master suite is GORGEOUS! I loved the kitchen as well. The days before the wedding we were able to cook and prepare meals for some of our guests which was much better than eating out somewhere. Once we got there on Wednesday, we didn’t have to leave until Sunday! I was so happy!
The wedding itself was great! They worked within my budget and even added some extra things and help during the wedding without charging me more! They really helped me in every way to make my wedding perfect! They know just how much privacy to give you while at the same time ensuring that you and your guests are having a great time!
The food was INCREDIBLE! In fact I gave the chef the reigns and let him decide most of the menu and everyone loved his signature French dish! All my guests raved about it! The service was great for dinner and the ambiance was perfect.
All of my guests LOVED THE CALMADA and we’ve still been talking about renting it out again for a party since we all had such a good time at my wedding.
I highly recommend this place for your wedding, party, or even just a weekend getaway. They cater a lot to the LA folk and even have a helicopter pad (which I didn’t use since I don’t have one, yet). I’m a local and they treated me like royalty. I saw a comment from a local who said they don’t like us locals, but they were wonderful towards my guests and I. I have no complaints.
I will be back here again whenever I can plan something. I’m so happy I chose this place for my wedding. They really took a lot of the stress out of the whole planning experience and made it spectacular! Thank you Benoit and the Mrs and thank you Chef Alan and your staff! You’re great!

My overall experience with calmada is terrible. We were completely mislead by the oh so nice owners. This place was recommended by our friends at a local business as a new venue looking for couples getting married. It’s safe to say that they are not looking for locals and are looking for out of towners. I say this because we had two meetings. The first one was just to check it out. That meeting went great which was why it was misleading. The second one was to see how everything can fit in our budget (which they promised they could do) & to go over the details. Keep in mind before the 2^nd meeting we had emailed back and forth about our budget and they promised they could work with our budget. Just like everyone else, I said a lower budget than the actual so I could have wiggle room for upgrades and such. At this unfriendly meeting there was absolutely no customer service, there was no discussion on how we can customize a package to fit what we were looking for and in fact they added more costs that we were told didn’t exist in the first meeting. This meeting was ran by the chef. When he started seeing we weren’t scared off by his prices (because again, it was within our actual budget) he continued to be rude and tried to disagree with anything we said (barely could squeeze a few words in from him rambling). And the owners just sat there. Smiling. As if EVERY single thing we were told in the first meeting never happened. Even when we brought up their contradicting statements, they let the chef talk down to us for even bringing it up. Absolutely ridiculous. And in all honesty? I personally felt like the chef was judgmental and prejudice. But here’s the breakdown of the venue for those interested in the place:
–Accommodations: The house itself is gorgeous inside. Each room is unique, clean and has cute décor. The master suite? Absolutely love it. This is what sold the place to me.
–Venue: the fence around the pool won’t look that great in photos. They do not provide anything but the rooms. You have to hire a rental company for everything from chairs, dance floors to China and napkins. It’s apparently pretty windy and they require you to order a tent for your reception. I personally wanted this location for the beautiful stars. the tent would take away from that.
–Catering: The chef is absurd. He thinks so highly of himself you might forget it’s YOUR wedding. He runs the show, not the owners and most definitely not the payer aka you. It’s to the point if you piss him off or not give him what he wants. he will most likely sabotage your event. According to the way he comes off. I haven’t tried his food. I can’t review on the quality.
–Customer service: Don’t let the French accents fool you. They draw you in and are fulfilled with great promises till it comes down to business. Everything they promised isn’t in the contract. And IF you catch it and bring it to their attention the chef will tell you why they can’t provide it in a way it makes you feel like you’re being cheap. When in fact, it was part of the verbal agreement. Need evidence on their customer service and etiquette? Check the negative reviews on here and facebook. look at their responses. Proof.
This place has potention IF THEY CHANGE THEIR MANAGEMENT (OWNERS HIRE AN ACTUAL EVENT PLANNER) AND PUT THE CHEF IN HIS PLACE. HE’S A CHEF, NOT AN EVENT PLANNER.

Im not sure if the owner, his wife, or the rude chef is at all on the same page. We drove 2 ½ hours all the way to this place and got greeted by the owner, Benoit, with such a great personality. He showed us the house and gave a good intro to the place and made us all very comfortable.
My fiancé and I fell in love with the place. Until we met the cook. This know it all chef decided to become god of calmada and used his floating head to make the decisions for the OWNER and HIS WIFE.
BENOIT, MY «FRIEND», THANK YOU FOR WASTING MY TIME, MY FIANCES TIME, MY FUTURE MOTHER IN LAWS TIME, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY YOUR TIME. Because of your ill mannered chef, I will continuously rant about how horrible your venue is and how fake your front was, most importantly how rude your chef is. You, Benoit, said it yourself, your venue is «a 2^nd business and a fun thing we do to HELP couples». Crap crap crap. If anyone reads this review, please, do not waste your time or your money and especially your GAS because if you arent from Hollywood and if you dont have a million dollars, you will get NO CUSTOMER SERVICE.

We just had our wedding here over the weekend and were absolutely impressed with the experience!
Cris’ and Benoit helped us throughout planning our wedding and our entire stay was smooth and wonderful!
We can’t wait to get our photos from our photographers to post up. We really want to convey the beauty of Calmada fully and will post photos soon!
Thank you for everything again Benoit and Cris!