jamierin

The situation: We are a couple celebrating our respective milestone birthdays and want to visit the Bay area. We will stay in San Francisco for 2 nights and Sausalito for one night before our flight home but have 3 nights in between to explore wine country.

I have been researching and have decided that we would probably like Healdsburg., Glen Ellen, Calistoga or St. Helena as a base. We like nice places of course, but want to stay within a budget of under 400 a night.

Have looked at Gaige House, Honor Mansion, Wine Country Inn and they all look nice.

Hoping that some Fodorites will be able to help me with this.

PS - Any suggestions on activities would be welcome of course. We like biking, hiking. spa-ing and I like wine and have a list of wineries that I would like to visit but welcome other suggestions.

Thanks.

NewbE

We stayed at the Gaige House this past May--it's very, very nice. I don't know what the rate you've been given looks like, but keep in mind the cooked breakfast and afternoon wine, with cheese, that are included. We also love, love, love the Hotel Healdsburg, the big difference between it and Gaige House being the location. At the HH, you can walk to restaurants, shops, and tasting rooms in lovely downtown Healdsburg; at the Gaige House, we were told it was possible to walk along the twisty, narrow and dark road 9without a sidewalk!) to a restaurant or two, but chose not to.

Also, if you stay in the main building, the Gaige House is a true B&B, with creaky floors and narrow hallways. We were fortunate to be upgraded to the poolside villa--there are several, and they're quite private.

Next door to the HH is their sister property, the h2hotel:
http://www.h2hotel.com/home/
I have not stayed there, but again, the location is great, and the rates are lower than at the HH.

NewbE

Rreading my post, I don't know why I wrote "poolside villa"--silly! It's more of a casita, maybe: sitting room, wet bar, bedroom and bath.

StuDudley

Glen Ellen is really small - not as much to do there compared to the other cities you mentioned. Personally, I much prefer Healdsburg.

Can't help with hotels - we live close by & have several friends up there who we "mooch" from. During a big July 4 gala last year, we did stay at the Madrona Manor in Healdsburg - fabulous, but it might be above your price limit. It's a Michelin 1 star restaurant too. Two days before we stayed at the Madrona Manor, we returned from 4 weeks in France and dined at about 7 Michelin 1 star restaurants and a 2 star. The Madrona Manor was as good as any of the French 1 stars, & actually better than most (including the 2 star).

Stu Dudley

jamierin

Thanks so much for the responses so far. I really like the look and rooms at the Gaige House but as we want to stay in one place for 3 nights I am not sure that Glen Ellen would be the best location. Hotel Healdsburg is sold out already for our dates and the h2 doesn't look as "special". I am going to check out the rates at Madrona and Honour Mansion. Thanks again.

Any dining options in Healdsburg that are must-dos? I have heard good things about Barndiva and Scopa.

NewbE

We were so-so on Barn Diva--good, but not great, for us, anyway, that night--but adore Scopa. It's tiny, tiny, so you absolutely have to make reservations. One trip, we went twice.

Our other Healdsburg favorite is Charlie Palmer's Dry Creek Kitchen--impeccable. Double check if this is still true, but they used not to charge a corkage fee on Sonoma wine you bring in yourself.

StuDudley

Barndiva was so-so for us too - but that was about 10 years ago. We like Ralphs - but I think it closed recently.

Stu Dudley

NewbE

in Healdsburg, how could I forget Bear Republic? Excellent craft brewery, with a taproom right next door to the HH. And if you get tired of wine (I know, impossible, but...) AND beer, Mateo's Cocina has really good, creative tequila cocktails and good, elevated Mexican food.

jamierin

Thanks so much everyone. Stu I have read your SF posting in detail. It is such a great resource!! I have a loose itinerary which I will post for comments, etc. For now, a question on timing...if we pick up our rental car in SF around 10 am, would we have time to stop at Muir Woods before heading to Healdsburg for a 2pm lunch?

jamierin

Should add that it would be on a Tuesday in May.

StuDudley

I wouldn't count on it.

It may take 1 hr to get on the GG Bridge. Then it's 1 1/2 hrs on 101 to Healdsburg. That gets you there around 12:30 - without a stop at Muir Woods. I haven't visited Muir Woods in a decade or two - but I can't imagine driving there, parking (difficult), & walking around taking anything less than 2 hrs - maybe more.

Stu Dudley

janisj

>>if we pick up our rental car in SF around 10 am, would we have time to stop at Muir Woods before heading to Healdsburg for a 2pm lunch? Muir Woods > Healdsburg is a 2 hour drive w/o traffic and w/o any crowds at Muir Woods.

jamierin

Ok thanks. I thought it would be too good to work! I guess Muir Woods will have to wait until our drive back to SFO or not happen at all this trip.

otherfootloose

You could see Armstrong Redwoods instead- smaller than Muir Woods but very cool.