The Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa

My wife and I just celebrated our 10th anniversary at the Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa, and had high hopes. On the plus side, it is one of the few spas in Sonoma/Napa that don't require a two night minimum stay. The hotel itself is nice, with an "old California" feel given it was built in the early 1900's. Our room was in the older section, which definitely shows its age. The carpet is well worn, our bathroom vanity glass shelf had a large chunk knocked out of it, etc. Minor things overall, but when you're paying close to $500, you expect more (and find it elsewhere).

The biggest issue I had was with the service. When we arrived, it was pouring down rain, and after waiting several minutes we realized that there was no one available to assist us with our luggage or park the car. Normally not a big deal, but given the hotel layout this meant that we had to carry our own luggage in the rain to the main building. I had to then return to the car and park about a block away, again walking through the rain. We were soaked by the time we entered the building.

Our room was supposed to be ready by 4 pm, but after asking at the desk several times, we weren't given a room until 4:30. So, we sat in the lobby with our luggage, until they decided to open another room for us vs. the one we were originally assigned to.

From then on, our other interactions with the staff were great - very friendly and helpful - until I called the concierge the next morning to ask for assistance making a restaurant reservation. He said he would "try when he got around to it, but was too busy and couldn't promise anything". He then said we should just try to go ourselves. I'm actually a pretty easy going traveler, but again for the price of the room this seemed a bit shoddy. He could have been trained to handle a busy day in a much more friendly manner.

Final complaint was that, with the exception of the main pool, the hotel charges $39 per person to use the mineral pools, per day. Seems a bit petty. I would have been happy to have paid an extra $100 a night in hotel room charge to not have to pay by the use on things.

On the positive, the restaurant Sante was fantastic. Great food and service. Lived up to its reputation for sure. And, as it was our anniversary, the hotel was very kind to provide a discount on dinner to help us celebrate. Which we truly appreciated.