California Wine Country
 

We will be visiting wine country in April with another couple. We would like to see redwoods as well as wineries during our stay.

We've narrowed our hotel/inn choices to Applewood Inn, Farmhouse Inn, and Maison Fleurie. From the descriptions online it sounds like Applewood might be in the middle of redwoods. Is this accurate? Any of these within walking distance of small towns and various restaurants?

We would really appreciate any advice anyone has on lodging, activities, and dining! Thanks!

Chilihead

There are several "wine" areas in California, although "redwoods" does narrow the discussion. What town are these hotels in?

The Applewood Inn is just outside of Guerneville which is surrounded with Redwoods. There's a State Park nearby, Armstrong Redwoods which has great groves and trails. I've never stayed there but it gets rave reviews. I don't know about walking distance to restaurants, it's not far from the downtown of Guerneville, and I've heard the restaurant at the Inn is fantastic.

You are easy driving distance to Russian River Wineries, and not that far from Dry Creek and Alexander Valley. I've ridden my bike from Healdsburg to Armstrong Redwoods and back so you surely could drive it easily.

I think it would be a lovely, romantic trip.

Applewood Inn is a great Sonoma County location for wineries and is indeed in the redwoods. Both the Applewood and
Farmhouse Inn would require a car to travel to other restaurants.

Your options would be up to Healdsburg,
which has a lovely square and many
restaurants. Yet, closer to these
two and to the East of you is
the little burg of Graton. Here
you will find Underwood Bistro (dinner)
and Willow Wood Market (lunch). To the South
on Hwy 116 you also have Sebastopol
which has some good spots-K&L Bistro
and Lucy's are two of my favorites.
Back up at Guerneville or Forestville,
you could head East on 116, out to the ocean and Jenner for a great meal at
River's End.

Maison Fleurie is about 1.5 hours
to the east and is in Napa County
in Yountville. There are many restaurants you can walk to from this location. This is a totally different
experience than the location of the Applewood and Farmhouse Inn. I guess I would say it was far busier than
than the Russian River area.

For atmosphere, I'd have to agree with Grasshopper, and go with Applewood.
Yet, it just depends on what you and your friends are seeking.
R5

We had a very nice lunch at the Alexander Valley Grille at the Chateau Souverain. We will soon be having dinner at the Farmhouse Inn, I hope it's good, we'll soon see! ***kim*** ((f))

If you want a number of restaurant choices nearby then Maison Fleurie would be your best bet. But as someone said, it's a totally different feel for what you'll find at the other two. Applewood has nice grounds and the dining room has a good reputation (I've visited there but have not stayed or eaten there) but I find the location a bit isolated. The Farmhouse Inn has a very fine dining room and I understand the newly renovated rooms are nice. It's fairly close to some good and scenic wineries plus not too far from the charming town of Healdsburg.