I'm traveling on a girls weekend with my retired friend to the Santa Ynez Valley for some fun wine tasting. I'm trying to find a nice hotel in the $150 range. I don't mind a B&B but we need 2 beds and most do not have that. Solvang seems so commercial and there don't seem to be alot of options in my price range in los olivos, santa ynez or buellton besides the marriott. Any suggestions? we are going march 28-30.

thanks,

You might try the Royal Scandanavian Inn in Solvang... they show rooms with two beds on their website but dont show prices until you go through the reservation process. Solvang is completely commercial during the day and it simply closes up at 5:00 PM.

There really aren't any hotels in Santa Ynez or Los Olivos .. just one or two bed and breakfasts in each town, if memory serves me, and they are over $250 typically.

I am thinking of a place in Solvang that looked nice when I was last there.. I will search a little and post back later.

Which wineries are you going to visit?

I was thinking about doing the sideways tour b/c it's easy - although won't adhere strictly to it. Zaca Mesa is a must but beyond that i'm open to suggestions if you have them?

Hi all-
i just booked the Hadsten House because they had a great deal - $189 for the first night, $99 for the second and a voucher for 2 nights for the price of 1 that's good for the rest of the year. I live in CA so this works for me. So if anyone has winery recs i would take those too!

Funny... that's exactly the one I had heard of and was looking for... I did a quick peek in the lobby a few months ago for a friend... I think it will be nice for you.

Gainey, Rancho Sisquoc, Foxen, Lucas Lewellen (has a tasting room in Solvang) and Cambria are my favorites.

Favorite restaurants: Grappolo's in Santa Ynez, Brothers at Mattei's Tavern in Los Olivos and The Hitching Post!

I'd be happy to answer specific questions if you have them!

Foley Estates, Add to the list Los Olivos Cafe, the CASMALIA Hitching Post, and Sissy's in Lompoc.

You might be interested in the Lompoc "Wine Ghetto" also.

http://www.saveur.com/article/Wine/T...of-Lompoc-Wine

Yes, the Casmalia Hitching Post is my favorite.. in fact I'm headed there tonight!

mlgb... have you been frequenting our are without us treating you to a GTG? not fair!

our area...lol. We Fodorites on the Central Coast of CA are a small but mighty friendly group!

The Los Olivs Cafe is very good, we also like Gainey Vineyards. Arthur Earl does some nice Syrah! ***kim***

thanks for all the winery suggestions. I had made reservations at the Hitching Post in Buellton for a sunday night because it looked convenient. Is the Casmalia location worth the drive from Solvang - and how far would that be?

I'll vouch for the Casmalia location, as onemoneygirl took me there once and it is still a visit that I savor in my memory!

Lots of great wineries in the area. We visited two years ago and will probably do some winetasting again this year or next. You can't go wrong with either location, but Santa Barbara has better scenery.