Has anyone ever stayed at La Residence or at the Wine Country Inn in Napa/Sonoma? I read a little about them in the Fodors' Guide and got some information from the Internet. I am looking for a nice inn to stay at with my mom for a long weekend in October. Thanks!

The Wine Country Inn is a lovely medium sized inn in St. Helena, fairly affordable for Napa standards--pool and breakfast included. And, yes, youi might use the pool in October! It should still be quite warm up there. Book well ahead--that's prime time as the weather starts to become a lilttle cooler. Our favorite in Sonoma is the Madrona Manor in Healdsburg, Victorian a little larger with pool, beautiful gardens, great staff, and a beautiful breakfast buffet included with the room. (800) 258-4003--just returned last week so have that at hand! The two valleys are very different--Napa's much more commercial but has more to do, wineries next door to each other on both the Rt. 29 and Silverado Trail. Sonoma is 3 main valleys--Russian River Valley, Alexander Valley and can't remember the other. The town of Sonoma would not be my first choice--Healdsburg or Guerneville are better. Applewood Inn in Guerneville is nice too. Both areas have websites--check them out. You really can't go wrong in either place and any number of lovely lilttle country inns. Sorry, don't know La Residence.

Just returned from a week in wine country. I strongly recommend staying in St. Helena, Oakville or Rutherford. These areas are central to the wineries and restaurants. Try to avoid Napa, it's not as quaint as the towns I mentioned. Also, look for something on the Silverado Trail as opposed to Rte. 29 which is the main highway in town. We passed a beautiful B&B several times called The Zinfandel Inn (Rutherford). Good luck. Check out www.napavalley.com as well as the 6/15/98 issue of Wine Spectator (features Napa and surrounding areas - was very useful on my trip).

The Zinfandel Inn is lovely and would recommend it. The premier resort on Silverado is Meadowood, but it's a golf place and somehow the experience of being in the wine country gets diluted. It's lovely though and can't criticize it. And yes, for those who don't know the area, you don't want to stay in the town of Napa---not pretty and out of the wine country despite the name.

Hi!

I heard the La Residence is heavenly. We stayed at the Maison Fleurie in Yountville which we just loved!

Check out our honeymoon wedsite which is loaded with links and our top picks:

http://www.sarong.com/honeymoon.htm

Have fun!