I am wanting to head out to Napa Valley for a few days while I am in SF. I am planning for maybe May 2010. Does anyone have any suggestions for a less expense hotel in the area suitable for a group of friends? We would like to have a place that is ideal to go on a wine tasting tour.

Friends have stayed at the Marriott Napa Valley and enjoyed it and they have lots of specials.
You can also go to Fairfield right outside of Napa..takes about 45 minutes and you can stay at a Courtyard Marriott for around $100 a night.

www.napavalleymarriott.com

Why Napa? there are better places to tour the wine country than Napa. Sonoma county is more interesting and has less expensive hotels too. Try hotels in Santa Rosa. SR is just about 1 hr. North of the Golden Gate bridge via #101, and easy to get to. Easy to tour the wine country...even to go to Napa if you feel the need.

If you are looking for a reasonable place to stay in the heart of the Napa Valley, you might try the El Bonita Motel in St. Helena. http://www.elbonita.com/ It's in a great location for touring the wineries and is near a number of fine restaurants.

While Sonoma County is a great place to visit and taste wines, I would not describe it as being "more interesting" than Napa. It is, perhaps, more rustic and maybe less expensive and it's certainly more spread out but nowhere else in the US equals the Napa Valley for the number of world renowned wineries. And many of these are showcase facilities in highly scenic locations.

Another vote for Sonoma Valley instead of Napa Valley. Here are the reasons:

- The towns: Sonoma Town is a very charming historical town with a beautiful plaza surrounded by historical buildings, California's northernmost mission, nice little shops, delis and restaurants. Napa is a pretty large industrial town.

- The scenery: Sonoma Valley is a most beautiful valley with meadows, forests, orchards and vineyards everywhere. Napa Valley is rather wide and more densily populated and industrialized.

- The wineries: Napa Valley is dominated by huge, factory-like wineries with half a dozen tour buses on the parking lot in front (like Mondavi or Beringer). Sonoma has more family-owned wineries which offer a more intimate tasting experience. Here are two wineries which are typical for Sonoma Valley:

http://www.chateaustjean.com
http://kazwinery.com/

BTW, this is the place where we stayed, admittedly not exactly inexpensive:

www.kenwoodinn.com

"Napa is a pretty large industrial town."

I don't know what you mean by "industrial". There are no major industries in the city of Napa. The major employers are the wineries (which are not in the city) and the two hospitals. Napa would be better compared with Santa Rosa (which is a much larger town) in that these are the two major centers of commerce for the two regions. Then, I would compare St. Helena with Sonoma and Calistoga with Healdsburg.

"Napa Valley is rather wide and more densily populated and industrialized."

The Napa Valley is wider at the southern end but up around St. Helena, it's only a mile wide in places and, in my opinion, much more scenic than the Sonoma Valley. Mt. St. Helena is the bay area's highest mountain and it dominates the northern part of the valley.

As far as "industrialized" is concerned, again I'm not sure what you mean. If you drive north on the Silverado Trail from Napa to Calistoga, you do not see anything that resembles what you are describing. All you see are vineyards, wineries, and stupendous views.

Enchaton - Is this a new screen name for you? Your comments remind me of a previous poster who had similar mistaken impressions of Napa.

It's unfortunate that some posters are giving the wrong impression of Napa Valley. It is beautiful here and the wines are excellent. As with Sonoma wine region there are some wineries you would probably prefer over others.

It is only a 30 to 45 minute drive from one end of the valley to the other, so it probably would not matter where your lodging is located in terms of convenience for tasting. An inexpensive place to stay that allows you to walk around town would be in Calistoga. Friends have stayed at Washington Street Lodging and loved it. Others have liked staying at one of the mineral spa resorts so they can enjoy the use of the hot pools. These are sort of rustic places, so it depends on what you are looking for.

There are many, many B & B's and hotels, so if you give a little more info, we can make better recommendations.

Napa Valley is beautiful! I can't believe people are trying to talk you into changing your plans. Sorry don't know hotels, as I have friends in the area. It's easy enough to find the many smaller, family-run vineyards, not the big industrialized tour group ones.

I am heading to Napa in a couple weeks for the first time and would love it if I could get some suggestions for wineries. Which ones are the best, least crowded and not too expensive? Should we just drive and pull through the valley and pull in to wineries that we feel like or should I be booking reservations?? Thanks for your suggestions in advance!

Reasons I like Napa Valley--having said that I only stay north edge of Napa as motel rates are less than Yountville and St. Helena;
The Chateau on highway 29 about 1 mile north, rates reasonable $89--not fancy but adequate (next to good local mexican restaurant)--across freeway--John Muir Inn ($80-$900 next to Marie Callender.Hilton Garden Inn same area & price
We drive north on 29 and stop any any one of 6 small winerys
On to St. Helena and up to Calistoga (this town still has" local charm") only about 20% invaded by tourist stuff...
Then we 'return' by going south on Silverado Trail---numerous wine tasting opportunities.
At end of "Trail" Turn right and will go thru north Napa , north again on 29 and there your are back to motel...
Sure some of 29 is "developed" but you still have beautiful vineyards on each side" coming back on the "Trail" you can see across the whole Valley--breath taking....

If you look on VRBO.com, there is a little house called Casa Alta. It is walking distance to the Oxbow and downtown, and is in a cute neighborhood. The owner has five small vacation rental homes around town.

rachelsworld, I would definitely do some research and get recommendations for wineries to visit. You'll get a lot of different opinions, but just taking a chance and stopping at one that looks good is, well, chancy.

My personal recommendations are Artesa, which is on a hillside and has spectacular views, and Chimney Rock on the Silverado Trail. Both have excellent wines. For champagne, I prefer Domaine Carneros, but Mumm and Domaine Chandon are lovely as well. Reservations are not needed at any of these.

Virtually all wineries are quite busy on the weekends. The only way to avoid that is to go on a weekday or go to a winery that only takes reservations.

Back to the o.p., debbye, for a group of people I would definitely consider a house rental. Many on vrbo.com rent by the night and are quite reasonable. We have found that to be an excellent way of accommodating a large group and saving lodging costs.

I personally love both Napa and Sonoma - call me wine-crazy!

"Why Napa?" The Napa Valley is beautiful! Since you will be in the area for "a few days," you can easily also explore the Sonoma Valley.