Any advice for a fairly decent yet cheap hotel in or near Napa Valley? A group of friends are headed there for a wine tour. Probably 6-10 of us, all looking to spend more on food and wine than a night's stay. Any advice? Thanks in advance!

With that large a group you may want to rent a house rather than go the hotel route. Last year we stayed in Jenner on the coast & the 4 bdrm house was very inexpensive when split between 3 couples. We were exploring Sonoma, not Napa but check out vrbo.com for starters.

Check out the El Bonita Motel, www.elbonita.com It is located right in St. Helena and has a small pool, jacuzzi and sauna! ***kim***

Thanks guys! Please keep the advice coming!

Also, does anyone know any good breweries in the area?

Up in Healdsburg there is a popular and really fun brewery we visited after we tired of wine. Bear Republic. It's right off the square in Healdsburg.
http://www.bearrepublic.com/frameset.html

Aahhh, Bear Republic is a fave!

You might consider The Calistoga Spa. You'll have relatively cheaper rooms, a pool and be right in the midst of the valley. An evening swim in that hot weather can be pure heaven.

Be prepared for hot weather and try to stay somewhere with a/c if you can.

I have had great luck with the Marriott Napa Valley on Priceline - check biddingfortravel.com for recent prices. We last stayed there on Labor Day weekend and got a room rate of around $60...

For other inexpensive areas we really like Calistoga and have stayed at the Roman Spa Hotsprings in town.

Oh and it probably will be hot that time of year, it was 100 degrees over Labor Day in 2004

We stayed at the River Terrace Inn for $99/night and absolutely loved the rooms! (The location is convenient but not too scenic).
www.riverterraceinn.com

Thanks! Looks like 8 of us are going though....