My wife and I are thinking about a trip to Santa Rosa this next spring and wondering if anyone can recommend good places to stay and eat. I have heard there are some great restaurants but have not yet been to Sonoma so would appreciate any good suggestions. Thanks

We've stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott. It's the only decent hotel in the city, proper. A fabulous restaurant is nearby, La Gare (French for "the station") with outstanding food and local wines at very reasonable prices. It's always full every day so reservations are a MUST!

The Vintner's Inn north of town near Healdsburg is also very nice (situated in the middle of a vinyard with a great restaurant (The John Ash) and an outstanding wine list.)

Lisa Hemenway's ( a granddaughter, I believe). Josef's in the Hotel La Rose or Kenwood just south of Santa Rosa. Can be beautiful when the camillias are in bloom or the plum trees. www.visitsonoma.com

Oh...forget another vote for the Vintner's Inn and John Ash & Co. He started at the famous Chez Panisse. In Sonoma town, The General's Daughter, Cafe La Haye and The Girl and the Fig (especially nice for a lunch on a pretty day. Best winery cafe is Cafe Souverain. Have a great visit.

Lisa Hemenway is Ernest Hemingway's granddaughter?

La Rose is a good B&B type hotel in the downtown area with a nice public breakfast restaurant.

Another vote for Vintners Inn. BerryBerry is right on!

There are sveral very nice Italian restaurants in the downtown area.

If you like a great breakfast, try Omelette Express on west 4th Street (in the old town area.)

I suggest contacting the Santa Rosa Visitors Bureau (Website - http://www.visitsantarosa.com/) for info.

Although it's only 1-1/2 hours N of San Francisco it's a different world. If you plan to visit the wineries, be sure to save a day driving south on California route 12 to Sonoma and another day driving way north to the Russian River and even Mendocino, if you are adventuresome.

Hope you're planning a full week up there. It's a terrific place to relax and see real California life - not the phoniness of LA and the pseudo "sophistication" of SF.

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Thanks.