We're planning a trip with another couple to CA wine country later this year. We would like to find a hotel near Sonoma Plaza...preferably within walking distance (we're all good walkers, so 1 to 1-1/2 miles wouldn't be too far), but something a short cab ride away would be okay, too. $250/night is our budget cap, but we'd certainly be happy to find nice accommodations that costed less. Any suggestions?

I like this one:

www.trojanhorseinn.com

Enjoy Sonoma!

Perhaps the El Dorado Hotel on the square:

http://www.hoteleldorado.com/

or the Swiss Hotel, also on the plaza/square:

http://www.swisshotelsonoma.com/

We just returned from a girls weekend in Sonoma. We stayed at a VRBO, and it was wonderful! We were at the end of E. Napa Street (2 miles from the plaza, we cabbed it into town and back out for dinners/drinks). Had our own pool, outdoor fireplace, 2 bedroom/2 bath place. Full kitchen, living room and dining area. In retrospect, we wouldn't have opted for the hotel route instead. $450/night for both rooms/whole house. You can find it at www.vrbo.com.

The El Dorado is very nice. We haven't stayed there but were seriously considering it. We had a great lunch at the El Dorado Kitchen in March. Very nice contemporary decor to the restaurant and lounge area. ***kim**

We stayed at the Lodge at Sonoma and had a nice cottage room just outside the pool area. We though the rooms on the 2nd floor above the pool were very nice as well. The staff was great. We loved the big fluffy bath robes and the items supplies in the bathroom. They were very nice and I think they offer them for sale at the onsite spa called Raindance. The Square is about 1 mile from teh Lodge.

When we passed MacArthur Place a bunch of times we thought it looked nice and are considering staying there next.

Why are there so many posts with comments about hotels where somebody has NOT stayed there but recommended them because:
a. she evidently dined there or
b. she stepped into the lobby and surmised the entire hotel at a glance???

We stayed at the Inn at Sonoma, about 1/2 mile from the plaza, last spring. A Four Sisters Inn, it was just delightful, with balconies, hot tub on the roof for gurests, bicycles if you wished them,great breakfasts, and lovely wine and cheese in late afternoon ( if you hadn't had enough wine already!).mHelplful staff, large rooms, great bathrooms, comfy robes in the room- we were most pleased.I'd recommend it highly.

innatsonoma.com

about 1/2 block from the Plaza. Fairly new. I think you will like it.

The El Dorado is OK, too, in an historic adobe building on the Plaza.

www.thegirlandthefig.com

Sondra Bernstein, owner of the girl and the fig restaurant in Sonoma, has just opened up a take out place on the east side of Sonoma called the fig pantry with several cottages in the back, Les Petites Maisons. I have not stayed there but have been to the fig pantry many times since she opened in May. It's about a mile outside of the Plaza, and a pleasant walk on E. Napa Street.

Inn at Sonoma is very nice. My husband and I stayed there a couple of years ago. We have stayed at four of the Four Sisters Inns and they have always been very nice.