Sonoma/Napa lodging questions
 

Hubby and I are heading to Napa/Sonoma for 4 nights in June (first visit and hubby's 50th bday celebration). We already have reservations at the Farmhouse Inn for two nights. Should we stay the other two in Yountville (Napa Valley Lodge or Vintage Inn), or try and stay in Healdsburg (not sure where...tried Honor Mansion but they have a 3 night minimum for our dates)? We want something within walking distance to restaurants.

Will come back later to post - but there are other posts in here - debating between staying in Sonoma - or in the Napa Valley - or up at Calistoga. IMO - there are all great, and read some of the posts (under California) and then google away.

I would pick Healdsburg. Healdsburg Hotel is nice and right on the square. For budget and more motel - like place, try the Dry Creek Inn. They may not have the minimum stay requirement.

Healdsburg is a really nice town - charming town square, excellent restaurants, good shopping, and beautiful surrounding areas for a drive (Dry Creek/road to Occidental). The towns on the "wine route" in the Napa Valley are also all nice, but I think Healdsburg is the nicest of all of them.

Stayed at Vintage Inn last winter, when we were fortunate enough to get dinner reservations at The French Laundry and wanted to stay nearby so we could imbibe wine freely with the meal and then walk to the room (about 100 yards from TFL). Expensive, but a nice place, with an excellent breakfast spread included and use of a nearby gym for working off the calories. The concierge also helped us get into a couple of higher end wine tastings. Would recommend it if the price isn't off-putting. Upstairs rooms are better (vaulted ceilings).

Most of the other Yountville restaurants are within walking distance too.

Thanks for the replies. I'll check out HH.

We just returned from a stay at Applewood Inn....had a great time. The young woman in the office was wonderful at recommending things for us to do...she went out of her way to help us.

Tip: There's a basket in the office full of free wine tasting coupons to various wineries. Help yourself!

My favorite place to stay in Napa is Harvest Inn near St. Helena. It's located amidst a California redwood grove...beautiful and relaxing with a unique fireplace in every room.

My husband and I always stay at the Lavender Inn in Yountville. They serve a wonderful breakfast and often have wine tastings right on their property. Yountville has the best restaurants, especially the French Laundry (pricy but worth it). If you are more into cute shops and a cute town square, stay in Hearldsburg. If you want the best restaurants, stay in Yountville.

Both Healdsburg and St. Helena have excellent restaurants too. If you want absurdly expensive cuisine, there's Cyrus (2 Michelin stars) in Healdsburg and Meadowood (3 Michelin stars)in St. Helena. But, both towns also have lowly one star Michelins too as well as other excellent choices.

You should base your stay on what you want to see during the day, not just where you want to dine at night. If you are staying two nights at the Farmhouse Inn,I assume you will be spending the days in Northern Sonoma so staying the next two nights in Healdsburg would be in the same general area. So, if you want to see a different wine region, then driving over to the Napa Valley and spending two nights makes sense.

We have stayed in Healdsburg 3 times at the Madrona Manor (thanks to a recommendation on this board) and we love it. They do not have a minimum stay, as far as I know. June is a perfect time to be there, as the gardens on the grounds are spectacular.

They also have a multi-course tasting menu in their lovely dining room and on the porch, with wine pairings that is the best! I know others may not agree, but we liked our dinner at Madrona Manor better than our dinner at Cyrus.

http://www.madronamanor.com/

We have had the same room all 3 times b/c it is so wonderful and is as if you were in a world of your own!! "Carriage House King with Balcony" calling it a balcony is a misnomer--it is a 200 (or more) sq. ft. totally private deck with umbrella table, chairs and 2 chaise lounges with a view of the beautiful countryside and the Carriage House itself is a lovely private building with 8 rooms and has a magnificent staircase and lovely furnishings and old photos in the public space. This is a place I would go back to every year, if we could.

Thank you everyone for your feedback. I actually decided on Hotel Yountville. We will love being able to walk to some excellent restaurants. And I feel like we will get the best of both (Napa & Sonoma). I'll post a trip report when we return. We're heading to Sausalito, Carmel and SF on this trip as well. It's going to be amazing!

<b>... St. Helena (has) excellent restaurants too. If you want absurdly expensive cuisine ... Meadowood (3 Michelin stars)in St. Helena</b>

I'd just point out, since you are now set on Yountville, that Meadowood is just a short drive, 8 miles IIRC. When we were staying in Yountville we dined at French Laundry the first night, then at Meadowood the 2nd night. Both are rated Michelin 3 star, I think there are only a dozen or so rated this high in the cities Michelin has guides for in the US.

We've dined at 10 of the USA Michelin 3*'s the past 2 years (several of them multiple times) and would rate Meadowood very high, probably # 4 on the list. Although it's not quite as much a production or spectacle as French Laundry (fewer courses, fewer bells & whistles, more relaxed dress code) there were a couple of dishes that were actually better than any single dish we had at TFL. And the wine choices were excellent, the sommelier even slipped us a half-glass of Bond Estates (one of had the wine pairings with the tasting menu, the other had to drive back so only had one glass), which is an uber-expensive cult cab blend (the owner of Meadowood is Bill Harlan, whose Harlan Estates wines are among the highest rated in CA and impossible to buy unless you are on their mailing list. Bond is their 2nd wine).

It's very difficult to get a reservation at French Laundry but you can usually score one at Meadowood via OpenTable, so if you want one splurge meal at one of the highest rated restaurants in the US then Meadowood is probably the place in Napa valley.