We will be in San Francisco for business at the end of September. Want to take a few days (Thurs. morning-Sat. morning) to visit Napa / Sonoma. I knew California was expensive, but my goodness! I have about keeled over reading the prices for hotels / b&b's ($200-$400) in the area, and of course now I'm finding out that many of these places are booked anyway due to the time of year.

I simply don't think we HAVE to stay in the area per se, since we'd have to drive to the wineries anyway. Is there possibly a town/area further out that is attractive, that I should search in for hotels (under $150 mark). Maybe some place halfway btwn SF and the wine county. It won't phase us to drive 30-40 minutes to get to the wine areas each day.

Any tips would be GREATLY appreciated Thanks!

We went to Sonoma earlier this year as a day trip from San Francisco. It was only an hour's drive.

You try Priceline or Hotwire?
If you're going for sure (non-refundable)you may want to try them.

We've got the Napa Valley Marriott for as low as $45/night. I hear the Old Embassy Suites in Napa is used too. Maybe try the "bidding for travel" website always discussed here?
I understand Sonoma has some good hotel baragins thru either, too.
While they are kind of generic, at least you can spend more time in Napa/Sonoma and avoid the driving

Thanks CD I considered that too...but thought maybe since we'll be in SF for 4 days prior to that, it might be nice to try a new location...and cut the drive.

But considering the hour long drive...I saw a recommendation for Bodega Bay (isn't this where they filmed "The Birds"?). Mapquest says this 40 miles to Sonoma and 52 to Napa...is this a congested drive? Would it be longer then from SF considering traffic?

Sorry for all the questions

You might try lodging in Santa Rosa. Weekdays will get you better deals. The Marriott is offering the Lodge at Sonoma (sun-thurs) at $179. You could get the Thursday night there for the $179 rate but Friday night would be more. The Lodge is a pretty nice place.

Yup, the Union Hotel in Occidental was in "The Birds". I would agree with Kal--try Priceline or Hotwire first for hotels in Wine Country.

For staying outside of the area, you could try Novato, Petaluma, Rohnert Park, San Rafael, Santa Rosa . . .

Check out their locations on Yahoo Maps, and you will see how they are situated in relation to Sonoma, Napa, Yountville.

None of these towns are fantastically attractive, but they all have reasonable lodging at better chain-style hotels (Hilton, Sheraton, etc.), as well as a few nicer options. I have heard the Vineyard Creek Hotel in Santa Rosa is OK, as well as the BW Sonoma Valley Inn.

We stayed at a place in Napa, the Chablis Inn, it's a converted chain hotel but was fine for our purposes-clean, even had a minifridge. You may want to try there. I think I got the name out of Fodors.

Branv
You might want to check out Bodega Bay.
They are offering a special that includes a bay view room, breakfast, and dinner of two at the Tides (which I understand is wonderful) for $169.00 per night. http://www.innatthetides.com/new.html

We stayed in "The Elms" bed& breakfast in Calistoga http://www.theelms.com/rates.html
which was reasonably priced (rooms from $145) and conveniently located. It came with a full breakfast (eggs and sausage and stuff; no california fru-fru food) and the only drawback was the lack of anonymity. One morning everybody went around the table asking the occupation, marital status, # of children, etc. of everyone else.

The real attraction of the wine country is the vineyards and eating/drinking. You don't need a cushy hotel. My only caution would be to avoid the Friday night drive out of or Sunday night return to SFO.

Last year, we stayed at the Best Western Dry Creek Inn. Again, not the fanciest hotel but clean and located close to some great wineries in the Alexander Valley & Dry Creek Valley. They are running a summer special for $99.

I second the vote for Vineyard Creek in Santa Rosa. I stay there about once a month and the rate for a small, but lovely room, is about $135. The location offers no view to speak of but it is centrally located in Santa Rosa, near Sonoma and the Russian River area and lots of wineries. The hotel has a nice spa and the best part, for me, is the gourmet seafood restaurant which has gotten rave reviews. The Room Service from the restaurant, Brasserie de Mer (excuse spelling), is really awesome!

I forgot to add we usually stay in Yountville at The Bordeaux House. I believe a small "water tower" room goes for around $145 and the larger rooms go for about $175. Includes b'fast and wine, port, cognac "no host" at night.

A few doors down from the Fr Laundry, Bouchon's, Bistro Jeanty, Hurley's, Napa Valley Grille.
Kal

It was mentioned above that the union hotel in Occidental was in The Bird's. Actually the old Tides hotel, and Bodega school house are the landmarks in that movie.

It is a coincedence that Occidental was mentioned however, because that is where I highly recomend a stay. The Inn at the Tides is very good, but farther away, more than an hour, from wine country. One more nice town to stay would be Sebastopol. Sebastopol and Occidental have scenic drives from them to the wine country, Occidental more so, close to the Russian river, along the Bohemian Hwy, and redwoods.

You may want to try the yountville inn
I will be cancelling my reservation there for 9/14-9/21.we cant make the trip.I will be calling tom.Good luck I started two months ago and had a very hard time booking something.

The Sonoma County Sheraton in Petaluma
is brand new, gorgeous rooms, right on the marina,super restaurants, and Petaluma is VERY attractive. Easy travel to within Sonoma and Napa counties!Enjoy!

Also, Vallejo is just south of the Napa valley. There are a lot of chain hotels there. Might be a little more congested than Santa Rosa, though.

Just a word of caution that although Sonoma and Napa look close on a map those winding roads make for a good hour or so drive in between. In sonoma the wineries are more spread out, where in napa they are along two main drags.

We stayed in Calistoga in the Napa area and there seemed to be several moderately prices places there. We followed a "budget traveler" suggestion and stayed at the calistoga Inn and brewery. There was a shared bathroom, and the room was small, but it was very very clean and the staff was great. It was $80 a night. In sonoma we stayed just north of Santa Rosa at the Vinter's Inn. It was $200-$250 per night but oh so worth it! It was a quick 10-15 min drive to Healsburg, and very close to many of the wine roads.

Wow, thanks so much for the excellent feedback! I can always rely on the Fodors travel talk page I really think I'd prefer to stay in "quieter" (in comparison, I know) Sonoma, but after looking at the Vineyards it looks like all the ones my husband wants to visit are in the Napa area. So thanks especially for the info about realistic travel times given roads...will help us in making up our mind.

We're staying at the Yountville Inn in mid-September. It's around $200/night and includes breakfast. I believe the weekend rate is close to double - but at least your Thursday stay would be affordable! Check it out - it seems like a pretty nice place, and located in Yountville which is walking distance from great restaurants.