Fodor's Expert Review Rancho Caymus Inn

New owners spent two years renovating this two-story hacienda-style property near Inglenook winery and the Rutherford Grill into a romantic under-the-radar getaway that may well be the Napa Valley's best value in its price range. The inn's aesthetic and name pay homage to the Rancho Caymus land grant from California's early-19th-century era of Mexican rule—the grant encompassed much of what's now Yountville, Oakville, and Rutherford—but the overall effect is contemporary upscale boutique hotel.

Photo: Rancho Caymus Inn

room

Guests at the two-story inn enter their rooms off exterior hallways overlooking the courtyard that contains the pool. Rooms, most of them split-level and all with patios, come in three principal sizes from about 400 square feet to 600-plus. Done in warm browns and decorated with art that evokes the area's Latin heritage, all the accommodations have exposed-beam ceilings (many of them vaulted), textured-plaster walls, brown leather furniture, and contemporary variations on stovepipe fireplaces. The lone one-bedroom suite, 800 square feet, has living and dining areas, a wet bar with a wine refrigerator, and a Juliet balcony overlooking the courtyard.

YOU SHOULD KNOW In keeping with the inn's orientation toward couples and romance, all rooms have king beds; none have sofa beds, but a few rollaways are available (call ahead to request one).

Photo: Rancho Caymus Inn

Photo: Rancho Caymus Inn

bathroom

Spacious bathrooms clad in white ceramic tile get plenty of light. Because the hotel received its makeover during a severe drought, the owners had to choose between a courtyard swimming pool or soaking tubs in the rooms; they chose the former, so all bathrooms have only showers (albeit nice ones).

Photo: Rancho Caymus Inn

Photo: Rancho Caymus Inn

lobby

Mexican rugs, plaster walls, padded leather furniture, and an exposed-beam vaulted ceiling evoke Mission-era California in the Rancho Caymus lobby. A grand foyer with a fireplace and monochrome wall friezes, it's a comfortable hangout. To the back lies the front desk.

Photo: Rancho Caymus Inn

Photo: Rancho Caymus Inn

pool

Hanging plants, ceramic-tile friezes, a mass of wrought iron, and a series of graceful arches contribute to the movie-set glamour of the brick-lined interior courtyard that contains the rectangular wading pool and adjacent, also rectangular, hot tub. The pool isn't huge, but it'll cool you off on a hot Rutherford summer day, and the courtyard is a peaceful spot to enjoy lunch or a snack you can order steps away.

Photo: Rancho Caymus Inn

spa

The inn has no spa, but guests receive discounts on treatments at the Health Spa Napa Valley (6-minute drive) in downtown St. Helena. The spa's most popular treatment, the Harvest Signature Mud Wrap and Massage, begins with a rosemary-mint exfoliating scrub, followed by grape seed–oil massage and a Cabernet grape-seed mud wrap.

Guests can bill spa treatments directly to their rooms.

gym

There's no gym at the inn, but for $20, also billable to their rooms, guests can purchase a day pass to the Health Spa Napa Valley, which has a fully equipped fitness center and a lap pool.

dining

The inn's room rates include an expanded Continental breakfast, served buffet style in the dining room. Among the typical offerings are a sandwich of scrambled eggs, avocado, and bacon in a Model Bakery English muffin (Oprah's a fan of these buttery muffins). Granola made in-house, fresh fruit, meats, cheeses, and pastries are also laid out. From noon to 6:30, guests can order snacks like marinated olives, cheese and charcuterie plates, and guacamole, along with burgers, shrimp cocktail, and various salads prepared by the inn's chefs.

For $5 you can have breakfast delivered to your room.

drinking

Guests can purchase wine by the bottle or glass and beer by the bottle to enjoy on in the courtyard, a nearby terrace, or in their rooms. On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday between 5:30 and 6:30, representatives of local wineries—often from Rutherford's Round Pond, Honig, Provenance, Grgich Hills, or Beaulieu—pour wine in the inn's dining room, and hors d'oeuvres are served.