The hotel or bed and breakfast you stay in Sonoma, Napa or the surrounding counties can determine quite a bit about the wineries you will visit. Traveling between Sonoma and Napa is not easy due to the adjacent mountain ranges. Every time we travel to the area I over estimate how many wineries we can visit due to the time it takes to get between the wineries I want to visit.
A suggestion would be to determine if there are any wineries that are a must before booking your hotel. If time allows it may be best to spend a few days in Sonoma and then a few days in Napa. We have stayed at several different hotels over the past few years, which I have listed below. Our main criteria for these hotels were location, which wine region we wanted to visit, quality of hotel and price. There are obviously many hotels and bed and breakfasts available, but here are a few suggestions.
Downtown Sonoma
The Inn is a wonderful place to stay, perfectly positioned within the heart of downtown Sonoma. The Inn blends hotel accommodations with the charm of a bed and breakfast. We had a room on the first floor with a balcony where we ate our complimentary daily breakfast which included homemade items such as egg dishes, scones, muffins, fresh fruit, cereal, coffee and tea. You can enjoy the breakfast in the common dining area or in your room as we did. In the evening there is a complimentary wine and cheese reception which runs for about an hour. You can enjoy the wine and cheese in the lobby with other guests, take it to your room or enjoy it around the hot tub on the roof.
The location was great since you were in the middle of Sonoma and can walk to shops and restaurants. After a day of wine tasting you will truly appreciate this convenience. Try to book a room here early to get the best rate, as it is a popular hotel and in peak season the rates can get more expensive.
Santa Rosa
This is my favorite hotel we have stayed in while visiting wine country. We have stayed here twice, hence all the photos. The hotel is picturesque and is exactly what I would picture when staying in wine country. The outside of the buildings have Ivy growing up the sides, and they are set up like a cluster of Italian cottages around a piazza and some overlooking the vineyards.
There is a dirt trail in the back of the hotel that winds through the vineyards. My husband and I loved walking on the trail after a day of wine tasting.
There is no wine and cheese reception or complimentary breakfast, but the atmosphere makes up for this. The hotel does give you a complimentary 375 mL bottle of wine per stay in your room. They also have complimentary coffee in each building on the first floor.
A suggestion for this hotel is booking a 2nd floor room. Both times we have stayed here we reserved a room on the second floor. These rooms have a vaulted ceiling and a small balcony. Please note there is no elevator, only stairs.
We requested a view of the vineyards as we wanted a more private balcony. They will not guarantee this but you can request it.
While you cannot walk to restaurants or shops, they do have a restaurant onsite that is definitely worth a visit. The restaurant is John Ash & Co and they serve farm to table seasonal dishes. We have eaten here a few times and have enjoyed each meal. If you can get a table next to the window on a nice evening they will open the windows and you will have a nice view of the vineyards.
Since the Carano family owns Vintners Inn they also offer guests vouchers for free tastings at their winery Ferrari-Carano. Parking is free.
Rohnert Park
The Oxford Inn & Suites, Sonoma County- Rohnert Park
We stayed at the Oxford Inn & Suites on our most recent trip. While researching hotels in Napa/ Sonoma you will find most are not brand new. We do enjoy staying in newer hotels, and this time we decided we would put this as one of our top criteria for the hotel, over the convenience of staying walking distance to restaurants and shops. We also wanted a more reasonably priced hotel.
The Oxford had a wonderful complimentary breakfast. They had a buffet of bagels, toast, biscuits, eggs, sausages, bacon, oatmeal, yogurt, cereal, fruit, eggs and even cooked made to order omelets. You can watch the chefs cook everything from the dining area as they left the wall between the kitchen and dining area open. It was nice to see that, as everything was kept very clean.
At night the hotel offered a wine and beer reception where each person received two tickets for their choice of beer or wine. There was also a soup and salad bar area during the nightly reception.
The rooms were clean, and brand new. The bathrooms had a separate bath tub and walk in shower for the rooms with a king bed.
The customer service was great and we were upgraded to a larger suite and given a complimentary bottle of red wine to celebrate our Anniversary!
One tip would be to ask for a room that was not over the bar area as our room could hear the noise below us. Parking is free.
Downtown Napa
Stay at this hotel if you would like a convenient location to downtown Napa. We stayed here exactly for that reason. We wanted to be able to walk to town and go to dinner after a day of wine tasting. There was a wine reception in the evening and you can bring your wine up to your room or enjoy it in the lobby area.
We stayed here to take the Platypus Tour through Napa Valley. For more information on tours read my article What wine tour should I take through Sonoma and Napa?
Yountville
Maison Fleurie is another Four Sisters property in Yountville, which is a small town in Napa. For restaurant connoisseurs you may be familiar with this town as this is where The French Laundry is located. We stayed here for the location in Yountville and for the price. Typically Yountville can be quite pricey but booking early we were able to get a really good rate. Our room was small, but very quaint and clean. The customer service was great and we really enjoyed our stay. There was a complimentary homemade breakfast, very similar to the one at the Inn at Sonoma with homemade items such as egg dishes, scones, muffins, fresh fruit, cereal, coffee and tea. They also hosted wine & hors d’ oeuvres in the early evening hours.
We were able to walk to dinner, which was very convenient after a day of wine tasting. I will soon be adding a post on restaurants to eat at. Parking is free.
Calistoga
Mount View Hotel & Spa is in downtown Calistoga. We did wine tasting through Napa the first day we were in town and we planned to enjoy the second day in Sonoma. We chose Calistoga due to it’s location on the outskirts of Napa so we could make it to Sonoma earlier in the morning the next day. As mentioned earlier it is not easy to get between Napa and Sonoma due to the mountain ranges in between. In staying in Calistoga you are close to the Petrified Forest Rd which you can take to get from Napa to Sonoma. You can also drive up CA-128 W to get to Alexander Valley.
The hotel is situated in downtown Calistoga, so you are able to walk to get dinner in the evening or coffee in the morning. You receive a complimentary breakfast in the morning consisting of hard boiled eggs, coffee, yogurt, muffins, and a few other items. We stayed at the hotel one night and left early the next morning.
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