Hotel Yountville
Yountville is the gastronomic capital of Napa Valley (and a must-visit on your USA trip), and Hotel Yountville is arguably the best place to stay.
A total of 80 rooms and suites at the newly reopened property are located in freestanding two-storey cottages dotted around the attractive grounds. The rooms themselves are lovely and large, with excellent bathrooms and private outdoor space. The feel is all about cosy comfort, with four poster beds, fireplaces, Jacuzzis, big towelling dressing gowns, even bigger TVs and the now ubiquitous iPod dock.
The Hopper Creek restaurant is open for breakfast, if you can drag yourself away from your room and room service, and quick bites are available at the casual but elegant Y Bar or by the pool. While the food at the hotel is excellent, the reason to be in Napa is to explore the restaurants and vineyards, and the hotel have arrangements with several local wineries for special offers and discounts.
The hotel also has a cypress-tree surrounded swimming pool and another Jacuzzi open until midnight with an outdoor gorgeous fireplace. There is also a large spa, the Spa AcQua, spanning four thousand square feet and including an indoor whirlpool, six spacious treatment rooms with private patios, two couple's spa suites and luxurious double hydrotherapy tubs.
Why We Love It
The location is ideal as you don't to drive to restaurants and wineries. The notoriously difficult to book French Laundry is just ten minutes walk away.
Auberge du Soleil
Auberge du Soleil began life as a highly acclaimed restaurant. Today the fantastic restaurant remains, and rooms have been added.
Over the last few years, 52 rooms have been added to the award winning restaurant, with some of them in the main building and the rest scattered around 33 acres of olive groves on a hillside in Napa Valley.
The rooms, suites and cottages have a Mediterranean design, complete with shuttered windows and Italian bed linen.
The restaurant still retains its excellent reputation, and has deservedly been awarded the title of Napa's best restaurant. This, along with its location in prestigious wine country, makes the hotel a food lovers dream.
The 7,000square foot spa offers rejuvenating massages and a range of treatments. There is also a yoga pavilion with wonderful views over Napa Valley.
Why We Love It
The spa treatments use ingredients sourced from the 33 acre estate, including grapes, herbs, olive oil and lemon verbena from the herb garden.
Solage Calistoga
Napa and Sonoma Valleys are sonomanous (sorry) with elegant country properties that verge on the cutesy, but Solage Calistoga breaks the mould in style.
Described by the owners (who also own Calistoga Ranch and Auberge du Soleil) as Napa barn meets San Francisco loft this mash up of styles works well. As with most of the properties in the winelands, the site is expansive, with an emphasis on walking to your room that will perfectly suit the younger, more outdoorsy guest.
There are 89 rooms and suites in total, most of which is in studio-style accommodation with partially separated bed/living rooms and bathrooms. The best bit is that they are all housed in barns spread across the grounds, and none of the rooms share a wall, so it is quiet and private and they all have their own outdoor space.
The Solbar restaurant and bar is yet another Michelin starred establishment with an innovative and well priced menu. The resident mixologist was also recently voted bartender of the year, so we highly recommend stopping by for a cocktail. The restaurant and bar are in the same big room, with a very chilled feel, and with views out over the huge swimming pool. There is also a fine spa.
Why We Love It
A studio room comes with two bicycles, a great way to get around the property and into Calistoga town itself.
Calistoga Ranch
The ranch is tucked away in a private canyon in the Upper Napa Valley, just outside the historic town of Calistoga.
Its setting in the middle of 157 acres of ancient oaks and majestic hills and a series of decks, terraces, and swimming pools means guests can make the most of the outdoors.
Accommodation at Calistoga is in free-standing guest lodges set amongst tall pines, with either forest or mountain views. The lodges have natural cedar exteriors and very comfortable interiors, providing a relaxed indoor/outdoor living experience.
Facilities include an excellent lakeside restaurant offering unpretentious American cuisine complemented by local wines, a state-of-the-art gym and a yoga deck. There is also a spa to help you counter the effects of any over-indulgence. Finally, the hiking and jogging trails through the wine country should help clear the head after one too many wine tastings - anyone who has seen the film Sideways will know the score.
Why We Love It
The hotel offers a complimentary chauffeured Mercedes service to ferry clients around the wineries - handy when indulging in wine tasting.
Farmhouse Inn
Located in Sonoma County, this intimate family-run property started out as a humble B&B, and retains that personal feel. Though there's nothing humble about the accommodation, which in true Ralph Lauren fashion has taken an English look and done it better than the original.
There are just 25 supremely comfortable and romantic suites at Farmhouse Inn. The country cottages are surprisingly spacious inside, some with fireplaces and private decks on which to relax with a chilled glass of the valleys finest vino. The owners have recently added a barn house, in which the rooms are even more gorgeous. Think four-poster beds, tasteful art, light grey walls, outside private space, slanted ceilings - it feels almost like being in a treehouse.
There is a heated pool, jacuzzi and also a full spa with excellent spa products in the lobby that guests can sample, but the piece de resistance is the Michelin-starred restaurant that many people know far more about than the hotel. The service is as good as anywhere in the wine region, and the wine list also suitably excellent.
Excellent service is key at Farmhouse Inn, and the knowledgable concierge team can arrange a host of activities including wine tastings, trips to the beach, golf, riding, hikes and bicycle hire among other things, as well as make restaurant recommendations and reservations, should you tear yourselves away from the delights of the Farmhouse Inn Restaurant.
Why We Love It
The property is in partnership with 12 Pinot Noir producers in Russian Valley (where the hotel is located) entitling guests to VIP privileges.
