North Bay hotels and resorts are welcoming locals who need a quick getaway.
You need a break. You need to get away. But you happen to live in one of the most beautiful locations on Earth. Is there a better place to go when you’re already in paradise?
Yes—if you look carefully, that is. Here are some options you can explore, ranging from rustic to family-friendly to outrageously luxurious. We’ve included some inns and hotels that have offers especially for locals who want to relax, be pampered or just have a change of scene, and others with new dining opportunities and features locals may want to explore. Our trip begins in Napa Valley and ranges westward into Sonoma and Marin counties.
For dinner or a retreat
In St. Helena, the newly refurbished Harvest Inn is enthusiastic about welcoming local visitors. Since January 2014, the eight-acre property has been under the ownership of Palmer-Core City, led by celebrity chef Charlie Palmer (who also owns Charlie Palmer Group restaurants and hotels). With Palmer’s deep commitment to farm-raised food, the new Harvest Inn will express a St. Helena flavor appealing to locals and visitors alike. Physical changes include a 12-seat bar in the renovated reception area and a new, 110-seat restaurant, called Harvest Table. Along with the local bounty theme, the cuisine will be characteristically Charlie Palmer, focused on local flavor with local breads, local creameries, Woodhouse chocolates, St. Helena olive oil and produce from its new kitchen garden. And, of course, it will exclusively feature Napa Valley wines.The new owners plan for this to be a place where guests and local visitors can stroll through the gardens and diners can enjoy more than 100 varieties of lettuce greens, citrus trees, berries, heirloom tomatoes, herbs and botanicals. Two bee colonies will be part of the culinary garden, and the hotel also plans to offer a line of syrups and marmalades from its herbs and trees in housemade beverages. An annually rotating sculpture exhibit will complete the garden experience.
With the restaurant, bar, holiday festivities such as tree-lighting and menorah-lighting ceremonies, and lavish weekend brunches, the new inn wants to be a place where residents can feel they’re getting away from it all—even if they just live down the road.
Up-valley to Calistoga
Indian Springs Resort and Spa, owned by John and Pat Merchant and family, was named by Fodor’s as one of the “Top 10 Things to Do in Napa Valley (Besides Drink Wine).” Having been recently expanded, the 17-acre resort now has a total of 116 sleeping rooms in historic cottages and bungalows, the lodge and three individual residences with one residence off-site. The Springs now boasts spacious indoor meeting places, a variety of special gardens nestled into the dramatic mountain landscape and the geyser-fed Buddha Pond (pictured, installed during a previous renovation) for meditation and serenity. The location, setting and style of the facility all make it ideal for small weddings and gatherings, and overnights for those who live nearby and want a quick getaway, as well as for travelers from all over the world.
For mineral water lovers, the Agave Garden has its own natural waterfall at the foot of Mt. Lincoln. The new Garden Retreat Center houses “River” and “Reflection” meeting and activity spaces. Sam’s Social Club, the new restaurant, (named for Calistoga’s Sam Brannan, who made his way from Maine to Napa Valley and, in 1859, founded the town of Calistoga) is sure to become a favorite for locals as well. It features a wide outdoor patio, rustic local American cuisine, a full bar, local wines and beer brewed onsite. Downstairs, below Sam’s, is The Cellar, a private dining space ideal for group meetings and dinners.While it’s natural that, once you arrive, you’ll want to stay and luxuriate for a long time, Indian Springs Resort and Spa is great for day-trippers too. In addition to the cottages and restaurant, there are more than 20 spa treatment rooms, and the Garden Retreat Center is used for classes and conferences. Try the “Calistoga Mud Wrap” or the “Sense of Place,” where they paint volcanic ash on your back. If your bones are aching from an all-day hike, relax in the Olympic-sized mineral pool, heated by nature’s own geysers.
A day at the pool
The Flamingo Conference Resort and Spa in Santa Rosa has been, since 1957, a place for visitors and locals alike to come and stay, meet, eat, drink, dance and relax by the pool.For local families and small groups, it now has a pool pass day package. “It was a very successful launch last year, especially on those 90-degree days,” says Dan Brown, director of sales and marketing. The hotel found that often, during the week, it would have 10 or 15 rooms empty, so it decided to offer pool admission for up to five guests per room, reserved as a special treat to local residents. For a $100 package price, it supplies lounge chairs, towels and the use of a room from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. or 11a.m to 5 p.m., as guests wish, with $20 for food and beverage credit. With this, a family or group of up to five friends can spend an afternoon of swimming, relaxing and poolside dining. This offer depends on hotel availability, and runs Monday through Thursday, May through October, depending on the weather, with advance reservations required.
“A lot of mothers love the idea, since we have a shallow pool area with steps” says Brown, “The guest room gives them privacy. They can use the bathroom to change and the little ones can take a nap.” The resort also has offered promotions on Living Social, Amazon Local or Groupon Getaways. “A few North Bay residents have taken advantage of the 25 to 33 percent weekday savings,” he says, “just to stay here and enjoy the spa, tennis, pool, yoga, cycle and resort amenities.”
Among the many events that return to the Flamingo Resort and Spa is the McDougall Program, which is a week-long, live-in program presented by John McDougall, M.D. The program provides cooking instruction, supervised exercise, in-depth nutrition education for people who come to hear and practice how to lose weight while eating the right portions of the right foods. The program serves as a health boost and vacation for participants who come from both near and far.
Holidays are also favorites. “We’ve typically hosted more than 500 people for our holiday buffets—Easter, Mother’s Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas,” says Brown, “and 200 people for our Father’s Day poolside barbecue. On New Years Eve, we always have a ballroom and lounge, multi-entertainment event, predominately for locals. And we’ve upgraded our weekend lounge bands and have Salsa lessons and dancing on Sunday nights, which has been hugely successful.” On Tuesday nights, there’s West Coast Swing lessons and dancing. All in all, for day or night, it’s not just a great hotel for conference-goers and travelers, but it’s a neighborhood destination.
What’s your Wine Country whim?
All of our area resorts offer various and wonderful ways to enjoy a getaway, but what if you’re looking for your own, perfect dream of the ultimate in luxury and wish fulfillment? At Kenwood Inn and Spa, the Mediterranean-style, Valley of the Moon hideaway, you can request in advance that you’d like breakfast in bed, a poolside wine tasting or maybe a picnic dinner in the vineyards—and how about musical accompaniment? What’s your dream?Another local’s special it offers is the Good to Glow cardholder program. This $600 card gives you four 50-minute spa treatments (and you get the fifth as a gift); 20 percent off all retail products in The Spa; access to the pool and hot tubs every time you visit The Spa for a treatment; two “Lazy Day” pool passes; access to its private onsite restaurant for dinner plus a 10 percent discount on every visit.
In accordance with the atmosphere of peace and tranquility, the inn offers its facilities to those 18 and older, who can do without their pets and television.
Ocean breezes
For a rustic, casual, family-oriented immersion in nature and tranquility, the Cottages at Point Reyes Seashore offer a getaway into the wilderness just miles from home.
For beach-goers, the 15-acre setting is ideal, 100 yards from Chicken Ranch Beach, on the Tomales Bay, and about 10 minutes away from the beaches inside the famous Point Reyes National Seashore. Owners Susan and Andrew Howard fell in love with the place two years ago, so they bought it and are making cosmetic improvements throughout, including a renovated pool and hot tub. They believed that, with, a fresh face and the right accommodations, people would come. “And they have,” says Susan, happily. Cottages include five buildings divided into four one- or two-bedroom units. The spruced-up buildings all have kitchenettes and private patios.
All the cottages are contained, and each has different bed configurations; all the rooms have gas-burning fireplaces, kitchenettes, microwaves, cook tops, small refrigerators, bath and shower combinations and private decks as well as barbecues. Susan says these are offered, “So people can get their clams and oysters and come back and barbecue them for dinner.”
Not surprisingly, given the location, of the 2.4 million people who come to Point Reyes each year, the Cottages visitors, she says, tend to be from the Bay Area. “The majority of our visitors come from the Bay Area. We get a surprising number of people from Jenner, just up the road. But we get people from Santa Rosa, Petaluma and San Rafael who come over as well.”
As it’s close to the towns of Inverness and Point Reyes Station, as well as beaches, hills for hiking and woods, activities on-site and nearby include shopping, dining, bird watching, whale watching, viewing of elephant seals, horseback riding, cycling and tennis as well as, back at the ranch, swimming and relaxing in the hot tub. Susan, an avid birdwatcher, says the grounds are hosts to a breeding pair of osprey, a bald eagle and all the forest creatures from deer to bobcats. It offers local specials on a seasonal basis.
Luxury at the gateway to The City
For area locals looking for a super-luxurious retreat, you can leave the wilds of Napa and Sonoma and perch on a glamorous Casa Madrona Hotel & Spa balcony overlooking the Sausalito street scene and basking in panoramic views of the Bay and San Francisco skyline. The Casa Madrona, listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, offers a luxurious spa, breathtaking views of sailboats in the harbor and the rolling hills beyond, as well as easy access to the area’s most spectacular attractions.While you sip your sparkling wine, you may contemplate your sailing, wine tasting, San Francisco experience or any of the other options and combinations that might be provided in your particular guest package. Over dinner, you could be preparing for tomorrow’s private, catered yacht excursion or visiting with a few of your intimate friends for whom you’ve engaged the entire historic mansion for a memorable occasion. Or you may be enjoying one of the new, modern suites. This newly renovated hotel and spa offers both the elegant feel of old Sausalito with cutting-edge technology, amenities and brilliant views.
While packages advertised don’t single out locals, there’s a variety of options and mid-week retreats.
So, are you ready to pack your overnight bag? So are we. The North Bay never ceases to amaze us with all it has to offer on a daily—or mid-week special—basis. With a variety of scenic options, spa offerings and activities for families and those seeking quiet—and, for a night’s stay in the locations we’ve mentioned, prices ranging from $135 to $25,000—there should be something that’s just right for you.
