Need a hideaway with all the luxurious amenities of a first class hotel but with the flavor of a French styled country inn? La Residence Inn rooms fill the bill. Sitting on two acres of glorious heritage oak and redwood trees in Napa is a converted mansion built by a river captain in 1870 and across the spa pool and the mini vineyard is a French style barn. 26 rooms house finely redecorated, luxuriously, comfortable rooms. Each room is individually decorated and has tasteful antiques scattered throughout, it seems each time you turn around there is a surprise, a lovely period antique lamp, an armoire from another era, an inviting fireplace with logs and matches in place and very readable books. French doors that open out to a verandah that overlooks a lovely garden add to the romantic setting. The modern touch is a CD player in each room with a collection of disks for every taste. (A very welcome touch.)
In the evening before going to dinner, the affable innkeepers serve wine, cheese and delicious hors d’oeuvres on the dining room’s verandah or by the fireplace depending on the weather.
Call Le Residence Inn at (707) 253-0337 for reservations. Located at 4066 Howard Lane, Napa. Rates include a full breakfast and the hosted evening wine offering. Fine restaurants and wineries are nearby for your convenience.
Other than being a wonderful romantic hide-away this is also a great business meeting venue.
GAIGE HOUSE INN
Here is a friendly luxury inn that has just about everything from an inviting hammock slung under a huge Heritage oak, where you can listen to the tinkling of Pumpkin Creek a few feet away to freshly baked chocolate chip cookies available 24 hours a day. Can you ask for anything more? Here are 23 thoughtfully appointed guest rooms with a modern Asian flair. Perhaps sheets that are hand ironed right on the bed before the luxurious pillows and blankets is thrown over the great antique four poster bed that predominates some of the grandly decorated one of a kind rooms. Or it could be the freshly squeezed orange juice and the pungent imported premium coffee that comes with the gourmet breakfast in the morning prepared by a professional chef, creating in a kitchen that would make Martha Stewart swoon. Then there is the sincere, caring attitude the innkeepers show their guests which adds to the warm feeling of the property. Prima Spa Services is available. All this and more is available at the incomparable Gaige House.
Located right in the middle of and near everything in Sonoma and Napa County in the Village of Glen Ellen at 13540 Arnold Drive, Glen Ellen. There are more wineries and state parks minutes away, than anyone could possibly visit in a week. Hike. balloon, horseback ride, (if you are so inclined), watch an olive oil press in action, relax at a spa, visit Jack London’s home, visit antique shops and book stores; there is something for everyone in this delightful, setting.
At the end of the day return to the Gaige House for a premium glass of wine before going out to dinner at one of the fine restaurants a short walk from your home away from home. That’s it, you really feel like you are at home at The Gaige House Inn.
Call the Gaige House at (707) 935-0237 for reservations or visit gaigehouse@foursisters,com. Here is a great setting for a wedding or party.
THE APPLE WOOD INN AND RESTAURANT
Visualize a place that relaxes, a place that surrounds you with apple orchards, redwood groves and berry farms, a place where freshly baked hot apple and berry pies waft to the nostril until you just have to have a slice. Visualize beautifully decorated rooms each unique unto itself with ready to light fire places, down comforters, fresh flowers, baths and showers au deux; you are visualizing The Applewood Inn and Restaurant. Add to this six acre Shangri-La a lovely hillside pool and spa, an onsite vegetable and herb garden, a superb dining room not only featuring a top flight experienced chef, performing his magic with superb dinner menus and delightful included breakfasts; but a dining room with the romantic ambiance of Paris and Rome. Dinner reservations are required, relaxed attire very acceptable
Situated just a few minutes from award-winning wineries, golf courses, and antique shops and depending on the season you can take part in the pressing of the grapes and the apple harvest. The mustard festival in February and March is an experience only found in the area.
Call the Applewood Inn at (707) 869-9093 – for reservations or go to – stay@applewood inn.com. Planning a wedding or meeting? This could well be the place. Children and pets are regretfully not accommodated.
HOTEL SAUSALITO
Just a hop skip and jump from San Francisco across the Golden Gate Bridge sits the quaint little town of Sausalito. Seems everybody knows about Sausalito but one thing everybody doesn’t know about is the delightful Hotel Sausalito.
Built around 1916 it was rumored to have been a bordello in its early days. A refuge for the prohibition traffic including Baby Face Nelson in the thirties and a hangout for writer and actor Sterling Haydon and his flower children buddies in the Sixties and Seventies. As they say, “if the walls could talk,” Well they would really be muffled since a complete renovation a few years ago, when some very original thinking designers, engineers, artists and artisans pushed, pulled, painted and redesigned the whole place. The Hotel Sausalito stands now as a shining, bright, fresh, boutique hotel that looks and feels like a transplant from the French Riviera.
Uniquely different in so many ways, stained cement, shattered glass, mosaic mirrors, tile treatments and hand forged wrought iron are just a few of the elements used to create the overall effect. All the furniture is handmade. The beds are hand forged wrought iron, made with designs created by the architect. The mosaic mirror frames in the newly decorated bathrooms are done with recycled shattered glass. The walls and elevator are hand faux painted in soft relaxing colors that still give of an air of sophistication.
Call the Hotel Sausalito at (415) 332-0700 or toll free at 888-442-0700 or visit info@hotelsausalito,com for reservations. This is the definitive romantic get-away spot. There are 16 cozy rooms with a subtle whimsical touch. The bathrooms are large with showers that hold two. And San Francisco is just a long bridge span away.
For a romantic getaway and close enough to just about make a tank of gas go the distance these little, intimate, delightful locations can’t be beat.
Camille Bounds is the travel editor for Sunrise Publications.
