Comfortable Friendly Expensive and Often Over-Charge On Bill
by TripAdvisor Member ExpectGreat
Nice suites that are comfortable and homey with romantic jacuzzis and fireplaces. Not a luxury hotel (e.g. furnishings and decor of a 3-star hotel at 5-star prices), but a nice hotel with well-meaning staff.
Convenient to wine country of Napa and Sonoma, and a respectable spa that is mostly clean (although lots of bees and flies by the pools).
Service can be desultory (e.g. 2 days our rooms were never made up, and when we called in early evening when we got back to hotel, was told housekeeping staff had gone home for the day).
Great touch is that the valet puts water bottles in your care each time you drive off. Also the concierge staff is terrifically helpful.
That said, a rip-off pricing-wise. The rooms are pricey, but the room service bill for basic breakfast for two (e.g. two eggs, home fries, juice) is about $70, for food equal to a Denny's. Everything is about three times the price a hotel of this level should charge, but they are the only property like it in the area, so they can charge what they do on the basis of supply and demand. But watch out for those extra charges (every phone call, even toll-free #s. room service rates, dining room rates, drink rates, spa rates, parking rates). And audit the bill carefully ... we were overcharged hundreds of dollars a day on small charges (that they mostly admitted were mistakes and corrected), and everyone else checking out also seemed to be angry about mistaken over-charges... seemed like a pattern.
Great for weekend getaway!
by TripAdvisor Member sltx3
My husband and I stayed in a Mission Suite and it was lovely. Nice touches in the room which in all honesty there should be at $400+ per night. Robes and sandals are in the rooms which you can wear out to the pool and to the spa area. We did not use the pool area but it looked small. We were going to a concert at Robert Mondavi Vineyard the evening we arrived so we had a snack in the bar area. Very attentive bartender and good food. The valet parking attendants were all very friendly and helpful with directions. My only complaint is we had a hot air balloon ride scheduled the next morning and we had a hard time getting our car out of valet since it was 5:00 a.m. The security guard had to retrieve it for us. It took longer than expected and we were really worried we would miss the balloon ride. I think if you let them know the night before that you will need the car they will have it waiting for you though. We had dinner at Sante one night and the food was excellent. We are from Texas though and the portions seemed very small! They don't call us the fattest city for nothing! The food was so flavorful and the service is beyond excellent. We did not use the spa services other than the bathing ritual. I didn't care for it but my husband really enjoyed it. We went towards the end of the day and the area was a bit messy. Lots of towels on the floor as well as cups and napkins. The water/tea bar was a very nice touch. They had various tonics for your water and some citrus slices. The lounge area was relaxing. The pool near the entrance was in need of repair. A lot of paint and plaster was peeling off and it really took away from the atmosphere. The lobby of the hotel is cozy. Staff was very friendly. Our last morning there were went down to Sante and after noticing their breakfast buffet is something like $30 pp we decided to go over to the Big 3 Diner and we are so glad we did. As we were about to walk over a staff member came up to us and told us about the diner. When we got there the same guy came over to our table and gave us a plate of fresh fruit complimentary. Turns out he was the manager. It was a lovely gesture. The service at the diner was on a different scale of course than Sante but we really enjoyed the staff there. Our server was a bit slow getting our coffee so when we asked another server for it it was no problem and they were all just adorable helping each other out. They were all a bit green and a little slow but they really tried hard and were so friendly that we decided to surprise them with a big tip. And the food by the way is AWESOME. Wow they lemon pancakes are out of this world. We had no problems with charges on our bill as others have complained about. We would go back again if we found a reasonable rate but there are also other places we'd like to try. Big 3 Diner is a must though! Enjoy!
Forum Posts
Help Plan My Honeymoon
by mychells
Hi all. My fiance and i would love to go to sonoma for our honeymoon.
But we have no idea where to begin.
we know we have to fly into San Francisco.
but we would like to see fishermans wharf, alcatraz, and travel down pacific coast hwy as well as tour some of the wineries.
can anyone recommend what would be the best way of doing this?
where should we stay?
any help or guidance would be GREATLY appreciatd
THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
RE: Help Plan My Honeymoon
by kalutd
I'm in the same boat...we're going to be going to SF and then to Sonoma on our honeymoon this November, so I'll share what I've gathered so far, then maybe we could exchange info as we both get some????? just a thought.
A good freind of mine lived in SF for a couple years (a few years ago) and goes back to visit friends often. According to him he HIGHLY recommends staying someplace in the Financial District. He said Fisherman's Wharf was nice, but it's literally an "up hill" walk from there to all the other cool places. My future wife and I are staying at the Hilton-Financial District. My friend said it's a perfect location, right across the street from Chinatown, a couple blocks from Little Italy, the theatres, the nightlife and a mile or so from the wharf, touristy stuff, etc. So you may want to check that out??
We are only staying in SF for 3 days, which he said would be plenty, but you could have a good time for a week. After that we're driving to Sonoma for a week and doing th wine thing. THAT'S where I'm over-burdened with info...I've yet to set up reservations or settle on a place there. Do you have any suggs or info about Sonoma???
hope this helped....k.
RE: RE: Help Plan My Honeymoon
by kalutd
oh duh, sorry, you wanted info on Sonoma only.........that's what I get for doing several things at once!!
well, i've found a few places that seem nice, but it's apparently very expensive, or very cheap....Sonoma Mission Inn, McArthur Place and The Gaige House are the frontrunners.
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