Milestone birthday: a week in NorCal
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Anonymous
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DCUM has the best travel advice, so I am hoping the hive mind doesn’t disappoint.
I am turning 40 this fall and am going to Northern California for a week to celebrate. Grandparents are watching the kids so it will just be me and DH. I do not drink, so am not interested in vineyards, but hope to find a spectacular hotel with pools and a great spa. Want to eat somewhere fantastic for dinner pretty much every day. For activities will go to yoga, hot springs, nice hikes, and some shopping unique to the area. Open to stays in Napa, Sonoma, and/pr Monterey counties. Any and all tips/advice welcome! TIA. |
Anonymous
| Ventana Big Sur. |
Anonymous
Big Sur is fabulous. I think Ventana is about $3,000 per night. Way out of our price range, but highly recommend Big Sur…one of the prettiest spots in the world. |
Anonymous
| This sounds fabulous. This is how I like to travel, I’m an eater. No advice because I’m usually in Southern California |
Anonymous
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The Post Ranch Inn. It's beyond amazing.
https://postranchinn.com/ |
Anonymous
| Go and see the giant redwoods when you're there. |
Anonymous
| Go to Big Sur. I would go to Esalen, but that isn't most people's thing, lol. So look at the Post Ranch Inn and Ventana. |
Anonymous
| Highway 1 in Big Sur may still be closed. I would check that you can get to your destination if you decide to go there. Big Sur is quite a distance from Sonoma and Napa, Central Coast vs. Bay Area. Much more to do in Sonoma and Napa. Big Sur more for the nature, views, isolation and quiet.. |
Anonymous
It definitely is not worth $3k/night. It’s basically become a popular Hyatt points hotel - people predominately stay here on points, and because the way Hyatt reimburses the hotel for points stay is based on average nightly cost, the hotel jacked up the price really high to get more money from Hyatt corporate. So don’t stay here unless it’s on points (it’s still a very nice stay just not worth the cash). Post Inn is supposed to be better but still $$$$ |
Anonymous
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Thanks all for your feedback. $3k a night is a little steep, though the place looks gorgeous. I think we’re going to stay at Indian Springs in Calistoga.
If there are any restaurants you love in Napa/Sonoma, I would love to hear about them. Thank you! |
Anonymous
| Indian Springs |
Anonymous
Interesting. We have family in Monterey, near Big Sur and visit the area often. Beautiful property, but I definitely can’t afford 3k per night for a hotel and even if I could, don’t know if I could justify it. |
Anonymous
I live in SF, went there and hated it. I have an aversion to anything that looks like wood paneling. |
Anonymous
I actually just had dinner Sunday night with friends who moved to Napa a year ago, and they were saying Napa really sucks for food, compared to San Francisco. The only good restaurants serve American. No good Chinese, Thai, dim sum, Mexican, etc. |
Anonymous
| Haven’t been but the Sea Ranch Lodge looks gorgeous |