Hotel Healdsburg

Northern California’s wine country has no shortage of lodgings—seemingly every third house is a bed and breakfast. Hotel Healdsburg, though, is something unique; this full service luxury hotel bucks the faux-rustic trend in favor of sleek modern design.

Guest rooms are spacious and smartly decorated, with wood floors and Tibetan rugs, and most open through French doors onto private balconies with views of the town square or the hotel gardens. Bathrooms are impeccably designed, modern, with six-foot soaking tubs of grey stone and separate walk-in showers. Comfort, obviously, is key, evident from the Frette bathrobes and goose down duvets. If you want to go all out, visit the Couples Suite in the spa, offering a double-size soaking tub and a pair of in-room massage tables.

For leisure, there’s a sixty-foot outdoor pool and a well-equipped fitness center, as well as a full-service spa, using all-natural custom-blended products. There are sixty wineries within ten minutes of Healdsburg, and an untold number of restaurants—but the hotel’s own restaurant, the Dry Creek Kitchen, happens to be one of the best. Celebrity chef Charlie Palmer, of New York’s Aureole, serves a simple cuisine emphasizing fresh Sonoma County produce in an unpretentious and relaxed setting. Needless to say, the wine list is rather impressive as well. You’ll be tempted to skip those tastings and vineyard tours, and just shut yourself in the hotel.

How to get there: Hotel Healdsburg is approximately a 1½-hour drive from San Francisco International Airport.