Anyone Here Familiar With Calistoga? (Napa, St. Helena: hotel, home, buying)

[ABM]

Hi,

We'll be moving from Georgia back home to Oregon. Napa Valley, in particular, Calistoga, is on the itinerary. My wife wants one of those mud baths and a massage.

Anyway, we're on somewhat of a budget, so I picked out these two places to stay and dine.

OK? Good value and accommodations all things considered?

Calistoga Hotel and Spa - Roman Spa Hot Springs Hotel Offers a Relaxing Napa Valley Spa Vacation.

Boskos Trattoria - Calistoga, CA

Thanks!

ABM

[mkelley124]

Hi,

I'd not stay at any of the spas - kind of run down and Motel 6. Try a good motel, MUCH better rooms. Stevenson Manor is good, great rooms w/ decks & fireplaces, newer, pool. (think it's a Best Western or something) Then maybe go get a spa treatment at a spa and you can return to your room without having to actually stay at the spa. (Not a great idea, trust me... noisy, plain, tiny, kind of flimsy feel... you won't be "charmed", guaranteed).

Food - yeah, Boskos is fine, but I'd go to them for lunch, not dinner. You might want to splurge on the All Seasons Cafe - which does a kind of poor lunch but GREAT dinner. Memorable, a little pricey though. Lots of wine.

If you've got time to visit wineries, try Sterling, Ch. Montelena, and Storybook Mountain, in that order. Great places to see & tour. If you're buying any of their wine, don't bother with Sterling (average). Ch. Montelena has great Estate Cab., but really expensive. Storybook has Zinfandel that'll knock your socks off... high side of "bearable" prices, certainly less that Montelena. But just visiting those 3 wineries is a lot of fun.

Don't forget the mini-Old Faithful geyser in town (anyone can tell you where). They have a small herd of the infamous Fainting Goats right next to it. Cute goats, so-so geyser.

Next town south on Hwy 29 is St. Helena... also cute, fun, good shopping for Napa Valley junk, lots of restaurants nearby, about 10 minutes south of Calistoga.

Sorry about rambling on. Hope all that helps.

MK

[bellalunatic]

If you like a retro vibe, I'd recommend Dr. Wilkinson's.
I've only had the mud bath and massage there, haven't stayed there, but it's pretty retro funky (in a good way if you like that kinda thing)

http://www.drwilkinson.com/

Otherwise you may want to try the MountView really enjoyed the massage and facial I had there. Not sure if they do mud baths there or not...and the room was nice as well. (and they don't have a 2 night minimum like alot of other places in the area for weekend stays).

http://www.mountviewhotel.com/

[annerk]

I'd skip the geyser total tourist trap, really seedy feeling to it.

For a good meal at a reasonable cost, the Calisotga Inn is a good choice, and Brannan's is great.

As mentioned previously, Ch. Montelena has some exceptional albeit more expensive (but worth it!) wines. You don't even need tot aste to wander theri beautiful grounds. You can also split a tasting.

Sterling is fine if you want to spend the money for a really nice view. But don't bother going for the wine.

Schramsberg has a fun tour and well done tasting, and is well worth the fee.

An often missed gem is Bennett Lane, very friendly tasting room with a couple great wines.

Frank Family has decent wine, and I don't think they charge a tasting fee. They also have a picnic area.

We had a poor experience at Clos Pegase, I simply can't suggest visiting there. Plus the place is butt ugly.


Instead of the seedy motels, you might want to look at a B&B. There are a few in that area that seem very reasonable.

[bipolarpunk]

You might definitely want to choose St. Helena over Calistoga. Also there is a cool Wine Train that goes from Napa through the Wineries in Napa County.

Calistoga is rundown and reminds me too much of a village in Mexico.