HotelChatter

The Beltane Ranch

[Photo: Frozen-in-Russia]

The quaint Beltane Ranch has six rooms and they are fairly modern. No floral bedspreads or wallpaper here. Five of the rooms are in the main ranch house while the sixth room is out in a renovated guest house/cottage. This room has a little living room and and outdoor patio. We highly recommend this room. (Call the ranch for room rates.)

The place serves a delicious breakfast and even has a tennis court on site for you to get some exercise. Anything else you want to do, you're on your own. But there are several places to go wine-tasting in the area so you should be able to occupy your time.

Jack London Lodge

[Photo: Cynmatato]

Meanwhile, since the bridal party occupied the rooms at the ranch, most guests stayed at the Jack London Lodge down the road. The Jack London Lodge has a pool which is a bonus and we saw staffers checking the chlorine levels each day--a very good sign. And they have free WiFi. But the rooms are rough. That's not to say they aren't clean but they are old and full of floral everything. Yet this is what you get for about $200 a night.

If you plan on doing wine-tasting to just get drunk then you should stay here because you will be too drunk at night to notice some of the room flaws. But if you are going to be at all sober, you might want to try the Gaige House up the street.

Gaige House

This used to be a B&B/Inn type of place but then Thompson Hotels snapped it up and turned it into a boutique-y kind of place. We didn't get to inside but we heard from other wedding guests that the place was "very nice." We're guessing that means no floral bedspreads. There's also spa services available and a pool on site. But rooms start at Thompson prices, around $400 a night.

Insider Tip:
Just because you're in California in the summertime doesn't mean you shouldn't pack a sweater or pants. Quite the opposite. It gets very cold at night so make sure you pack jeans and at least a jacket of some sort. A pretty pashmina won't suffice unless you got long johns under your dress. Our East Coast friends had to learn this the hard way by huddling next to heat lamps.

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