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NYT Finds Too Many Kinks at Napa Valley's Solage Calistoga

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 755 Silverado Trail [map], Calistoga, CA, United States, 94515
April 13, 2009 at 9:55 AM | by KatieK | 0 Comments

Since Solage Calistoga set up shop in Napa Valley more than a year ago, the reviews have been a decidedly mixed bag. Take TA reviews, for starters, where some folks love the relaxing and hip vibe while others still complain of opening kinks that haven't quite worked themselves out yet. This past weekend, the New York Times joined the fray with an official review.

Run by the operators of Napa Valley grande dame Auberge du Soleil, Solage Calistoga is intended for a younger, more design-forward wine-swilling crowd. (NYT points to the Verve Remixed soundtrack in the pool area as proof.) The "New Urbanist's boutique hotel" has simple cottages linked by landscaped paths leading to the mammoth pool, restaurant, spa, and sunken bocce court.

The good stuff: Located in the tip-top of Napa Valley, Calistoga is known for its hot springs and mud baths, and the hotel is a "quick bike ride" to Chateau Montelena — of the chardonnay that "famously upended the snootier French whites in a Paris taste test in 1976" — and also near the artsy Clos Pegase and Sterling Vineyards. Plus, each cottage/"studio" has a private patio. The hotel claims eco-consciousness as a priority and the NYT says "the coffee by Calistoga Roastery is almost worth the price of the room."

The kinks: Though each room comes with two cruiser bikes for cycling around the grounds or to nearby wineries, the NYT complained of flat tires on their bikes as well as the ones in surrounding cottages. Rooms on the perimeter overlook a neighboring retirement community. Too-thick towels kept knocking the towel rack out of the wall.

Bottom line: Though "far less lush" than Auberge du Soleil, the "posh prices make it hard to excuse the number of kinks a year after opening." Still, the staff is "eager to please" — er, for what that's worth when you're dropping $450 a night.

[Photo: Peter DaSilva for the New York Times]

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