Tag: Wine-Tasting Hotels

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Boozy B&B’s: Sleeping it Off in France’s Loire Valley at the Suites Beranger

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  Site Where: 68 Boulevard Beranger, Tours, France, 37000
December 13, 2012 at 9:16 AM | by | Comments (0)

On our latest Boozy B&B adventure, we trekked out to France’s fabled Loire Valley and visited a place called Suites Beranger in the medieval city of Tours.

Forget taking day-long bus tours of the chateaux with hordes of tourists. Instead, it’s easy and relatively inexpensive (about $60 each way) to hop aboard France’s high-speed TGV trains and make the 75-minute journey from Gare Montparnasse in Paris to the city of Tours, which is famous for its, well, towers.

The Suites Beranger is housed in an 1860 mansion that has been beautifully restored by the married couple who own it and act as hosts. It fronts one of Tours’ main roads--a 10-minute walk from the train station, or two minutes in a taxi.

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At The Allison Inn & Spa, It's All Wine, All The Time

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  Site Where: 2525 Allison Lane [map], Newberg, Oregon, United States, 97132
August 23, 2012 at 4:03 PM | by | Comment (1)

We always love a good pinot. We also love a stellar locale and a stunning property. And if we really could have everything we'd wish for a fabulous restaurant and an award-winning spa too. So guess what? After a lot of soaking, tasting and sipping we found it--the Allison Inn & Spa in Newberg, Oregon.

Located in Oregon's wine country everything at the inn is all about wine. You can spend an entire day here, sipping, soaking in and tasting everything vino.

The level of sophistication of all of the various offerings here might seem rather incongruous in this laid back area of the Willamette Valley but it is all Northwest elegance down to the collection of local artwork, design, spa treatments, food and level of service.

Everywhere you look from the room design to the restaurant décor to the welcome goodies in your room, you see the owner's hand and the elegant touch of Managing Director Pierre Zreik, himself a five-star hotel veteran.

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Andaz Napa Will Open on September 7th

Where: 1450 First Street [map], Napa , CA, United States, 94559
August 23, 2012 at 9:33 AM | by | Comments (0)

While we wait for the Andaz Amsterdam to open its Wanders-ful doors in October, there's another Andaz Hotel opening closer to home--The Andaz Napa.

Formerly, an AVIA hotel in the city's "West End" neighborhood, the property has been undergoing an Andazformation over the summer and is now expected to reopen on September 7th. Right now on the hotel's website, we were only able to find rooms for September 28 at $299 a night for a classic king, but the hotel will definitely open sooner than that.

Now here's a rundown of what has changed at the hotel:

· Instead of a traditional front desk, the hotel now sports an Andaz Lounge where guests can check-in either via iPad, tabletop computer or on the way to the room. A host will greet them and give them a galss of wine to enjoy as they take in the new, regionally-inspired design elements from California architecture and design firm Bishop Pass, including a wall-length map of Napa Valley.

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How to Enjoy the Oft Sold-Out Hotel Healdsburg For Less

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  Site Where: 25 Mattheson Street [map], Healdsburg, CA, United States, 95448
June 5, 2012 at 2:23 PM | by | Comments (0)

We love luxury hotels but we can't always afford to stay in them. Thankfully, hotels these days are way more than just rooms for paying hotel guests. Between visiting the lobbies, bars, restaurants, and spas inside these upper echelon hotels, it's practically as good as staying the night. Here's our latest installment of how to quench your champagne tastes on a Coca-Cola budget with a Hotel Day Trip.

Wine-tasting in Sonoma can get tiring--the hot sun, the dry heat and the constant light-headed buzz can start to wear you down after even just a day. Which is why we popped into the Hotel Healdsburg for some much needed R&R from um, our vacation.

We booked a pedicure at the hotel's spa which ended up being one of the best hotel pedicures in recent memory. The treatment was simple--just an aromatic foot bath, the usual cut-file-trim procedure, followed by a generous foot scrub and massage and finished off with the polish.

Yet there were a few touches that made it not just memorable but deeply relaxing. The spa chair was a vibrating massage chair but it wasn't clunky or loud--just a smooth, low roll up and down our backs. The treatment room itself was quiet. There's only two chairs and the other wasn't occupied during our visit. Our therapist also left us alone to sleep, er, read in peace--no silly small talk was made.

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When This Embassy Suites Opens Next Year, It Will Have Its Own Wine Label

November 17, 2011 at 2:39 PM | by | Comments (0)

Hotels putting out their own brand of wines is nothing new but it is quite unusual to hear of a private wine label from an Embassy Suites Hotel. Yet when the Embassy Suites opens their hotel in the Horn Rapids golf community of Richland, Wash., next year that's exactly what the hotel will have.

The hotel will sit on three acres of vineyard which will be open for guests to tour and explore. Grapes from the vinyeard will be used to make the private label wine that will be sold exclusively at the hotel and of course, offered in the hotel's full service restaurant and Bistro wine bar.

But don't worry, you won't be stuck drinking just Embassy Suites wine. The hotel promises to feature over 160 wines from wineries located within 60 minutes of the hotel.

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Boozy B&B’s: Casa Lapostolle's Residence

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  Site Where: Ruta I-50 Camino San Fernando a Pichilemu Km 36, Cunaquito, , Santa Cruz, Chile
June 8, 2011 at 2:18 PM | by | Comments (0)

We love us some wine travel—the tastings, the food, the activities, and especially the long naps. That’s why it’s important to find just the right place to stay wherever we go wine-tasting in the world, and why HotelChatter contributor Eric Rosen fills us in on a boozy B&B he visited on a recent trip to Chile.

Since it’s #WineWednesday, we got to thinking about some of our recent wine adventures including a visit to Chile’s famous Colchagua Valley, where we happened upon a little Relais & Chateaux property at one of the area’s best-known wineries: Casa Lapostolle.

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Inside the Hotel Yountville, in the Thick of Napa Valley

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  Site Where: 6462 Washington St. [map], Yountville, CA, United States, 94599
March 8, 2011 at 10:36 AM | by | Comments (0)

It’s been a while since we hit the Valley. Napa Valley, that is. But we had a hankering for great wine and fine food last month, so we headed up to NorCal for a little bit of epicurean living, and while there, happened to stay at the newest hotel in the Valley: the Hotel Yountville.

Of course you're invited in to take a look at our exclusive photo gallery and walk-through video of our Premium Suite, but hands off the wine...

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You May Now Feel Good About Drinking Kimpton's Free Wine

March 2, 2011 at 11:58 AM | by | Comments (0)

Already known for their lobby happy hours, Kimpton Hotels are further stepping up their booze game with a new Wines That Care program. The new selections, which will be served up in all 51 Kimptons, have been picked because the vineyards involved are using socially or environmentally conscious practices. Which is awesome, because we now have an extra excuse to enjoy their fine, free booze with a clear conscience.

Among the brands now on offer are French Rabbit, biodynamic wine which comes in Tetra Pak to reduce packaging weight and cost, Citra Wines, an Italian brand that's donating calling cards to soldiers serving overseas, and Banrock Station, the Australian vineyard that donates a portion of sales to preserving wetlands worldwide.

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How To Keep Warm In The Ritz-Carlton Fort Lauderdale's Ridiculuxe Wine Vault

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  Site Where: 1 North Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard [map], Fort Lauderdale, FL, United States, 33304
October 12, 2010 at 10:04 AM | by | Comments (0)

When we hit up South Florida, we like it hot. But with 5,000 bottles of wine, the Wine Vault at the Ritz-Carlton Fort Lauderdale has to be kept cool--55 degrees, to be precise. So, to keep vino fans warm while they taste wines or enjoy a private dinner in the vault, the hotel has come up with a rather glamorous solution: faux-fur stoles.

The stoles are available as loaners for special evenings like the $50-a-head Flight of Six Wines tasting and the Five Course, Wine-Paired Culinary Journey, which is $125 per person.

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Inside The Wine Valley Inn in Solvang

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  Site Where: 1564 Copenhagen Drive [map], Solvang, CA, United States, 93463
October 5, 2010 at 4:55 PM | by | Comments (0)

The other weekend we made a trip up from Los Angeles to Solvang, Calif, a town most-known for its cameo in the movie "Sideways" and for its Danish settlement. For those with a Danish fetish, there is no better place to be--except Denmark of course.

We were lucky enough to visit Solvang during their Danish Days festival weekend which closed down the streets to celebrate the traditional ways of the Danish. This included aebleskiver-eating contests, dances in traditional garbs, and even some odd viking weaponry displays.

Cultural fetishes aside, Solvang is a great place to stay when visiting wineries in Santa Ynez or attending a wedding nearby, which is our reason for visiting. While the Hotel Corque is the more upscale option, we chose the Wine Valley Inn which has a central location in Solvang and rather reasonable room rates. However, not all rooms are created equal.

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A Wine Spa and a Decanter-Shaped Pool: The Yeatman in Porto Sounds Fun

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  Site Where: Rua do Choupelo, Vila Nova de Gaia, Oporto, Portugal, 4400-088
July 9, 2010 at 12:56 PM | by | Comment (1)

Will your eye be drawn to the apple-colored walls or the UNESCO-rated view outside? The choice is yours

We love hotels and we love wine here at HotelChatter, so a wine hotel is a pretty much guaranteed win for us. So we’re hoping that The Yeatman – which opens July 15 in the port-making district of Oporto, Portugal – will live up to our hopes.

It's sounding solid: for a start, there’s a 25,000 bottle-strong wine cellar (including, of course, a mammoth selection of port) with a restaurant run by a Michelin-starred chef to sop up the alcohol.

But perhaps most exciting is the vinotherapy (or vinotherapie, seeing as it’s French) spa, which is going to be run by Caudalie. We’ve heard fantastic things about their spas before (there are only a few dotted round the wine-beats of Europe, and we’ve never got to try one) but we’ve tried and liked the products, and there’s nothing we’re liking more than the idea of being wrapped up in vine leaves and having red wine drizzled over our dry bits.

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Get Tipsy at the Hotel Del Coronado for Just $10

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  Site Where: 1500 Orange Ave. [map], Coronado, CA, United States, 92118
May 21, 2010 at 9:25 AM | by | Comments (0)

We were looking to unwind with a glass of wine while watching the sunset at the Hotel del Coronado, so we headed to Eno, a wine bar that serves cheese and chocolates. There we found a great wine-tasting deal: 10 wines for $10. Why, that's less than the hotel's ridiculous $25 resort fee!

In lieu of happy hour, every Tuesday from 5 to 8 p.m., Eno hosts wine tastings. The outdoor patio was packed with wine sippers at the communal tables when we strolled in around 5:30 p.m. While the indoor section of the wine bar had plenty of free seats, we wanted a view of the water, so we stayed in the patio and hung out in a corner.

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