Staying in the Sonoma Valley
I picked clients up the other day who were staying at the suite at the Landmark Winery. I didn’t even know they had a suite that visitors could rent, but they also have a cottage. Actually many wineries have small accommodations that they make available to visitors from the industry, wine buyers, writers and exporters as well as the occasional visitor. And they are not the only ones; the whole of the Sonoma Valley has many charming cottages that people can stay at.
These clients had found it while researching on the website for the winery, there it was plain as day, stay at the winery. I know that the Glenelly B&B in Glen Ellen handles rentals for a number of their neighbors including some who will remain nameless, but who I know have great places where people can hide out for a romantic vacation in wine country.
The whole lesson of this blog is to be creative when you choose your lodgings. Wine country, and especially the Sonoma Valley have a wonderful collection places that are quite reasonable and convenient and vastly superior to staying in some big hotel.
If you are staying in a city you may want a muscular hotel to protect you from the streets, but in wine country life is easy and the air is sweet and you don’t need so much insulation. There is a great little market called Sonomas Best, www.sonomas-best.com, and right behind there they have a collection of cute cottages that are very popular. They are five minutes from downtown Sonoma and of course steps from the market with its wonderful coffee.
Years ago when we traveled a huge amount for our speaking careers we would stay in B&B’s whenever possible. Convention speaking often takes place in huge hotels and after a while the canned air and generic carpet get to you. A B&B run by local people who know the history and care about their guests personally make a huge impression after a day of airports and the roar of jet engines.
Be adventurous and stay in Sonoma Valley where the people live, the only problem is that you might want to move there, it happened to us.
Ralph & Lahni de Amicis are authors of the Amicis Winery Guides (Find them on Amazon), and owners of Amicis Tours which does both group and private excursions. They are authors of over twenty books on health, design, business and travel. Their iPhone Apps, The Napa Valley Wine Tour, and The Sonoma Winery Tour are a tour guides approach to these beautiful area, complete with 1000’s of photos and insights. Their articles and products can be found on the sites http://www.amicistours.com and http://www.spaceandtime.com. Their Apps can be found at http://www.sutromedia.com/apps.html
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