This peaceful hotel is right in the heart of Sonoma County’s Healdsburg
North of San Francisco, you’ll find Napa Valley and Sonoma County, the heart of California wine country. Whereas Napa is the most visited area, home to many famous wineries and restaurants like the legendary French Laundry, Sonoma is its more laid-back neighbour, with creative young winemakers and a crop of great restaurants. The chilled town of Healdsburg makes for a great base for exploring Sonoma and the straightforwardly named Hotel Healdsburg is the ideal choice to lay your head for a couple of nights.
Located right in the centre of Healdsburg on the Town Square, the hotel is a member of Design Hotels and offers smart rooms, a spa, an outdoor pool and a restaurant called Dry Creek Kitchen. There are 56 rooms, including eight suites at the hotel, ranging in size and the views on offer. All the rooms share a clean, almost Scandi, modern design with lots of natural woods, a neutral colour palette and artwork from local artists.
Our room was on the top floor with a view over the central courtyard and pool, and a nice big window that opened right out onto a Juliet balcony. It was super comfortable, featuring a king bed with a chunky wooden headboard, big armchairs, high ceilings, a mini bar, Bose speakers, robes and everything else you might need to settle in. It’s worth for going for one of the bigger rooms as these have big stone 6ft bathtubs complete with products from the hotel’s own spa so you can have a luxurious soak in the comfort of your own room.
On the ground floor of the hotel there’s a big lobby and reception area with sofas and art books strewn around the coffee tables by the fireplace. There’s a lobby bar called Spirit Bar for wines and cocktails, and a restaurant called Dry Creek Kitchen which is headed up by chef Charlie Palmer. Making the most of the incredible local produce sourced from farms just up the road, the restaurant offers up dishes like Coffee Crusted Pork Tenderloin; Fava Bean Agnolotti; and Painted Hills Prime Strip Loin with farm greens gratin.
The ace card for Hotel Healdsburg has to be the outdoor pool though. Located in a little secluded walled courtyard, it’s a peaceful spot to relax and soak up the sun after a hard morning touring the local vineyards. The 60ft pool and jacuzzi are flanked by sun-shaded chaise lounges, set in a garden of olive and fig trees, boxwood, hydrangea and roses. A pool bar offers drinks and dining service during the summer months.
We loved our stay in Healdsburg – it’s a cute town with just enough going on but not so big that it loses that small town vibe. Hotel Healdsburg puts you right in the heart of it and makes for the perfect base for exploring so we can highly recommend it.
25 Matheson Street, Healdsburg, CA 95448, United States
designhotels.com