1. El Bonita Motel
City: St. Helena, CA
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (707) 963-3216, (800) 541-3284
Address: 195 Main Street
Description: The old neon sign and poolside layout point to this motel’s roots as a classic 1950s roadside motor hotel, but there have been upgrades galore since then. The 42 rooms are nicely furnished and painted in subdued gray-green tones. About two-thirds have microwaves and refrigerators. Some allow pets for a small fee. There is a fireplace in the lobby, and each guest receives a continental breakfast. Flowers and fountains proliferate in the lawn areas, while the pool is complemented by a sauna and a Jacuzzi. For quieter rooms away from the highway traffic, ask for the Homestead building.
City: St. Helena, CA
Category: Accommodations
Address: 1 Main Street
City: St. Helena, CA
Category: Accommodations
Address: 1152 Lodi Lane
4. The Inn At Southbridge
City: St. Helena, CA
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (707) 967-9400, (800) 520-6800
Address: 1020 Main Street
Description: This upscale St. Helena hotel looks something like a winery, with its earth tones and creeping vines. The resemblance is no coincidence, as architect William Turnbull Jr. is known for his winery design. The Inn at Southbridge has 21 ample rooms, each with a vaulted ceiling, fireplace, sisal-style carpets, and down comforter. French doors open onto a private balcony overlooking the courtyard. The rooms are set up for corporate clients, with high-speed Internet access. The inn has a lap pool and a full-service health club with steam, weights, and stationary bikes.
5. Hotel St. Helena
City: St. Helena, CA
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (707) 963-4388, (888) 478-4355
Address: 1309 Main Street
Description: This restored hotel in the heart of downtown is quintessential St. Helena: immaculate, charming, and not cheap. It was an upscale hotel when it was built back in 1881, but it soon deteriorated into a second-floor flophouse over the local Montgomery Ward. Now it has recaptured and redefined its glory. At ground level are shops and a flowery arcade, plus a wine and coffee bar in the lobby. Upstairs are 18 antiques-filled rooms painted in combinations of subdued tones: burgundy, mauve, chocolate, dark tan, and pale gold. Fourteen of the rooms have private baths, some with old claw-foot tubs. A large continental breakfast is included in the price, as well as complimentary wine in the afternoon. This is a nonsmoking property.
City: St. Helena, CA
Category: Accommodations
Address: 1575 St. Helena Highway S.
City: St. Helena, CA
Category: Accommodations
Address: 399 Zinfandel Lane
8. Glass Mountain Inn
City: St. Helena, CA
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (707) 968-9400, (877) 968-9400
Address: 3100 Silverado Trail
Description: Glass Mountain was named for its large deposits of obsidian, or black glass. That obsidian is evident in the dining room of the Glass Mountain Inn, where guests can peer into a wine cave dug by Chinese laborers (originally for perishables, not Pinots) in the late 1800s. The house, with its wood shingles and steepled roof, isn’t nearly as old as the cave. The inn has five large rooms with private baths, most with private balconies and sitting areas. In addition to four-poster king beds (in four of the rooms), there are iPod docking stations, sound machines, and DVD players. Guests are greeted with a full breakfast each morning that might include egg and vegetable frittata or fresh blueberry pancakes. Children 12 and older are welcome in the cottage.
City: St. Helena, CA
Category: Accommodations
Address: 1515 Main Street
City: St. Helena, CA
Category: Accommodations
Address: 900 Meadowood Lane