I received a travelzoo deal on the Sonoma Coast Villa and Spa, and was eager to use it immediately. The website looked charming, and it seemed like a great stay for my boyfriend and myself. I would have to stay that I was a bit disappointed with my stay, but do not get me wrong-the area was absolutely beautiful.

PROS:
Located a few miles from the beach
Wood burning fire place for a romantic night in
Quiet enviornment where you can relax and enjoy your stay

CONS:
Breakfast buffet--basically an upscale motel 6 buffet. I was very dissipointed by the buffet.

Smell-The inside office that we had to walk through daily smelled like an old lady; however, our bedrooms were fine. Just coming into the hotel to get to our room I would plug my nose.
Bed-was pretty hard

The water was turned off in the middle of the night. I was unable to use it to take a shower, brush my teeth or even flush the toilet #ewww. The owner proceeded to tell me, "things happen." Did not want to give me back any of my money on my $250 a night room. The only thing he reimbursed me for was my resort fee. Really?

Would I stay there again-no. However, for the right deal, it is a pretty stay.

My husband and spent one night here with a bloomspot gift certificate. It was a nice getaway from San Francisco. The grounds are very relaxing and the rooms are nice. We did a massage which was nice but I do not think it was worth the money. I would have rather lounged and participated in the wine tasting. We ordered dinner from the restaurant which they served in our room. At first I thought that would be a little weird but it was nice and the food was excellent!! They offer horse back riding on the beach, but we did not partake because of cost and wind but I bet it is probably really nice. Breakfast was good- better than I thought after reading the reviews and we had a blast playing some of the trivia games they had in the sun room.

The grounds are lovely and the room was adequate, with nice comfortable beds and a stocked wood-burning fireplace, also convertible to gas. The shower was large with lots of hot water, but the sink water was not drinkable (?!) and the temperature control system did not work; the room never warmed above 60 -- very cold on a chilly night in mid-November 2011. The friendly young fellow who checked us in and showed us to our room did not know much about the room features (how to light the gas fireplace pilot, for instance). The owner Johannes and his wife did not put any focus on guest services and did not smile, thank us for coming, invite us to return, ask how we enjoyed our stay -- he was completely focused on how much I owed. He is the chef and she was seen doing housekeeping and between the two of them they handle all jobs, but the major focus -- hospitality -- is completely missing. The breakfast buffet was better than expected (granola, two hot quiches, pastries, fresh fruit) and we heard good comments about the expensive multi-course dinners available in the restaurant, but we chose to go to the excellent, more reasonably priced waterside restaurant at Inn at the Tides and enjoyed crab cakes and fish stew and a gorgeous sunset.

Overall, we felt this property has tremendous potential but needs updating and an influx of cash to turn it into something like the Kenwood Inn, a comfortable mix of casual and lush. The elements are all here, but the owners need to put more of an emphasis on friendliness, helpfulness and hospitality. Guests are their livelihood, not a bother.

This inn was in a great location and has so much unrealized potential -- but we would probably not choose to return.

The SC Villa is a beautiful property 5 miles from the ocean. I could imagine that in it's day this would be a great hideaway from any busy lifestyle. This is what we expected by the reviews we found online. What we found was a property that could use some TLC & updating, a unfriendly environment and ammenities that didn't match the images online. Maybe the owner, Johanns, isn't by nature a very talkative person, but he should try to make his guests feel welcomed. We were there three nights and the only time he spoke to us was when we checked in, at breakfast when he asked what kind of juice we wanted and "thank you" when we left. Never asked how our day was or if there was anything that would make our stay better. The unfriendly atmosphere created by the staff seemed to spill over among the guests. One of the best features of staying at a smaller inn is that the owners are more intimate and make the guests feel so comfortable. Otherwise, the grounds are clean and the rooms are spacious. The fireplace was nice and helped "warm" the atmosphere. We didn't get any description of the property and we weren't sure what areas were open to the public or off limits so we just stayed on the path to our room and the dining room. Would have enjoyed the stables if we were told about them. Breakfast was plentiful but don't expect "gourmet". My suggestion is to serve fewer but better quality items. Maybe serve a different breakfast dish each day for variety. Table service is always a must in such a small setting. I hope to see improved reviews during the upcoming year so when we return to the area next year we would consider giving it another try.