We stayed here one night after having a gluttony tour for my husband's birthday (French Laundry and Ubuntu that day). So after having some 14 courses for lunch, we checked in at the White House Inn and my husband collapsed into a food coma on the bed in the afternoon. The check in service was great --we were shown all of the amenities, including the cookies, the wine service later that evening, the spa and pool. Everything is very well maintained and clean.
Trying to nap in the afternoon was difficult, however. first, the cleaning staff was vacuuming. that didn't last that long, but then another motor sound came on in a room above us --for the life of me, i don't know what it was. it was really loud in the bathroom, so i suspect either someone had their jacuzzi tub on, or maybe their bathroom fan was on, but it was LOUD. My husband conked out anyway, but there was no way I could sleep with that going on so I ended up reading the magazines the B&B provided in the room. (They also had housemade truffles there when we arrived).
Between that noise and being able to hear our neighbors conversations, I wasn't thrilled with the sound insulation. Also, there's a window between the bathroom and the bedroom --a stained glass, so you can't see through, but you can definitely HEAR through. So if you're going for a first weekend with your new boyfriend and don't want him to hear everything that you're doing in the bathroom, maybe see if they have a room that doesn't have that window.
Of course, that's just a fact of life in these old houses --and this really is a beautiful old house. It was built by a leather magnate, the man who created the Napa leather tanning process, and so some of the wall panels are actually supposedly made of leather! So it is full of charm, and also the drawbacks of the old houses --the noise, the loud fans and such. Since I lived in a Victorian in SF for 11 years I'm kinda over the charm part and prefer things like insulation.
I should say that breakfast was really delicious --the hot entree was a sausage omelet, and the buffet has cold cereal, smoothies, muffins, juice, coffee, tea, fruit, and yogurt. The chocolate chip cookies were delicious, and I really have no complaints about the staff or the service.
The price seems high for what you get, but unfortunately, everything in Napa is just expensive --and a lot of the other places seemed even funkier, with the tub in the room and stuff. So while this is of average price, it was definitely no bargain.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
30 September 2011
Thank you for your feedback, and happy to hear you had what sounds like an amazing epicurean experience in the valley of food & wine!
The noise you heard from above was another guest turning on their Jacuzzi spa. Most rooms offer this amenity and the jets can be a bit noisy when turned on. As such, we limit the hours that the Jacuzzi jets can be turned on, generally from late night to early morning.
The wall panels are fashioned from leather! Designed from the original owner who was a tanner in town, Emmanuel Manasse, who worked at Sawyer Tannery. They developed Napatan Waterproof Leather and Manasse himself originated a method of dressing leather now known as the Napa Patent Process - Napa Patent Leather!
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