My husband and I stayed here with a cycling group for one night of our tour. The town is tiny but lovely. The Inn is a delightful jumble of main house and building joined by walkways. We stayed in the Wine Country room which was lovely and spacious. The big jetted tub was just what we needed after our day of cycling. We enjoyed the wine and cheese before setting off for dinner. The hosts were very attentive. Breakfast was okay. The frittata served was quite a tiny serving and not super tasty but there were a number of other items at the buffet that were good and my appetite was satisfied. A lovely little place off the beaten track.

Delightful inn, with charming rooms and a lot of comfort. The decor focuses on American folk art, filled with some amazing, beautiful and quirky pieces. Breakfasts were terrific; my only suggestion on that front is that an option for those of us trying to eat a little less would be nice. On the other hand, everything was so delicious and well prepared, it was totally worth it. The wine and cheese in the evening was nice and the innkeepers could not have been more gracious and helpful. Their restaurant recommendations were awesome. Will definitely send friends and relatives and, I hope, ourselves!

I had multiple meetings in San Fransisco, and my wife and I decided to make a vacation out of it.

We stayed in the Sandwich Glass Suite. The room was very nice. It was clean, and everything was working. It was more than roomy enough for two people. The view from the windows where the whirpool was was nice. The view was over the garden. There was one thing you had to be careful of. The window also looked over a window over the hall outside the room. When using the tub, make sure the blind is drawn or you could give someone a free show. The other strange thing about the room is an open "window" that looks over the bathroom (the tub is at the highest part of the room and overlooks the rest of the bathroom, bed and sitting area.) Couldn't quite figure why that was there unless the designer loved to bug his/her spouse when they were on the toilet. This was definately a quirky (but fun) B and B room.

The hotel's setting is beautiful. I love northern California's natural aromatherapy from the cypress and redwood trees. You won't be dissapointed staying here.

Breakfast was delicious. There were plenty of things to eat. The hot dishes (pancakes one morning and a quiche the next day which I asked at got seconds) was delicious. No complaints at all.

The wine and cheese time was fun. The inn was full when we were there, so we had plenty of time to talk to different guests from around the country. The wine and cheese were local and good. Not bad for folks like us who love wine and cheese, and not too challanging for the average guest.

Tina did a very good job of finding resturants. We talked about a drive and eating on the coast--watching the sun set while dining. She mapped out a wonderful route for me (much to my wife's chagrin!) and got to drive my rented Camero through the winding roads to the coast. The resturant's setting was beautiful and had fabulous service, but the food was not the greatest. Tina asked about the restaurant, and we told her what we liked and did not like. She suggested Bistro 29 in Santa Rosa. That restaurant was fabulous. (She also suggested a couple of wineries and a route to get to them that reminded very much of Burgundy.)

The negatives: the coffee and tea stand always ran out of the daily cookies before I got to them. The hot tub's jets got weak on the second day. It would be nice to have an outdoor tub at the inn. The internet access was weak. The only reason this was important was my and my wife's cell service did not work in Occidental. Without our discount, the price would be too high.

My husband booked the “Stress Buster” package for my birthday. He chose the Inn at Occidental because it was rumored to be beautiful, comfortable, with delicious, “gourmet” breakfasts, in a good location. We stayed two nights in the Wine Country Room.

Prior to our visit, the Innkeepers seemed attentive and eager to make our stay as ideal as possible. They asked if we had any special dietary needs, so my husband told them that I cannot eat nuts. During our check-in, Marilyn confirmed that they had made a note of this restriction, she volunteered the information to us from her booking notes, and we reconfirmed that yes indeed, I could not eat nuts.

We were shown to our room. It was very nice, spacious, nice quilts, lovely linens, a big jacuzzi tub, fireplace, very nice overall, although we prefer a firmer bed. But still, we were excited to be there, Marilyn did a fabulous job of giving us the details and offering the support we needed for our stay.

We did the wine tasting in the evening. The living room/reception area is cozy. The décor is cluttered with some odd choices perhaps, but that is a matter of taste, and it was pleasant to sit there in the warmth with a glass of wine and some cheese, browsing menus of nearby restaurants.

We had a great dinner at the nearby Bistro des Copains, delicious food, good wine, wonderful service, reasonable prices.

And so to bed.

In the morning we woke up with anticipation for the promised gourmet breakfast. It was the weekend, so we were not there at 8:30 am on the dot, but instead around 9:15 am, in good time before the 10am deadline. And what was on offer? Well, exactly what was described in their brochure. To the letter. We checked later. To the letter: “custom-blended coffee, your choice of juice, fruit from a local farm, the Inn's own granola, and a fresh baked pastry. Next, a hot entree ...”

Now for the reality, at least on the morning we were there, bearing in mind my carefully noted allergy to nuts.

The cereal was nut-laden granola. There was no other option on offer. If I had wanted to go into anaphylactic shock, a spoonful of that would have done the job nicely.

But wait, they had taken such careful note of my inability to eat nuts, perhaps the coffee cake would be OK. But no, the coffee cake was covered in almonds. Maybe I could have knocked the almonds off the outside, but how could I know what was inside? Besides, I thought I could look forward to the hot entree, a new creation each day, a “feast for the eyes”. So I waited.

Well, what came to the table did not have nuts in or on it, and I suppose it was pretty enough, but that's about all I can say in its favor: the “hot” breakfast was actually a plate of cold pancakes (and they were cold), covered in cornflour-thickened orange “sauce”, alongside a slice of cold hard bacon, and a blob of cream and a slice of orange in an artistic twist. Yum. I ate the pancakes because I was hungry, and washed the food down with coffee.

And the coffee? It was like dishwater, tasteless, weak drip coffee served in a thermos. The cup I took was for medicinal purposes alone.

And there was indeed fruit, as advertised, except it had gone brown. Cubes of soggy-looking watermelon, brown pineapple, a little cantaloupe. That was it.

On our second morning we gave the dining room a wide berth, and went to Howard's instead, a great little cafe a block away that serves espresso and basic warm breakfasts.

Getting back to the rest of our stay, it was restful even though the was sound insulation was poor, and our upstairs neighbors were pretty noisy on the second night. One gripe with the room was that, no matter what temperature we set it on, the thermostat was programmed to drop to 65 F and then 60 F during the night, so the room is very cold in the morning when you wake up.

Somehow I came away with the feeling that this is just a business for the owners, there is no real love or pride in what they do. It was a cold experience, and we will not be back.