Great location in walking distance to restaurants and shops, but the Inn itself and staff needs some TLC. The gardens are lovely, but upon touring the property at check-in, we were warned of a bee problem by the pool. The pool looks as old as the property with signs of needed maintenance work.
The owner/inn keeper boasted that the inn is original and not like other inns that have modernized. Not sure that is a positive thing to point out. Well, that’s clearly the case. I was looking for the charm of an old Victorian Inn, but some updating, especially in the bathroom is needed. The rooms look like they have never been updated. Hated the wooden toilet seat… not charming, just a bit too old for my taste. The tiny sink is in need of replacement. The idea of a claw foot tub sounds beautiful, but not a dated one that you need to shower in, that is placed on top of wall to wall carpeting. I didn’t want to use the A/C, since it was cool out, but wasn’t getting much of a breeze in the room. I couldn’t put the ceiling fan on high, because it would shake and rattle so much. It was too noisy and seemed like it would fall off the ceiling.
Food: They had what seemed like store bought cookies in the evening and sherry. Seems very old fashioned. Not a sherry fan, but my grandmother was. Since we’re in Sonoma, a little complimentary wine would have suited me better. Breakfast was large, but lacking. The fruit was tasty but not sure if it was as fresh as it could have been. I liked the hard-boiled eggs, but the pastries were average at best. Website says granola… didn’t get any of that.
The part I disliked the most, that seemed in appropriate, were all the rules (ie. turn lights off when not in room, rooms have A/C but isn’t necessary, only can use hot tub for 1 hour and be out by 9:00 pm). I don’t know why they have a hot tub because it seems the owner really doesn’t want it used. You need to make an appointment to be shown how to operate the tub. When I approached the owner about it, I got a clear feeling she was not too happy. She made it clear that there was an hour limit (b/c other guests may want to use it, but we never saw another guest while we were there) she went on to explain that a couple nights prior a couple used it and stayed in too late and she could hear them and so she had to yell out to them that it was time to get out (she lives in a room right next to the cottage and hot tub). I felt like a child visiting my grandmother’s house. You don’t want to go on vacation and visit wine country and have these types of rules and regulations. I think the Inn is priced too high for what you get. Either lower the price or revamp the Inn and vibe.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
