While Napa and Sonoma counties are best known as California’s Wine Country, the fruits of the vine are only part of what makes the region a vintage choice for meetings. Deluxe resorts, quaint towns, outdoor adventures, chef-owned restaurants, organic farms, cultural venues and a surprisingly varied range of geography are also part of what defines these two counties just an hour or two north of San Francisco.
“The variety of experiences that people can have in just one day here is astonishing,” says Mo McElroy, executive director of the Santa Rosa CVB. “We have organized day tours that take people canoeing on the Russian River, watching for seals at Bodega Bay, walking in the redwoods at Armstrong State Park and, of course, wine tasting.”
While staying true to their agricultural roots, Napa and Sonoma continue to evolve as world-class visitor destinations. As the number of resorts and wineries has proliferated throughout the countryside, the two largest cities, Napa and Santa Rosa, have kept up the pace with spruced-up downtowns made vibrant with new sightseeing attractions, restored buildings, upgraded hotels and renowned restaurants.
Napa County
While a growing number of regions around the country lay claim to the description “wine country,” it’s safe to say that the Napa Valley is probably what most people have in mind when they hear the term. The main point of contact for the region is the Napa Valley Conference & Visitors Bureau.
The surprisingly compact vineyard-laced region draws tens of thousands of visitors each year to wineries that are as much tourist attractions as they are working vineyards. Along with tasting the fruits of the vine, visitors to Francis Ford Coppola’s Niebaum Coppola Vineyards can wander through the Godfather Museum, while a stop at Sterling Vineyards means a cable car ride up a steep hill crowned by a stunning white winery designed to resemble a Greek monastery.
Adding more interest to the valley are charming towns such as St. Helena, Yountville and Calistoga, all known for stellar resorts, fine-dining restaurants and upscale spas, as well as wineries.
While in years past, tourists tended to bypass the town of Napa and make a beeline north for the more glamorous valley, these days Napa is shedding its pedestrian image and rapidly becoming a popular base for visitors, groups included.
“There’s been a real shift of interest to Napa proper,” says Dan Block, director of sales at the Westin Verasa, a 180-unit condo hotel that opened in downtown Napa in mid-September. “So much has happened here, with new hotels, restaurants, nightlife and entertainment.”
The new hotel is a neighbor to such attractions as the Oxbow Public Market, which offers a mix of artisanal food vendors, specialty shops, farm stands, restaurants, a wine bar and a microbrewery; and Copia, The American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts.
Nearby are restored historic structures, including the Napa Valley Opera House, an 1879 Italianate Victorian gem housing a 500-seat theater, and the depot for the Napa Valley Wine Train, which makes excursions into the valley, featuring gourmet dining and wine tasting onboard.
The new Westin Verasa offers 12,000 square feet of meeting space, with catering operations overseen by Executive Chef Ken Frank, whose award-winning La Toque restaurant has been relocated to the hotel. The property is also offering a roster of wine-related activities for groups, including wine-making education and grape-stomping competitions.
“We’ve had a lot of interest from planners, particularly for small corporate meetings, incentives and retreats,” Bock says. “We’re focusing heavily on groups from the Bay Area and Sacramento, as about half of the market for Napa is a drive market. Groups of about 100 are the ideal size for us, but we can host events for up to 200.”
Another new hotel in downtown Napa is on the way—the 141-room Avia Napa, formerly the Inn at Town Center, which is expected to open next spring with 19,000 square feet of meeting space.
In Yountville, the 62-unit Bardessono Inn and Spa is scheduled to open in February. Located on the original Bardessono family vineyard, the luxury boutique property will feature a spa, an upscale restaurant and banquet facilities. Yountville is also gearing up for the fall 2009 opening of the luxury 20-room Hotel Lucia and an expansion of the Yountville Inn, which will include 32 new guest rooms and a conference center accommodating up to 100 people.
Throughout Napa County are many meetings-friendly properties that are new or recently renovated. In spring 2007, Calistoga welcomed the 89-unit Solage Calistoga, with 16,200 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting space. The property offers a 20,000-square-foot spa, an expansive pool area and a rolling lawn available for events.
Another new property is the 132-room Gaia Napa Valley Hotel & Spa in American Canyon, which has received gold certification through the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system. The hotel, which offers five meeting rooms, can host up to 400 people.
The 158-room Meritage Resort at Napa opened in 2006 with 14,000 square feet of meeting space. Last year, the resort added wine caves with a tasting area and banquet venues, in addition to a spa nestled within the caves. Properties that have upgraded facilities also include the Silverado Resort, which completed a renovation of its meeting space earlier this year; the Marriott Napa Valley Hotel and Spa, which features 22,000 square feet of function space and finished a facility-wide renovation in 2006; The Harvest Inn Hotel, which recently added 20 guest rooms to its inventory; and The Villagio Inn and Spa, which recently added a 16,000-square-foot outdoor reception area and replaced its spa with a larger facility.
Other meetings choices include the Embassy Suites Napa Valley, which completed a $5 million renovation two years ago, and the 27-acre Carneros Inn, a PlumpJack Resort, which wrapped up a $35 million facility enhancement last year.
Meadowood Napa Valley, River Terrace Inn and the historic Napa River Inn are also group-friendly properties.
Sonoma County
Roughly the size of Rhode Island, Sonoma County covers a range of territory that includes a 60-mile seacoast, deep redwood forests, wild rivers and rolling hills planted with vineyards, orchards and a wide variety of fruit and vegetable crops. The county also encompasses the historic California mission town of Sonoma; the seaside enclaves of Bodega Bay and Sea Ranch; the inland communities of Healdsburg, Cloverdale, Petaluma, Sebastopol, Guerneville and Rohnert Park; and the city of Santa Rosa.
While people usually know what to expect from the famous Napa Valley, the environs of Sonoma are more of a mystery, according to Mark Crabb, director of sales for the Sonoma County Tourism Bureau.
“People are often surprised at how diverse we are,” he says. “People don’t realize that we have a seacoast, that we have so many activities. You can kayak on the river, play at incredible golf courses and enjoy great restaurants where the emphasis is on food that is local and sustainable.”
Educating potential clients about what Sonoma offers has been the mission of the 3-year-old bureau, which now has a staff of 17 in its Santa Rosa headquarters as well as representatives in Texas and Chicago. The bureau works with the Santa Rosa CVB and the Sonoma Valley Visitors Bureau in promoting the region.
“California is our biggest market, but we also get business from around the country, especially when it comes to incentives—people really want to come to Wine Country,” Crabb says.
Lacking a convention center, Sonoma County focuses on smaller meetings of 250 people or less, with prime markets including corporate retreats, board meetings and regional association meetings. According to Crabb, the best times to find flexible hotel rates are Sunday through Thursday and late fall through early spring.
Helping Sonoma County widen its appeal beyond Northern California is new service into Santa Rosa’s Charles Schultz Airport, which features flights on Horizon Air from Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Seattle and Portland, Ore.
Located just a mile from the airport is the new 90-room Hilton Garden Inn Santa Rosa.
Planning and hosting a recent meeting of the Western Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus in her city, the Santa Rosa CVB’s McElroy got a chance to see for herself what a difference the new air service makes for meetings.
“We had bureau CEOs coming in from Washington, Oregon and Southern California who really appreciated the convenience,” she says. “The service has been extremely popular ever since it began.”
During the meeting of 150 attendees, McElroy also got a chance to use a local off-site venue, the Charles M. Schultz Museum, which is devoted to the life and art of the late creator of the Peanuts comic strip, a long-time Santa Rosa resident.
“It was great fun—we had lunch in Snoopy dog bowls and had Snoopy-shaped cookies,” McElroy says. “And we were able to meet with Charles Schultz’s son Craig.”
The Santa Rosa CVB recently created California’s Cornucopia—the Place of Plenty, a new marketing and branding program for the city.
“It reflects the fact that we’re a town surrounded by agriculture, a place where you can really experience the bounty of the land and the farms,” McElroy says. “And it reflects our large number of restaurants where the chefs plan the menus based on what local ingredients are on the truck that day.”
Santa Rosa’s wide range of meetings-friendly hotels include the Hyatt Vineyard Creek-Sonoma County, with 40,000 square feet of function space; the FountainGrove Inn Hotel and Conference Center; the Vintner’s Inn, which opened a 13,000-square-foot events center two years ago; the Hilton Sonoma Wine Country; the Courtyard Santa Rosa; and the Flamingo Conference Resort and Spa, which recently unveiled a $4 million renovation of its 170 guest rooms, spa and health club, as well as an expanded poolside dining area.
In nearby Rohnert Park is the Doubletree Hotel Sonoma Wine Country, which offers 18,000 square feet of meeting space. Also in Rohnert Park, a 102-room Hampton Inn & Suites opened late last year.
Other notable properties in the county include the Sheraton Sonoma County-Petaluma, and along the coast is Sea Ranch Lodge as well as the Bodega Bay Lodge and Spa, which finished a $3 million renovation last year that included enhancements to guest rooms and other areas.
Farther inland, the town of Sonoma is a standout meetings destination, home to a quaint main square, inviting shops and restaurants, and a historic mission, while nearby are renowned wineries that double as unique off-site venues.
Top meetings properties in the town of Sonoma include the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa; The Lodge at Sonoma, a Renaissance Resort and Spa, which recently added a 4,800-square-foot seasonal events center to its meeting space portfolio; and MacArthur Place, featuring 5,000 square feet of newly renovated meeting space.
Nearby is the Sonoma Valley Inn, with 2,000 square feet of meeting space, and the Westerbeke Ranch Conference Center, with event space for up to 120 people.
For More Info
Calistoga Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau 707.942.6333 www.calistogafun.com
Napa Valley Conference and Visitors Bureau 707.226.7459 www.napavalley.org
Santa Rosa CVB 707.577.8674 www.visitsantarosa.com
Sonoma County Tourism Bureau 707.539.7282 www.sonomacounty.com
Sonoma Valley Visitors Bureau 707.996.1090 www.sonomavalley.com
