Hotel Reviews
Is the Andaz Napa Worth the Price?
My dad and I finally found a weekend to meet up in Napa that worked for both of us. Unfortunately the first weekend in April wound up being on one of the (many) sold-out hotel weekends and I was scrambling a little bit to find a place to stay for Saturday night.
Since we’d spend the day wine-tasting, I wanted an in-town location so it would be easy to walk to dinner. I also wanted it to be a room/hotel that we’d enjoy spending time in. Apparently my demands were rather unreasonable! 🙂
Hotels south of Napa had plenty of availability, but were still over $100 a night and would tack on at least 30-45 minutes driving in each direction. Many of the hotels in Napa, St. Helena, and Calistoga were requiring 2 night stays at high season prices which wouldn’t work for us.
The nicer hotels, like the Westin Verasa were sold out. The Wine Valley Lodge didn’t appeal and hardly seemed a value at $149+.
This left me with two possible options: the Andaz Napa at $380 for the night including tax, or the Best Western Plus Elm House for $250.
It looked like a perfectly nice Best Western, in fact, nicer than I had seen before, so was the Andaz worth spending $130 more?
- The Andaz has a great location, just a block or two from the main downtown attractions.
- Free self-parking in a garage behind the building
- Across the street from Oenotri, considered one of the better (and affordable) restaurants in Napa.
- All rooms are modern and renovated
- Free internet access, and decent download speeds.
- Great lobby ambiance with a free glass of wine at check-in, free wine tastings from 5-6PM, and other perks throughout the day like free chair massages.
Clearly I am a BIG fan of this property, but all the perks above weren’t quite enough to justify the extra cost this time. However, as a Diamond member, the equation changed a little.
- Free breakfast for up to 4 people at the Farmer’s Table restaurant (~$25 value per person)
- Points or welcome amenity of bottle of wine and delicious cheese plate from the restaurant.
- Better room
- Stay towards requalifying for status.
Even then, it wasn’t not clear. I’ve stayed here twice before on busy weekends. One time I redeemed a suite upgrade and got a decent, entry-level corner suite. Another time it was just the standard room. The Best Western offers free breakfast, and while they may not have the amazing potatoes I dream about, it is free.
In the end, I went with the Andaz. Not having to walk the half mile to downtown, getting a qualifying stay, having an amazing breakfast and getting to show off the fun property to my dad was worth the extra cost. If you’re not an elite or going for a special occasion, during peak times, spending $100+ more than options one star rating down, might not be worth it.
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