Dudleydog73

As was stated a few times, the individual reservation lists the room type that you have booked. More times then not you will see the room type change closer to your checkin date if an upgrade was given. The differene is bigger for properties that have several types of rooms like the Lodge in this post, rather then the tpical FS hotel that has Concierge and not-Concierge level rooms.

--DD73

P.S. I will post a full trip report when we get home but tonight is our 5th wedding anniversary and I don't have time to post anything yet

SanDiego1K

Any recent reporrts? Is the restaurant at the hotel still outstanding?

y2k1jetta

Yes, both are killer for what it is.

iflyjetz

SanDiego1K, I posted my September visit here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...ry-hotels.html


From 18 Sep 09:

mapu

What's the best way to get to Sonoma from SFO? Is there a helicopter service?

iflyjetz

Rent a car. It's not a bad drive.

SanDiego1K

We just had a pleasant two night stay at the property.

First and foremost, I loved staying in Sonoma. We've stayed near Napa and in Healdsburg on earlier visits to the area. Staying in Sonoma was perfect for us. The town is charming, there is a concentration of great restaurants, and we did several things in Glen Ellen which is only a 10 minute drive from Sonoma. It was a very quick drive from SFO, just over one hour. We will definitely return.

The hotel wasn't quite all that I had hoped for from reading posts above, though it was certainly acceptable. When you enter the property, Carneros, their restaurant, is immediately to the right, then the hotel building straight ahead. The hotel property is a long rectangle, with a motel like building at the front and the "cottages" extending the length of the property. The spa is at the far end. The U of the front building opens to the swimming pool and a small jacuzzi. There is a very nice sitting area just outside the lobby, with tables and rattan chairs.

I am a platinum, and we were upgraded to a "cottage". I took a food amenity, as they said the cheese was local. It might have been, but the round of brie looked no different than any I have received in Rens throughout the world. I had naively hoped for locally made artisan cheese, as there are superb local products. The hotel very graciously then sent a bowl of mixed nuts (heavy on the peanuts) and a fruit plate.

I think that the word "cottage" gave me a certain expectation of charm which was not fulfilled. These buildings look rather like modern southern California condo complexes, with 3 or 4 rooms per building. The room is a long junior suite. As you enter, the bed is to the left with the sitting area to the right. There is a love seat, a chair, a small coffee table, and a large flat screen TV. Beyond is the bathroom, with shutters that can be opened between the tub and the bedroom. There is a separate, small shower in the room housing the toilet. Fireplaces are gas. There is parking that goes around the outside of the buildings, so we parked very close to our room. Thus, we never went thru the lobby. This gives considerable privacy but it also gives a feeling of distance from any common shared area. We had no interaction with staff other than check in, check out, and the discussion about our amenity.

The onsite restaurant, Carneros, is really excellent. There were imaginative choices on the breakfast menu, a rarity these days. I strongly endorse the lemon scones with lemon marscapone and orange mamalade. We also had lunch one day. Places we ate in Sonoma, all terrific:

• a girl and a fig
• Cafe LaHaye
• Swiss Hotel - had an amazing flat bread/baked brie/roasted garlic appetizer I made my main meal
• Vella cheese factory - ok, not a meal, but well worth a visit to buy their aged Monterey Jack cheese. Superb.

There are a number of historic sites in the area, worth a visit:

• Sonoma Mission (furthest north of the California missions) and barracks
• Jack London State Park, Glen Ellen - where Jack London lived the latter years of his short life. Fascinating
• Charles Schulz Museum, Santa Rosa - further afield, about a 30 minute drive, and a lot of fun

It was one of those magical trips that left us wanting more and hoping to return soon.

Green_eyes

SanDiego1K - thanks for review. Is "cottage" their best room? Is the bedroom separate from the living room? We are going with our son and would prefer a private bedroom if possible. I checked there website and it says something about "suites" with bedroom.
Have you used the Spa at all?
Also, have you done any public wine tastings around the property?

our future stay is April 1-2, hoping for beautiful warm weather...

SanDiego1K

Our room, called a cottage, was in one of the separate buildings that house 3 or 4 units. It was not a suite, though it had a fireplace.

We did not use the spa.

I'm of no help on the wine tastings.

Have a wonderful time. It's such a lovely area.

Green_eyes

thank you - I am sure we wll. Planning on biking tours in the area and kayaking on the Russian River!

DJ_Iceman

The base rooms are in the lodge, which is the main part of the hotel where the front desk is. Cottage rooms are more expensive, or given as an upgrade to elites. IIRC there is a flimsy folding door that can separate the main bedroom from the living area. They have suites both in the lodge and in the cottages which do have separate, private bedrooms but they only have a few and they are quite expensive (or require a great deal of luck to score as an upgrade).

The spa there is wonderful. Very relaxing with great service. My wife and I pampered ourselves with a full day there during our last stay. We took a treatment break around lunchtime and they had room service deliver lunch to us in their private courtyard. It's really a secluded retreat within what is already a very pleasant area.

Regarding wine tasting, the one piece of advice I'll give is to avoid the on-site tasting room. They lease the space from Marriott and are bitter about it, and really turned us off with their attitude. The concierge should be able to help with wine tasting maps, advice, etc.

Green_eyes

Thanks a lot! I was trying to see
those Suites online, but they dont have them available for booking.... Will def. hit the spa. Is on-site parking free?

SanDiego1K

Yes. The hotel buildings are in a long rectangle, with parking outside on all sides.

jtp1947

I am going to reserve a guest room at the lodge, but as a Gold, can I look forward to an upgrade to a cottage room if one is available?

cupps

I stayed at the Rennaisance Sonoma this summer and was upgraded to one of the lodges. However, I can tell you that in my opinion, there is not a lot of difference in the size of the lodge versus a regular room. Others in the party had regular rooms.

Good luck.