I think i am very much in the minority here for daring to suggest using a suite award for anything that is not a suite, but i see material value in the vineyard view room. And it's not just the view, but the fact that the deck backs up right onto a vineyard. So sitting out on the deck before dinner with a bottle of bubbles with rows of vines literally in your backyard is pretty awesome. If it was just a window, i'd think differently. I wouldn't use an SNA to look out the window at, say, the Eiffel Tower. But I find something very cool about the vineyard view room where the upgraded experience, not just the "view" is worth an SNA to me.

That being said, it depends on what your needs are and what your alternative uses for an SNA are. If you are eyeing a special suite somewhere else, then obviously this is not worth an SNA. If you need the space for kids, or you just value space above all else, then obviously this is not worth it. Or if you have an upcoming trip where the regular rooms are super small, then this is not worth it. But if it's just two of you and you're saving SNAs for a suite that is just a connecting room with a couch and a desk and you're going to be out and about so no real need for the space, you might get more value out of using an SNA here.

Restort fee
 

I had a points stay this past weekend and like others have noted, my reservation originally showed no fees of any kind, then a resort fee appeared and then subsequently disappeared.

I can report that this weekend there was no mention of a resort fee at any point. I don't have a copy of my folio yet, although it was supposed to be emailed, but I checked out in person and it was mentioned that the stay was entirely covered by the points.

I did notice some recent changes though, which I could see being things that would be covered by a resort fee - there are yoga/pilates classes in the morning advertised in the room (with no mention of a fee) and car service in the evening - I used it to go for dinner and my only expense was the tip, I suspect that this will be quite popular and so difficult to take advantage of though.

A few days before the stay my credit card was charged over $500 which actually posted rather than just being pending - the hotel explained it was a Marriott mix up that caused some points reservations to be billed and the pushed through a refund, which has also posted, so not a big deal, but it did seem like the refund was done manually because I pointed it out rather than an automatic correction of the the mistake, so worth double checking your statements.

the car service has been offered for at least a year and a half.

Amazing stay
 

Introduction My wife and I just returned from a long weekend at the Las Alcobas, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Napa Valley. We booked a Junior Suite with a Vineyard View and received that room. Even though I am an Ambassador guest, I wasn't expecting any upgrades since the only category above what we booked was a 1 Bedroom Suite (and I believe there is only 1 in the whole hotel.) We had heard mixed things about the property -especially the service. After our experience, we felt the property was great -especially the service. Check In We arrived quite early on Thursday (11:30 a.m.) and did not expect to check in early even though we requested Your24 early check in. Unfortunately, my Ambassador did not notify the hotel of the early check in (that's a longer story), but they said they would do their best to get us in early. We decided to use the Spa and get lunch in town to kill some time. We ended up checking in at 3:00 p.m. and not waiting around too much. But it was a bit annoying that they did not have the early check in request. I believe the front desk manager that they had no prior notification and felt she did a great job expediting the cleaning of the room (especially since the hotel only has a limited number of rooms and was sold out). Additionally, they kept us posted about the progress on a regular basis. The actual check in was very smooth and they escorted us to the room and showed us all the special features. (The lighting and blackout shades are a bit complicated but pretty simple after they explain the controls.) Room Our Junior Suite was a nice size room. The bathroom is divided into two parts. One side includes a toilet and sink. The other side includes the bath and shower and an additional sink. Its a little funky but actually worked well for us. There is a large closest and then the bedroom. The bedroom has a small area with a minibar and coffee/tea station. The balcony and firepit is almost bigger than the actual room. *Note for bhrubin - the room got quite cold (we had it at 65) which was nice since it was quite hot outside. The only downside was when I woke up early in the morning and my wife slept later. There really wasn't a place for me to work/read/etc except for the balcony which would wake her up. So I ended up going into the bathroom in order to let her sleep. Service The service was excellent and exactly what you expect from a 5 Star Luxury hotel. The concierge spent significant time with us in booking dinner reservations and wine tasting appointments. (They made some excellent -off the beaten path, choices that were really great and highly recomend.) Everyone from the housekeeping staff, to the servers, to the spa personnel were friendly, informed, and willing to help. We were quite impressed and have stayed at all types of hotels from Amans, St. Regis, Four Seasons, and Oberoi. Service was definitely on par. We even had one issue during our trip that was resolved and handled quite well. There was a "bachelor party" or a group of many guys staying in one room above us. The vibe at the hotel is couples relaxing and a serene environment. Needless to say, the loud behavior with hip hop music blaring was well taken by most of the guests including us. The staff took care of it without even prompting and there was no further noise issues from the group. One word of caution though, if you are a light sleeper, I recommend getting a room on the third/top floor since it can be an issue if you have a noisy neighbor. It ultimately wasn't an issue for us since the group was moved/quieted down. But it could be an issue. Dining We had breakfast every morning at the restaurant Acaia House. (It was included for Ambassador guests). While a smaller menu, everything we tried from Chilaquiles to Smoked Salmon were excellent. Service was prompt and we signed a bill with gratuity. No charges were on our bill We also had lunch at the pool on two days. We had great sandwich and the chips are out of this world. Drinks were great as well. We also had dinner one night at Acaia house. It was also delicious and highly recommend eating there even if you are not staying at the hotel. Location The property is in a great location. Walking distance to town and several wineries. We went into town on many different ocassions. It was only a 10 minute walk. Also, they have bicycles that you can borrow at the hotel. There a bunch of we used them to go wine tasting, which was great. Overall Highly recomend this property. We will be going back for sure. Feel free to reach out with any specific questions. Spa We both had treatments on our first day while we waited for the room to be ready. They were both excellent. The spa facilities are really nice and we had the whole place to ourselves. The staff were really great and attentive.

@SeeTheLights Thanks for a great review. I am really looking forward to our visit.

I am interested in your winery suggestions. We still have a lot of time to plan that but are already checking out possibilities.

Thanks!

For sure. They recommended a bunch (including the standards in the area), but the big highlight for us was Ehlers Estate. They do a private tour and wine tasting. It is quite an impressive property and only 2 miles from Los Alcobas. (We actually took bikes there but it was a tough ride.) Bradley who runs the place was so informative and let us try all different type of reserve wines. Plus, the best part is that all profits go to cardiac research. I'll try and find our list of wineries to send around, too.

It looks like I have been advance upgraded to a Jr Suite (using SNA) in the Acacia house. I am debating calling and "downgrading" into a standard vineyard view king. Does anyone have any thoughts/advice on staying in the Acacia house vs the vineyard view rooms?

Thanks!

I visited Ehlers as well and it was probably my favorite of the 12 or so wineries we visited last month. Amazing experience.

I wuv you! :D

I'm booked for a stay here in May 2020...so this is very reassuring!

Just got invited to a wedding next summer in St Helena. This looks like the best option. Cash rate is high but am sitting on a big pile of Marriott points and they do no good just sitting there.

Two questions:

1) Worth the extra points for this over staying in Napa/Sonoma at the Marriott/Westin/Renaissance? Obviously shorter drive but over the 2 night weekend comes out at an extra 50k Marriott points

2) If proceeding Las Alcobas, I'm being offered either base estate view room or superior room. Assuming peak summer I get no upgrade as a Titanium, which room is the better choice?

Point taken -- I'm sold. Sitting on large pile of Marriott is a fool's game -- and I always tell my wife that all my travel ultimately benefits her when we travel and get to have flights / hotels / upgrades so here is a prime opportunity to put my money (err Marriott points) where my mouth is.

Now the question is just whether to book the "Estate View" room or the "Superior Room" -- on the face of things the Estate Room costs more money if paying cash but don't see anything about the superior room in this thread so not sure if that room is better or worse