Las Alcobas, St Helena (Napa Valley), CA [Left Marriott]
 

I just finished my stay here so thought I would post a review to let everyone know how the property is shaping up. It's not fully open yet. I believe while we were there, only 22 rooms were open and the pool is still closed. That said, I think at the end of the day, it's a great 4.5 star property, but still does not compare to the best of the best.

SPG PLT status was acknowledged, but were just offered points and no upgrade. not sure if this is because of the limited opening or going to be a trend. We did ask and were given late checkout.

Also, please note that, while the SPG site promotes free breakfast, while we were there, they modified this to just continental breakfast, with entrees being an up-charge. Thankfully, since the change was mid-stay, they did not apply this rule change to our visit.

One last quick tip: the vineyard is a bit raised from the grown level and there is a landscaped mound. Initially we were given a room on the first floor, but that looks directly into the mound, with limited vineyard view. I would always request a room on the 2nd or 3rd floor if you want a vineyard view.

Here are some highlights:

Pros
- Staff was very well-meaning and friendly. I think they will shape into a great staff that provides excellent service, but are still learning the ropes
- The restaurant served excellent food and had a great staff. Breakfast each morning was truly top-notch. While the menu for dinner is limited now, it seems like it will be a great spot to get a bite on-property.
- The balconies of the rooms are really why one should stay here. With 2 rocking chairs, a couch and fire pit, there is no better place to spend time while at the resort. You are literally right on the vineyard with truly special views of the vines and mountains in the backdrop.
- The rooms all had free mini-bars with sodas, water, sparkling water, wellness drinks, smalls snacks, tea and french press coffee. They said we could get a refill whenever we asked, though it was a bit spotty.
- The bathrooms have Toto toilets which are a fun perk.
- Valet is free and was very quick each time we used it.
- The hotel is about 5 min walk from downtown St. Helena, which we prefer to Yountville as it's less bougie, but still has some good restaurants. It's also quite easy to get to Yountville or up to Calistoga. We had dinner at Redd and French Laundry in Yountville, then Farm Stand in Helena, all were easy to get to.

Cons:
- The rooms are a bit goofy with their setup with lots of wasted space. It seems like there was a focus on design without a focus on practicality. There is a weird outdoor area with a bench in front of each room that is truly wasted space, as I can't think of a single use of the space. Also it looks like there is a blocked space adjacent to the outdoor area with a sole focus on providing natural light to the bathroom. It's impossible to describe without seeing it for yourself, but it just didn't make sense as it just provided some natural light through fogged glass in the bathroom. between these two spaces, you are probably losing 50-75 sq ft. of space for no reason whatsoever.
- The bathroom is very small, has only 1 sink and this awkward towel holder that wasn't big enough for 2 towns and hand/face towels. Again, this goes back to design (it looks very nice) vs. pragmatism. There are 2 extra towels hiding below the sink that we didn't find until the last day. If they would just get rid of the empty space behind the tub that kind of lets in natural light, there would be much more space to navigate and be comfortable. Also, there are no towel hooks, so you can't hang our towels or a shirt if you wanted to steam it own. Its frustrating when a want-to-be 5 star hotel cares far more about form over function.
- The closet is incredibly small and there are only 2 small drawers for storage. These drawers are under the hanging bar, so my wife's dresses would either be crumpled at the bottom or caught in the drawers.
- There is no iron or ironing board in the rooms. Nor is there free pressing. When asked for an iron, about 2 hours later they brought a commercial steamer that didn't really do the trick. If they want to be a 5 star hotel, they should do pressing like the St. Regis with the butler service or be able to provide an iron on request. It was quite frustrating coming in from a long day of travel and not being able to de-wrinkle a shirt before dinner.
- The light switches are just dumb. The toilet room switch is across the hall, so if you need to use the restroom at night, you have to turn it on then cross the hall to use the restroom, which can easily wake up another person sleeping. The lights for the closet are be the entry, not by the closet and the bathroom lights are outside the bathroom. They also have their weird, bright lights hanging down from the ceiling that were quite awkward.
- The gym is very pedestrian, though it does have a yoga studio. They had a yoga class one morning at 830 while we were there, though i'm not sure how often its offered. That said, one of the worst issues is that there were no wipes for the equipment and limited towels. When we went down to exercise, the equipment was gross with other people's sweat. When I was done one morning, they were out of towels as well, so i went to the bathroom to get paper towel to try to clean the equipment best I could. If this is a 5 star hotel, there MUST be an attendant down there to make sure the equipment is clean or at least have cleaning wipes available. This was gross and quite annoying. There is also no cold water in the gym, only bottled, room-temperature water. I'm hoping this is just temporary and that they install a water cooler of some sort when they are fully operational.
- Housekeeping was hit or miss. They missed turn-down service one night and we also requested foam pillows as their feather pillows were very flat and limited. They did not bring pillows on the first attempt and after the second attempt, they brought feather pillows in plastic without pillow covers and said they do not have foam pillows. I'm really hoping this is not the case going forward.
- We did not use the spa, as they wanted to charge $200 for a basic 50 minute massage. Too much of a a risk We went to a standalone facility in Napa for $150/110min treatment and loved it.

Overall, this seems to fit in with other Luxury Collection hotels I've stayed at that want to be 5 star, but simply aren't at the same level of other luxury hotels. I would certainly never spend 30K Starpoints on it per night, as that's an absurd cost compared to other 30K/nt hotels and for $700+/nt there is MUCH better in the valley. We much prefer Solage and you can often find rates under $500/nt. While no one can argue with the views and their patios were very special, I don't think that compensates for the other shortcomings of the facility.

[Moderator Note: Pre-opening discussion can be found at http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starw...l#post28193350 ]

Thank you for taking the time to write such a thorough and helpful report. I'm particularly appreciative of your conclusion as it really helps position this property for me.

We had to cancel a planned stay here in June because of business. You certainly made me feel better about that.

Thank you !

Just spent the weekend here and will add a few of my comments, changes and observations since the review above.

We stayed on points for 32.5K per night for the vineyard view balcony fire pit on the 3rd floor which gave great views. It wouldn't have been the same experience without a vineyard view and we didn't want to take a chance for a plt upgrade. I didn't like the abundance of battleship gray colors especially in the room. I would prefer an offsetting supplemental color.

Arrival at night is a bit confusing. Hard to find the turn in from the highway with the poor lighting in the area and it really is unclear where to drive for valet afterwards too.

The Acacia restaurant is now open for dinner and hard to get reservations. We met a local who had been twice and was raving about it so we cancelled our reservations at Bouchon for a late table on Saturday night. If they are able to work through some minor service issues the food quality is a solid michelin star imo. Evidently for the time being they only allow hotel guests to dine for breakfast to keep up service standards but as reported breakfast is good as well.

We recognized the concierge who had spent years at the Andaz. Las Alcobas has an arrangement with Beringer next door for private tastings for guests. It isn't cheap but tastings of single vineyards and reserves without the crowds. They also share employee parking lot located between the two.

I also stayed here recently - a week ago. I was very happy with the experience.

Like @texmanufan I also stayed on points and had a vineyard view balcony room with fire pit. The rooms are very nice and we enjoyed sitting out on the balcony in the morning and evenings.

I arrived during the day and so had no trouble finding it. As I pulled up the driveway I was met by an employee who took my name and directed me where to pull up the car - I can see that during the night it would be confusing where to go as the entrance is at the side of the main house rather than the front. By the time I pulled up and a valet was helping with bags someone from the front desk had walked down with our keys and we were immediately taken to our room - there was no need to go to the front desk which was a nice touch.

I thought the room was stunning, but was surprised to find no wine in the room - although there are plenty of wine glasses. Snacks and soft drinks are all included - there's even a bottle of freshly squeezed juice in the fridge - it all really added to the feel of a luxury property. We'd only been in the room a few minutes when someone from the restaurant arrived with a desert for my girlfriend's birthday which was a nice personal touch.

We had two problems with the room - first, there was no bath plug, but the front desk were able to find one and send it up. Second, we found that our door stopped locking, we weren't sure if had ever locked, but once we alerted a staff member they had maintenance fix it and stayed there until it was fixed so we didn't have to wait. Both seem like typical things that can happen at a new property and weren't a big deal.

The bar and the restaurant are both great. We had a bottle of wine in the bar and were surprised how reasonable the prices were. The restaurant had been open to hotel guests since the hotel opened, but the weekend we were there was the first time it was opening to non-guests. The chef - Chris Cosentino was onsite and could be seen in the kitchen and dining with his family. My girlfriend and I were looking forward to the meal as we've enjoyed the Chef's other restaurants and weren't disappointed. The wagyu rid-eye cap steak was phenomenal.

Breakfast is included in the room rate - but is just a continental breakfast - coffee, juice, a pastry and a yogurt parfait. You can order from the full menu (which is good), but you're paying the menu prices - it wasn't clear to me if there was a way to forgo the included breakfast and order a-la-cart. Be warned though that the included breakfast is quite small. In some cases it's not a full pastry, but one that has been cut in half which seemed really cheap - they should consider making the pastries slightly smaller and serve a whole one. That said, the small freshly baked strawberry muffins were excellent. The yogurt parfait is also delicious, but equally small.

My stay was a week ago and hasn't posted to my SPG account. I'm following up to see what happened there.

I'd definitely stay again if the rate was good - but with rates hovering around the $800 to $1000 a night I couldn't justify it. It'll be interesting to see if they are able to maintain these sort of rates.

great reports!

will pool open before all rooms open?

sounds like good award value over holiday/peak, which may change under marriott

The pool appeared to be open although we didn't use. Temps got up to the 90's in the afternoon this weekend but cooled down quite a bit later in the evenings.

We were told the hotel was sold out which seemed right as there was a large function over the weekend. Couldn't get checkout past 1:30 which didn't help me much keeping my wine purchases cool before heading to the airport.

How's this property comparing to Westin Napa and Andaz Napa?

So I unexpectedly ended up in the Napa Valley this weekend and thought I would give the Las Alcobas a try. However, the rates were quite steep ($900+), but there was a redemption option available.

The room types that showed available were as follows:

Superior King
Accessible Deluxe King
Grand Deluxe King (winery view)
Grand Deluxe Two Queens (vineyard view)

I was willing to redeem points for a room, but I just wanted to see what the rooms were like prior to booking since I was outside the cancelation policy. Fortunately I was nearby as I had a lunch reservation at Farmstead which is five minute drive away.

So I arrived at the hotel and was greeted by a gentleman whom I assumed was a valet. I told him that I wanted to see one of the rooms prior to booking and he had to call the front desk via his headset. He replied that they were sold out even though I saw the room types available online. I then said I would love to see the public space to get a feel of the hotel. He then told me to pull the car forward and proceeded to give me one of those valet tags for the keys.

The walk from the valet area to the "front desk" is no more than a 20 second walk away. Unlike most hotels that have a decent size front desk, this was more like a sitting room and there was only one gentleman at the "front desk" on the computer. He said the rooms were sold out, unless he was unaware of a last minute cancellation. I then said the spg app was showing rooms available online and then he checked his computer to see stuff was available.

I then proceeded to check out the restaurant space and was greeted by one of the staff who was more than gracious and explained what was offered in the restaurant, Acacia House. She did mention that breakfast is only available for hotel guests. After checking out the restaurant I proceeded back to the valet area and to do this you must walk back through the "front desk."

During this time another gentleman appeared and I inquired about the Platinum benefits. He then questioned whether I was a Platinum :rolleyes: I know the Platinum benefits are pretty clear cut, but as we all know some hotels offer more than some even with the same brand family. He really didn't mention anything about upgrades so I asked if the Grand Deluxe Vineyard View rooms were part of the upgrade pool and he said no. I thanked him for my time and proceeded to the valet area to retrieve the car.

So the car was in the same spot where I left it, but it had been locked by the valet. I was standing by the car as I was waiting for my keys as the valet was tending to another customer who was dropping off a car. Instead of giving me the key he made me wait (as he parked the other car) and then he came back he asked if I had left him the keys as I gave him the valet receipt.

Even though the staff interaction was shaky at best I was willing to book the hotel as a redemption, but wanted an upgraded view. Since this can't be done on the website I had to call CS, who couldn't seem to get it done. They called the hotel and was told the upgraded room was not available on points due to a wedding party. Go figure.

I've stayed at the Alcobas and the Andaz but not the Westin. Loved both hotels. Overall I'd say the Alcobas is a better property but the Andaz is a great hotel such that I personally don't see the value in the several hundred dollar premium for the Alcobas (and while i might pay the points premium, this hotel is definitely not on the same plane as other Cat 7 properties). I'm in Napa to enjoy the wineries and the good restaurants...the Andaz meets my needs for a good night's sleep, hot shower, and delicious breakfast.

Location: Alcobas. Andaz is in downtown Napa and the Alcobas is in St. Helena. They're about half an hour apart without traffic. Downtown Napa is on the edge of the valley whereas Alcobas is in the middle of the valley floor wineries and restaurants. Alcobas is walking distance to downtown St Helena which has a good market, some good restaurants, and lots of retail that shuts down around 5 or 6. Downtown Napa has a lot more going on in terms of places to eat and drink after 6 if you are looking for things to do in the evening. The entire downtown napa corridor is also very walkable. That is the one aspect where Andaz is better location

Property: Alcobas. Andaz is in a building on a city street. Alcobas is more of a "grounds" amongst the vineyards with a separate "main house" which houses the restaurant and a few rooms, three buildings worth of rooms, and a separate barn for events and similar type structure for the spa and gym. Also a small pool area. I don't know if the Andaz has a pool.

Rooms: Alcobas. Alcobas would be bigger than the standard room at the Andaz. But the Alcobas room, as mentioned upthread, is just poorly designed. The Andaz room is very nice. Both have free minibar. The kicker for the Alcobas room is the patio with couch, rocking chairs, and gas powered fire pit.

Vibe: Andaz. This is just a more fun and welcoming place to me. They also don't have any service issues which the Alcobas still has.

Food and Beverage: Andaz. The Acacia House at the Alcobas is delicious for dinner. But you don't have to stay at the hotel to experience it. I thought the Acacia House breakfast was outstanding but way overpriced. I do not know about dinner at the Andaz restaurant but thought breakfast there was very good and more reasonably priced for those not getting it free from status.

Status Recognition: Andaz. We did not get an upgrade at the Andaz but the hotel was sold out and we received profuse apologies for not getting an upgrade. We were lucky enough to get a vineyard view at the Alcobas but i believe due to the fact that an entire wing of rooms was still under construction. I don't think upgrades will be easily had at this property. As a diamond, full breakfast at the Andaz was free. The Acacia House only offers a continental breakfast for free on most (all?) room rates, which includes a pastry, coffee, juice, and yoghurt with fruit. There is no additional option for a platinum breakfast benefit. We ended up supplementing with a couple hot items that we had to pay for. Realize this is per T&C of the different programs.

Do they have any deals with other wineries beside Beringer?
Thinking about staying here for a weekend.

Some comments:

1. OP mentioned bathroom light switch being located in the hall. Note that in some places, building codes require this as a safety measure. AFAIK this is true in Germany. I don't know about various localities inn California.

2. Andaz is located in downtown Napa, while the Starwood property is close to the market, overlooking the river. Both locations have advantages and disadvantages; I've stayed in both, in suites. There was/is a highly rated restaurant in the Starwood. The Andaz restaurant has lots of bare wood and emphasizes local ingredients. Breakfast is creative and very good, although there's a quick continental option in the bar.

3. Andaz has a small outdoor pool on the deck, on about the third floor. It's pretty with modern resort furniture, IIRC including some cabanas. I think there's a jacuzzi too.

4. Andaz service can be spotty. My biggest objection was the attitude of the "concierge" I was advised to wait for, who was supposedly an expert on the local wineries. She found some brochures but was otherwise worse than useless. I asked whether she could recommend some special smaller wineries off the beaten track or normally not open to the public or whether she could hook me up with some appointments for special tastings not open to the public. I was scolded that my requests weren't fair to others and that I should have to go to the publicly available tastings for the masses (my words) and wait in line like everyone else rather than using connections and money to get a better experience more in line with my knowledge of wine. I think she was some sort of socialist, although I didn't try to bribe her with a big tip. Horrible service!

6. Similarly, I found the Starwood's service to be highly variable, to the point where this caused me to cancel my dinner reservation in their restaurant and just forage elsewhere.

5. Andaz suites are highly variable; my DSU got me one where the living room was an alcove barely large enough for a large loveseat. So are those in the Starwood, where the best are corner two bedroom luxury suites with balconies and full kitchens. [I was upgraded to one of these on a stay where the AAA one bedroom suite rate was less than the lowest available rate for a regular room.]

The concierge at Andaz seems nuts. What the hell is wrong with her? You should have escalated the service issue. I wouldn't even stand it.

Anyway, if alcobas doesn't have any real connections, what good does it do?

Just had a short one night stay here and loved it. The quality of the room and property was A+, and we were upgraded to a unbelievable vineyard view suite. After walking in, I quickly regretted that we were only there for one night. We were there midweek, and the hotel seemed pretty slow so I'm sure that helped a lot with the upgrade. I also used a suite night award, which probably helped too. The location was great for a day of exploring and the staff at Acadia house was great for lunch. This was our first trip to Napa, so I can't really compare it to other top properties, but I was seeing rates $600+ at all the other top properties, so I was very pleased with my sub-$500 rate and suite upgrade. I also thought the complimentary bikes and helmets were a great touch and I only wish we had more time to enjoy the area and property.

One other thing that impressed me was at checkin, I mentioned we were checking out super early to catch a flight and they proactively offered coffee and pastries for the morning. When we came down in the morning, the car was warmed up with coffee ready to go. I felt a little stupid for never thinking of this on my own, so it was extra surprising and appreciated.

The only negative during the entire experience was that when we checked in around 12:30pm, I initially got the standard line about rooms not being ready until 4pm and how there wasn't a single room available at that time at the whole property. Since I was leaving in the middle of the night, I made a much bigger deal out of this than I normally would and within an hour they had a beautiful suite ready for us. I didn't even want to mention it because everything else was so great, but the "Sorry there are absolutely no rooms ready, and then magically every room is ready right at 3pm or 4pm" line is one of my personal pet peeves.

Overall though we loved it and we are already looking at some dates to come back in the fall.

Hi @Woodsmit, sorry for responding to you on the Las Alcobas thread, but I thought it more appropriate to ask here about your thoughts on the property and elite recognition. I hope you can share more details of your stay. Did you get upgraded? How was your accommodation? How was breakfast? Lunch or dinner if you dined there on property? How was the service? Did the air con work well?

Thanks for anything you can share!

We definitely hope to stay here, though they don't permit dogs. We usually bring our dog to Napa. In the past decade, we've stayed numerous times at Bardessono in Yountville, which allows dogs of all weights. We've also stayed before at Calistoga Ranch (dogs permitted) and Auberge de Soleil (dogs not permitted). I love the St. Helena location of Las Alcobas, though!

Sure. No Problem.

Couple of thoughts.

• Rooms: Very high quality, modern build with solid architectural detail (if you like California modern) with nice touches like fire pits on balconies (propane with a timer switch -- think most if not all have this?) and Napa Co soap bars in bathroom; TVs are large and modern and allow you to sign in directly to your streaming subscriptions like Netflix. No problems at all with Aircon (Does shutoff when doors are open to deck but not a big deal)
• Food: The restaurant was very good, new California fare. Note that platinum breakfast is underwhelming, think it was just yogurt parfait
• Service: They mentioned they were training up a new staff and it showed as there were a couple snafus on orders etc but management was all over it and apologetic. That stuff happens; the proof is in the recovery which they did very well. Overall very kind staff.
• Location: Between Beringer vineyards (you get tasting discount as guest) and town of St. Helena. Both walkable (literally adjacent to Beringer and 5-10 minute walk to edge of St. Helena).
• Pool: Very nice, not crowded at all even though hotel fully booked for weekend; kept at 82 degrees so warm even in cold Napa spell

Couple other things worth noting: they are shooting for a sedate, mature Napa getaway vibe. As a result, no kids allowed (Did see one couple rogue show up with kids and hotel was kind enough not to turn them away but told them, in an apologetic way, that the children could not use the pool; felt like hotel handled it well). Also, they said as we checked in that if any guests were being disruptive (i.e. loud bachelor parties etc) to tell them since that was not in keeping with the vibe of the resort. To that end, a group of guys did appear and could be heard drinking loudly on their balcony at 11 AM ("Shotgun that beer!"). As soon as they came out to the pool, two managers came up to the group and talked to them and the large group dispersed; never heard a peep thereafter.

In terms of room choice, I would book into something with a vineyard view and hope to get upgraded from there. The base rooms overlook the beringer lawns; there is a glimpse of the parking lot from that angle, not offenses, but not as relaxing as the vineyard view that also captures sunset. As for rooms, the pre-upgraded us to a junior suite in the 3rd floor. Very nice room. Effectively the corner room with one terrace facing the vineyard and the other overlooking the pool; a mirror that room is on the other side of the pool. The 2nd floor room in same position had a bigger deck but I think that was the superior or some other suite. A bit more room for lounging on the deck but honestly, the Jr. suite's decks were plenty big including a dining table. If you want afternoon sun in that room, ask for one to left of pool when facing the vineyard and for morning light on the deck, chose the one to the right of the pool.

Does anyone know if this property participates in Suite Night Award upgrades?

-FlyerBeek

I've been checking on an upcoming reservation and SNAs have been available for request, either into vineyard view rooms or into junior suites. The vineyard view rooms are the same rooms but facing the vines instead of the parking lot of the winery next door. Significant improvement in view but zero difference in the room itself. No clue as to whether they actually clear or not.

Thanks, boolean64. Oddly, I'm not offered the option to request an SNA when using the website but the app is letting me standby for either a vineyard view room or junior suite, just like you described.

-FlyerBeek

Hi Boolean64 I just wanted to check and see if your SNA cleared. I'm planning on staying here for a week with my wife in early November and we used points to book into a base, garden view room (only option available). I applied 5 SNAs to the reservation and selected both a king, vineyard view room and junior suite. Hoping we get upgraded to the junior suite!

Any insight on the SNA and the stay in general would be greatly appreciated. I'm a Platinum Member (might be Titanium by the time we stay in November, we'll see).

If you don't want to waste your SNAs, you might de-select the Vineyard View Room and ONLY select the junior suite. The Vineyard View room is exactly the same as the entry Garden View room, after all but only with a different view--not what most of us would consider a great use for SNAs. Also, be aware that a longer stay typically means less chance for any upgrade since it's less likely the upgraded room type will be available for the duration! (If you're likely to get the Vineyard View upgrade by SNA, I'd say you're almost as likely to get the Vineyard View upgrade even on arrival as a Plat comp upgrade benefit.)

This is great advice, thank you bhrubin!

From what I read on this place (and in this thread too), it seems like the base, garden view room leaves a lot to be desired (view wise). I only have one personal upcoming trip with the wife this year (two kids under 2 makes it tough), so figured I might as well use the SNAs for some sort of "guaranteed" room upgrade rather than nothing at all.

I'd love to have a chance to book into the junior suite, but would be super bummed if we both missed out on that as well as didn't even get upgraded as a Plat to the vineyard view room. On the other hand, I feel like if I select both the junior suite and the vineyard view room they'll just say "meh, he's good with the vineyard view room, just give him that even though the junior suite is available."

Thoughts on strategy? I have no other use for the SNAs this year other than business travel (don't really care about getting a suite for that) so if I don't use them for this they're pretty much gonna go to waste. Basically I want to definitely have at least a vineyard view room with a shot of the junior suite in there haha. I know I know, if I want the vineyard view room I should have just booked that room directly, but we used points for this trip so it wasn't an option (and saved a lot of money doing so).

Just want the wife and I to have a nice room for our only personal vacation this year.

My stay is not for quite a while. I've also decided not to use an SNA here as we've enjoyed the vineyard view several times before. A few other thoughts...

First, given your situation, upgrading to a vineyard view room is a wise use of an SNA. The ambiance is pretty spectacular, especially if you don't live in northern california and visit wine country regularly. This is one place where the "upgraded view" is truly a differentiator with real value.

Second, you can try to call and book the vineyard view room for additional points. I have not tried to do this since the merger so i don't even know if it still exists, but pre-merger one could book the vineyard view room for an extra 1,500-2,500 starpoints a night. It was called a select premium room category or something like that. Probably worth a call to see if this option still exists. If it does, it's probably way more than an extra 4,500-7,500 points an night...yet another enhancement from the merger. But potentially still worth it to confirm the right room way ahead of time depending on your point balance...then still put in for the junior suite SNA.

Third, at least one of the junior suites is in the "acacia house." The standard rooms are nice enough that i'd probably prefer the vineyard view to having a larger room in the main house. So I'd only check the junior suite vineyard view and not ask for a junior suite in the acacia house if you are looking for views over more space. There are good pics of the acacia house junior suite on the website.

As you can see upthread, i have mixed feelings about this property. Good hard product but service when i've stayed has been more miss than hit. The biggest benefit is its proximity to downtown St Helena and Yountville. So even if you strike out on the SNA, realize that you are getting a screaming deal for being in the heart of the valley floor and just make sure to leverage that by getting out and about and planning ahead for good dinner bookings. The vineyard view is obviously superior to the estate view, but don't get too bummed if it doesn't work out.

boolean64, thank you!

I had no idea that booking a premium view room for more points was possibly an option. 100% going to call ASAP and see if they offer that. Even if it's more than 7,500 points per night, it's probably worth it in this instance.

Just double checked the SNA request, and the junior suite room option is "Junior Suite Vineyard 1 Bedroom Junior Suite, 1 King, Vineyard view, Balcony" so it sounds like it's not part of the acacia house.

Again, thanks so much for the tips here! If I can book into the vineyard view room with points, I'll do that and then adjust the SNA to just be for the junior suite. I'll report back here regardless and let everyone know if you can book the vineyard view room with extra points.

Update:

Las Alcobas is now a Category 8 hotel.... didn't realize that, I checked prior to the Category 8 changes took place earlier this month and didn't see this hotel listed (maybe I missed it), but it's definitely a Category 8 hotel now.

Also, I was told this hotel does not offer the ability to use extra points to book into a vineyard view room. Even prior to the Category 8 change, the Bonvoy rep told me this hotel was not offering the ability to use extra points to book into a vineyard view room.

So it looks like I'll have to rely on the SNAs to get either a junior suite or vineyard view room.

Thanks again to everyone for the suggestions here! I know it's a ways out, but I'll update the thread with the results of the SNA once we're in November.

Since the entry level room is the same as the better view room, I wouldn't recommend using SNAs unless you're not going to use them otherwise before they expire. But your calls as always!

Hope you enjoy!

I just looked from December of 2017. I booked for 2500 more starpoints than the standard (by the way, the standard was 30,000 starpoints or 90,000 marriott points so moving up to a cat 8 moves it back to pre-merger pricing). I guess this little used but quite valuable benefit has gone away. Too bad.

I have to disagree here. I'd much rather use an SNA for the difference in views here than to get two standard rooms built out as a suite at any run of the mill westin or sheraton. Sometimes the ambiance is worth more than the physical space.

Platinum elite benefits?
 

Resort?
 

It seems as if this is the hotel line. I wonder if one of the Lurkers can confirm? FWIW my understanding is that just because a hotel isn't listed under resorts doesn't mean it isn't considered one. I am planning to finally visit this hotel next year and it would be great to know before we actually plan our stay.


From a blog review just 10 days ago:

"Finally, the most egregious service failure occurred the morning we checked out. I called down to the front desk and asked to reconfirm our 4pm guaranteed late checkout thanks to my Ambassador Elite membership. The front-desk manager profusely apologized, but told me that Las Alcobas is considered a resort and therefore does not guarantee 4pm late checkout to elite members. I took out my phone, browsed Marriott’s resort listings, and noticed that Las Alcobas was not listed as a resort, and I’d therefore be guaranteed a 4pm late checkout. Armed with the new information, I called back down to the front desk manager, who told me that Marriott’s website was wrong, but he offered a 4pm checkout as a one-time courtesy. Then, at 3pm, a full hour before our checkout, housekeeping knocked and opened our door(!) asking us why we haven’t yet checked out."



https://thepointsguy.com/reviews/las...apa-valley-ca/

I didn't know there was a website to check on current resort properties, but this property has always told me that it's a resort and therefore exempt from 4pm checkout. As a result, the times I've wanted a 4pm checkout, I've just FHR rates. We really like this property, but the service is not in line with other valley hotels in this price range.

I should have gone back to this thread and read it from the beginning. It would have set my expectations better. We arrived at night. The only sign we saw was for valet parking in front of the central structure. We stopped but there was no valet. It turned out we were in front of the restaurant. It took some effort to figure out where to check in. There is a small side room. Once there, we found 4 employees and a very disjointed check in process. When I commented on it, I was chided for not driving all the way to the end of the driveway. There we would have been met by the valet who would have taken our name. Someone would have then come and taken us to our room for check in. It would have been nice if we had been made to feel welcome regardless.

We received no upgrade. The hotel was fully booked both nights we were in house. We are celebrating a milestone birthday for my husband. No comment was made about that though there was a cookie in the room with a Happy Birthday chocolate on it. We were given a ground floor room that we entered from the outside facing the driveway like an old school motel. We weren't given any information about the room or our benefits as a titanium. Early reports said that the minibar contents were free. That's not true now. Only the water is free. Breakfast is continental.

The room itself is very spacious.

Advice is given upthread about avoiding the room level we have and using points for an upgraded room. I tried to do so several months back and was unable to do so. I don't believe it is possible in a Bonvoy world.

With the poor check in behind us, we had a positive experience going forward.

Breakfast at Acacia Restaurant was excellent. The continental breakfast costs $39. We were allowed that as a credit on anything on their menu. The 3 course weekend brunch was $29 plus beverages. There were a number of very interesting choices on the menu and we enjoyed a superb meal. Service was excellent from every member of the staff.

We ended up liking our ground level room. It was a quick walk straight out across the driveway to the valet or to the restaurant. Each room has a balcony with a firepit and comfortable seating. The balcony side of our room was substantially higher than the ground outside so was very private. There was a stream running below so we had the pleasant sound of water when outside. Yes, we saw the road that runs by the hotel but our view was mostly trees and greenery. It was a pleasure to sit on the balcony with the firepit going. TIP: there is a throw in the cabinet adjacent to the refrigerator.

The room has fancy electronic lighting controls that are challenging to figure out. We inadvertently left the DND light on when we went out for the day and returned to a room needing housekeeping. That's on us, but the light inside the room was literally the size of a pinprick and not visible with any lighting on in the corridor.

We just stayed there last month, so I'll chime in with my experience as well. It was mixed, and I can't say we plan on going back.

1. Arrival also confusing, took a few minutes to figure out where to park and check-in.
2. We were upgraded from a ground floor vineyard view to one on the 3rd floor. Beautiful room with great view. That was the highlight of the entire stay. Everything else went downhill from there.
3. We were there for 3 full days, and 2 of the days our room did not get serviced despite the "make up room" light being on. (I tripled checked after they didn't show up on the first day.)
When we asked for housekeeping and fresh towels, we were told to grab drinks at the restaurant bar while they find a housekeeping staff. On one of the nights, the front desk staff apologized and said "have a round of drinks on us." However, we were still presented with the bill and drinks were NOT comped. We complained twice to staff, as the issue did not seem to resolve itself. Only on check-out we were able to talk to a manager, and she only agreed to comping a small lunch we had, saying she did not know anything about comping drinks.

TLDR: great hard product, but service leaves a lot to be desired. We plan on trying one of the other properties in the area next time, maybe Auberge.

Dinner at Solbar at Solage on Thurs night. Served terrible Sazerac from bar, followed up with weak Manhattan. It was 50 min before our order was even taken. Sommelier didn't come over for almost 30 min. Sommelier didn't recognize our Napa Valley wine (Kongsgaard Chardonnay The Judge), gave unimpressive accounting on what dishes might best pair with wine, further delaying ordering. Most unimpressive sommelier interaction we'd ever had. Server was very quirky. Server was literally running or walking super fast between tables and kitchen and bar as if everything was behind/late (explaining why it took 50 min for her to take our order). She always seem exasperated whenever she (rarely) stopped by our table. Very disconcerting for a fine dining experience. Took another 45 min to actually get our appetizers, another 30 min to get our entrees. Lots of bread first, but had to stop busboys to ask for more water and more bread. Service was so tedious and bad, we skipped dessert despite the options looking good and the food being pretty good. It was too late and we had no confidence that we wouldn't be there another hour!

Calistoga Ranch--room rate of $1063 per night for 3 nights. Lakehouse breakfast (not included in rate). First morning, asked for sweetener for mocha, waited 10 min, had to ask again, mocha got cold before consumed. Served lukewarm waffle, waffle not too good. Service was slow again. Let it go--didn't say anything. Staff later that day happened to ask so we shared the disappointment about breakfast service/quality. Second morning, message was received and got mocha with sweetener...then got served cold eggs Benedict (and our friend got cold eggs, as well). I complained and sent mine back. Chef came out 10 min later with my new eggs Benedict and to apologize...but the new eggs were totally raw. I was disgusted and left. Three strikes and you're out. I never ate at the Lakehouse again during my stay. My friends told me their dishes were lukewarm or cold, too, but no one else complained.

Dinner at Acacia House and a quick tour around Las Alcobas
 

Introduction Some friends joined me and my husband for dinner at Acacia House at the Las Alcobas Napa Valley property this past weekend. While there, I took a quick spin around the property.Acacia House is actually very beautiful.From the front entry into the property:From the side:The hotel buildings:It's a striking property, even if I couldn't get a peek inside any rooms. Dining Dinner at Acacia House was...good. But with some very odd service moments.The bar and lounge area was lovely and had very nice service.We hoped for a dinner seating on the terrace, but it wasn't to be. But I highly recommend it: Our food was delicious. The schnitzel was to die for... Service Service at dinner at Acacia was...strange. Our server began with us and seemed great, then he suddenly disappeared between courses. After 20 min, we finally asked what was going on. We never got an answer, but suddenly another server worked our table and seemed competent and friendly. Then after a short delay again of 5-10 min, both servers seemed to work our table. Strange.