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Grape Leaf Inn
Rating Details »
Categories: Hotels, Bed & Breakfast, Wineries [Edit]
539 Johnson StHealdsburg, CA 95448
(707) 433-8140
Fall & Winter $100/night Savings
Book 1 day + from 11/15-3/31 & save $100/night. Includes gourmet breakfast/nightly wine tasting: http://www.grapeleafin...
- Price Range:
-
$$$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street, Private Lot
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
8 reviews for Grape Leaf Inn
This business is a Yelp Sponsor
11/18/2007
6/29/2009
1/17/2009
12/2/2008
1/8/2007
7/8/2008
1/12/2006
9/18/2006
One of the Business' Favorite Reviews What's This?
This sweet B&B surpassed all of my expectations.
Service: They agreed to let us make a pretty last-minute reservation for a Saturday-night-only stay (they usu have a 2-night min though), set up massages in the "speakeasy," and made on-the-spot dinner reservations at one of the harder places to get into. (It helps that the proprietor, Kae, is drop-dead gorgeous and all of the waiters in town are in love with her and would do anything for her.)
Accommodations: comfortable without being too folksy like some (most?) B&Bs. 12 total rooms with a new/remodeled half and an older half with smaller beds and vaulted ceilings, which I clocked my head on about 5 times, but it is all so charming that I didn't mind. ;) The sheets are amazing and the huge skylit windows a treat when we woke up on a sunny Sunday. Wineries rotate doing tastings in the wine cellar, or speakeasy, and put out a decent cheese spread.
Breakfast: Every detail is attended to here and the Breakfast part of this Bed & Breakfast is not an afterthought. From the coffee to the whole grain bagels, seriously amazing salmon and feta fritatta with mango salsa, to the little baked crab apple, you leave feeling fully fortified and ready for another day of drinking Dry Creek Valley even dryer.
Easy to get to, parking, and a 5-minute walk to Healdsburg square make this a perfect location. I can see why all of the other guests last weekend were repeat visitors!
This place has *beautiful* rooms. We stayed in the Chardonnay Room, which is a small suite, with a king size bed under the gables of the house. There's a small stained glass window above the headboard. Everything in the suite seemed to have a personal touch, from the wallpaper to the small antique side tables. Each room has it's own unique feel.
The bathroom had rectangular jacuzzi tub, which was really nice to have. While it says "two person", it's a bit cramped with two. Maybe two petite women would be comfortable, but with me and my 6'4" boyfriend, it was slightly small. Still nice to have, though!
We never used the couch... It was valentine's day weekend... we were in bed a lot... ahem. Moving on! Where was I? It was a beautiful couch... A gorgeous room over all.
Service was wonderful. It's run by a lovely couple, and they have a gentleman who is available, and awake at night, should you have any questions. He helped me find a cork screw in the kitchen at about 11pm!
The community areas are great too. Many couches, hot chocolate at all hours, and tons of board games.
My only complaint was this: The breakfast... It's considered a bed and breakfast. While the breakfast was certainly beyond a "continental breakfast" I could not consider it wholesome, or nutritious. It was something like a very sweet berry cobbler, where the topping was a bunch of scones. Then there were the individual yogurts, much like the ones you would put in a kids lunch. But they were not the healthy ones. They were the super sugary, corn startchy ones. They did have good orange juice, granola, a great tea selection, and coffee in a dispenser. So I suppose you could say it was a "homemade" breakfast. The homemade part being the scone cobbler. But it didn't cut it for me. For $275 - $350 per night, I expected far better food.
So, over all, I really wonderful place to stay. I might be back, but first I'm going to see if I can find a place with real breakfast. When those places are fully booked, I wouldn't hesitate to stay here again.
We had a great time at the Grape Leaf Inn, until checkout... but that can wait. It's going to be hard to review it, because I really, really enjoyed my time there, and also understand that my situation was a bit out of the norm that led to what happened when we checked out.
The service, food and accommodations were top notch. We rented a cottage and it was beautiful, super clean and even stocked with little free goodies for my in-laws anniversary. Really a great place run by great people.
The Speakeasy is outstanding and Richard, the owner, is a great host. He'll pour some wines and tell you about his wine club that you will not believe the price when you hear it. Don't miss the tasting, they are fun and meeting the other guests is great. Extra credit if you can get any juicy details out of Richard about his previous life as a movie producer.
So why the 4 stars? what happened at checkout? Well it all has to do with how the cottages are priced. Cottages are not a flat rate, it's all by occupancy. So rather than a simple set price, it's based on how many people the maid thinks slept in what bed. So if you have a guest sleep over, or in our case, leave the bride and groom to their cottage and all cram into into the other to allow them so privacy, be prepared for a huge bill that's complicated by this pricing structure.
In the end it was all sorted out, kinda. We still felt we overpaid, and I'm sure they felt we underpaid, but with a system such as that, why make it so complicated? Odds are you'll never encounter this, but it's something to be aware in case you plan something where you may have unexpected guests.
I have to end this on a good note, if you go, don't miss breakfast, it's amazing.
Yes, this was a really wonderful place to spend a weekend in wine country. We stayed over the Food & Wine weekend and just loved the place. Our room was nice and cozy, with the most comfortable bed. Had a really cute bathroom with a large tub (yippy!) and tiny sink (not too easy to use, but very cute).
The breakfasts were the highlight. Tasty, gourmet breakfasts-- yummy! We also enjoyed the company of the other guests at our breakfast table. I think my husband's highlight was 'speakeasy', Richard is definitely a generous pourer! Lots of more unusual, difficult to obtain wines in that cellar!
We hope to visit again real soon!
I came here for my 30th birthday, and what a treat it was. The bathtub deserves special mention: it was the biggest Jacuzzi tub I have ever seen (including Vegas!) and had jets everywhere you would want a jet (and nowhere you wouldn't-- equally key). Stumbling distance to Zin (and oh, there was some stumbling) and to many of the tasting rooms in town. But mostly...Richard knows how to pour. By the time I left the complimentary tasting (of some of the best wine I had all day), this nearly-30-yr-old might as well have been 21, if you know what I mean. Kate left lavender tension relief salve on the pillows, chocolate on the nightstand, and a fabulous fizzer for the tub. I would love to move into the Grape Leaf; the weekend went by way too fast.
I can't wait to return to this charming Inn in the middle of Sonoma wine country. Each room is beautifully furnished and one of the main reasons to even leave the bed in the morning is the fabulous breakfast served at 9. A really cool feature is the daily wine and cheese tasting owner Richard runs in his downstairs wine cellar, the Speakeasy. After all the great sips, it's a little tough making it up the stairs.
Richard's wife and co-owner Kae is charming and makes one feel great. If it weren't such a terrible commute to work for me and my husband (we live in Florida), I think I would be at Grape Leaf once a month. I will keep in touch until we return because I joined the Speakeasy Wine Club-enough wine to keep me happy, but not enough to send me to Betty Ford!
Judith B.
This is without a doubt my favourite B&B in the area. The owners are hands on, gracious and full of superb recommendations. The breakfasts are tasty, nourishing, plentiful and sustaining (important for a full day of wine tasting). They also have great wine tastings in the evenings (down in the wine cellar - entered in by opening up the bookcase/door that hides the entrance). Sometimes they have the tastings hosted by a local winery which I have always found educational and entertaining. It is walking distance to all of the fantastic restuarants in down town Healdsburg. Just don't book this for Barrel tasting weekend (the first weekend in march - the best event up there) because I have not booked for all of my friends yet!
The Grape Leaf Inn is truly a delightful spot. Close to town, beautifully refurbished, lovely owners, wonderful robes (bought one ), outstanding breakfast, excellent afternoon wine and cheese reception ( the goat encased in apricot bits was a huge hit).
