WSJ says Napa too expensive . . .

[Scott_G_r_u_n_e_r]

It’s not too expensive if suckers are still lining up and paying.

[Robert_M_yers]

Funny, I’m exactly the opposite. I look forward to the opportunity to get away from my own dishes or make my own bed in an AirBnB and stay in a hotel and have that taken care of for me, plus room service.

I spent a significant amount of time earlier in my career living out of hotel rooms so the allure isn’t there.

Plus hotel logistics with 3 kids is a nightmare. Do I get a suite with pull out couches? Adjoining rooms? Etc…

It’s been a long time since we overnighted in Napa, but shouldn’t you consider DisneyLand. I’m always dumbfounded by the folks trotting kids to Vegas

[Arv_R]

Maybe I am from a different generation, but unless it’s business travel or I am for some reason solo, VRBO and AirBnB are the first two options. Always. Hotels in general are either run down or overpriced or both. A quick search shows you can easily get a house for $750 a night.

Not that I think anyone is vacationing in Napa and looking for a deal.

Funny, I’m exactly the opposite. I look forward to the opportunity to get away from my own dishes or make my own bed in an AirBnB and stay in a hotel and have that taken care of for me, plus room service.

My experience over the last two years has been that hotels are not providing room service, or heck even coffee service. Even places where one has (in theory) paid for breakfast…they throw a roll at the guest. This has been at every price point.

The Abnb - even with $400 cleaning fees - may have had the trash taken out and that’s about it. We stayed at one that was I think $1000+ per night, and I counted something like 14(!) burned out lights around the house.

[Max_S1]

Napa became too expensive for us to enjoy the experience a few years ago. The cost of accommodations, food, tastings and the traffic and crowds drove us away.

We found Sonoma (Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Healdsburg, etc) much more forgiving in terms of pricing and honestly more our speed, too. Some really great wine out there as well - found my new favorite winery.

[Mattstolz]

I am much more excited by the wines in CA outside of Napa at this point. wife and I haven’t visited CA since really getting into wine but I can only imagine we would stay closer to Sonoma and maybe drive through Napa or have one day out of several there vs a Napa centered trip

[Michael_Feldman]

It’s not too expensive if suckers are still lining up and paying.

Just need to go to Facebook “ Napa Valley Wine Lovers” group. I can’t tell you how many times people line up their newly purchased ( from recent Napa excursions) bottles that must have cost them $150-$800 each. When it comes to Napa, money does not seem to be part of the equation for many when they decide to visit.

[Marc_Hauser]

It’s not too expensive if suckers are still lining up and paying.

Just need to go to Facebook “ Napa Valley Wine Lovers” group. I can’t tell you how many times people line up their newly purchased ( from recent Napa excursions) bottles that must have cost them $150-$800 each. When it comes to Napa, money does not seem to be part of the equation for many when they decide to visit.

And those posts differ from what people do here on WB how?

If it makes them happy, who cares? No need to judge.

[John_Morris]

Napa is fine as long as you think of it as Disney World for wine. The hotels are overpriced and so are the wineries. But you are paying for the experience.

I very much agree with your sentiment.

Frankly, I also don’t think the mindset of most people going to Napa view it as “bargain hunting”. Sure, some do, but I think for the vast majority it’s a trip they take every so often and they do it to have what I would call “adult time”. I get the reasoning behind someone saying “Napa is expensive”, I just think it largely falls on deaf ears and isn’t going to stop people from going.

There is expensive, and then there is expensive:

We stayed at the North Block Hotel about 6 weeks ago in Yountville. My wife and I were expecting a small suite at $850 a night. The room was small but nicely appointed. We thought it was overpriced.

[HoosJustinG]

Some extended family (3 couples) is spending 5 days in Napa this June — staying at Meadowood. We could buy at least a new C Class instead of 3x5 nights at the hotel. So… can confirm hotel pricing is absolutely outrageous.

Luckily, all of our tastings are with friends or friends of friends so no charge for tastings, at least!

[Ian_Sutton]

We stayed at the North Block Hotel about 6 weeks ago in Yountville. My wife and I were expecting a small suite at $850 a night. The room was small but nicely appointed. We thought it was overpriced.

That’s a ridiculous price for a room, for the same money you could buy a bottle of Napa Cabernet

[Michael_Feldman]

It’s not too expensive if suckers are still lining up and paying.

Just need to go to Facebook “ Napa Valley Wine Lovers” group. I can’t tell you how many times people line up their newly purchased ( from recent Napa excursions) bottles that must have cost them $150-$800 each. When it comes to Napa, money does not seem to be part of the equation for many when they decide to visit.

And those posts differ from what people do here on WB how?

If it makes them happy, who cares? No need to judge.

Not sure what in my post was judgmental? I was just making an observation.

[Albert_R]

We stay in Calistoga, downtown Napa or Sonoma and we can usually find something we are comfortable in. As far as tastings we visit wineries we support or are members of. (A few of them participate on this forum therefore a HUGE THANK YOU TO THEM!) Yes, pricing at times limits us from tasting something new that we might have tried otherwise but don’t because of the absurd cost. Honestly…… I just rather buy more wine from the wineries that host us and that we know and love.

[Marc_Hauser]

Just need to go to Facebook “ Napa Valley Wine Lovers” group. I can’t tell you how many times people line up their newly purchased ( from recent Napa excursions) bottles that must have cost them $150-$800 each. When it comes to Napa, money does not seem to be part of the equation for many when they decide to visit.

And those posts differ from what people do here on WB how?

If it makes them happy, who cares? No need to judge.

Not sure what in my post was judgmental? I was just making an observation.

Seemed like you were judging them for showing off their expensive purchases on Facebook.

[lleichtman]

Lettie Teague, in the Weekend Edition of the WSJ, expresses extreme disappointment at the rising cost of hotel rooms and tastings in Napa Valley. Having recently returned from Napa, of course, I get it. And yet . . . I had several wonderful experiences and can’t subscribe to the anti-Napa crusade. AirBnBs are significantly cheaper than hotels, especially when sharing the cost with a friend, and there are tastings that are not in the triple digits. Pride @ $60 is a good value as is Keenan @ $50. Paloma, Solorio Family and Otra Vez are free. Chiron @ $50 is a steal! And there are others . . .

And restaurants: We found Torc to be first class and reasonably priced. Truss, embedded in the Four Seasons Calistoga, offers surprisingly good value. Bistro Jeanty offers good food and a fun vibe at good prices.

I would appreciate–and celebrate–an article about how to navigate Napa without feeling like you are bleeding cash. It is possible!

We stay in Sonoma. Cheaper and easier.

[Ian_Dorin]

Napa is fine as long as you think of it as Disney World for wine. The hotels are overpriced and so are the wineries. But you are paying for the experience.

I very much agree with your sentiment.

Frankly, I also don’t think the mindset of most people going to Napa view it as “bargain hunting”. Sure, some do, but I think for the vast majority it’s a trip they take every so often and they do it to have what I would call “adult time”. I get the reasoning behind someone saying “Napa is expensive”, I just think it largely falls on deaf ears and isn’t going to stop people from going.

There is expensive, and then there is expensive:

We stayed at the North Block Hotel about 6 weeks ago in Yountville. My wife and I were expecting a small suite at $850 a night. The room was small but nicely appointed. We thought it was overpriced.

1. $850 sounds normal to me, depending on where you stay. Yountville is expensive
2. I love the Embassy Suites just off of downtown, and a bargain price there is $300 a night (heck of a breakfast included too!), but $300 for Embassy Suites? I just looked, and rooms are running $500 a night!

[Mont_Stern]

I just came back from a week in Bordeaux and can attest that Bordeaux is now the bargain compared to Napa. The town itself is becoming a small version of Paris.

[Ron_Slye]

Anyone stay in Astro Motel in Santa Rosa – much more reasonably priced than a lot that are mentioned above.

[RH_Drexel]

I grew up in Napa. It’s a big place and there are still a lot of options. For example, the charming Manzanita cabin at Boethe Park is 125 a night on weekdays, 150 on the weekends. The nicer, bigger cabins top out at 225 a night. The park is between St. Helena and Calistoga, and ideally located. The 3 mile loop hike through the forest there is sublime, too.
There are also lots of tasting rooms, none of them trendy enough to be mentioned here, that don’t charge a lot for tastings. As for restaurants, I don’t find Farmstead in St. Helena too expensive. We usually dine there. We otherwise buy great produce and protiens at Sunshine Market and my wife and I will grill at Boethe park. There are so many ways to enjoy the immensely diverse Napa Valley if you open up your mind and don’t visit with a negative or myopic point of view.

[Steve_Crawford]

I grew up in Napa. It’s a big place and there are still a lot of options. For example, the charming Manzanita cabin at Boethe Park is 125 a night on weekdays, 150 on the weekends. The nicer, bigger cabins top out at 225 a night. The park is between St. Helena and Calistoga, and ideally located. The 3 mile loop hike through the forest there is sublime, too.
There are also lots of tasting rooms, none of them trendy enough to be mentioned here, that don’t charge a lot for tastings. As for restaurants, I don’t find Farmstead in St. Helena too expensive. We usually dine there. We otherwise buy great produce and protiens at Sunshine Market and my wife and I will grill at Boethe park. There are so many ways to enjoy the immensely diverse Napa Valley if you open up your mind and don’t visit with a negative or myopic point of view.

thanks for this, i agree the ‘valley’ (maybe the county is a better word) has a lot of options for many price points.
i think what all can agree on is the overall planning in the valley-(in terms of development-roads, hotels, zoning) is pathetic. the nimby and ‘i got mine already so you can’t get yours now’ mentalities just really severely harms the best of what the valley has to offer.

[Albert_R]

I just came back from a week in Bordeaux and can attest that Bordeaux is now the bargain compared to Napa. The town itself is becoming a small version of Paris.

I will be there at the end of June! Can’t wait.