TRAVELLING EDITOR
A continental road trip to Napa.
You know - it’s funny. Although I travel a lot, I’d never been drawn to Napa Valley. And although I love luxury cars, I’ve never considered myself a Lincoln kind of girl. My grandfather drove a Lincoln. It was this big, black imposing car that seemed to take up two city blocks. So no one was as surprised as me to learn that the 2017 Lincoln Continental is sleek, luxurious and truly sexy. It has enough curves to satisfy my need for a little femininity in my car. Definitely not my grandpa’s Lincoln.
And so it happened, that over the course of road trip from San Francisco to Calistoga Ranch in Napa Valley, I fell in love with a boutique hotel and a new era of luxury vehicles.
Calistoga Ranch is a quiet oasis, tucked into the natural beauty of Napa Valley, California. This place - it personifies the word retreat.
Calistoga Ranch is an Auberge Resorts Collection hotel. They proudly boast that this is a place where nature is the primary amenity. They got it right.
The 157-acre property features an enchanting lane way (photo left), majestic rolling hills, ancient forests and a private lake. There are fifty rooms in total, but you rarely see other guests as each of the private lodges is set amidst lush forests.
We stayed in a one-bedroom lodge (shown right) and it was so private and restful. With bedroom and living room in separate buildings, it felt Balinese in design. Our outdoor deck, which featured a fireplace, comfy lounge chairs and a sunken hot tub, nicely bridged the two buildings. Each lodge is enveloped in nature, and the lulling sounds of a rocky stream passed by our bedroom window.
With an outdoor swimming pool, award winning spa, and several dining options, you could stay put and go nowhere at all. I was thrilled that I was able to visit the chicken coop and gather my own farm fresh eggs for my morning breakfast.
Calistoga Ranch is the kind of place where you can truly retreat to reconnect with yourself, your partner and with nature. There are more than 80 vineyards in the Calistoga region, so you are well situated for day trips to as many different wineries as you care to sample.