Monday, June 28, 2010

RAVE - Calistoga Ranch

Mrs. P starts her new job next Tuesday, and to celebrate she treated us to a stay at Calistoga Ranch which is, surprise surprise, in Calistoga, at the North end of Napa Valley.

The resort, our lodge, the service and the weather were verging on perfect.

The place, all wood and marble, is top notch club rather than sumptuous luxury, in keeping I guess with its nature-friendly ambitions.

Our lodge, replete with outdoor shower (as well as the less interesting traditional one), hot tub (which we tried to cool down, as 104-degree water in 98-degree weather was just too much for a prolonged splash), and large deck surrounded by trees, was marvelous. Only the cooler water in the pool stopped us from spending our entire stay in and around our lodge.

Overpriced dinner was not up to the standard of the rest of the resort, although dining outside at the Lakeside restaurant with a fabulous view of the lake and forest drew this bit of plagiarism from Pavey: "4 little pieces of bacon-wrapped veal loin: $40. Eating it while a family of deer munched their vegetarian dinner a few feet away: priceless".

If you're up for a stay at a Californian country spa, I have to say we marginally preferred Corde Val, reviewed elsewhere in this blog-like thing.

No comments: