Not sure a B & B is for you?

B&B Myth Busters

Are you shying away from staying at a B&B because you’re not sure what to expect? Research shows that B&Bs and country inns are sorely misunderstood. We’re here to explain why B&Bs are a better way to stay. Younger travelers think B&Bs are for “oldies” and others believe the B in B&B stands for boutique or expensive. Let’s debunk some of those B&B myths and learn more about today’s B&B experience.

"But I'll have to eat with people I don't know! "

Today’s B&Bs are split with about half offering private tables for those who’d rather not eat breakfast with others and the other half serving family style so guests can meet one another. Some innkeepers even serve breakfast in the room. And just to set the record straight, you won’t be eating Cheerios with the owner’s kids either, separate living quarters for the innkeepers and guests are standard at all B&Bs.

“I don't want to have to share a bathroom".

According to the Professional Association of Innkeepers International and BedandBreakfast.com’s innkeeper surveys, more than 97 percent of B&Bs offer private baths in some if not all rooms. For those looking to economize on rates, a shared bath option is available in approximately 12 percent of B&Bs.

"It's so expensive!"

Actually, when you add up all the extras including complimentary breakfast, snacks, beverages, wi-fi, movies and parking, then compare prices to local hotels in your travel destination, chances are you will find as much as a $175 per day savings. We recently compared Boston B&Bs to hotels, and here’s what we found. When the hotel’s higher rates were figured in, we realized a daily savings of $175 a day!

"B & Bs are only for couples"

While every B&B has some romantic aspect to it, there are plenty of inns and B&Bs that specialize in other aspects of travel. You’ll find that inns B&Bs are a better way to stay for families, business travelers, even those traveling with pets.

"They're old buildings, and I need my WIFI connections"

Recent surveys of innkeepers conducted by BedandBreakfast.com show that more than 91 percent of inns and B&Bs offer complimentary wi-fi connections. Innkeepers throughout North America understand that guests travel with a full load of tech-items. Many are adding iPod docking stations and power strips to rooms to allow plenty of wattage for powering up tech toys.

Harvest in Wine Country

If you’ve been paying attention to the Wine Country at all, I’m sure you’ve heard that this year’s weather has wreaked havoc on our harvest season. Cold, foggy summer mornings delayed the ripening of the grapes. This caused many growers to cut back the leaves to give the grapes more direct sunlight. A three day heat wave in August of temperatures over 100 sunburned a lot of grapes in the area, creating huge losses (including our own Zinfandel; we lost all of it this year). Even vineyards not affected by the sunburn were weeks behind in harvesting. While this caused a lot of worry for wine makers, wanting to get everything in before the rains this weekend, it actually created a longer harvest season for guests to experience.

While we aren’t busy harvesting grapes, harvest is still a busy for us at the Inn, with lots of great guests staying during this amazing time of the year. I did manage to get away from the Inn to experience a couple awesome harvest parties however!

At Michel-Schlumberger, I was lucky enough to be able to attend one of their harvest luncheons, catered by Jeff and Susan Mall from Zin Restaurant. We began with a tour through the vineyards with owner Jacque. It is clear from first meeting Jacque that he is passionate about what he does, from running the winery to keeping his bees. We were really fortunate to receive this tour from him! He led us through the vines, letting us eat grapes right off the vine! There were even “secret” stations of wine set up, so we could actually drink the wine out in the vines the wine started from! This was such a neat experience, getting to see (and taste) the wine in so many different stages, from grape to barrel to glass. In the barrel room, we also got to taste their just harvested Pinot Gris, which I have to say was amazing!

After the tour, we were seated at a table shaded by a huge oak tree; a completely serene location to enjoy more excellent wines, and begin our lunch. Since we’d arrived, we could smell the house made Jambalaya cooking in a pot right on the patio, but first we started with a salad, complete with Eastside Farm award winning tomatoes. The delectable main course was the Jambalaya, also featuring the home grown tomatoes. We ended with an amazing flourless chocolate cake. While some guests admitted defeat and left some cake on their plate, I made the Mall’s proud by finishing every dish, and with pleasure!

Michel Schlumberger hosts these Harvest Luncheons Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays in September and October, featuring local restaurants and chefs, and if you’re in the area for one, I would 100% recommend a reservation, you won’t regret it!

I also found time to make it to Dutcher Crossing's annual Oktoberfest (post and pictures to follow soon), but there were so many options I couldn't enjoy them all! Mauritson, for example, is hosting harvest tours Saturdays in October and November. There were also endless choices for wine maker dinners, harvest parties, etc. It's such a wonderful time here in Healdsburg!

Want to visit Healdsburg affordably?

Want to visit Healdsburg affordably? It can be done! Below are a few tips to help you fully appreciate wine country without breaking the bank.
· Travel mid-week; lodging will be less than weekend rates, and more businesses (restaurants, wineries, shops) will run specials to encourage people to break away from weekend trips. This also means that it will be less crowded, making a more enjoyable trip for you! The same can be said for traveling off-season. For example, the weekend of March 19th visit downtown Healdsburg for the Healdsburg Sidewalk Sale!
· Mid-week travel will also create more dining options at some of our amazing local restaurants. Sunday thru Thursday Zin Restaurant offers Blue Plate Specials, none over $20. Dry Creek Kitchen offers a Thursday Surf and Turf menu (which I can tell you from experience is quite tasty!). A number of other local restaurants offer local nights, discount nights, etc, that vary through the year. Be sure to check websites of restaurants you are interested in before you arrive, so you know which days will be best to visit each!
· If you’ve been to Napa, you are probably familiar with rather extravagant tasting and tour fees. That is not (usually) the case here in Healdsburg/Sonoma. On www.wineroad.com you can actually search for wineries, and choose the amenity “tasting fee complimentary” to come up with a great list of local wineries that do not charge to taste. Also, your concierge often has passes and connections that will help out! Don’t feel bad about asking! For example, we hand out passes automatically to guests at check-in, but sometimes there are more wineries that offer passes that we may not have on hand. Those wineries will still honor the discount as long as you let them know where you’re staying. Aside from passes for tastings, your concierge may have other connections. We have a couple wineries that will comp a tour or tasting for a guest if we call and make the reservation. But you’ll never know if you don’t ask!
· Tour with some friends! The more of you there are, the less certain things will cost, such as your rental car, or a tour guide. Transportation services generally charge by the hour, not person, so your individual cost will be less. Plus, you’ll have someone handy to take a picture of you and your significant other!
These are just a few ideas to help you visit Healdsburg a little more affordably! Always check www.wineroad.com and www.healdsburg.com event pages to see what else may be happening in the area!

Winter Wine Land

In the spirit of trying new things (my new year’s resolution) I decided to participate in Winter Wine Land this year. For those of you that don’t know, this is an annual event in the Healdsburg area, put on by the Wine Road, where you can by a pass to visit a good majority of the local wineries. These wineries generally offer food, specials, and pour wine not always offered. We have guests that come every year specifically for this event, and absolutely love it! I figured I should see what it was all about.
We started promptly at 11:00a.m. at Hanna in Alexander Valley. They had a “Grease” theme, with Pink Ladies costumes, music and decorations, which was great! I had a couple favorites here, their Sauvignon Blanc (which I’d had before), and their Jasmine Vixen, a red blend. Not only was this very tasty, but has a great name too!
Next was Alexander Valley Vineyards, just down the road. Great wines and it was wonderful to taste their wines with some an excellent beef stew, which was very welcome as it was a fairly cold and rainy Sunday.
Next to White Oak, a completely new winery to me. The property was beautiful, especially the fountain out front. Here, another amazing Sauvignon blanc, but what lingers with me still is their Syrah paired with pork sliders and streusel! We stayed here for quite awhile, enjoying the atmosphere, wine, company and space heaters!
We moved onto Stryker Sonoma, a personal favorite. The views from their tasting room were amazing, cloudy skies only adding to the vistas. We were able to taste a couple wines here from their Monte Rosso vineyards, which I had not tried before. These are something you must ask to taste the next time you visit! They paired their 2003 Monte Rosso Cabernet with an excellent chocolate bark, with amazing results!
After Stryker we headed over to the Dry Creek Valley. I’d been intrigued for days by facebook and twitter posts from Michel-Schlumberger about their ‘Winter Wine Land Olympics’ and ‘Jamaican bobsledder’, and had to check it out. Greeting us at the entry was, in fact, a Jamaican bobsledder, and by following the twitter instructions of saying “ya mon” to him (actually Jim Morris, the director of sales and marketing), we were permitted entry to their reserve tasting, which was an array of amazing Cabernet vintages from their cellars! This was a really fun winery to visit. The staff were all dressed as various winter Olympic athletes, (Picabo Street, etc), and the winery was decked out in fitting decorations. The rain put a stop to any actual games they may have had planned, but it was a lot of fun in spite of that!
No day of wine tasting is complete without dinner in Healdsburg, so off we went to Willi’s Seafood. First we made a quick stop to check out Thumbprint Cellars new tasting room, getting in just minutes before closing, so weren’t there too long, but managed to pick up a bottle of my favorite Viognier! At Willi’s we had some of our favorites; calamari, sourdough bread, and lobster rolls. Fully satisfied, we called it a day!
I was a little skeptical at first, afraid that there would be too many people in the area to really enjoy myself, or the wines. However, I was pleasantly surprised that it was never overly crowded any where I went. The fact that so many wineries participate probably spread out the visitors between the three valleys. There were people around of course, but it was great to chat with them about the wines and the event. If you are the type of wine taster who likes to spend their time talking to staff and wine makers, this is probably not a good time to come to wine country. However, if you want a fun, easy going weekend of wine tasting, this is a wonderful event that I highly recommend!