Napa River Inn — Hotel in Napa

Boutique. Chic. Magnifique

My 2 night stay at the Napa River Inn for the 18th Live in the Vineyard was a wonderful experience, all around. Located at the historic Napa Mill overlooking the Napa River, the Napa River Inn is conveniently located in Downtown Napa, within walking distance to retail stores, eateries & the Oxbow Public Market.

Check-in was a breeze. We were offered wine samplings, and the lobby had a Keurig coffee maker & iced water. Upon completion of check-in, we were given a parking placard to place on our rental car dashboard. Parking is via the private parking lot, or the parking structure across the street, which I believe is limited to a particular level. Our room was located in the Plaza Building.

Arriving in our room, we noticed how quaint it was. A Keurig coffee maker, with complimentary Starbucks coffee & organic tea, a mini-fridge with 2 complimentary bottles of water were some of the amenities. Organic toiletries from NV Organics were luxurious and pleasant smelling. Wise on their part, Napa River Inn's body wash, shampoo & conditioner were locked in the shower, discouraging visitors from taking them home. Amelia's, the lobby gift shop, has all the NV Organics for purchase. The bath soap, facial soap, shoe mitt, vanity pack, sewing kit & shower cap were free to take as souvenirs. Daily night cap with mint chocolate was a welcome sight coming back to our room. Complimentary breakfast in bed from Sweetie Pie's Bakery next door is normally included for guests, but because we were staying courtesy of Live in the Vineyard, the offer wasn't included. Our balcony overlooked the entrance to Celadon restaurant.

A Lexus house car for complimentary "driver hosted" jaunts within city limits was on hand for guests. We used it to buy Powerball tickets from 7-Eleven, as the big jackpot proved quite the temptation. One of the security guards acted as driver, and he was friendly to talk to. I also inquired about printing options, as I wanted to print our Southwest boarding passes 24 hours prior to my departure. The staff let me know they could take care of it for me, as long as I left them the pertinent info, and they'd leave our printed boarding passes in my room. That's service for you!

On premises, there are several eateries & shops to take in- Amelias - The lobby gift shop, catering to clothing, luggage & toiletries Sweetie Pie's Bakery - Known for their scones, Sweetie Pie's has breakfast and lunch specials for all dietary considerations. Vintage Sweet Shop - Made daily fudge, chocolate & sweets. Fudge & wine tastings are offered. Ask for a fudge sample like I did. Silo's - For nightlife lovers, with live music, wine, microbrews & small bites. Napa General Store - Unique keepsakes & treasures, to go along with breakfast & lunch. Angele - Country French fare. Celadon - Global comfort food, influenced by Asian, American & Mediterranean cuisine.

Facial & body treatments can be arranged at The Spa, utilizing the same NV Organics as those in the room. A tiny exercise room in the Plaza Building consisted of 3 cardio machines in a tiny room. I say, get your cardio by walking Downtown Napa like we did.

Truth be told, we spent a delightful weekend at the Napa River Inn. While slightly discouraged we didn't receive a room with a river view, the Napa River wasn't much to look at and our room was right by the entrance of the Plaza Building, making getting in & out a breeze. The service was top notch, and the staff even packaged/shipped our Live in the Vineyard schwag bags with our UPS labels for us. The absolute highlight is Napa Rive Inn's location. Located within close proximity to the Uptown Theatre, Zuzu, the Oxbow Public Market & other attractions, my rental car stayed in the same spot till we left for home, not needing to drive anywhere, saving gas & really taking in Napa by walking & being street level with...

What a GREAT experience! I went on a girls trip to Napa and read good reviews on The Napa River Inn and decided to book it. And I'm so glad I did! All the employees were friendly and helpful from Rosie the concierge (who helped give us winery recommendations and book wine tastings for us) to the front desk staff, housekeeping and more. On our first night, we couldn't get our door to lock so I called the front desk. They said they would send someone to help us. At most hotels, that means at least 45 minutes. Not here! Someone was at our door to help in 1 minute. ||The building is very charming, right next to the river and literally just a few steps from a breakfast/bakery (Sweetie Pies Bakery). The Inn gives you vouchers to either have pastries delivered to you in the morning from Sweetie Pies or you can go to the bakery and use it as a credit to get whatever you want. This was a great bonus for us! Then a few more steps and you are at Finks Lounge. A cozy, cool lounge for drinks, small eats and live music. It had a fun & lively, yet relaxed vibe and the owner was really nice. The Bakery, Finks and a few other places are all connected to the Inn so it wa very convenient. The Inn is also fairly central to all the wineries. You can pretty much get to all of them within 25 minutes or much less depending on which one. Take Lyft though - safe and makes travel much more carefree. ||Our room was just right too - it had everything we need (well except a bathroom fan - it got kind of steamy in there). but otherwise very cute. Our room had a balcony that faced out to the river which was very peaceful. And the beds, pillows and sheets were SO comfortable! I find most hotel beds to be saggy or hard and have stiff, itchy sheets. But these beds were just right! Also in the room, was a small fridge, Keurig type of coffee maker and kettle if you just wanted hot water for tea. I would warn that the walls are a bit thin and we could here some conversation in the next room, but it was nothing that bothered us.||If you appreciate charming buildings, a super comfortable bed and great customer service, I highly recommend the...

When we got suddenly evacuated without warning from our home in St. Helena due to the LNU fires, we didn't know where to go, but started heading toward Napa. I saw Napa River Inn had good reviews, and showed availability on Hotels.com, so decided to call just to check. When I asked about room availability, I got an icy reception: "I don't know if we have any rooms. We are getting slammed right now."

So I took a chance and booked on Hotels.com... seems they had rooms after all? Then we decided we needed to extend our stay... but having paid full price ($200+/night), and their rates going up to $292/night for the weekend, we let them know we were local evacuees. They didn't offer any discount at all, which was quite disappointing.

If they had, this would be a 4-star review, but I have to review based in that full-price rate, and have to say that the quality is not quite up to the pricetag:

1. There is a pretense of luxury, but not actual luxury. Slapping a label on generic shampoo that says "Sparkling Champagne Shampoo" does not actually make it higher quality. Similarly, the towels, furniture, bathroom hardware/shower are all fairly low quality. even the keycard locks on the doors weren’t working properly. (For most of our stay, we had to walk around to the back of the building to get in, and even then only my wife’s key card worked — mine did not.)

2. Our room was nice... until evening rolled around, and large groups of low-class guests gathered on the patio area right outside our room, being loud and obnoxious into the night.

3. There is chintziness and lack of consistency with things... they will provide in-room coffee only upon request (new covid regulations, so that is fine), but the first pack of coffee they gave us came with no sugars or sweetener of any kind; the second box did. Why? Similarly, my wife was provided cream with her breakfast tea one morning, but not the other 3 mornings. Why not?

The location is quite nice, but if I had guests coming to visit, I would only recommend this place if they could get a rate under $200/night. For $1000 after being forced from our home, I...