The Estate Yountville — Hotel in Yountville

I made a booking more than 30 days in advance for a special "plan ahead and save" rate on 9/3, but because I did not receive any confirmation in my email or see any charge on my credit card that night, nor the day after, I assumed the reservation had not gone through, had second thoughts, and then forgot about this.

When I checked my credit card on 9/13, I spotted a charge made on 9/10. So I called the hotel.

There was a 30-day grace period which you could cancel (they have since removed this verbiage on the website and now it simply states "Reservation is non-cancellable, non-refundable" as of today, 9/14 (the day after I called them). What a coincidence.

I've since spoken with FOUR people to explain my situation (this is for a reservation that is 28 days away and had I known that this reservation was confirmed, I would have notified the hotel MUCH sooner, and WELL before the 30-day grace period). The responses I have gotten are:

"let me send you the terms and conditions" (this verbiage has also been recently removed on their website) "because you booked a special offer, our policy states there are no cancelations or refunds" "we can reschedule your reservation date instead"

My dissatisfaction remains, because I'm not looking to cancel something that's a week before, a day before, its literally 2 days past the 30-day grace period for a reservation 28 days away.

I also went back to check my email on 9/13 and FOUND the confirmation which was in my SPAM folder, so that was INCREDIBLY useless and disappointing because I had no notification otherwise.

The responses of "let me send you the terms and conditions" was again quite useless because, it doesn't help me out NOW. What good is this to me NOW, when I'm calling you ASAP about a charge on my credit card that I'd like refunded for a date 28 days in advance.

Their stance of resting on the 30-day cancelation policy, (actually, as of TODAY, they're not even mentioning that, because this verbiage has been removed as of yesterday) and instead saying I can reschedule my reservation instead of canceling or refunding me, especially after I explained my situation is incredulous and supremely disappointing.

If there was more understanding and flexibility, that would be have been incredibly appreciated, and remembered for a future reservation, but after this experience, I'm telling anyone and everyone about this irritating experience.

And to tell me and respond with "I'm not responsible for when you're checking your email" is infuriating. I don't EXPECT you to be responsible for that, but I DO expect some understanding and flexibility as I'm providing you with context about WHY I'm calling 2 days into this 30-day cancelation window.

My issue is that I'm notifying the hotel with as advance notice as possible, (which is IMMEDIATELY once I noticed this charge on my credit card, which is 28 days prior to the reservation I made) to have the hotel say because it's a "special rate" they're not able to refund me is blowing me up.

So this review is a WARNING. If you take advantage of a special rate, or make a reservation at all with this hotel, be sure to check your spam folder, be sure to read that fine print, be sure to take screenshots, be sure to COVER YOUR ASS because if you want to change this, this hotel will stand firm on their policy with no flexibility whatsoever in offering you a refund.

I would accept this type of response if I were calling inside of a few days, a week, hell, inside of 2 weeks. But TWO days into the 30-day cancelation window (28 days until my reservation) with ZERO consideration to refund me?! WOW. The whole hiding behind their policy option is enough for me to say NEVER AGAIN. I haven't even stayed here, and I know without a shadow of a doubt, I DON'T EVER WANT to stay here beyond what I'm now FORCED to do. And I sure as hell don't ever want to refer/recommend this place to any friends, colleagues, family. Ever.

I haven't even made it into the front lobby, and already, my experience dealing with this hotel is a supreme...

UPDATE: The room was booked through The Estate, not a third party, as the owner responded below. I appreciate the response otherwise. Our experience with The Estate was terrible, but our wedding was amazing. We booked the venue over 14 months before the date of our wedding. We were excited to have our ceremony in the vineyard, the reception and cocktail hour in The Social, and to stay on property. Approximately 2-4 weeks before our wedding, I received an email (not a call) stating our reservation had been cancelled, that The Estate would be happy to accommodate us two days later (after the wedding). The director of sales, Robert, contacted me after my planner kindly stepped in to help navigate the situation. Essentially, they reserved the property for a banking event during our stay, and he was in a bind because we had paid in full and he was technically in breach of contract. But he didn't admit it. Instead, he launched into a sales pitch for us to stay at a nearby 3-star hotel at their expense (which is lovely, and I've stayed there several times), but not the experience we booked, or thought we did, at The Estate. He then promoted another hotel 30 minutes away, for its bowling alley and steakhouse, as if that was the experience we wanted. We chose The Estate for its location, the opportunity to stay at our wedding venue, its walkability in Yountville, and the overall experience they offered. While we understand that things happen, their approach to handling it was terrible. When my then-fiancé asked to have a meeting with Robert (I was over the chauvinism) upon our arrival, he said he thought they’d addressed everything and “fixed the issue,” which consisted of $30 bottles of Chandon and comping our stay. While we appreciated their effort, they missed the point that they never asked what we felt might have fixed it; It wasn’t about the money, and certainly not for free Chandon. Michelle and Tracey (the wedding coordinators) were terrific and stuck in a tough situation. For the reception, The Social doesn’t have shades, so when the sun sets, our guests in its path struggle with the heat and brightness. I kept getting up to block it, and then I had to ask for help. There wasn't much proactivity. The A/C went out during the day while I was getting ready (it was 95 degrees that day), and they just weren’t prepared, which I could understand. But we had to ask for fans. To top it off, after the wedding, we received a bill for $2300 without any explanation or invoice attached. When my husband inquired about the details, including an invoice, the accountant responded that they’d made a mistake, and we only owed $300. Overall, just a poor experience.

The Hotel stay: The staff at The Vintage House don’t seem to want to be there or help you. Robert had supposedly reserved transportation for us to a local winery, yet the front desk had no memo of it. The Estate offers a complimentary car service to nearby wineries, but the girl at the front showed no interest in resolving the issue. When my stylist needed to get her things down the stairs on my wedding day (they put you upstairs in a room that, while beautiful, has no bathroom—you have to go through the lobby in your robe—and the elevator is non-functioning), not one of the men or boys opening or closing the front door tried to help her. They just kept focusing on the broken elevator and talking among themselves. The turndown service came at 9:30 pm, which seemed strange. It just lacked so many small details to make it a 4-star, aside from the aesthetic. One of our guests stayed at Hotel Villagio and said their service and stay were much better, if that's helpful.

Our ceremony and reception were beautiful, he rooms and pool are nice. Food is great. Michelle provided a facial at the spa, which is lovely. The location is central. I prefer to forget the drama we endured, but share our experience as a warning—and a suggestion for The Estate to review their business model. Consider staying and getting married elsewhere; Napa Valley offers many...

"Beautiful Estate with Apathetic Management Regarding Guest Experience"

We stayed in a Vintage House Suite and spent an entire morning in their spa on one day receiving multiple services that were fantastic. The Spa staff were friendly and we had a great experience there and felt that the price was a reflection of the high level of service provided. Unfortunately there was a blackout on the final day of our 4 day stay and the Vintage house staff were completely unprepared for how to communicate with their guests. We spent that evening in complete darkness (other than a candle we had gotten somewhere else). It was freezing and there were no food or comfort options available or offered. We have stayed in highly rated properties during storms and unexpected weather issues in the past and never experienced the nonchalant attitude regarding the comfort of the guests. After we left we sent a letter requesting that final night be refunded and why we were requesting it, we did not get a response. I followed up by calling and confirming that the letter was received and was promised a response and that was never done either. It's clear that the management of this Estate does not focus on the service they provide and instead relies on the beauty and location of the property. We would definitely stay in Yountville again but not at this Estate. I'm including in this review the email letter I sent and they received that management refused to respond to.

I would like to discuss the final day of our stay at The Vintage house. We were in room 813 and although we understand that you can not control the weather, we feel strongly we should be reimbursed for that night. We lost power before 2:00 PM and received no communication from anyone. We did not even know what was happening until we went to the lobby to inquire and were told “yes, the whole town is out”. That was it. When we asked for extra blankets and a light source as it was freezing in that room the head of housekeeping said they’d already put an extra blanket (it was a thin knit blanket that would not have been enough at all), I said we definitely need more than that. We asked for something more substantial and they did give us an additional bedspread. Thank goodness as it was very cold. They at first said they didn’t have a light source but eventually gave us a plug in small light that we were told would last about an hour. We went to a winery and bought a candle to provide us light for the night. We in no way were able to enjoy the room. Everyone was very nonchalant regarding offering any kind of assistance or communication. No one was rude but the attitude was clearly that they felt it just was not their problem.

We do understand that the situation was out of your hands but we also paid for a very specifically marketed experience and not only was that not what we got on that last night but no one really cared either. For these reasons we feel we should receive a refund for that last evening. Thank you. Please forward this to whoever needs to see it and we’d appreciate a...