Bardessono – No?
Yountville is the perfect place in the Napa Valley. It is more precious than Napa and not as far as Saint Helena so the heinous traffic doesn’t apply, and hands down, per block is home to many of the best restaurants in the wine country. In fact with so many great places to eat – including the new Michael Chiarello restaurant, Bottega, deciding where to eat is overwhelming. The eating is one vote to stay for the weekend vs. the day, but either way, Yountville is the perfect day trip or weekend escape.
Part of the reason for this visit was to check out Bardessono, the new luxury resort and spa. Touting itself as the “most anticipated opening in years” and open since February, Bardessono also claims to be the greenest hotel in America. Hats off to that! But starting at six-bills a night for the spa-suite (entry level room) in low-season, I had to wonder… if these are recessionary times, has the recession not come to the wine country? Can the Napa Valley support yet another resort with these price points?
After walking around the property I was underwhelmed. There was a lot of stone and wood (or as Paul said “they used the Home Depot bricks to make the walls”… I’m sure they were something other than that, but they did look a little Home Depot). I felt that any type of lush landscaping in the form of trees and plants was missing; perhaps it is still going in.
Unlike other resorts in the area, I didn’t get that feeling that I was in a special place. Granted, I didn’t stay overnight so can’t comment on the service and guest experience, but the walk through didn’t fire me up to convince Paul that I’d found the most fabulous place and we needed to return to spend a weekend.
I love the fact that it is green and sustainable by design and can’t deny that the pool cabanas looked like an inviting place to spend a hot summer day but I left feeling that something was missing and I can’t place what that something is. Did it feel empty, during my look around, I saw only three people – all in the pool. Or maybe it was the sparseness. I am upset. I wanted to love it; I wanted it to be my weekend retreat from the foggy city in the summertime. I wanted to feel compelled to sign up for their email list to receive exclusive offers, but I’m not.
So for now, I wish the Bardessono well. Who knows, maybe they’re close to fully booked for the summer and I have it all wrong. The next time I’m in Yountville, I’ll check it out again and maybe then I’ll get that special feeling.
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