Laser-focused on food and wine (none other than chef Charlie Palmer is a co-owner).

On a remote vineyard. Pack your glad rags—you’re right in lively downtown.

Healdsburg is synonymous with this hotel, which gave the Sonoma town a toehold of hipster cred as an alternative to Napa when it opened in 2001. The art-stocked space has a modern vibe, with furniture made locally from salvaged ancient bay laurel trees, plush Tibetan carpets, Frette-linen-topped teak beds. Many rooms have oversized soaking tubs—an ideal place to tipple a glass of local Pinot Noir. The small but efficient six-room spa centers its services around biodynamic therapies that sound good enough to eat, such as a Meyer lemon and sage whipped soufflé cream massage and a body wrap made from organic sauvignon blanc. The pool and jacuzzi are encircled by hydrangea and fig trees.

You prefer a modern-minded boutique hotel within a cork’s throw of Healdsburg’s restaurants and shops—especially one that maintains a fleet of chartreuse bikes for tooling around.

You adored Charlie Palmer’s on-site Dry Creek Kitchen—and its 500-bottle-deep wine list—but it’s when you sit by the fireplace in the lounge, sipping a "Ginger? Snap!" cocktail with rum and housemade rhubarb syrup, as a jazz trio plays, that you decide to check your calendar for a free weekend to plot your return.

Charlie Palmer's Dry Creek Kitchen- Progressive American cuisine with an impressive wine list

Pizzando - Lively, casual restaurant serving wood-oven pizzas, antipasti, and beers

Spirit Bar- Wines, cocktails and dark spirits Lobby Lounge with a fireplace