The Poetry Inn – Napa, CA

This past week my husband and I decided to take a little break through the weekend. Originally this was a trip we were supposed to take with our little one (because I’ve become one of this annoying parents who can’t bear to be parted from their baby), but it turns out almost every hotel I wanted to stay at within a short driving distance did not allow children under 16. So we made it a short couple’s weekend trip and I was really happy we took it. I highly recommend this for all new parents, by the way!

Now onto a property which is now my #1 new favorite in Napa Valley – The Poetry Inn. Located right off of Silverado Trail, and a five minute drive away from Yountville, it has (in my opinion) one of the best locations for Napa Valley, especially for first time visitors. You drive up a little hill off of Silverado, and buzz through a gate, and park a little while up. Then you walk into the lobby.

Poetry Inn is a boutique property, with only five rooms, and is technically a “bed and breakfast,” although a super nice, luxurious version. One of the Innkeepers greets you when you arrive, and there are usually freshly baked chocolate chip cookies whenever you come down (and in the evenings, a complimentary nightcap station).

Even though there are only five rooms, the lobby is of ample size, and the view of course is amazing. By the way – the dates we stayed there, the inn was at full capacity, but we never ever saw another guest.

Now, onto our room. There were two rooms that had been recommended to me at Poetry by a friend – the Emily Dickinson or the Robert Louis Stevenson. The Emily ended up being booked for our dates, so RLS it was! I love that the rooms are all named after writers. By the way – when I was booking, it seemed that Emily Dickinson was the most popular accommodation, likely as it is the least expensive. Something to keep in mind.

The room of course was gorgeous – there was a living room which its own bathroom, a huge fireplace, complimentary mini fridge, and the sofas were incredibly comfortable. I actually spent most of my time in the room, on this sofa.

Lots of nice little touches throughout. I always like it when hotels use nice candles. A really nice candle, in my opinion, does more for the ambiance than some super fancy perfumed toiletries.

The living room led into the bedroom…which was nice and spacious, with a king sized bed and two closets, including one walk in. But honestly, you want to know our favorite part of the bedroom?

The TV! We loved that our suite had two TVs – one in the living room, one in the bedroom. I love places like the Post Ranch Inn but don’t always love that they don’t have a TV in the room (I know you can ask for one, but I always feel a little judged). Especially as a preggo, I just wanted to spend a lot of our time lazing about, staring mindlessly at television…all the luxuries you miss when you have a baby. Poetry goes the extra step by having Netflix, HBO, Showtime, etc, all ready to go so you can binge watch. There were also more DVDs in a cabinet.

The bathroom was large, with a beautiful view of Napa Valley. The shower was huge but I especially loved the tub. I took multiple baths during our stay and it felt wonderful to spend an hour in there, just reading my Kindle. I was a prune when I came out but even better. Also – heated marble floors.

One of my few (super picky) suggestions for improvement – I was a tad disappointed to see L’Occitane toiletries, since it seemed like so much thought was put into the rest of the room. It would have been nice to see Le Labo, or maybe a local brand. But again, I’m really finding something to find fault with here! And they did provide these little bath bombs, which I’d only seen before in Hawaii.

Oh and the towels were the best towels I’ve ever had at a hotel, bar none. Super soft and fluffy. Husband agreed.

Finally, outdoor shower complete with lounge chair. So nice and also HUGE!

One of my favorite parts of any hotel stay is breakfast. I’m a total breakfast person, and also hugely lazy in the mornings when I travel, so I always have to eat breakfast at the hotel. What I loved about Poetry was that it gave you the flexibility of choosing whether to dine in the lobby each morning, or in your own room. We always opted for our room, and every night after turndown a table was set up by our deck. In the mornings, as soon as I woke, I’d call down for a latte or some tea, and an innkeeper would bring it up. Then, when we were ready to eat, we’d call down again, and they’d start the official “breakfast”. The first course was always a selection of pastries from Bouchon Bakery just down the street, and they’d also bring a menu at the time, so you could choose your next two courses. Each day’s menu options were different!

Some highlights from our breakfasts during our stay. Everything we had was amazing, and since breakfast was served until 10:30 AM and we slept in late every day, it was basically like a brunch. Delicious and economical, no?

Overall, I loved our stay at The Poetry Inn and we’ll definitely be back. I would rate it as close to a perfect stay as possible, with a few notes. One is that the hotel is small – only five rooms – but has a heated pool, jacuzzi, spa and spa services. No gym, but they can call you a personal trainer. The one thing it didn’t have however, was room service (except however, for the spectacular breakfast). If you arranged it ahead of time, you could have a private chef do a special dinner for you in the room, but there was no way for a “I feel like pizza at 3 AM and will just dial down” sort of an option. We didn’t mind since we were so close to Yountville and so many delicious places to eat anyway (plus, as the preggo, we always had at least one designated driver), but I could see how someone feeling lazy would miss the room service option. Just something to keep in mind.

If you have stayed or are planning to stay here – I think you will love it. See you next time, Poetry!