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Napa – The Carneros Inn and Angelo’s

This weekend, my husband and I went on a little getaway to Napa. We had a few events to go to in the area and decided to make it a weekend and stay for a few days! I’d been wanting to try The Carneros Inn for the longest time, and was happy to finally have an opportunity. Warning: a long, picture heavy post ahead.

The first thing that I loved about The Carneros Inn? The fact that it is just on the edges of Napa in the Carneros region, which shortens the drive for anybody heading up from the Bay Area. I love Calistoga but the drive is significantly longer, especially with traffic. You’re greeted by the Carneros Inn sign as you enter the compound, which is HUGE.

via Carneros Inn

We drove into the property, found the reception and were greeted by glasses of wine. After a very short and painless check in period, we headed off to our little cottage. Carneros Inn is comprised of a bunch of these lovely little cottages of various sizes all around. Loved the rocking chairs out front and we received our daily paper choice in our little mailbox each morning.

The inside of our cottage was very clean and sleek – and reminded me a lot of our room at Solage.

A welcome note and some snacks from the General Manager. I have a very good travel agent!

The really cool part about the cottage rooms was the garden area outside. Ours had two sun beds (where I loved to just sit and read) as well as a dining area, bench and outdoor shower! Here you can also see that the walls are corrugated metal – which I personally found charming but I know others have had “trailer park” impressions. I think it’s all about the maintenance and so far, Carneros has done a good job of it.

A quick shot of the outdoor shower – I didn’t think I’d use this but I did and it was really nice! There’s something refreshing about bathing outside under the sun. Our cottage didn’t have an outdoor tub but I think I’d book one with a tub in the future. We saw a Harvest Cottage (which has an outdoor soaking tub and fire pit) and it was perfect.

The nice thing about the indoor shower was that it was connected to the outdoor one – so you could go back and forth between the two easily.

After checking into our room, we relaxed and then headed out to dinner at night at Carneros’s restaurant, Farm. Farm is their “fancier” sit down restaurant (though you can totally go casual). The photo is of the outside area where there’s free seating and bar food – the first night we sat in the indoor space. The lawn also includes two bocce ball areas.

via Carneros Inn

It was pretty dark indoors so all my pictures of food didn’t turn out very well. I don’t want to subject you all to bad fuzzy food pictures but it was delicious! Please try.

The next morning, we woke up and decided to head up to the Hilltop Dining Room, where we ate our next two breakfasts. The restaurant is absolutely gorgeous and next to the pool. It’s also open only to hotel guests, so was never overcrowded. Walking up, you step through these tiles arranged in the grass – you can see the restaurant at the very wee top of this picture.

We ate outside each morning. Breakfasts started with a basket of pastries and their fresh mini doughnuts.

Our orders – Eggs Benedict with dungeness crab and avocado, and french toast with fresh berries.

Both also came with juice and tea.

Here’s a quick shot of the Hilltop Dining Room at night and the chairs they set out for sunset viewing.

via Carneros Inn

After breakfast each morning we’d walk a few steps down to the beautiful pool. There’s a lot of resorts I love in the Napa region but I have to say that I think Carneros has the most stunning pool. It looks over Napa Valley and there’s a lot of chairs strewn throughout so you can just sit and enjoy the view. Every photo was stunning!

The gorgeous view. Also a fabulous place to watch and enjoy the sunset. I also grabbed a few towels nearby and just took a nap on the grass. I think I was bitten by a fairly vicious bug sometime during this process though.

Some pool snacks – loved that the honey came fresh on honeycomb!

After lots of pool time, we walked over to Market, which is the on site “supermarket” of Carneros. I actually really liked Market, the prices were reasonable (around Whole Foods level) and you could grab picnic materials, high end candy, anything. I was in love with this Rocky Road.

After getting food at Market, we would eat it while slowly swinging on one of the benches outside. There were these benches all throughout Carneros. I’d love to have one one day in my backyard!

Our second night, we had dinner again at Farm – but this time outside around the firepits.

We ordered from the bar menu and enjoyed eating some more casual food with copious glasses of wine! A Margherita pizza and a classic cheeseburger.

The next morning, we took one last walk through Carneros, including our favorite little area – the Apple Orchard!

There were also fig trees around the property.

Overall, we had a great time at Carneros Inn and I’d definitely visit the resort again. The pool, location, food and property in general was awesome – no need to leave the grounds. The resort also seemed family friendly. There were a few little snags with service at times which was generally inconsistent – and we also had some problems with the water in our room. But our issues were fixed quickly and we really enjoyed our stay.

On the drive back home as we were exiting Napa, I saw this sign advertising beef jerky and asked my husband to stop. I love beef jerky! And it was a fortuitous stop, because we discovered the fabulous Angelo’s.

Angelo the man (and shop too) is a champion meat smoker among many other things (Grand Champion for Bacon, friend of Coppola). Just take a look at his wall of fame.

Angelo is also really generous with his samples. I was in heaven figuring which flavors to purchase! The prices were incredibly reasonable too.

I’ll sign off with this shot of the big Angelo cow. All in all, The Carneros Inn and Angelo’s made for a fabulous weekend. We will definitely be back!

33 Comments

  • Reply
    Ines
    August 20, 2012 at 6:51 am

    Is this the Angelo from the Michael Pollan books (an Omnivore’s Dilemma etc.)? It sure sounds like it could be the man…

    This sounds like a delightful way to spend the weekend!

    • Reply
      Katherine
      August 20, 2012 at 7:30 am

      Oh I’ve never read the book (though I have it, how sad is that)? I’ll have to research!

  • Reply
    Latkesanddimsum
    August 20, 2012 at 7:31 am

    What a gorgeous place. Don’t ever apologize for a picture-heavy post. 😉

    So glad you had a lovely weekend!!

    • Reply
      Katherine
      August 20, 2012 at 9:49 am

      Aww thank you! I get worried sometimes when the photo count exceeds 20, ha.

  • Reply
    adele
    August 20, 2012 at 8:34 am

    I love the look & feel of the little Inn you stayed in Katherine! Glad you enjoyed your weekend.
    Happy Monday Hun xoxo
    http://www.intotheblonde.com/
    Vote intotheblonde BEST LIFESTYLE BLOG in the Cosmo Blog Awards 2012
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  • Reply
    Lili
    August 20, 2012 at 9:02 am

    GORGEOUS pics!

  • Reply
    Lamia
    August 20, 2012 at 9:12 am

    Amzing place, amazing food ! Oh god, drooling right now !! 😀
    Lamia
    http://www.ginger-chocolateandhoney.blogspot.com/

  • Reply
    Call me M
    August 20, 2012 at 9:13 am

    Amazing photos! The place looks great but you made me so hungry! hehe

  • Reply
    Mar
    August 20, 2012 at 10:17 am

    I’m fairly close to the Napa area myself… Definitely going to keep this place on my mind for a quick getaway. Thanks for the great photos!

    • Reply
      Katherine
      August 20, 2012 at 10:34 am

      You should, let me know if you do and what you think! Thanks Mar 🙂

  • Reply
    Amy
    August 20, 2012 at 10:33 am

    Your weekend looked and sounded incredible! My boyfriend and I went to Napa for the 4th and absolutely loved it – especially all the great wineries and restaurants around Yountville and Calistoga. Neither of us can drink much (we were buzzed after one winery and had to go back to our hotel to nap!), but can’t wait to come back for the harvest season. We were just looking at the Carneros Inn on Jetsetter over the weekend too (sold out for the weekends we want to visit!), but I agree with you that the place is just stunning. Did you guys ride your bikes around the area?

    Cheers!

    • Reply
      Katherine
      August 20, 2012 at 10:36 am

      Oh I didn’t know they were on Jetsetter! I love the site but find that they are usually blocked off on weekends. We didn’t ride bikes this time but saw lots of people who did, the bikes are adorable too and totally fit in with the theme/colors of the property.

  • Reply
    laura
    August 20, 2012 at 12:01 pm

    this looks so awesome – those private beds look AMAZING and what a brilliant idea!

  • Reply
    Caise
    August 20, 2012 at 1:05 pm

    it looks like a great place!

  • Reply
    Anoushka
    August 20, 2012 at 1:09 pm

    This looks like an amazing place. So beautiful! The food looks super delicious.

    LUXESSED

  • Reply
    natasha {schue love}
    August 20, 2012 at 1:26 pm

    We stayed in Sonoma last year for our anniversary and passed Carneros Inn on the way out! It looked SO charming! Would love the chance to stay there one day. Glad you loved it!

    • Reply
      Katherine
      August 20, 2012 at 2:06 pm

      You should! Thanks Natasha!

  • Reply
    Courtney
    August 20, 2012 at 2:17 pm

    We were at Carneros Inn the same weekend! I was next to you at the pool on Sunday and thought it might be you, but didn’t want to be the weird person who asks, “do you have a blog?” I wish I would have now! We had a lovely time, as well.

    • Reply
      Katherine
      August 20, 2012 at 2:33 pm

      Hi Courtney! Wow what a coincidence, please never feel weird, I would have loved to say hello 🙂 Were you the girl reading “Gone Girl”?

      • Reply
        Anonymous
        August 20, 2012 at 8:44 pm

        No, I was on the other side….tall brunette with my husband and another couple.

        • Reply
          Katherine
          August 20, 2012 at 10:23 pm

          I remember a tall very pretty brunette with her husband! Were you around Saturday too (I thought maybe…?) So glad to hear you had a wonderful time, maybe we will run into each other again in Napa sometime! 🙂

  • Reply
    New Petite
    August 20, 2012 at 11:08 pm

    The place looks perfect for a weekend getaway! Outdoor bath is what attracted me the most! How cool is that. Glad you had a fun time and I dont mind the pic heavy and long post 🙂 Infact I love them!!

  • Reply
    Eva
    August 21, 2012 at 12:27 am

    Loved all of your pics! Did you use the pool? I’d love to be swimming and looking all these vineyards in the sunset!

    • Reply
      Katherine
      August 21, 2012 at 8:22 am

      Yes I did – loved the pool! Thanks Eva!

  • Reply
    Chic 'n Cheap Living
    August 21, 2012 at 3:19 am

    Thanks so much for the recommendation! I would definitely visit if I was within driving distance of the bay area. There aren’t too many setups like this in our area (though SE Asia does of course have beautiful beachy resorts). The food looks great too – comforting and well executed. As a random aside, my husband started making fun of my friends and me because we were taking so many food pictures. I do love capturing good food though 😉

    xoxo,
    Chic ‘n Cheap Living

  • Reply
    Tika
    August 21, 2012 at 10:04 am

    Another great post & recommendation! Love it 🙂

  • Reply
    Eloquent English
    August 22, 2012 at 5:28 am

    Oh my… The Eggs Benedict with dungeness crab and avocado, and french toast with fresh berries… WOW! Looks and sounded like a fabulous time! We were in Napa in 2008 and can’t wait to go back in 2013!!! xoxo

  • Reply
    Kim
    August 22, 2012 at 6:56 am

    The Carneros Inn is one of my all-time favorite resorts I’ve ever stayed at! I went a few years ago for a friend’s birthday weekend, and we had tons of fun swimming in the pool, dining at FARM and the Boonfly Cafe and playing bocce ball at dusk. The heated floors and outdoor showers were divine as well. Great review!

  • Reply
    chocolatecookiesandcandies
    August 23, 2012 at 6:29 am

    I used to race around whenever I’m on holiday trying to see as many touristy sites in a short space of time. These days, my dream holiday would be where I just laze about, read a book and gaze at the incredible scenery around me. Your mini getaway sounds like my kind of dream!

  • Reply
    The Cover Up » Feather Factor | Feather Factor
    August 24, 2012 at 6:58 am

    […] some sun coverage. This is one of my new favorite kurtas, from Roberta Roller Rabbit, taken at The Carneros Inn last […]

  • Reply
    roe
    September 10, 2012 at 10:27 pm

    ANGELO’s!!! I absolutely love that place. I have to stop there all the time to pick up a sandwich and some jerky for the drive home back to SF. I’m glad that you were able to try it out 😀

    • Reply
      Katherine
      September 10, 2012 at 11:30 pm

      So glad to meet another Angelo’s fan!!

  • Reply
    Healdsburg » Feather Factor | Feather Factor
    September 14, 2012 at 2:46 pm

    […] probably pass by Petaluma. I was already out of beef jerky from Angelo’s from our last trip to Napa, and I found out that Angelo himself was usually to be found at his Petaluma location. Of course, […]

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