Review: Alila Napa Valley, California

I've stayed here twice and absolutely love it. It's phenomenal. Both times I stayed there I stayed in vineyard facing rooms. They are spectacular. Your suite definitely looked great, but honestly, I'd rather take the vineyard view than an upgrade to a suite. The rooms with their terrace/ fire pits are very spacious, and the experience of sunset and sunrise overlooking the vineyard is simply magical.

It's a solid property and much better, imo, than Encinitas. You were lucky on rooms as it appears you had more of a private view. Many of the suites, which I was upgraded to as a Lifetime Globalist, are surrounding the courtyard pool where you literally look into the rooms and terraces of others. One small side views the vineyard, but most of your room, unless shades are closed, are fully exposed to others at the pool or opposite rooms. It's far from private. It's almost voyeurish (don't ask me how to spell it).

Restaurant is indeed really good. Service as well. I would stay there again, but not at the rates they are often getting...$2000K a night some weekends. Which leads me to Napa Valley, you have a very small view of the lifestyle there and a desire to live it. Natives love it who bought homes 30 years ago, but most can't afford it as real estate is insane. And places like Napa itself turns into a weekend party city that is like a mini Las Vegas, complete with low riders and full on street parties. It is not as quaint as most people think. Spend a week at the Andaz in Napa and you will quickly get a feel for what it's becoming.

Great review, Ben! It's such a beautiful property. We had first visited shortly after it rebranded as a Hyatt, and unfortunately had service failure after service failure, but we recently gave it another shot and we were blown away by the transformation. The property is beautiful as ever, and this time the service was spectacular and polished on all fronts.

It's especially nice to have a place like this in the St. Helena area given that it's nearby many of the best "big red" wineries (which can be a pain to get to from Napa proper). Also, IMHO it is commendable that they keep cold water bottles stocked in the gym, and the gym itself is kept at reasonably cool temperatures, both of which are simple but very welcome conveniences too often neglected by many properties.

Next time you're staying there, consider walking over to Himalayan Sherpa Kitchen in St. Helena - terrific Nepalese/Indian food at very reasonable prices.

Ben, you should note for your readers that you lucked into a premium suite when you used a SUA. at least when I visited in August 2023, the standard suite was the historic farmhouse studio, which is NOT a "proper" suite and does not have a vineyard view.

@ evan -- I believe the hotel recently changed what the standard suite is? I just contacted Hyatt like anyone else to apply the suite upgrade, and the agent confirmed that's what it confirms into at this property. There are similar recent reports on FlyerTalk.

We stayed in the same building, but much closer to the highway (and someone on Flyertalk roasted me for referring to it as a "highway", even though that's the terminology, but whatever). It was certainly detracting from the idyllic quality of the hotel. Whereas the picture in ever ad is the vineyard view, in reality my view was the cars driving by on 128 all the time.

I found Acacia House hit or miss, and the bar was just meh.

Ben - similar experience to Evan. I booked in Aug for a Sept stay and was told they were adjusting their suite categories. They booked me into the room you stayed in as a one time accommodation. Seems like some Hyatts may be gaming the standard suite categorization.

@ Zach -- Interesting. For what it's worth, if you go directly to Hyatt's website and try to redeem points for a standard suite, the estate view suite is what's bookable.

We stayed there last week - agree that it’s an amazing facility with a great location. Brings big value to Hyatt for sure.

One compliant though is our meal at the Acacia House was honestly pretty bad. Aside from some service snafus (which were corrected), the food was not good at all. Lamb chop served raw and some very fatty cuts of beef were the low points, but among the other edible dishes nothing stood out as even average. Was a marked decline in quality from our last visit in 2021. Disappointing.

Rooms look nice and good point value but the common area design looks so cold and grey.

We stayed in a vineyard view room - it's nice but not a wow for us. The room felt hard and cold with grey surfaces lacking vibrancy. St Helena is a fun little place, but I guess de gustibus non est disputandum - this property while nice for the area to be bookable with points just didn't quite do it for us.

And just to follow up for comparison, we loved the Ventana Big Sur - now that's a worthy destination in our view.

Stayed here 4 or 5 times over the past few years, agree the Acacia House is not good compared to the options in the valley. Brasswood just down the street (north) is 10x better.

Is the folly of the property, IMO. We lucked out, because on our sole visit we locked in a Premium Suite (which is now a standard suite), and the room they assigned us was likewise private. But I definately noticed the less private outdoor tub at a suite overlooking the valet area. I wouldn't return here, because if by chance that was the room I was assigned, it'd be a waste.

This is an adults only resort. Did Miles sleep in the car??

I’ve stayed in the vineyard view suite. Very nice. Unfortunately not enough power outlets and those that were there were by and large hard to access. Overall a great experience. The highway was quite crowded on weekends.

Sounds charming but for 1000 or 40k I would expect some serious over the top.

What service was so much better at a hotel that charges 1000.00 vs perhaps a decent hr or gh in San Francisco for example.
I love hotels and travel but at same time for cash or points redemption would need "beyond"

Stayed there earlier this year. Really liked it. To others comments, the vineyard view is definitely the best option, particularly with outside seating, fire table etc. All that said, we found the service ok, not great, and I think the rates are somewhat ridiculous for what you get, especially compared to similarly priced properties e.g., Alila Ventana is the same 40k redemption cost and is way better.

Stayed here last year when it was 30k/night and got upgraded to a Vineyard View - was absolutely amazing. If you can swing this and Ventana on the same trip, which I did, I'd highly recommend it. Was a bucket list trip of serenity.

Everyone has different service elements that they value, but for me, it's (1) responding to requests promptly and not dropping the ball, plus (2) being willing to proactively problem-solve rather than just say "sorry, we can't do that."

At this property during our recent stay, when we called the front desk, we they picked up immediately (no interminable ringing/hold music like at some properties). When we asked for housekeeping or a delivery to the room, it was done very quickly upon request. When we asked the house car to drive us to various wineries, a few of which were outside the stated radius, they made it happen.

I've stayed at this property when it was Las Alcobas, and also recently as an Alila, and I've had a great time both times.

However, I can't stress how important it is to stay away from any rooms or suites in the "Farmhouse" (the white building where the Acacia House restaurant is).

There is zero privacy because all windows of all rooms face the parking lots, so there's always cars going by. The Farmhouse Suite is the worst room in the entire property, so definitely don't use a Suite Upgrade Award for that. It's surrounded by the main driveway, so there's constant traffic, and it faces the main road, and has exceptionally poor noise insulation. Absolutely refuse any upgrades, even complimentary ones, to the "Farmhouse."

The other rooms, however, even the standard estate view ones, are a really great experience. The rooms closest to the road probably have a lot of traffic noise while on the balcony, but the rooms further back in the property (near the little bridge to Beringer) don't. And inside the rooms the noise insulation is great, unlike in the Farmhouse rooms.

I'll also give a shout-out to the concierge, they were awesome at making great bookings for us, even last minute.

Ben-was your $90 credit for EACH of you or total for 2 people? If it's the latter, then it doesn't really cover everything if you wanted a starter or side, main, juice and coffee.

Napa Valley hotels are universally over priced and less than luxurious. The visits to the wineries that are top shelf and cult are truly over the top and a lifetime experience. So Ben if you are coming to Napa Valley and focusing on the hotel and not the wineries you really should just stay in San Francisco and leave the rooms to winery guests who understand what is valuable in this area.............

We stayed there a couple of times after it became a Hyatt because our son was studying at the CIA next door (he couldn't wait to leave Napa -- ironically, he moved to Miami and loves it). All our stays were on points and pleasant, but I'm not sure I'd pay $1,000+ per night. For breakfast we were told we could order anything off the menu, and our bill was definitely over $90. If you haven't yet been there, you may enjoy a meal at Gatehouse -- run by CIA students and gets you an amazing meal at a fraction of the cost of other restaurants in the area.

As Ben noted, rates in Napa are over the top. I prefer Sonoma, but even Sonoma is getting crazy now. And I won't even tell y'all where I've moved on to from there for a more reasonable CA wine country experience.

Regarding relocating, if you live in or near Napa everyone you know will work in the industry. And you'll have the joy of CA income taxes and high cost of living which were shocking to experience (knowing and experiencing are two different things) after moving from a no income tax state, as I did and you would be. You can't beat the NorCal climate, but you might want to consider someplace a little away from Napa... in 20 years or so when Miles is all grown up.

What does this have to do with his hotel review??

How did you have a bill of globalist and followed breakfast ordering rules ?

My guess is people want pool views or they may have designed the hotel in a totally different way
Hope on a luxury property they don't just slap together a design
At same time this highway view seems like they should be at a budget price lol

My guess is people want pool views or they may have designed the hotel in a totally different way
Hope on a luxury property they don't just slap together a design
At same time this highway view seems like they should be at a budget price loli

I agree the TAXES are killer and they are on any dividends you earn,your pension.and your Social Security. Many states with state income taxes are lowering them for people to stay and not including the above income...but not Calif ..Also the COL is nuts..Try to buy a house even a fixer upper for under 1 million.....

Vineyard views are the only way to go!!Tried booking one with points but system would not let me do so...

We are currently stay at the Alila Napa Valley and also Globalist. This is our third stay, no upgrade available and no welcome amenity. Guess it pays to be Lucky!

@ Kathy -- I used a confirmed suite upgrade, and I got exactly the room I had confirmed. Perhaps the hotel offers welcome amenities to guests in suites, but not those in standard rooms? That's a pretty normal practice. Please don't suggest that me getting exactly the room I had confirmed equates to some sort of special treatment, as that's not accurate or fair.

I absolutely love Napa & Sonoma. Great weather, gorgeous to drive around and amazing food.

It's unfortunate Napa wineries have gotten so expensive to visit and have become so "serious" as a big business. Gone are the days when you could meet the owners in the tasting room. Plus it seems you need to book everything now in advance and get the hard sell when done...hey after all, it's just good grape juice! Sonoma seems a little more relaxed at the wineries and a little less pretentious.

I am sad this property is no longer in my Marriott world. Your photos have made me outright hungry.

it sounded as if he was speaking at a conference or meeting someone for a business purpose.

Alila is one of a kind. From the initial reception at valet parking to the check-in at the hotel concierge station, everything was five star. It is unfortunate that many of you had negative experiences, but can anyone match what Alila has done to create such a serene environment, and a lavish place to stay in St. Helena. I applaud this property and I’ve stayed there multiple times. It is what most hotel resorts are trying to accomplish. What cannot achieve what Alila has done. Unfortunately, for all those haters out there, this property is one of the best in the country. The spa is wonderful, the restaurant is quaint, the bar is unassuming, but appropriately, glorious, and the staff makes the stay very exceptional.