Do you have an anniversary looming without plans? A birthday to celebrate? A new job to toast?
Two upscale Wine Country hotels are offering packages that are a deal, depending on your definition. But in both cases, there is a way to peel off a piece of the experience at much less cost.
Healdsburg’s hip and green h2hotel on the plaza is offering an Artistic Culinary Getaway Aug. 16 with a Sunday night stay for two and a full breakfast. Included are two tickets for a Sunday afternoon talk and demo with Executive chef Louis Maldonado of the hotel’s signature Spoonbar and Jered Nelson, a Bay Area potter, trained at Heath, whose handcrafted dinnerware has been embraced by chefs like Michael Mina, Michael Chiarello and Jesse Mallgren of Madrona Manor, as well as retailers like Restoration Hardware.
The talk is a behind-the-scenes look at ‘The Art of Plating,” beginning with local clay that goes into the pottery and ending with Pinterest-worthy dishes on the plate. Word is that guests can take a turn at the potters wheel and the afternoon snacks will be cooked in a handmade raku-style kiln.
The overnight package is $350. But it’s possible to buy tickets at $50 each for the 3 p.m. talk only. That’s a back-door way to hang out in the airy, eco-chic hotel if only for an afternoon. For info check out h2hotel.com or call 707-922-5251.
Over in Napa Valley the glam Bardessono Hotel & Spa in Yountville is touting its “Taste Life Here” package good through Dec. 31 with the big attraction a day of chauferred wine tasting in a Tesla following an itinerary of VIP experiences planned just for you with insider-experiences and a picnic lunch catered by the hotel’s Lucy Restaurant & Bar.
Don’t have the $1,450 to $1,750 per night to swing that? Plan instead to crash one of Lucy’s monthly DiveBar nights, a chance to mingle poolside as the sun sets starting at 6 p.m. Each night has a different theme.
Coming up Aug. 27 is the Fiesta de Blanco with summer whites for tasting, along with South American Pisco cocktails and Moet & Chandon bubbly, served to the sound of Latin beats. Come in your best fiesta wear.
On Sept. 22 singer/songwriter Brett Dennen will entertain while his own sustainably farmed Charismatic Food Sparkling Rose is poured. A glass is included in the $25 cover charge.
For details visit them on Facebook or at Bardessono.com.