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This Lodge at Sonoma Review is from our family's recent stay at the resort, together with visiting relatives. The property, previously a Marriott, underwent a $15 million renovation in 2020 of the pool and common areas, before joining the Autograph Collection in 2021.
Lodge at Sonoma Location and Getting There
The Lodge at Sonoma is located at 1325 Broadway near downtown Sonoma, about a 1 hour 15 minute drive from San Francisco or Oakland Airport OAK, a 1 hour 30 minute drive from San Francisco Airport SFO, and about a 1 hour drive from Berkeley.
Note that the resort, at time of writing, does not offer EV charging, unlike a number of other wine country luxury resorts such as the Four Seasons Napa Valley (12 EV charging stations) and Montage Healdsburg (10 Tesla charging stations in the parking garage).
A Volkswagen van is by the entrance, along with numerous bicycles that can be used to explore the local area.
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Near the front desk where we checked in were infused waters and a bowl of red apples.
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The Lodge Lobby is the nicest looking part of the resort, with its high ceilings and cozy fireplace.
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Lodge King Room
Our Lodge King Room was located on the second floor of a building that fronted Broadway Street. That unfortunately meant some street noise in the room, although no noise from the lobby area or restaurant. I was awoken by some other guests talking loudly while in the hallway, returning to their room late at night, as there isn't good soundproofing from hallway noise.
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The room itself was clean and the king bed fairly comfortable.
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We'd requested an extra bed to be placed in the room prior to arrival, but it wasn't there when we arrived. We asked for it again before going out to dinner, and it was in the room when we got back. Unfortunately, only at the time we were ready to go to bed did we realize that the duvet had been provided without any kind of duvet cover or sheets to go around it, only a scratchy blanket, a huge oversight. The rollaway itself was so short that I had to sleep on it instead of our teen, and it was barely long enough even for me. It also was the most uncomfortable rollaway bed I've slept on, and I didn't get much sleep on it.
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In the corner, a gas fireplace was able to be turned on with a timer (up to 30 minutes).
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Since we'd reserved a travel professional rate, there weren't any welcome amenities, but there were a couple of glass bottles of filtered water, and a water refilling station was on the same floor, along with an ice machine.
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There was also an illy espresso machine with illy pods.
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There were bath robes in the closet, but no slippers.
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The bathroom has everything in one room, there isn't a separate door to close the toilet off from the rest of the bathroom. There's only one sink and a regular shower, not a rain shower. There's no soaking tub.
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Bath products are in dispensers bolted to the wall and unbranded, with a lavender and rosemary scent.
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There is a separate alcove with a vanity mirror and power outlet, handy for plugging in a hair dryer.
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Evening Wine Tasting, Swimming Pool, Hot Tub, Morning Coffee
The $45 nightly resort fee includes the daily 4-5 pm wine tasting, which is sponsored by a different local winery each day. On the day of our visit it was VJB Winery, and the Reserve vintage I tasted was quite good, although not as good as Bedrock's Cabernet that we'd just tasted.
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The swimming pool and jacuzzi are open daily 8am-10pm; note that no glass and no pets are allowed in the pool area. The pool is heated and, at least when we visited, not crowded, even though there were a number of guests relaxing on loungers around the pool. The hot tub was far more crowded.
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In the morning, coffee is available in the lobby from 6-11am. Unfortunately no tea was available; the Taylors of Harrogate tea box had been repurposed to contain sugars and artificial sweeteners.
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Lodge at Sonoma Luminous Benefits and Offers
TravelSort Clients enjoy Luminous benefits at the Lodge and Sonoma:
- Bottle of wine as a welcome amenity
- Complimentary room upgrade based on availability at check-in
- Complimentary breakfast for two daily at Benicia's Kitchen, up to $40 value
There are additional offers that can be combined with the Luminous benefits, such as a daily $50 resort credit for stays of 2 or more nights for stays until 11/30/23 and a 25% pff a 4+ night stay that also includes a $100 resort credit, for stays until 9/1/24.
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The Verdict
Given that we could only do a one night stay on the weekend and wanted to be near Sonoma town, The Lodge at Sonoma was our best choice, despite its shortcomings. It's in a convenient location, has a pool and jacuzzi, and the $45 nightly resort fee includes the nightly wine tasting, coffee in the lobby, bicycles, etc. That said, given the exceedingly uncomfortable rollaway bed, service lapses, bathroom quality, lack of slippers, etc., it's 3.5-4 stars and not a luxury resort, so for the latter, we'd more highly recommend Four Seasons Resort Napa Valley.
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isnt that shelf stable half and half in the coffee condiment box?
Updated, thanks for pointing that out; we’re so used to seeing Delight non-dairy creamer.