The Madrona hotel and restaurant in Healdsburg has introduced a two-course, prix-fixe lunch designed for diners short on time.

Available Wednesday through Friday, the $45 menu is intended to be served in about 30 minutes and includes a choice of starter and entrée.

Options include the estate-grown salad, caviar and onion dip, kale-and-furikake pasta, and the Madrona burger served with roasted onions and beef-fat fries. Guests can also add a rotating by-the-glass wine pairing.

Reservations recommended.

1001 Westside Road, Healdsburg, 707-395-6700, themadronahotel.com

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The first thing you notice when you arrive at Appellation Healdsburg is how homey it feels.

Hotel registration is in the middle of the bustling Folia Bar + Kitchen, the property’s signature restaurant. Check-in occurs in front of a wet bar instead of at a traditional (and soulless) counter. Perhaps most memorably, every new guest is given a small bite or a special drink to welcome them in.

This vibe is intentional; the entire resort revolves around food and lifestyle. Its debut as the flagship property of Appellation, a new hospitality company from celebrity chef Charlie Palmer and hospitality veteran Christopher Hunsberger, comes just as Sonoma County’s wine harvest and tourist season peaks.

Even for Sonoma County residents who cannot, or choose not to, fork over $500 per night, the resort will offer several amenities for everyone: a restaurant, a rooftop bar, a gathering space for community events, and regular classes that will be open to the public.

Appellation Healdsburg joins Appellation Lodi – Wine & Roses Resort and Spa, which opened earlier this summer as a refresh of what was formerly Wine & Roses Resort and Spa. Two other hotels will follow over the next 16 months in Morgan Hill, outside of San Jose, and Park City, Utah.

According to Palmer, every one of the Appellation resorts eventually will replicate the same laid-back approach.

“When you walk in, it will be like you’re walking into someone’s kitchen,” says Palmer, who has lived in Healdsburg for the last 20 years. “We want to greet every hotel guest with something that makes them feel right at home.”

Hunsberger, who worked more than 35 years at Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, agrees.

“Food connects us, people power us, and place defines us,” he says. “We didn’t want to do just another hotel company where the second and third and fourth hotel all felt the same. We wanted to do a deep dive, where every property reflects a unique destination and a unique sense of place.”

In the wine world, appellation refers to unique attributes of a geographic region where grapes are grown. Similarly, each Appellation property aims to highlight those regional distinctions.

Vineyards surround the 108-room Healdsburg property, which features an extensive edible garden. It also boasts The Grange, a versatile event space designed to resemble a giant barn, and Andys Beeline Rooftop, a bar atop the hotel that offers both cocktails and commanding views of the hills in the northern part of the city. The resort sits on a bike trail that leads three miles south to the heart of town.

Rooms at Appellation Healdsburg are modern and efficient. All of them have vineyard-themed artwork integrated into the headboards. Rooms also have built-in furniture, including a special bench for a roller suitcase, and barn doors to provide privacy for the bathroom.

Finally — starting with the Healdsburg resort — Appellation will incorporate community into all its hotels. Every property will host immersive classes that spotlight local makers, artisans, and growers.

Dubbed Crafted, the hands-on classes cover topics like coffee blending, embroidery, and flower foraging and arranging. The classes will be free to guests and available to others for a small fee, and in keeping with Appellation’s food-centered focus, include light bites from chef Palmer and tastes of local wines.

Appellation Healdsburg, 101 Dovetail Lane, Healdsburg. 707-723-2000, appellationhotels.com

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Editor’s note: This article was originally published in April 2025. It has been updated with new information. 

It’s hard to miss when driving north on Highway 101 just past downtown Healdsburg. After years of planning and design, the 32-acre, mixed-use development known as North Village is beginning to look less like a construction site and more like a community.

One of the most talked about pieces of the project — celebrity chef Charlie Palmer’s food and wine-focused Appellation Healdsburg hotel — is eyeing a late September opening. 

The Appellation hotel brand is a collaboration between Palmer and Sonoma County resident Christopher Hunsberger, a hospitality veteran formerly with Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. In addition to 108 rooms and suites, the hotel will feature a restaurant, rooftop bar, spa and fitness center.

“It’s really coming to life,” said Hunsberger.

Appellation’s food and wine focus will be apparent from the moment guests step into its take on a hotel lobby.

Instead of the classic front desk serving as the focal point, it’s the restaurant, kitchen and circular fireplace that will make the first impression on visitors (the reception desk is set off to the side of the entrance).

The lobby layout also includes dedicated space for the brand’s Crafted at Appellation classes. Workshops at locations throughout Sonoma County have covered everything from planting terrariums to blending freshly roasted coffee beans.

“It will be very different than any other hotel reception experience, at least that I know exists today,” said Palmer.

Rooms and suites are spread throughout a dozen or so buildings. In addition to a spa with eight treatment rooms, there are two pools (one for adults only) and a fitness center with training equipment and class offerings. No details have been released, but a local membership option is said to be in the works.

Many residents at neighboring Enso Village — described as a Zen-inspired senior living community — appear to have already settled in. Above approximately 12,000 square feet of retail space, the framework for 53 affordable apartments is coming together. There will also be 27 middle-income qualified townhomes as part of the North Village project.

Appellation Healdsburg is still taking shape, but the number of final stretch touches are growing with each day. Mature olive trees are being planted and tile is being set. It won’t be long before an assorted four dozen fruit trees and 24 raised culinary beds are integrated into the landscape.

It’s been more than two decades since Palmer opened Dry Creek Kitchen at Hotel Healdsburg. Every Thursday night, locals are invited to take advantage of the restaurant’s three-course Sonoma Neighbor Menu for $55.

Palmer said he looks forward to welcoming locals to Appellation Healdsburg as well.

“Yes, it’s a hotel and yes, there’s going to be people coming here hopefully from all over the place, but first and foremost, it’s about welcoming locals into another great piece of Healdsburg,” said Palmer. “I want that bar to be full of locals. I want the restaurant and spa to be full of locals.”

Rates at Appellation Healdsburg are expected to start at just above $500 a night, plus a daily resort fee of $45. 165 Foss Creek Circle, Healdsburg, appellationhotels.com

Local hotels show off renovations, new menus and wellness options

Just in time for spring, several Sonoma County hotels are giving people more reasons to plan a trip or Wine Country staycation.

Vintners Resort just debuted a new resort pool flanked with daybeds, cabanas and fire pits. Day passes are available for locals looking to lounge poolside, but not stay at the property. The next phase of renovations at the Santa Rosa property includes refreshed rooms and a lobby facelift. 4350 Barnes Road, Santa Rosa, 707-575-7350, vintnersresort.com

The Restaurant at Farmhouse Inn is now serving breakfast and lunch. Dinner service now includes a la carte offerings in addition to the three-course, prix fixe Taste of Farmhouse menu. 7871 River Road, Forestville, 707-887-3300, farmhouseinn.com/restaurant

Calling all spa lovers! Thanks to a new partnership with UK-based celebrity skin designer Fatma Shaheen of Skin Design London and Montage Hotels & Resort, a pair of new facials just launched at the spa at Montage Healdsburg. The new treatments include the SDL Vitamin Skin Glow Facial ($495) and SDL Face Tight Facial ($975). 100 Montage Way, Healdsburg, 707-979-9000, montage.com/healdsburg

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Luxury and lifestyle travel magazine Condé Nast Traveler recently released its 2019 Gold List. The highly selective list, released annually, spans six continents and 36 countries, and features the world’s best hotels and resorts according to Condé Nast editors. This year, Farmhouse Inn in Forestville made the cut and is featured among the 13 best hotels in North America.

Condé Nast Traveler called the Farmhouse Inn, founded by siblings Joe and Catherine Bartolomei, a “clean, bright and breezy hotel [that] epitomizes the character of Sonoma wine country.” The travel publication credited, among other highlights, the siblings’ enthusiasm and hospitality as well as their deep Sonoma roots, which “translate into perks for guests at local wineries, restaurants and shops, whose owners invariably light up at their mention.” The inn’s restaurant also got a special mention: “chef Steve Litke has a light touch with his Mediterranean-inflected menu, including a delicate Hokkaido scallop with Moroccan spices, and a thyme-scented trio of rabbit (applewood-smoked loin, confit of leg, roasted rack with mustard cream).”

Among the hotels selected as the best in the United States were also the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai in Hawaii, Hotel Bel-Air and the Sunset Tower Hotel in Los Angeles, The Beekman, The Carlyle and The St. Regis in New York, and The Wynn in Las Vegas. Click here for the full list.

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More than 300,000 travelers just voted on their favorite hotels in Northern California – awarding the number one spot to a Sonoma County hotel: The Farmhouse Inn in Forestville. The ranking is part of the Condé Nast Traveler (CNT) Readers’ Choice Awards, which surveys CNT readers annually in categories such as best hotels worldwide, best cities to visit, best cruise lines, and best airlines. This is the longest running, and one of the most prestigious, recognitions in the travel industry and is commonly referred to as “the best of the best of travel.” Several other Sonoma County hotels were also recognized by Condé Nast Travelers (CNT) Readers’ Choice Awards 2017. Click through the gallery above for all the details.

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