I'm not sure how the Westin Verasa was listed as moderate-priced? Even the Andaz in downtown Napa was only $378/nite for a midweek stay in mid-Sept., with the Verasa at $479/nite.
Although we haven't tried it, the RiverPointe rates as well as those two on hotels.com, and runs $267/nite.
Also, I'd call up some of the B&Bs in Napa. Beazley House is gorgeous (we stayed in the Carriage House), as is Hennessy House (which we viewed during the annual Christmas wine walk festival that allows you to visit 13 of the Napa B&Bs. These were all very close to downtown - one is actually in the downtown area - and as long as you look for a private bathroom ("ensuite") they're fine.
However, as pointed out, much depends on where you're going. Decide on your wineries, make reservations, and it'll narrow down your hotel location. If you're going to visit wineries up in the Calistoga area, it's a tiring drive back and forth from the city of Napa. Even with little traffic it's a 20 min drive and on weekends it can take 45 min to an hour.
IOHO the best chef at Etoile @Domaine Chandon was Perry Hoffman, who went to SHED Healdsburg after Etoile closed. He left there last year to travel around Europe and is now working with his family who own the Boonville Hotel. He's now the exec chef at the hotel's restaurant.
We go to Napa fairly often and being retired, avoid weekends like the plague, LOL. Our current favs are:
Gatehouse at Culinary Institute of America (CIA) Greystone, St. Helena, Unfortunately, only open during school terms as this is the restaurant staffed front and back by senior students, 2 mos. from graduation. Small, cheap, and stunning prix fixe. Much better than the Restaurant at Copia which the CIA also runs, but that is a professional operation separate from the school.
Cook St. Helena. We are lovers of French and Northern Italian, but Jude Wilmoth,
chef/owner, is simply a terrific Southern Italian cook. And the Steve's Hardware has a specialty kitchenwares store a few doors down that is far more pleasant than Shackford's/Napa.
Solbar, Calistoga. A lovely place to eat outside on their very fine patio. It is the restaurant of the Solage Resort, and is actually managed by the Auberge du Soleil restaurant team. They recently hired a new chef who has brought Solbar back from the doldrums. When they lost chef Brandon Sharp the food went downhill, but Gustavos Rios took over in January 2019. He worked under Sharp for years and reviews since he took over have been very favorable.
Carpe Diem Wine Bar, Napa. Hearty servings of amazingly good food (it soaks up all that alcohol, I guess). This is some of the best food we've ever gotten in Napa, where we have too often been underimpressed by over-hyped places. Besides, any place that puts Brillat-Savarin on a cheese plate gets my vote, LOL. Menu changes, but my DH called their shrimp & grits "the best he's ever had", and he has them whenever we find them. He said they ranked with chef Sophinia Uong's version when she worked at Pican/Oakland. Oh, and good wine, too - interesting small producers that are hard to find.
Picnic stuff for lunch? Follow the locals to Browns Valley Market, just outside downtown Napa. Good sandwiches, baguettes; modest but choice cheese selection (the clerk recommended the Castelbelbo, a sheep/goat/cow milk cheese, to us, and it was excellent!)
In the same tiny mall, walk around the corner to La Foret Chocolates, by a French Laundry alumni who still supplies TFL with its mignardises.
If you are wandering around Napa, we had an excellent time at Prime Wine Bar in downtown Napa. They offer both their own wines and Trahan wines. We preferred Prime's cabs, but it's worth asking if they have any of the Trahan rose made from 100% Pinot Noir. It is the closest thing to liquid fresh peaches I've had. I'm not normally into sweet wines except for Port and Sauternes, but this rose had both the aroma and pure flavor of ripe peaches - lovely to end a summertime meal.
Have fun! Don't rush around trying to do too much, either. Pick a couple of things, make reservations for everything, and just relax.
** Oh, yeah - please DON'T make a restaurant reservation and then blow it off without at least calling. Please, please, don't. Not a nice thing to do when there are 6 parties who would love to not have to wait around and are willing to take your place.
And yes, you should make reservations even for lunch (unless you're doing the fast/casual thing). You can always call and cancel. We are continually astonished when we walk in and get our [reserved] table, how many people are standing around waiting because they didn't make a reservation somewhere. The Napa Valley gets 11+ MILLION visitors every year, and I swear 75% of them show up between July and mid-September!
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