bardessono

bardessono
6526 Yount Street
Yountville, CA 94599-1270
(707) 204-6000

There are motels, hotels, destinations, resorts and then there’s bardessono. In that order.

First, take a world class location, nestled in the middle of the Napa Valley, the hills on each side, grapevines covering the land in between. Fog creeps over the mountains in the morning. The golden sunshine there is different from anywhere else. Prove it to yourself. Go there.

I’ve stayed at bardessono twice now. Once in February of 2009 right before they officially opened. Our group, more or less, had the place to ourselves. And then on Prius Drive Thru in July of 2009. It was difficult to tell the difference even though the second visit the resort was ostensibly sold out.

They have four basic types of rooms the “lowest” which would qualify luxury condominium in most places. The spacious rooms have fireplaces, jetted tubs, elegant glassed in showers (outdoors showers in some rooms which are possibly one of the coolest things in an already amazing bath suite). Large flat screen TV and private patios connected by glass doors to each room. This is a place that makes you want to stay in the room.

The service is what you would expect, amazing. The staff greet you by name and are genuinely friendly and helpful. I want to repeat that, genuine. That’s important.

The food in the restaurant is second to none in a valley crammed end to end with world class restaurants. bardessono sources amazing, locally grown ingredients for their dishes.

There’s nothing faked, hacked about bardessono. There’s no facade of elegance behind which lies some ugly secret. It is what it appears to be, a truly singular destination in Napa where, if you’re lucky enough, you’ll get to spend some time.

All of this comes packaging in buildings and facilities built under the most unique circumstances. It’s one of the only LEED platinum certified resorts in California. The materials that make up the buildings were all sourced locally and in most cases, upcycled from old buildings or other sources. Tables are made from rare, salvaged planks of cypress and walnut. Solar panels placed invisibly on the roof provide most of the resorts electricity. LED lighting and room occupancy sensors not only remember the settings you had the lights on, they turn off when you leave the room and yes, gradually turn them when you return. The rooms are designed to minimize the need to artificial light incorporating large windows. High-tech european shades deploy as a first measure for heating or cooling. All the materials in the rooms were not only picked for beauty but because of their low impact on the environment and the guests.

The almost ironic combination of such decadence and such scrupulous attention to environmental detail would be out of place anywhere else, not at bardessono.

On the July trip we only had one night in bardessono. And it’s still the first thing my wife and I think of when we think of the best night of the trip. It’s odd how relaxing and pleasant that single day there was. It seemed like more.

Go to bardessono.