Carneros Resort and Spa

Still a beautiful resort, but in need of some attention We’ve stayed at Carneros Resort and Spa more than 20 times over the years, so it has always held a special place for our family. It’s why it’s disappointing to see that, while the resort remains beautiful, it’s beginning to show signs that it needs some investment and care. The grounds and gardens are as stunning as ever and are clearly very well maintained. We stayed in two adjoining cottages, which worked perfectly for our family, but the accommodation is starting to look tired. Simple things such as ill-fitting curtains and general wear and tear suggest the rooms could really benefit from a refresh. The food continues to be a highlight. We thoroughly enjoyed our breakfasts at Boon Fly Café, and the breakfast team at Hilltop were consistently excellent, providing friendly and attentive service every morning. Unfortunately, housekeeping was the biggest disappointment of our six-night stay. On four occasions we had to chase for our room to be serviced. There were also evenings when turndown service had been completed, but the room itself had still not been properly cleaned, which isn’t what you expect from a luxury resort. What continues to set Carneros apart is its people. Every member of staff we encountered was warm, welcoming and genuinely helpful. A special thank you to Solange, who went above and beyond, and to the wonderful breakfast team at Hilltop for making each morning such a pleasure. Carneros remains a very special place with an exceptional team, excellent food and beautiful surroundings. We sincerely hope the owners invest the time and money needed to bring the accommodation and housekeeping standards back to the level that made this one of our favourite resorts. We’d love to see it return to its former glory.

Once again the Carneros resort does an amazing job making our getaway a magical experience. I will continue to visit when I’m in the area. Rooms were clean and quiet, the beds are comfortable and the yard is impeccable.

I would like to preface my review by saying I initially only submit my review to Hilton. The hotel manager, Michael Ford responded to my review asking that I reach out to him directly for a solution. His message was essentially copy paste the response he sent to all of the negative reviews on here. I emailed him on July 9th. By July 16th I still had not received a response, so I followed up. I have still not heard back from him or anyone on his team. It seems that this hotel has poor customer service from the top down. We booked this stay using a free night voucher and 170,000 Hilton honors points and the quality of service did not match what was advertised, a luxury hotel. Had I known we would have such a terrible experience, I would have made reservations at the Appellatian in Healdsburg instead. When we checked into the hotel, they had us at the Lavender 1 cottage and the room was not as pictured on the hotel website photos. The backyard area was very grey and did not have a nice garden like in the photos from their website and the room layout was very odd. The bed was facing the patio instead of the TV and fireplace. Because it was facing the patio it was right next the AC which had a very bright light and made the temperature very cold at night. When we mentioned this to the bellman Mateo, he promptly had the manager, Simon call us. He said all the rooms were booked up for the night but since we are Hilton honors gold members he could offer us an upgrade for the next day. The upgraded room had a guaranteed check in at 4pm and Simon said that they would text us when it was ready. We were only hoping that they would switch us to a room that looked like what we booked so the thought of an upgrade was very nice. So, we agreed to the upgrade and tried to deal with the room for the night. Unfortunately, my partner and I both did not get a good night's rest that night. The smart bed did not work. We could not adjust the bed firmness. The link from the QR code would not update the user information. The lights from the ac and the alarm clocks were very bright and kept us up all night. The combination of the lights and the bed firmness made the whole experience awful. The next day we packed up all our things and called Simon to confirm the switch before heading to the pool. He said go ahead and that they would text us when the room was ready and someone would come drop off the keys to us wherever we were on property. While I was on the phone, I made sure to confirmed he had the right phone number on file. 4pm hit and we did not hear from the front desk staff, so we walked all the way from the Hilltop pool to the reception desk. When we got there, Kiri let us know that housekeeping was still working on our room and we wouldn’t get it until 5. They could have at least text us that there was a delay so that we didn’t have to walk all the way to front desk just to be told that we had to wait longer. It was a waste of our time. When I told her that we had dinner reservations celebrating my promotion at the FARM and that the room was guaranteed at 4 she made no effort to correct the matter or make it better. She just kept telling us that they just got the room and housekeeping was working on it. Her attitude and demeanor were very rude. We had just gotten out of the pool, and both wanted to shower, relax and get ready before going to dinner. It was extremely inconvenient that we had to change rooms to begin with. On top of that, they did not have the room ready at the promised time, and they made us do the leg work to find out there was a delay. Furthermore, the front desk staff treating us as second class guest after they made a mistake was unacceptable. For a hotel that’s room rate is generally 2K a night, the service of the front desk staff was mediocre and left us with a bad taste. We have stayed at many hotels in the Hilton portfolio throughout the years and this hotel does not hold up to the Hilton standard of customer service. This is not the quality of service we expect from a hotel that is supposedly classified as luxury. The breakfast options were limited but taste was okay. Instead of continental breakfast they should have just provided food and beverage credit so we could order something better and pay the difference. At dinner, we asked the waiter what kind of Salmon they were serving and he had no idea what he was talking about. On previous online menus they had king salmon, so we just wanted to know if that was what they were serving. He kept saying it was California Salmon. We were asking about the breed, and they kept on telling us what region it was from. We did enjoy the many pockets of sitting area throughout the grounds particularly the swinging benches. The gardens were very nice. It was nice to sit with a glass of wine and a nice view. Overall, I would not recommend this hotel to any of my friends or family due to the poor service. At the cost of this hotel there are many other hotels in wine country that we have had much better experiences at. Do not waste your money/points/vouchers on this resort.

Carneros resort surpassed our expectations… we loved the cottage/room- super cozy with a private enclosed backyard space w/ huge bathtub & outside shower that we thoroughly enjoyed! Beautiful flowers and landscaping around the property. Morning breakfast buffet was outstanding with a gorgeous morning view of the hills & vines… Adult pool up on the hill was very relaxing as well! Highly recommend!

We celebrated our first wedding anniversary at Carneros Resort and Spa and had an amazing time. The front desk team was incredibly friendly and took the time to acknowledge our anniversary, offering thoughtful guidance on how to make the most of the resort's amenities. As dog owners, we especially appreciated how pet-friendly the resort is. We spent much of our time poolside, where there was ample space among the many day beds. The staff regularly checked in on us—and our dog!—which made the experience feel truly personalized. Thankfully we were able to utilize our free night stay with Hilton at this property. A highlight of our visit was the free Friday community event during the summer. They projected an old-school movie on the lawn, and it was wonderful to see families gathering together to enjoy the evening. The resort also offers complimentary use of a Cadillac for guests wanting to explore nearby wineries. While we chose to stay on-property and soak in the relaxing atmosphere, other guests raved about the convenience of touring the area without having to drive themselves. The overall vibe was peaceful and rejuvenating. We would happily return and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a serene escape.