Steve R.
Yelp
You have to be a special kind of special to complain about this place. I'm a veteran business traveler, luxury hotel enthusiast, lifetime platinum Bonvoy, blah blah blah. I don't throw out five stars because I simply had a good time. It went like this:
I stayed here on a Sunday night so my wife and I could wake up at the Lodge on my birthday Monday morning. We only live an hour away, so this was a staycation, and a much needed night away from life. I arrive, and the car port and valet are nicely landscaped, valet friendly and snappy with service. Walk into the lobby and it's nice. Not luxurious, but very nice and consistent with their identity as a lodge. But nice seating, two kinds of infused water for anyone who strolls in, and a front desk fully staffed (boy do I appreciate seeing more than one front desk person at 3-4pm). The front desk person is warm, friendly, and professional, but not stiff or robotic. So far, so good I'm thinking. Per Marriotts own policy that often doesn't get exercised by hotel staffs, I'm immediately upgraded from my main hotel room to a cottage on the grounds. Nice. Half bottle of wine as a bday gift, VERY nice. Two hand written cards - one thanking me for being platinum, one wishing my happy birthday. Still at the front desk. Now she pulls out a color map of the property, uses her finger to give me an overview, and shows me exactly where to park for a short but beautiful walk to our cottage. I was very impressed and tipped accordingly (everyone should when they receive front desk service like this).
The cottages aren't stand alone. For the few people who complained about this in their reviews, try actually reading about the place you're staying at. It makes clear that the cottages are basically quadplexes, with two rooms on the bottom floor and two above. We were on the top floor and had a large balcony, with furniture to sit at. The cottage rooms are large with a big TV, sitting area, comfortable bed, and remodeled modern bathroom. And each cottage has two cute bikes sitting out front, available for the guest to use. Nice.
To me what really makes this place shine (beyond the people working there) are the grounds. Booking a cottage is worth just the walk to and from, the grounds are gorgeous. The paved walkways wind through manicured lawn, rose bushes, trees, etc, with massive hammocks sprinkled all around (they are SO comfortable). At night it's like something out of a Netflix romcom, I mean they really got it right. We had dinner at Wit & Wisdom and the walk back to our cottage was one of our favorite parts of the stay. We walked under arbors of flowering plants vine things, with many twinkling lanterns hanging above. Just awesome.
A few other highlights: they say they have a "shuttle" to drive you the 1.1 miles to the Sonoma square. That "shuttle" is a brand new Escalade that valet will personally drive you to the square and back. The restaurant Wit & Wisdom is fantastic. It's a high end restaurant, so know that before going. If that's not your thing, there's also a more casual restaurant on site. The pool scene is beautiful, as is the fire pit scene once the sun goes down and the pool closes. The pictures on the website are nice, but it's even better in person. Directly across the street is Broadway market for anything you may need.
So there you have it. I think my favorite thing about staying here was, we felt like we were in our own little world. The grounds are gorgeous, you can't hear traffic, and the lush trees and landscaping really make you feel like you're away from the world, but it's also just a short walk (or luxurious ride in the new Escalade) away. Thanks Lodge at Sonoma, we'll be back, and soon.