We just wrapped up a two night stay at the 64-room Alila Napa Valley, which is one of my favorite Hyatt properties in North America. This is one of three Alila properties in California, with the other two being the amazing Alila Ventana Big Sur, and the sort of quirky Alila Marea Encinitas.

We were in town for a commitment, so didn’t actually have that much time to enjoy the area, but I was still happy to be able to check out this hotel.

I’ve actually reviewed this property before, though back when it was branded differently. Prior to 2021, this property was known as Las Alcobas, and belonged to Marriott’s Luxury Collection, prior to joining Hyatt’s Alila brand. I loved the hotel then, but like it even more now, given Hyatt’s superior loyalty program.

If you’re looking for a relaxing getaway, I can’t recommend this property enough.

I love Napa Valley!

Before I get into the review of the hotel, I just want to briefly mention how much I like Napa Valley. While Napa Valley is known for its wineries, that’s not even what I really like about it, as I’m not a big drinker.

Rather I just adore the landscape (rolling green hills), the weather (foggy and crisp mornings and temperatures that get warmer throughout the day), the amazing food (there are so many great, local restaurants in the area), the small-town feel (there are several charming towns), and the people (most people seem to have a passion for living in the region).

If there’s one place in the United States that I think I’d eventually like to move to, the Napa Valley area is it. Now, maybe it’s one of those situations where a place seems nice as a visitor, but perhaps is less nice to actually live in. It’s not somewhere we’ll be moving anytime soon, but maybe a couple of decades down the road…

Booking Alila Napa Valley

I redeemed World of Hyatt points for our stay at Alila Napa Valley. This is a Category 8 World of Hyatt property, meaning that a free night award costs anywhere from 35,000 to 45,000 points per night. For our stay, the cost was 40,000 points, so it was right in the middle.

As a point of comparison, cash rates were right around $1,000, so I’d consider this to be a good deal. I value World of Hyatt points at 1.5 cents each, and was getting significantly more value than that per point.

Even if you’re not a Hyatt loyalist, earning World of Hyatt points can be pretty easy. In addition to being able to earn World of Hyatt points with the World of Hyatt Credit Card (review) and World of Hyatt Business Credit Card (review), you can also transfer over points from Chase Ultimate Rewards.

If you’re gong to book a cash stay at Alila Napa Valley, I’d recommend doing so through the Hyatt Privé program. Hyatt Privé rates cost the same as standard flexible rates (not member rates, advance purchase rates, AAA rates, etc.), and include additional perks, like daily breakfast, a $100 property credit, a room upgrade, a welcome gift, and more.

Note that the Alila Napa Valley has a $65 nightly resort fee, though that’s waived for Globalist members on all stays, plus for all World of Hyatt members when redeeming points. This offers perks like spa use, bicycle rentals, shuttles to town, a sound bath meditation, shoe shine service, electronic car charging, and more.

Alila Napa Valley location & parking

Alila Napa Valley is located in the town of St. Helena, which is one of my favorite towns in the region. The hotel is just a short walk from the center of town, with lots of cute shopping and dining.

On top of that, the hotel has bikes available for guests, should you want to travel a longer distance and explore the area.

The property offers complimentary valet parking for all guests, which is a nice feature. I’d recommend renting a car if visiting the region, as there’s limited public transportation, and there’s so much to explore.

If you’re coming from Sonoma County Airport (STS), you can expect that the Alila will be a roughly 45-minute drive. Alternatively, you can fly into San Francisco Airport (SFO), but that’s more like a two-hour drive, give or take.

Alila Napa Valley lobby & check-in

While the Alila Napa Valley isn’t a huge property, I like how it’s spread out across multiple buildings. The centerpiece of the hotel is a Georgian-style farmhouse that dates all the way back to 1907, as this houses the hotel’s restaurant, Acacia House, as well as reception, plus half a dozen guest rooms (in the “historic farmhouse” category).

The indoor reception area is the size of a broom closet — it’s a tiny space with a couple of desks. Fortunately guests don’t have to spend much time there, as there’s also quite a bit of seating just outside the reception area. This seating also looks out over the hotel’s central courtyard.

Our check-in process was quick and friendly. I was thanked for being a World of Hyatt Globalist member, and it was confirmed that I had used a suite upgrade award to secure an estate view suite for our stay. It was also explained that breakfast was included at Acacia House, and due to my Globalist status, we’d receive a $90 daily credit for that.

As part of the check-in process, we were also offered a glass of wine from a local winery. There was the choice between a pinot noir and a sauvignon blanc, and we chose the latter, and enjoyed a few sips while sitting outside.

Alila Napa Valley estate view suite

At Alila Napa Valley, rooms are spread across several buildings, with exterior hallways.

We were assigned room 121, located in the “100 block” building, which is the one right across from the driveway leading to the hotel.

Our room was located on the third (top) floor in that building. I know it looks like there are two floors, but there’s actually one underneath the one you enter on, as this area of the hotel slopes.

The estate view suite at the Alila Napa Valley is 948 square feet, so it’s huge. Upon entering the suite, there was a half bathroom to the left, with a bidet toilet and a sink.

Past that was a room with the bar area, which had a Nespresso coffee machine, kettle, plus quite a large selection of food and drinks for purchase, including full bottles of wine.

Past that was the living room, which had a large and comfortable couch and a sofa chair, both with an ottoman, facing a TV. There was a table with two chairs across from that, as well as a wall-mounted TV.

There was a welcome amenity on that table, consisting of a cheese platter, plus a bottle of Illumination Sauvignon Blanc 2022.

There were then two sliding doors separating the living room from the bedroom. The bedroom boasted a plush king size bed. There was an iPad next to the bed with all of the hotel’s amenities, the room service menu, etc. The one quirk I’d note is that there location of the chargers next to the bed wasn’t ideal.

There was a TV plus quite a bit of closet space across from the bed.

Then off the bedroom was the huge main bathroom, which was gorgeously appointed. It had double sinks, a soaking tub, a large walk-in shower with two shower heads, and a bidet toilet.

Toiletries were from Le Labo, and were in reusable containers.

Perhaps the best part of the room was the outdoor area, which included a dining table with four chairs, a fire pit, a bathtub, and a couch.

The estate view rooms here don’t have a full vineyard view, but rather look at the greenery around the property, which is nice as well.

Wi-Fi in the room worked great, and housekeeping was efficient and thorough. Nightly turndown service was offered, and even came with some sweet treats.

What an awesome room, and how cool that Globalist suite upgrade awards confirm into this “proper” suite.

Now, while I loved the room, I do have to say that in the future I’d probably prefer to be in one of the standard vineyard view rooms, rather than in an estate view suite. Immediately behind the Alila Napa Valley is the Beringer Estate vineyard, so the views from these rooms are simply magical. As someone who values views in hotel rooms more than just about anything else, I’d definitely prefer the view over the extra space.

I stayed in one of these rooms back when this hotel was known as Las Alcobas, so below is what the view from these rooms is like.

And below is a picture I took of the vineyard during this stay.

Alila Napa Valley Acacia House Restaurant

Acacia House is the Alila Napa Valley’s all-day dining restaurant (open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner), and this isn’t your average hotel restaurant. I absolutely love the food here, and can’t recommend eating here enough, even if you’re not staying at the hotel. You can find all the restaurant menus here.

The restaurant has a beautiful porch where you can enjoy a meal or drink. There are heat lamps, making it possible to enjoy this setting even on a chilly evening.

Then when you enter the restaurant, there’s first a lounge and bar area…

…then deeper in is the actual restaurant seating, which still feels intimate, as there are just over a dozen tables.

On weekdays, Acacia House serves breakfast from 7AM until 11AM, and then on weekends, brunch is served from 7AM until 3PM. The breakfast menu isn’t huge, but the quality is excellent. Meanwhile the brunch menu on weekends is quite a bit bigger (as you’d expect, most visitors to Napa Valley come for the weekend).

There were a variety of drinks to choose from, including cold brew, cappuccino, and french press coffee. The coffee was fine, but honestly not my favorite — it was a bit acidic-tasting for my liking.

The food, on the other hand, is exceptional. We tried the greek yogurt parfait, the avocado toast with a fried egg, the duck chilaquiles, and the two eggs any style. Across the board, the food was very good.

In the mornings, the bar at Acacia House has complimentary coffee that you can help yourself to, which is a nice feature. This is great if you want to grab a cup of coffee when you wake up, and then you can come back later on for a proper breakfast.

We also had dinner here one evening, which is served daily from 5PM until 9PM. To drink, I had a dirty martini, while Ford had a mocktail named “the hummingbird,” with Italian orange, non-alcoholic sparkling, hibiscus, and lemon.

The meal started with an amuse bouche, consisting of a chickpea tart with goat cheese, as well as a consommé with veggies and duck fat.

To eat, we split the beets and burrata, the prime beef carpaccio and squash argo dolce, the ricotta cavatelli with walnut, and the halibut with roasted grapes.

This was a phenomenal meal, and we enjoyed all of the dishes.

Alila Napa Valley Terrace Social Bar

Here’s something that’s new since the last time I visited this property. In the courtyard, the Alila Napa Valley has Terrace Social Bar, which is open in the evenings from 3PM until 7PM. However, at the moment it’s only open on Thursdays through Sundays, I imagine reflecting when the hotel is busiest. Since we were staying midweek, we didn’t have the chance to actually check this out, but it was a nice space.

Alila Napa Valley pool

The Alila Napa Valley has a pool just off the vineyard. It’s not a huge pool, by any means, but the pool deck is picturesque, and has plenty of lounge chairs, a cabana area, and a large fire pit. In summer (from Memorial Day until Labor Day) there’s also food and beverage service out here.

Alila Napa Valley gym

The Alila Napa Valley has a 24/7 gym, which is located in the same building we were staying in, on the first floor. The gym is surprisingly large for a resort with relatively few rooms. It had a great amount of equipment, including for weights and cardio, and it also had a yoga room.

Alila Napa Valley spa

Spa Alila is the Alila Napa Valley’s spa, and it’s located in a building across from reception. The spa is open from 9:30AM until 6PM.

The spa reception area feels a bit like a boutique, and I love the architecture of the spa.

The spa has a relaxation area, a steam room, a hydrotherapy shower, and several treatment rooms.

You can find the spa menu here. There are a variety of treatments to choose from, including several holistic ones.

Alila Napa Valley service

I found the service at Alila Napa Valley to be very good. The hotel definitely has more of a casual vibe in terms of service, which I like (and find to be the standard for Alila). The front office staff were great, and the restaurant servers were friendly and knowledgable.

Bottom line

I’m a huge fan of the Alila Napa Valley, and am so happy the property belongs to World of Hyatt nowadays. The Alila is a great hotel, with a central location in the town of St. Helena, beautiful vineyard views, an amazing restaurant, and a solid gym and spa.

But even beyond the property itself, I just love being in Napa Valley. It’s such a beautiful and charming part of the country. So I don’t view the Alila Napa Valley as a traditional resort, in the sense that I wouldn’t go here to sit at the pool all day. Rather it’s a good spot from which to explore the area, all while enjoying what the property has to offer.

I’m so happy this hotel belongs to Hyatt nowadays, and has good World of Hyatt recognition and award availability. If you’re like me and love great views, I’d recommend doing what you can to secure a vineyard view room.

What’s your take on the Alila Napa Valley?

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