Best Dog-Friendly Hotels in Napa Valley

Before you go

What happens when you get there

Fee stacking

This is the thing that catches people out. The mandatory nightly resort fee and the pet fee are separate and they both apply. Solage is USD 75 plus USD 90 a night, Stanly Ranch USD 75 a night plus USD 250 a dog, Bardessono USD 72 plus USD 200, Carneros USD 70 plus tax plus USD 150 a dog, The Meritage USD 49 plus USD 100 a dog. Work out the whole bill before you compare room rates, because the cheapest room isn't the cheapest stay.

Dogs at the wineries

This is the real reason to come. Trefethen, Chimney Rock, Napa Cellars, Honig and Tres Sabores all take dogs inside the tasting room. HALL St Helena, V. Sattui, Clif Family, Frog's Leap, St. Supéry, Frenchie at Raymond, Tamber Bey, Pine Ridge, Paraduxx, Migration, WALT, Etude and Priest Ranch take them on the patio, lawn or grounds. In Calistoga, Romeo, Picayune, Bennett Lane, Envy, Hans Fahden and Twomey. Almost all of them need a reservation, and several ask you to say you're bringing a dog when you book.

Weight limits

Carneros, Solage, Stanly Ranch, Bardessono, MacArthur Place, Harvest Inn, Calistoga Motor Lodge and the Westin Verasa all publish no limit. The Meritage caps at 80 lbs, Archer Hotel Napa, Vintage House, Hotel Healdsburg and Harmon Guest House at 50, Montage Healdsburg at 45, Cottage Grove Inn at 40. Four Seasons Napa Valley publishes nothing about weight anywhere, so ring them before you book on the assumption a big dog is fine.

Leaving the dog in the room

Mostly a no here. Andaz Napa, Napa River Inn, SENZA, the Westin Verasa, White House Napa, Harvest Inn, MacArthur Place and Montage Healdsburg all rule it out. The Meritage, Hotel Healdsburg and Harmon Guest House allow it crated. Calistoga Motor Lodge is the one that says a dog may be left with the Pet in Room sign on the door, which is unusual for the valley, so confirm it stands when you book.

Trails and the state park rule

Bothe-Napa Valley State Park allows dogs only in the campground and picnic areas on a lead, and expressly not on trails, dirt roads, backcountry areas or in the historic buildings and gardens. The Napa Valley Vine Trail is the good flat car-free option, with finished sections through Napa town and Yountville. The Oat Hill Mine Trail out of Calistoga runs 13.4 km with 460 metres of climb and dogs go under voice control with no lead needed, but there's no drinking water and the northern section has been closed for wildfire risk, so check before you set off.

Dog parks

Alston Park on Dry Creek Road in Napa has an enclosed off-lead area with agility equipment and water. Kennedy Park has a large unfenced off-lead section where voice control applies, and there's Shurtleff Dog Park too. Wappo Dog Park in St Helena is a fenced 560 square metres with water fountains and waste stations. Villa Chanticleer in Healdsburg is a fully enclosed acre and a half. Calistoga has no dog park of its own, which people assume it does.

Getting around

Napa is a hire car destination with a dog, no way around it. Napa County Airport takes no scheduled flights, so you're coming through San Francisco, about an hour and fifteen minutes away, Oakland at about an hour, Sacramento or Sonoma County. The valley is 50 km end to end. The Napa Valley Wine Train carries service animals only, so that's not a dog day out. Vine Transit's animal policy isn't published anywhere we could reach, so don't count on the county buses.

Vets

Silverado Veterinary Hospital at 2035 Silverado Trail, Napa, +1 707 224 7953, runs Monday to Thursday 8am to 8pm, Friday to 4pm and Saturday 9am to 3pm, closed Sunday. It doesn't state whether it covers emergencies, so ask. We haven't confirmed a 24-hour emergency clinic inside Napa County, so if that matters to you, get an answer from your hotel's concierge before you arrive rather than at 2am.

Best walks

The Napa Valley Vine Trail is the one, a car-free multi-use path planned to run 76 km up the valley with finished stretches through Napa town and Yountville, which is why both places work so well on foot. From downtown Napa the Napa River Trail through Oxbow Commons is flat and riverside, starting right outside River Terrace Inn, the Westin Verasa and Napa River Inn. Alston Park on Dry Creek Road has the fenced off-lead Canine Commons plus on-lead nature preserve, and Kennedy Park gives a big unfenced off-lead area with a riverside path. In Calistoga the Oat Hill Mine Trail climbs 13.4 km of old wagon road towards Pope Valley with dogs under voice control, no lead needed, and no water on the route, so carry it. Wappo Dog Park is the fenced option in St Helena, and Villa Chanticleer the one in Healdsburg with Badger Park nearby for small dogs. The on-site walks that earn their keep are Stanly Ranch's 712 acres of farm and vineyard tracks, Carneros with Kelso's dog park, the twenty-two acres at Solage and the eight acres of garden at Harvest Inn. Bothe-Napa Valley State Park is the one to skip, dogs are barred from every trail there.

When to go

April to June and September to early November. Harvest runs from roughly late August into October and the valley is at its busiest and dearest then, so tasting reservations go early and the roads are slow. July and August get properly hot inland, which is hard on a dog on a gravel winery lawn with no shade, so if you come in high summer plan tastings for the morning and keep the afternoon by the water. Winter is quiet and green and the patios still work on a mild day, but check the Oat Hill Mine Trail before you go, because its northern section has been closed for wildfire risk and hunting season.