Several months ago, I selected Maison Fleurie for our stay in Napa wine country based on the numerous positive reviews on Trip Advisor as well as the recommendation in Karen Brown's travel book for California Inns and B&Bs. Needless to say, I was somewhat concerned about the recent negative reviews posted on Maison Fleurie.

Happily, I can report that we found the property to be charming and everything I had expected. The staff offered much help in making reservations for restaurants and winery tours. Plus, all those little extra efforts, like asking if we needed an umbrella for the day.

We stayed in a cozy queen, #2, on the second floor and it had a stone and a brick wall on two sides. All the others rooms on the second floor were similarly charming and well-decorated. Our room was small but plenty big for the two of us and all our "stuff." It had everything we needed, and items were thoughtfully placed in just the right spot. Our towels appeared new and were quite nice. The soaps and shampoo were wonderful. Yes, we could hear a few muffled voices at night, and floor that creaked some overhead. But to us, this is part of the charm of staying in an old country inn.

The breakfast is good with cereals, granola, big bowl of cut-up fresh fruit, breads, English muffins, and two hot dishes that varied each day. They were quite tasty! The afternoon wine and cheese offering was also excellent (fresh veggies, crackers, excellent cheeses, and a tea cake) and one day a representative of one of the wineries was there to do a wine tasting.

My husband and I are world travelers and I always look for places in a good location that are clean, have charm,and offer value. Maison Fluerie certainly fits the bill, and offers even greater value that I had expected. In additon, we booked early and were able to snag a "Isn't It Romantic" package that made the stay an even better "deal."

Sadly, the vinyard across the street has been razed for a future high-end Inn, and it looks like construction is about to begin. A staff member said it was expected to take about 1.5 years to complete. So, if for some reason you think you might be sleeping late, or spending a lot of time in your room during the day, you might want to arrange for a room that doesn't face the street. I'm sure the staff would tell you if construction is an issue on the weekends.

You'll enjoy your stay here!

We stayed for 2 nights at this property. At check-in, we were greeted warmly by staff, given a tour of the property and shown to our room. Our room was comfortables. Towels, however, were stained and thin. We very much enjoyed the breakfast and afternoon snacks and wine they had. The decor of the inn is very charming. All staff we encountered were very pleasant and assisted us with restaurant recommendations and winery suggestions. Would recommend this place to others.

We found our recent stay at Maison Fluerie average at best and in some cases, disappointing. We certainly took the outstanding TA reviews below into account before choosing to stay at this Four Sisters Inn. We also spent two nights at The Lavender Inn, also a Four Sisters property in Yountville.

Location
Maison Fluerie’s location in Yountville is the perfect base for visiting the wine country. Both Calistoga and Napa are no more than a 30 minutes drive in either direction (via the Yountville Cross Road to the Silverado or Route 29). In fact, Yountville is home to some of Napa Valley’s best restaurants, and all of them are walk able from Maison Fluerie. It was a nice after a day of driving and wineries to walk to dinner every night.

Exterior
The vine covered exterior of the building is lovely. The front of the building faces a vineyard of grapes, quite a view.

Booking
We first booked our room via the internet and not an hour later received a phone call from the inn, confirming the reservation. The innkeeper explained they could not help us with French Laundry reservations but, as the date of our stay grew near, they’d be happy to recommend other places to dine. Fair enough. I also inquired about adding nights to our reservation and was told me to do so quickly. The following day I e-mailed to request the additional nights and I also asked about winery and restaurant recommendations. The night was added (however, we’d have to switch rooms, no big deal), but the questions were ignored. These things happen, so we went about researching restaurants and wineries ourselves. I’d be lying if I said I was a bit disappointed they overlooked my inquires. We specifically chose a B&B with stellar customer service reviews.

Check-In
Upon arrival, the innkeeper was on the phone (inn related) so we waited a few minutes to check in, no problem. She took my credit card, handed us our key and explained she was busy She instructed “Jessica” a young, friendly girl, to show us the grounds and to our room.

Customer Service
The following morning we went to the front desk to swap our room 7 key with our room 11 key. At reception, the innkeeper asked the couple checking in if they had any questions about restaurants and wineries. She also told them she’d be happy to help make reservations at both.

Interestingly enough, during our 3 days at Maison Fluerie, we saw six different innkeepers, and never a repeat. This made it difficult to build a repport with any single one. Not one of these 6 people inquired if we had any questions or if we needed any help with reservations (winery or restaurant). We assume we fell through the cracks, but still … ? Upon check out, they did not ask us about our stay. My husband felt they just “did not care about our stay.” We chose a bed and breakfast in hopes of receiving warmth in customer service you may not get at a larger establishment. We paid approximately $297 a night (with tax). Customer service at The Lavender Inn was gracious and a relief.

Food
Breakfasts, consisting of maple yogurt, cereal, fresh fruit, an egg dish, warm oatmeal, and other items were delicious and filling. Baked goods were hit or miss, some were dry (muffins and sweet loaves) others (almond cake) were outstanding. Cookies were either phenomenal (cranberry oatmeal) or dry (banana or chocolate chip). We found the coffee a tad weak, but realize they have to appeal to wide range of tastes. The chef Sonia delivered breakfast with a fun sense of humor and a genuine warmth. Interestingly, she was the only staff member we saw repeatedly. We liked her a great deal.

Although breakfast was delicious, it was often a scramble for a seat at a table and a bit of a bumper to bumper situation while filling up plates. With 13 rooms and a chance at 23 total guests, there simply were not enough breakfast tables to go around. As morning wine appointments start between 10-10:30, we generally encountered a crowd at breakfast. Additional seating consisted of couches. While this is certainly fine for some, both my husband and I prefer to eat meals at a proper table (as opposed to over a coffee table or juggling plates in our laps). We also wanted to mingle with the other guests and could not do so when forced to take our plates back to our rooms to eat.

Special Touches
Other B&B touches like an afternoon coffee, tea, wine, and cheese reception, fresh baked cookies, complimentary sherry and sodas was appreciated. In fact, we found a pitcher of cool water sitting by the pool. A nice touch. Trek bikes are available to borrow and wireless internet access is free. Sometimes guest wineries were brought in to do wine tastings for the guests. These events took place either at Maison Fluerie or around the corner at The Lavender Inn.

Guest Rooms & Bathrooms
During our 3 night stay, we occupied two different rooms. The first was the Main Building, Room 7. The second was a Bakery Building King. Both these rooms were large and very clean. Furniture was sturdy and of good quality. Weak air-conditioning in Room 7 necessitated leaving the windows open for the first night – this resulted in 5am street noise: garbage and delivery trucks coming and going from nearby Bouchon and other local restaurants. Note this noise was reduced after we moved to the Bakery Building. We always travel with earplugs, so this was no big deal. However, the first night I was fooled by the quiet stillness of Yountville and omitted them. I did not make this mistake again.

Bathrooms
The bathtubs in both rooms were very deep, and the Bakery building tub had soothing Jacuzzi jets. The bathroom in the main building was small, but things like that don’t bother us Toiletries were replaced daily and included bath salts and were of high quality. Soaps were made with olive oil! The walls in the bathroom of the Bakery Building were so thin we could hear our neighbors crystal clear. Imagine sitting on the toilet and listening to a conversation as if the person is standing right next to you. Disconcerting…

Linens
Bed linens were scratchy and the bedspreads were faded. Towels were of poor quality, shrunk, scratchy, and small, wider at the top and thinning out at the bottom. Also to note, the couches in the breakfast room were faded and worn. In our opinion, towels and bed linens are not a place to skimp. Why have big jetted tubs and scratchy small bath towels? Bedspeads and couches at The Lavender Inn were not faded and worn.

Parking
Parking fell prey to a supply problem: 13 rooms, approximately 10 spots. Guests would come and go on their own time schedule and what would result was 1 car taking up 1.5 spots. Initially, we were forced to drop off our luggage and find a spot on the street. This happened more often than not. In fact, with so many hot restaurants nearby, we sometimes had to park a block or two away. We have no problem walking, and found this to be no big deal.

In Summary
We joked that Napa Valley is Disney Land for Yuppies and that Yountville is a town entirely comprised of only accommodations and restaurants. There were literally 10 other places to stay within walking distance of Maison Fluerie...

Obviously each persons stay varies and no accommodation is perfect, however things do add up. In fact, we received wonderful customer service at a particular hotel in San Francisco where friends of ours did not.

If the customer service at Maison Fluerie had been spot on, we might have looked upon the faded bedspreads and couches as “shabby chic.” However, mediocre (non-existent save for Sonia) customer service combined with paper thin walls, scratchy towels and linens, traffic jams in the breakfast room, juggling breakfast plates on our laps, street noise at 5am, etc… it’s enough to make us look elsewhere. Especially since in Napa Valley, there are so many other accommodation options.

We were so disappointed at our recent stay in this tired and DIRTY inn. The carpet should have been replaced long ago and our interior (no window) bathroom was so dang and mildew-smelling that I could barely step in there. Taking a shower was NOT an option. To air out the room, we opened the windows while we went to dinner. We came back to find a real smoky residue seemingly from the adajcent restaurant. There was no one to tell since the front desk staff leaves about 8 pm.

The next morning we just got up and left without breakfast, finding it disappointing that the front desk clerk didn't even ask if we had enjoyed our stay. Just awful ... and it cost $250 for the one uncomfortable night. Don't be swayed by the online photos. This place really needs a make-over.