The Lavender Inn was a cosy find in the beautful town of Yountville in the centre of the Napa valley. We had a courtyard cottage that was just right for our needs and the inn is very local to some great restaurants. Wine and hors d'oeurves are served in the afternoons and fresh cooked breakfast items are also available each morning. The free wireless internet proved problematic but not enough to spoil our stay and the only real downside was that we couldn't stay for longer....

We booked in here for 2 nights at the beginning of July & were greeted by exceptionally friendly Marion on front desk, who was only to happy to help finalize details of our balloon ride next morning & show us to our room. We had room #7, with the outdoor tub - fantastic, altho it does slightly limit your view of outside world, but there are plenty of seats & a swing chair on the front deck to relax on instead. Bed was really comfy, actual room was a little smaller & darker than I had imagined & we had a fire place that we'd never need, as the room was very warm (air con only cools to about 75F). Great breakfast & lovely afternoon wine tasting & cheese. Walking distance to all intown eateries & a stones throw from The French Laundry (if ur feeling very fancy!). If you need swiming pool, you can walk to their sister hotel for a cooling splash. It reminded me of a typical English B&B - a lovely retreat for a few days away.

We got the Lavender recommended by a friend and we truly loved every minute we spent there. First of all, we got a special deal on their website - so check out for special deals - and saved around 100 USD/night. I would recommend you to stay in a cottage if possible, they are pretty new and absolutely nicely decorated. You have plenty of room, a small garden to yourself and a great bathroom. It was just wonderful. Yountville is also a nice town for a walk, especially after some heavy wine tasting. Breakfast was great, the inn keepers very friendly and nice. Apparently, the Lavender belongs to a chain of B&Bs and the only point we did not like that much is the fact that they serve the same wine in all the B&Bs which means at the 4.30pm wine & cheese tasting, they could not serve any wine from Napa valley. Other than that, it was truly heaven on earth.

My husband and I stayed at the Lavender in June 2006 for three nights as part of a trip for our 5th anniversary. We booked approximately 7 months in advance because we wanted a specific room - with the outdoor tub and sitting area. In fact, that room (and it's availability) was the sole reason we decided on Lavender rather than the Inn at Southbridge. I went online to book the room but wanted to be sure that I was booking the correct room based on the photos so I both called and emailed to ensure that the room I planned to book online was the same room I wanted. I was told that I was correct, and I went ahead and booked the room.

I called several weeks prior to our arrival to confirm and yet, when we arrived, we were led to a cramped and old room on the second floor of the main house. It decidedly was not the room I had booked, and when we informed the woman as such, she essentially told us we were mistaken and there was nothing she could do. She told us that the room we "thought" we reserved was taken by a couple who were repeat customers and must have booked earlier than us. Luckily, I had our reservation papers as well as my email from the inn confirming that the room I had booked was the room with the outdoor tub. It was clear from my documents and the inn's records as to the other couple's reservation that we had booked well in advance of them. Yet the woman still treated us as if we were in the wrong completely. I've never encounted such arrogance at the possibilty that the inn had made a mistake.

Ultimately, we got the room we wanted for one night (because the couple cancelled) and then we had to be shuttled to one of the cottage rooms for the remainder of our stay. Having traveled across the country, it was not exactly the relaxing Napa vacation we had planned. Plus, on our second night there (the first in the new room after the move) the fire alarm went off at 3am for about 5 minutes for no apparent reason. When we informed the desk clerked, she had neither an explanation nor an apology.

On the other hand, the inn is quite lovely, the outdoor patios are great, the breakfasts are good, the afternoon wine & cheese is a nice touch, and we enjoyed the wine tasting from Frazier that was offered while we were there. We also enjoyed chatting with the other guests.

I would hesitate to recommend the property, however, because we felt that the problems we encountered (which clearly and unequivocally were the fault of the inn) were neither validated nor properly addressed. At no time did anyone apolgize for the inconveniences while we were at the inn. Instead, we were made to feel as though it were our fault and they were doing us a great service shuttling us around to different rooms (despite our clear documentation that we had reserved the correct room and they had merely given it away to someone else after we made our reservation). I believe we should have received some type of compensation for our stay (each night of which was $275). All we received was a letter months after the fact from the Four Sisters company offering us a free night at the Lavender, to be used within one year of our initial stay. Given that we live in Boston, it was of no use to us whatsoever.