Farmhouse Inn, Sonoma County, California Hotel Review

I filled the massive soaking tub and tipped in a ramekin of lavender-scented bath salts, then slipped into the steaming water. It was 6:30 a.m. at the Farmhouse Inn in Forestville, California. The day before, I had picked out bath accoutrements from the lobby’s adorable marble cart with body scrubs and brightly colored soaps. Now was my chance to use them, while my son and husband were sleeping. I grabbed the bar of yellow-and-beige striped soap — made with mustard seeds for exfoliation — and scrubbed up. Then, I leaned back to soak underneath tall tub-to-ceiling windows that looked out onto my massive private second-floor deck. By the time my husband and son woke, coffee and breakfast had arrived, and I was wrapped in a robe, eating cheesy scrambled eggs in front of our double-sided fireplace.

Of the seven Napa and Sonoma hotels I’ve reported on, Farmhouse Inn stands out as the one that feels quintessentially Sonoma. There are wine lists hanging in each of the 25 rooms. Every afternoon at 4:30 p.m., a local winemaker hosts a complimentary wine tasting by the firepits. When I went, I tasted Croix Estate’s Ruxton Sands rosé next to a couple who had come down in their robes and slippers. The hotel is founded and managed by locals, who transformed a dilapidated bed-and-breakfast into a six-acre luxury hotel in 2001. The spa serves post-treatment tea sourced from herbs grown at the hotel. The main restaurant, though it no longer has a Michelin star, is well-known for its decadent seven-course meals. And there’s a chicken coop in the back garden, which my six-month-old son loved, possibly because it finally contextualized Old MacDonald and his cluck-cluck-clucking brood. 

Beyond the hotel’s Sonoma ethos — luxurious, but in an unfussy, Blundstone-and-Carhartt kind of way — Farmhouse gives visitors access to wineries that few other hotels offer. Sure, Sonoma has a semi-crunchy, unpretentious quality, but it’s still one of the most coveted wine regions in the world. You can’t show up here without tasting room reservations — and with 19 American Viticultural Areas (or AVAs) in Sonoma County alone, picking just a couple of wineries is a tall order. The hotel has 25 winery partners, all of which offer complimentary tastings to hotel guests and can accommodate last-minute visitors who are staying at Farmhouse. When I arrived, I asked to visit a partner winery — and 24 hours later, my husband, son, and I pulled up to Chalk Hill Vineyards and Winery, where our server, Raj, greeted us with a Chalk Hill AVA estate chardonnay and a promise that Farmhouse guests were among his favorite visitors.

Here, my full review of Farmhouse Inn in Forestville, California.

The Rooms

Farmhouse Inn has 25 rooms, including cozy 200-square-foot rooms, standalone cottage suites toward the front of the property, and the larger barn suites, which get up to 850 square feet. I stayed in the one-bedroom barn suite with a see-through wood-burning fireplace, a separate hallway, a massive bathroom with a soaking tub and marble shower, and an expansive balcony. The barn is at the very back of the property, which made our suite feel private and out of the way. It was more than enough space for two adults and a baby — and dining in the room didn’t feel at all crowded.

The only downside to the barn suites, which feel like a world of their own in the heart of wine country, is that they are up a steep set of stairs, which meant my husband and I functioned as a human escalator for our son’s stroller.

Food and Drink

The main dining room serves daily breakfast — fresh-squeezed orange juice by the roaring fireplace was a highlight for me. It doubles as the property’s fine dining restaurant. Transparently, I didn’t have dinner at the main restaurant because kids aren’t allowed in the evening. However, I tried the tasting menu in 2021 and still remember the meal fondly. Most locals I know are big fans of the restaurant, where the hotel often hosts wine dinners with partner wineries that sell out.

My husband and I enjoyed an abridged tasting menu on our first night, though — in our bathrobes, no less. Farmhouse serves a phenomenal in-room three-course dinner, which guests can pre-order and have delivered (coursed out) at whatever time suits their schedule. I stumbled in from a wine event just in time to join my husband for our son’s bedtime routine. Then, with our son snoozing in his pack-and-play, we cracked a Banshee Wines brut and started in on a delicate pasta with mushrooms and radicchio, followed by black cod in a sweet-and-sour sauce (or, aigre-douce, if we want to get French about it) and lamb chops. For dessert in bed, we shared a matcha and chamomile tart as our fireplace warmed the room.

Another on-site dining option, which serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, is the casual Farmstand. It has a wood-fired oven and a beautiful outdoor patio with heat lamps and a fireplace. My son, husband, and I dined here twice; it’s a very serviceable menu, with burgers, sandwiches, salad, and a particularly good potato and leek soup.

Experiences and Amenities

The partner winery program at Farmhouse Inn is a very good reason to book a stay. The hotel grants guests access to private complimentary tastings at 25 Sonoma vineyards. Farmhouse also hosts daily wine tastings — at 4:30 p.m. at the fire pits — followed by nightly s’mores at 6 p.m. with marshmallows made by the restaurant’s pastry chef.

The hotel has a large main pool and a steaming hot tub, lovely lawns where guests can put their feet up and enjoy a glass of wine, a gurgling fountain, and, of course, a chicken coop. Among my favorite amenities were the bath cart — where I restocked twice on aromatic bubble bath, lavender bath salts, and brown sugar scrub — and the chocolate chip cookies dropped off every night at turndown.

The Spa

Farmhouse Inn has a lovely wellness barn with a roaring fire and a cart where any guest can make a crystal–infused oil to take home. On offer: massages, facials, private yoga, and herbal baths. After a 90-minute massage where my therapist, Lindsey, kneaded my back into submission, I curled up under a fleece blanket in a wicker chair by the fireplace and sipped tea — an anti-inflammatory mix of lavender, chamomile, lemon grass, and calendula — blended by the in-house pastry chef.

Family-friendly Offerings

Sonoma isn’t your classic bring-the-kids destination, but with its abundance of outdoor activities, it should be. Farmhouse Inn is about a 15-minute drive from Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve, which is a great place to hike and see Colonel Armstong, a towering redwood that’s more than 1,400 years old. It’s also close to the Russian River — the Farmhouse concierge can help families set up activities like kayaking and stand-up paddle boarding — and downtown Healdsburg, which has plenty of family-friendly restaurants. One evening, we popped into Roof 106, which is above The Matheson, for pizza and cocktails. 

The hotel was very welcoming to my son, and there were other (well-behaved) kids visiting during our stay. The hotel provided a pack-and-play, and one of our servers burst out in song for my son at breakfast one morning, which made my weekend.

The Location

Farmhouse Inn is a 10-minute drive from Charles M. Schulz – Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa, or an hour-and-a-half drive from San Francisco International Airport. You’ll need a car to get around; Farmhouse lets guests use their house Volvos when available, though many guests choose to rent their own cars. 

The hotel is a 20-minute drive from Healdsburg: visit my favorite Northern California tasting room, Flowers Winery & Vineyards, if you’re a fan of coastal chardonnay and pinot noir; J Vineyards & Winery for winemaker Nicole Hitchcock’s phenomenal slate of sparkling wines; Little Saint for vegan fare crafted by a Noma alum; The Matheson, the latest concept from celebrated local chef Dustin Valette, who also owns fine-dining spot Valette; Dry Creek Kitchen for your Charlie Palmer steakhouse fix; Michelin three-starred SingleThread, which really doesn’t need an introduction; and Aperture Cellars for sumptuous, Bordeaux-style reds.

Downtown Sonoma is farther away – about an hour’s drive — but worth a visit for the food and tasting rooms on offer. Try Enclos, which just opened in December 2024; chef Brian Limoges’ 10-course tasting menu, with ingredients sourced from Sonoma County’s Stone Edge Farm, is the best meal I’ve had in years. 

Guerneville, also a 15-minute drive, is right along the Russian River and home to Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve and a charming downtown.

Accessibility and Sustainability

Farmhouse Inn has one ADA-compliant room. Beyond the expected sustainability features — limited single-use plastics, recycling, composting, EV chargers on offer — the hotel partners with Sonoma County Open Space Conservation. The founding partners of the hotel donated a grove of native oak trees in downtown Forestville “to be held untouched in perpetuity, never to be developed,” according to a hotel spokesperson. Further, the waste produced from the kitchen goes to the flock of 80 hens who lay eggs for Farmhouse Inn. The culinary team uses ingredients farmed on property and sources primarily from local, sustainable farms.

How to Get the Most of Value Out of Your Stay

Farmhouse Inn is part of the Preferred Hotels portfolio and participates in the iPrefer loyalty program. It’s also an American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts property; travelers who book with their Amex Platinum card get guaranteed 4 p.m. checkout, complimentary daily breakfast for two, and a $100 credit to use at the hotel.

Nightly rates at the Farmhouse Inn start from $919, and you can book your stay at farmhouseinn.com.