For oenophiles, Napa Valley’s attractions revolve solely around its gloried vineyards and fine restaurants. Thrill-seekers after less alcoholic pursuits tend to veer towards Calistoga to the northwest for its celebrated geothermal hot spring pools, a detour now made all the more de rigueur with this new 50-room property designed by AvroKO’s San Francisco studio.
The bright pastel hues of blues, yellows and greens alongside a glass-blocked lounge, reproduction vintage coolers by the pool and bedrooms dressed with camper van bench seats and graphic tiles, evoke iconography from the great American road trip, a canny move given the building’s past as the Sunburst Motel.
An outdoor mud spa featuring DIY mud-bakes boasts tectonic views east of the Napa hillsides and Howell Mountain, though we’re equally drawn to the detoxifying allure of a steaming soak in a mint-green claw-foot tub infused with medicinal salts harvested from Turkey, New Zealand and Japan.