Montage Healdsburg is a Luxe, Private Escape in the Splendor of Wine Country

Nestled in the warm, dry hills of Sonoma wine country, you’ll find a bastion of luxury between rows of omnipresent grapes: The Montage Healdsburg. One of nine properties operating under the banner of Montage Hotels & Resorts, and one of the newer ones given that it’s only been operating in earnest since 2021, the Montage Healdsburg is a resort dedicated to embracing the quiet tranquility of the inland California coast, where the prized Mediterranean climate–which only 2% of the world’s land surface possesses–allows the cultivation of some of the world’s best grapes and wine. Here, guests are afforded a wonderful sense of privacy in bungalow-style rooms and suites, overlooking lush foliage or the aforementioned rows of grapes that ring the main hotel center on most sides. Ascending the winding road to the resort as it cuts through the hills, it feels like you’ve slipped through the gates of some reclusive Sonoma millionaire’s summer country estate.

And slip I did, staying at the Montage Healdsburg for three nights in May while attending the Healdsburg Wine & Food Experience festival, courtesy of festival sponsor Mazda. It proved to be a perfect home base for the weekend, with plentiful amenities tailored to both giving guests as much relaxation and privacy as possible, and also snapping into action at a moment’s notice to get them where they want to go. Paramount importance has been placed on service.

Most of the rooms at Montage Healdsburg, including our own, are in the style of duplex bungalows found along a series of winding roads forming a large loop around the property. As the road ascends and descends these hills, the bungalows are spaced out at differing elevations, with some facing wooded scenes, or toward the nearby Mt. St. Helena, or overlooking the vineyard itself. Guests are likely to find a chilled bottle of wine awaiting them; we enjoyed a crisp and mineral forward Sauvignon Blanc expression of Montage’s own new house wine label, Surveyor. Your only real “neighbor” is likely to be the occupant of the other unit in each double bungalow, though larger families can rent both at once for maximum privacy.

And if there’s one sense that the Montage Healdsburg does foster nicely, it is that of privacy, and a feeling of immersion in the greenery and the hills. This feeling is perhaps best experienced while lounging on the incredibly roomy balcony of each bungalow, soaking in the warm air, sunshine and sounds of local birdsong. As I sat nursing my Sauv Blanc, I enjoyed watching small groups of Ash-Throated Flycatchers and Acorn Woodpeckers flitting around through the canopy immediately outside. Near sunset the second night, we even watched a small group of deer passing by below us, seemingly totally at peace despite the presence of the nearby vacationers. Of course, if that’s still not enough outdoorsy sensation for you, you can also sign up for activities such as yoga or archery among the vines themselves, or clean off afterward in the bungalow’s open air, outdoor shower–privacy walls of course included.

Many of the patrons staying at the Montage Healdsburg will no doubt be in town for wine-centric vacationing–there are at least a few dozen wineries and tasting rooms in Healdsburg proper alone, and once you get out into the country you’re met by a truly astounding variety of vintners. Of course, you needn’t leave the resort to find a great drink, as they also run a solid cocktail and spirits program–though pricing is California ostentatious–at attached lobby bar Scout Field Bar, affording more spectacular views over the vines. Oddly enough, though, the most impressive drink I had on site was not necessarily from this location but from the poolside Hudson Springs Bar and Grill, where a lemon-forward and mezcal-accented inversion of the classic ranch water cocktail was an unexpected delight. It’s not often that I drink something at a hotel pool that I find myself wanting to replicate at home later. It’s not hard to imagine spending a whole afternoon in the shade of one of the poolside cabanas, sipping on these.

What stands out about this resort more than anything, though, is the willingness and indeed the normalcy and universal nature of its staff accommodating every possible desire a guest could have. Case in point: The spaced out nature of the bungalow rooms fosters privacy for the guests, but it also means that you may be half a mile away from your front door while standing in the lobby of the resort. Never to fear, though, because the Montage Healdsburg is operating a constantly moving series of shuttles and golf carts to not only carry guests to their cabins about the property, but also to pick them up from their rooms when they want to get back to the lobby, restaurant or valets. This fosters both comfort and choice for the guests, who can elect to take a more leisurely walk down the path to return to the lobby, as my wife and I did most of the time, or call for a pickup if time is of the essence. This service extends beyond the hotel grounds as well, as drivers are always available to take guests into town, or even pick them up from downtown Healdsburg to return to the Montage. There’s certainly a comfort–and undeniable luxury–in knowing that you’re not at the whim of a rideshare app when this option is available to you.

Those vacationing in Sonoma wine country have, in all likelihood, arrived in the region with some expectation of being pampered, but the Montage Healdsburg goes above and beyond in exceeding even what a seasoned vacationer might expect to find in a West Coast resort. This kind of glam is not cheap for vacationers, but it makes for an unforgettable home base for oenophiles in the region, or just those looking to immerse themselves in the California countryside.

Jim Vorel is a Paste staff writer and resident beer and liquor geek. You can follow him on Twitter for more drink, film and travel writing.