In February of this year I traveled with a friend on a road trip down the Pacific Coast Highway. We drove all the way from Seattle to San Diego in only 5 DAYS! I wrote a full recap of our 5-day Pacific Coast Highway Road Trip, so check it out if you are embarking on a similar trip or are interested in planning one!
One thing we knew for sure when planning our trip, was that even though we had very little time, we wanted to spend a full day in wine country. We had both been to wine country before, and knew it was the perfect way to decompress after long days on the road. We chose Sonoma Valley over Napa Valley mostly because while I had been to Napa Valley before, I had yet to visit Sonoma Valley.
While in search of the perfect accommodation there were a few boxes that needed to be checked. First, convenience – after a long day of driving we wanted to stay somewhere along our route, but also somewhere close to both downtown Sonoma and the vineyards. Second, we wanted to have a great breakfast, to fuel our bodies with good food before a long day of drinking. Third, we wanted to stay in a boutique hotel, with charm and a small town feel.
Our time at the Olea Hotel proved very quickly to be everything we wanted and more. From the warm welcome upon reception (with a glass of wine, at that) to the phenomenal local recommendations, and the exquisite 2-course breakfast prior to departure the following morning. We enjoyed every ounce of our stay at the Olea Hotel!
Olea Hotel Overview
- The Olea Hotel is located in Glen Ellen, which is about 10 minutes north of Sonoma. The location was perfect for us, and if we had more time we would have explored more of Glen Ellen itself, as it was such a beautifully quaint small town.
- It is a boutique hotel, and is adult only!
- Breakfast is complimentary with every room, and is crafted with local ingredients by the chef.
- The hotel is small, romantic, and charming! With about 15 total rooms available across 5 separate buildings. You can choose between a Garden Cottage or a King room – we stayed in the Upper View building in a King room and it was fabulous!
- Amenities are in abundance – fireplaces in each room with luxury bathrooms (heated floors, YES!) and balconies to take in the Sonoma hillside views! There is a pool, hot tub and spa on site, as well as a restaurant, fire pit, and did I mention complimentary wine in the lobby?
- While we didn’t need this service on this trip – the hotel is pet-friendly!
- The hotel is certainly willing to connect you with absolutely all of the wonderful experiences of vacationing in wine country – from wine tours, to cooking classes, hot air balloon rides, and more!
Below are a few key highlights and takeaways from our time at the Olea Hotel!
The Accommodations
As I mentioned above, we stayed in the Upper View Building in a King room – everything from the romantic fireplace at bedside, to the luxury bathroom with heated floors, and our private balcony that overlooked the Sonoma hillside, made us feel very quickly at home during our short stay. We were welcomed by the sweetest man, who quickly poured us a glass of wine and gave us a walking tour of the hotel grounds, eventually making our way to our room.
After a delicious dinner (off property – more on that below), we came back to our room, put on face masks, turned on the fireplace, and laughed about our driving adventures.
We slept peacefully in our cozy bed, and very, very reluctantly prepared the following morning for check-out.
Breakfast
I am not sure how much more I can stress how incredible this meal was. When we checked in the night before, we were told to prepare to “strap in” for breakfast the following morning. We chuckled at the statement, and when we got to breakfast the following morning we sat down and jokingly put on our make-believe seat belts. I am going to mostly let the images speak for themselves here, but DANG, the food was phenomenal – shout out to the chef for absolutely crushing this meal!
You can choose between sweet or savory, or you can have both! We each got our own savory, and then split the sweet!
SAVORY: Shakshuka, cripsy poached egg, panchetta, feta cheese, gremolata, parsnip.
SWEET: Olive oil cake, blood orange chantilli, candied citrus zest.
Recommendations and Connectedness to Wine Country
The Olea Hotel has forged some really incredible partnerships, allowing guests to take full advantage of their connections throughout wine country. Due to the fact that they are located in Glen Ellen, they also provided countless local recommendations for us. The first being for dinner on our first night at the hotel. We were recommended to get dinner at The Fig Cafe (literally right down the road from the hotel) and that recommendation was on POINT!
At The Fig Cafe we indulged in a wine tasting, and dined on fig arugula salads! We were thoroughly exhausted from a long day of driving at this point, but we put our big girl pants on and made it to dinner and back to face masks before crashing for the night.
The following morning after we unstrapped from breakfast, we spoke with the team at the Olea Hotel asking for recommendations for 1 day in Sonoma County. They let us know they are part of the passport program, which essentially gets you good deals on wine tasting throughout downtown Sonoma. They provided us with a map and laid out all of the best stops downtown!
Pangloss Cellars (seen below) was one of the top recommendations – and to be honest, they had the best red wine we tasted all day (and we tasted a lot of wine)!
I have no doubt that if we had more time in Sonoma County, the team at the Olea Hotel would have helped us pack a pretty incredible itinerary!
If you want to see what else we did in Sonoma County, or on the rest of our road trip – be sure to check out my Ultimate 5-Day Pacific Coast Highway Road Trip Guide!
A Blonde Escapes 