Calistoga Hotel Joins the Ascend Hotel Collection, Plus Enter Day 8 of the 12 Days of Giveaways
Napa and Calistoga are in the heart of wine country in California, a very popular destination for travelers worldwide looking for good food, wellness retreats, and of course, wine.
Hotels in the region tend to be on the pricey side, so options for points redemptions are always welcome. The more the merrier! A few of my favorites so far are the Hilton Garden Inn, and the Las Alcobas, A Luxury Collection Hotel. Keri with Heels First Travel recently checked out the brand new Holiday Inn Windsor Wine Country (not to be confused with the older Holiday Inn Express Windsor) when nearby properties had scarce availability and even higher rates.
Just recently, the UpValley Inn & Hot Springs hotel in Calistoga joined the Ascend Hotel Collection after extensive guest room renovations. For those not familiar with Ascend, it is Choice Hotels’ upscale brand featuring boutique and independent properties.
The six-building UpValley Inn & Hot Springs is the second Ascend Collection hotel in the area (the Napa Winery Inn is the first).
The UpValley Inn & Hot Springs hotel is situated on the Silverado Trail, where several wineries are located. The hotel offers free parking, and on-demand shuttle service that takes guests to the nearby wineries, restaurants, and spas.
UpValley Inn & Hot Springs hotel has a geothermal hot springs pool and hot tub, and a steam room. Guest rooms have marble-encased bathrooms and private balconies.
Although the Choice Privileges webpage for the property showing room type selection is a bit..lacking in description just yet when showing differences between the room types (just calling them all Queen or King rooms with different amenities), the UpValley Inn & Hot Springs hotel’s website separates rooms into four categories – Standard, Deluxe, Premium, and Suite. I’m not sure if that will change now that the guest room renovations have been completed, however.
One thing is for sure Рthe cr̬me de la cr̬me of rooms at the property is the King Fireplace Suite.
Unfortunately, there are no official photos of the fireplace and sitting area on either website just yet.
Rates at the UpValley Inn & Hot Springs property look like they start around $130 a night for a standard room.
If redeeming Choice Privileges Rewards points for any dates Sunday-Thursday prior to January 31, 2018 a free night requires 25,000 Choice Privileges Rewards points. Friday and Saturday nights require 30,000 points.
Starting February 1, 2018, the points requirement for redemption goes up to 30,000 per night on Sunday-Thursday, and Friday/Saturday nights will continue to require 30,000 points.
Of course, as Ric with Loyalty Traveler mentions, sometimes even the best rooms are available for redemption at standard levels.
Even if I don’t end up staying at this property, I always like to see when new hotels are added for free night redemption options. I hope some readers will find the property update helpful, and this looks like a very good hotel option in the desirable Calistoga and Napa area.
Today is Day 8 of Magic of Miles 12 Days of Giveaways.
To enter today’s contest for a chance at a 25 use GoGo Internet pass, airline pajamas, or travel swag galore, let me know in the comments below if you have redeemed points for hotel stays at Choice Hotels (or any of their brands) or if you tend to stick to Starwood/Marriott/Hilton, etc. properties, or simply that you’d like to be the recipient of today’s contest prize.
If you’re just joining now at Day 8 of the Magic of Miles 12 Days of Giveaways, you can enter up to 3x daily so click here to read full contest details.
Today’s Magic of Miles contest ends at 9pm PST tonight. Good luck!
Never enough choice points to redeem
Of course I would love to be the recipient of today’s contest prize.
Since my hubby has an elite status at Hilton, BW, and Accor, we tend to stay at those properties (well, unless there’s something in Orbitz that are BRG-able)…
Redeeming points for a stay at a Choice Hotels property? Can’t say that I have.
And yes, I’d like to be the recipient of today’s contest prize (not that I’ve won anything)…
I do tend to stick to hotel programs in which I have elite statuses, which are Hilton and Accorhotels. I’m about to stay at a Choice this coming December and I’ll see how things go from there.
I have not redeemed points for hotel stays at Choice Hotels, but just recently bought their points to be transferred to my MileagePlus account.
Oh and I also like Accor hotels in Europe
Would love to win
I have the most loyalty points/level with Hilton so tend to stay loyal
I just recently joined the Choice Loyalty program so it may take a while before I can redeem for free nights.
I would like to be the recipient of today’s contest prize.
I have redeemed points for a few nights at Holiday Inns In the past. Have also redeemed for Best Western stays but never for Choice Hotels.
#1 starwood
#2 marriott
#3 would like to try choice.
I generally don’t stay at Choice hotels – our firm actually won’t let us stay at them unless there is absolutely nothing else available. I redeem either with Marriott/Starwood or IHG.
I have not redeemed Choice rewards, but my wife has stayed there a few times. I prefer Hilton the most, followed by Marriott.
I have worked in some pretty remote areas before where that was the only option so did save some points, but only for one night. Didn’t know they had such nice properties so thanks for the info!
I have redeemed points at a Choice hotel but that was probably 7 years ago. Now hooked on Starwood.
I could use some PJ’s, thanks!
I have never used reward points for hotels.
We usually go with Starwood redemptions, but I would love to try the choice hotels
I haven’t redeemed for choice hotels yet, but I’m saving up points to do so!
I would like to be the recipient of today’s contest prize. Thank you.
I have redeemed for Choice Hotels. I spent New Year’s Day 2017 outside Venice, Italy for 10,000 points. Cash price maybe $175. Not a bad redemption at 1.75 cpp when I value them normally at about 0.65 cpp.
I have redeemed for Choice Hotels. They are usually good for “events”, when everybody else jacks up cash and/or points stays.
Have never stayed at a choice. Tend to stick with Marriott/Spg/Hyatt
I have no brand loyalty — when I rack up enough Choice points, I’ll be happy to redeem them!
We stick to Hilton/Marriott – or venture to more boutique/independent places
Usually stay in Hilton hotels
Would love to win!
Never stayed at a Choice hotel
Count me in!
Right now we are working on burning all of our accumulated points in our various hotel programs. After that is done we will most likely focus our stays at IHG properties. We will then research Choice, Best Western and Wyndham programs to see what will best meet our needs going forward. I may use the Choice program in the near future.
Thanks for the chance to win
It’s a lovely property! I wish I had points I could trade in to stay there!
Would love to win
I don’t travel enough to earn enough points to redeem them for anything. Oh well!
I have never stayed at a Choice hotel
I am not a member of Choice so I have not redeemed points for their hotels.
I would love to win today’s prize. Thank you.
I’ve used Choice Privileges points (how I got them is a long and painful story) for a hotel stay in Scandinavia.
And I’d love to win!
I usually stick to the Hilton and IHG programs since they offer the best choices at my destinations.
I have never redeemed points for a stay at Choice hotels.
Starwood is the best for me. I don’t do Choice Hotels.
I am a Choice Rewards member, but I haven’t really taken advantage of it.
I usually use IHG.
I mostly redeem for Starwood/Marriott for hotel nights.
In the past, I used my Choice Privileges Rewards points on gift cards since most of the locations where I would redeem for hotel nights did not have Choice hotels in the area or there were more convenient Starwood/Marriott hotels in the area.
I’d love to win today’s prize!
Ritz and Marriott redemptions