Winter Retreats at Hotel Healdsburg

While Spring and Summer are the best seasons to enjoy Northern California's wine country, I think Winter is a great time to take advantage of the region without all the tourists flocking to the area. It's considered to be a low season so hotel packages are more appealing and a bit easier on the wallet.

To start your new year off to a bright and healthy start, Hotel Healdsburg has an extremely relaxing Winter Cleansing Spa Package to rejuvenate your body and soul. The road to bliss starts with a gentle dry brushing to increase the body's circulation. A detoxifying seaweed body wrap is then applied.

To enhance the purification process you get a nice soak in the spa tub. Using detoxifying massage oils, a full body massage follows (so relaxing I almost fell asleep at this point). To end things on a beautiful note, a custom Eminence Organics facial will revive fatigued skin. The facial also includes a refining glycolic acid or a gentle enzyme peel to ensure a radiant visage.

The hotel itself has a light modern feel without being cold. The entire staff is very warm and accommodating, so you're in great hands. Upon entering our room we were greeted with a cheese plate and chilled white wine. The bathtub is really deep so you can also take a nice long soak while enjoying a glass of wine.

The adjoining restaurant, Charlie Palmer's Dry Creek Kitchen, is just as inviting. We started off with a citrusy Fennel Crusted Flash Seared Hamachi appetizer and the Dungeness Crab Tempura. The Crispy Veal Sweetbreads + Chicken Confit Agnolotti was also delicious. The killer entree for the evening, however, was the Crispy Skin Local Black Cod with a lemongrass and ginger consomme. The flesh was so milky and soft. If I could buy bottles of the consomme I'd use it on all my cooking.

The desserts were also nothing short of amazing. We had the famous Chocolate + Peanut Butter Bar and the Valrhona Chocolate Budino with Guiness Ice Cream (yes, beer-flavored ice cream).

Sommelier Drew Munro is really knowledgeable about the local wineries and he did a great wine pairing for our dinner. We're now fans of the Lime Stone 2008 Sauvignon Blanc and the Williamson 2007 Chardonnay.

If you can't make it to Hotel Healdsburg this month, not to worry. They have a great Valentine's Day weekend package that includes a two nights in a Deluxe King room, spa treatments for two, and a decadent six-course dinner. Dry Creek Kitchen also has an exciting food celebrity-studded Pigs & Pinot culinary weekend coming up in late March. For more info, go to www.hotelhealdsburg.com.

For editorial consideration, a press visit was provided for this review.