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On a sunny day in Northern California, downtown Healdsburg looks like small-town America. Its town square is bordered by brick storefronts, some dating to the 1800s. At the center sits Healdsburg Plaza, its gazebo ready for musicians, trees providing shade.
But look closer, and you’ll see some sights not typical for a town of 11,000 people. Multiple restaurants with glowing Michelin stars. Boutique hotels and high-end inns. Dozens of wine tasting rooms. Boutique shops and art galleries seen nowhere else, all locally owned thanks to a city ordinance that keeps chains out of downtown.
Still, despite the posh, this small town in Sonoma County’s wine country stays grounded. It’s proof, says Jessica Bohon of Stay Healdsburg, that a place can be cool, without being cold. “The community has a high-end elevated feel, but it is not pretentious. It’s luxury, with a heart.”
Healdsburg’s wealth of fine everything — dining, accommodations, shopping, wine — appeals to many, and it’s particularly well suited to small meetings designed to impress or pamper participants. Everything a group desires is distilled in a dozen blocks devoid of high rises or 200-room hotels.
Instead, meetings settle in at classics like the 55-room Hotel Healdsburg, with its Dry Creek Kitchen, opened by celebrity chef Charlie Palmer more than 20 years ago. Or, starting this summer when it reopens, the expanded and improved Duchamp Healdsburg. Just off the square, the former six-suite hotel will now have 20 rooms and additional event space.
Sonoma County Dining
After meetings end, food and drink are within an easy walk. Given Sonoma County’s agricultural heritage, it’s not surprising that nearly all are farm-to-table. Among the popular stops are Barndiva, with multiple private dining spaces and a roomy, lush garden bar, or the newer Matheson, with its ground-floor dining room, rooftop bar and events space on the floor in between. Both are Michelin award winners. Other award winners include SingleThread, where Sonoma produce and products meet Japanese techniques, and Little Saint, a plant-based restaurant from the creators of SingleThread with an entire upper floor and balcony for events and concerts.
Sonoma County has about 400 wineries, 60 within minutes of Healdsburg, so wine flows generously at restaurants, bars and at the tasting rooms, where walking tours of downtown make stops for wine and food pairings.
Beyond Downtown Healdsburg
Beyond downtown, more moderately priced hotels, as well as two upscale resort properties add more options for meetings. The Montage Healdsburg, opened four years ago 11 minutes from the Plaza, has views of vineyards from its 130 bungalow-style guest rooms and 25,000 square feet of meeting and event space. It soon will have a new neighbor, Appellation Healdsburg, part of Charlie Palmer’s Appellation Hotels group. Set to open this summer, the luxury hotel’s 108 guest rooms are spread among a dozen buildings; there’s also a spa, a rooftop bar and 15,500 square feet of event space.
Add-On Experiences
And of course, wineries aren’t the only way to experience Sonoma’s agricultural acumen.
Tours of a flower farm can be paired with a flower arranging class and picnic lunch. Kayaking down the Russian River is a way to stretch after a day of sitting in sales meetings. Like wine, olive oil can test the tastebuds or dive into a blind steak testing at the renowned Journeyman Meat Company.
All in all, Healdsburg delivers the authentic experiences travelers seek. “People want to feel like they are part of the community, and that’s what they experience here,” says Bohon.
Getting There
San Francisco International and Oakland International are about a 90-minute drive south depending on traffic. Ten minutes from downtown Healdsburg, Charles M. Schultz Sonoma County Airport has nonstop flights to L.A. and other California cities as well as Seattle, Portland and Las Vegas on Alaska Airlines, American Airlines and Avelo.
For More Information:
Stay Healdsburg
Jessica Bohon
Director of Tourism & Marketing
626-422-5472
