Calistoga Spa Hot Springs

The Works package was a great experience for my two girlfriends and me. We’d never tried a mud bath and didn’t know what to expect, but the staff made us comfortable. Men and women do the mud bath separately, and it’s fully nude, though everything was handled respectfully and professionally. Each guest has an attendant to help them into and out of the thick, warm mud. You wiggle your way in and stay about 10 minutes, then shower and spend 10 to 15 minutes in a mineral whirlpool. After that comes 5 to 10 minutes in a eucalyptus steam room, then a blanket wrap while your body temperature settles. The mud bath process, including showering and resting wrapped up, takes about an hour. Our massage therapists then escorted us to private rooms for massages, a perfect finish. It was about two hours all together, an hour for the bath and an hour for the massage, and felt rejuvenating. I was a little nervous about spa treatments, especially being nude around other people, so I appreciated how kind and reassuring the staff were. The locker room is well equipped, and robes from the hotel made getting around the spa easy. We also loved the clean, comfortable rooms with mini kitchens, the friendly and helpful staff, the excellent amenities, and the delightful, relaxing hot springs. The location made it easy to walk almost everywhere. The package includes the mud bath and a massage, and I’d recommend Calistoga Spa and Hot Springs to anyone curious to try one. It’s relaxing, organized, and a unique experience.

The hot pools were wonderful, the robes cozy, and our room clean with a comfortable bed. Still, after many stays at Calistoga Spa where we’d always been satisfied, the service seemed lacking this year. It sounds petty, but our kitchenette had plates, glasses, wine glasses, tableware, and basic cooking utensils, yet when I asked for paper towels, I couldn’t get a roll. I was told to go to the spa ladies’ restroom and take a couple of hand towels instead. At over $400 a night, you’d think a kitchenette room would come with paper towels. Hopefully the next guests get some.

The main issue came the next morning: we planned to have breakfast, check out, then use the amenities until 1 PM, as we often do on trips after leaving our bags at reception or in the car. The front desk told us it would cost an extra 50 dollars per person to use them after checkout. We were frustrated by the lack of transparency. If my boyfriend, who plans every detail, had known beforehand, he would have arranged the day differently. They should have explained it at check-in. There was no printed house information in the room, unlike nearly every hotel we’ve stayed at, and no guide to policies, amenities, or charges. Better communication would have prevented the surprise. We stayed one night at Calistoga Hot Springs on September 11th, returning to Napa Valley because the property looked nice and I wanted to try a mud bath for the first time. After wine tasting, we arrived around 5 PM. The room was small and outdated, but we let that go since we mainly wanted to enjoy the amenities. The stay wasn’t enjoyable, and I wouldn’t recommend the place. The rooms are basic, the customer service felt careless, and charging 50 dollars per person to use the pool after checkout, on top of the nightly rate, felt like a money grab. It isn’t worth the price and borders on dishonest practices. A simple fix would be to put important information on the otherwise "blank" FAQ page.

I booked massages for my aunt and uncle, asking for the same time and two female therapists, but they ended up with appointments 15 minutes apart and one male and one female therapist, which they didn’t prefer. The hotel doesn’t offer couples massages. I’d booked them a weekend room as a mini honeymoon after their wedding, and staff were unevenly helpful with the reservation. There were no room upgrade options like wine or chocolates for a special occasion, and even though we asked staff to acknowledge their wedding, no one did. My aunt asked for the room to be cleaned, but nobody came. Attentiveness gets two stars. The location deserves a bump.