The Meritage Resort and Spa

The one night that we did get to stay at The Meritage was pleasant.

I associate Meritage Resort and Spa with the phrase “Walking a Guest”. “Walking a Guest” - when a hotel guest arrives with a confirmed reservation but the hotel decides not to honour the reservation. The hotel will then “walk” the guest to some other hotel. This is typically because the hotel overbooked. They expect some percentage of guests to not show up. However, based on what we heard from several employees, Meritage Resort and Spa “walked” guests because they needed the rooms for an event booking. Shockingly, the Meritage “walks” guests by first blaming it on the guest (“you booked for tomorrow”) and then on booking.com (“your third party messed up your reservation”). So, if you book at Meritage as part of an event or large group, then I assume you will be ok. But, if you book at Meritage Resort and Spa as a couple then: 1. Call to confirm before arriving. 2. Bring a copy of your confirmation showing the dates you booked. 3. If you do get “walked”, then ask that they cover your first night at the other hotel. The Meritage seems to reply to many reviews. So, I sent an email to the Director of Operations. He called me to apologize for our experience. He also refunded the cost of the meal we had at Olive & Hay.

We have been coming to Meritage for years. Overall, this is a beautiful resort that sits at the base of Napa Valley, making it a great stepping stone to all that the Valley offers. The rooms are always in top shape. We usually book a one-bedroom suite on the Grand Reserve side of the resort. The room is large with a full kitchen (including dishwasher and microwave) and a nice balcony. Rooms are always cleaned well and the bedding is fantastic. Our main quibbles are with the price, the understaffed venues, and issues with service. We paid $800+ per night for our suite, which would not be unreasonable if other issues didn't crop up during our stay. For example, we could not check in on the Grand Reserve side because the check-in desk there was closed. Once we got to the Meritage side, we had to wait in line for about 15 minutes to finish the check-in process because they didn't have enough staff. Even though we checked in at 4:20pm, our room was not ready. We sat in the bar and ultimately waited an additional 20 minutes until the room was finished. Another issue: we requested a late checkout for 12 noon, which was greatly appreciated. At 11:10am, a housekeeper came to the door and asked when we would be leaving. Not horrible, but you would think housekeeping would be informed about late checkouts and not bother guests until after their checkout time, especially since we still had our do not disturb sign on the door. Also, we realized when we started making a couple of trips to load the car at around 11:20am that the door key no longer worked. It's a good thing we put on the manual door stop, preventing the door from closing all the way, otherwise we would have had to go back to the front desk to get a new key. This is not the service you'd expect from a 4-star resort that charges $800+ per night for a modest (but roomy) suite. Even with those issues, we still enjoyed our stay at Meritage. The pools are fantastic, the restaurants are enjoyable (if pricey), and the rooms are in great shape. We'd love to see Meritage iron out some of these service issues. If they do, this would be a top-tier resort.

Wow! What a great experience from the moment we parked until we pulled away! Not one issue with the staff! Everyone was polite, courteous and so professional. Eric, at the front desk was incredible. He took so much time with us finding our Travel Zoo vouchers on my email. He emailed them to the front desk and printed them up. I couldn't believe how patient he was. What a gem for the establishment. We reserved 2 rooms and decided to upgrade for an extra $200/night to a fabulous 1 bedroom suite with an adjoining room. That made all the difference as we had a full kitchen, table,living room, soaking tub and a FIREPLACE! Housekeeping was also fantastic. Everyone bent over backwards to ensure it stay was perfect. The breakfast at Olive and Hay was spot on. Great food. (We went in town at ZuZu' tapas. Highly recommend. Also Hog Island Oyster bar for Happy Hour oysters. Most excellent!) It's rare that a 3 day stay was absolutely perfect. Come stay at the Meritage it's a 10 out of 10!!!!

I would like to start this review off by saying that the website and photos/descriptions of the Meritage are very different than what you actually get. I was so surprised to pull into a business park, which was where the Meritage was located, rather than a more scenic area among the hills. It definitely didn’t have the vibe we were looking for. There was a big lack of signage directing you where to go, and the front lobby was very understaffed to accommodate all the people checking in. When we got to the front, the front desk was very kind, though a bit frazzled because they were behind on cleaning rooms. We checked in at 3:53 and the room wasn’t ready at first, but just changed to clean after a few minutes of talking. I had paid for late check out the next day, and the concierge asked me to check out at 1pm instead of 2 pm because they were overbooked by two rooms and needed them cleaned asap. It felt frustrating to be rushed out of the hotel. Luckily they charge per hour, and not a flat fee, so we did agree to leave an hour early. We ate at Olive and Hay, which had a nice ambiance but was very understaffed as well. They only had two servers for a full house, and while they were so hard working and great at multi talking, everything took such a long time, but that’s not the server’s issue. My biggest disappointment was the chicken coop. My family owns chickens, and it was really sad to see that their food was completely empty, as well as their water. They were so hungry and so thirsty, and we emptied out two (overly expensive) water bottles allowing them to drink from them. Their hen house was FILTHY, and they are not kept in nice conditions. I feel so bad for the birds. My kids let the front desk know , but they told us they don’t know who looks after the chickens and could only message the front desk manager. We did enjoy the Crush Lounge for bowling, and enjoyed the large pool they had. The fitness facility was also nice, with a good array of fitness equipment, though the water pitcher was empty and the towels hadn’t been stocked yet (I went at 9 am) Overall, we wish we had chosen a different hotel to stay at. It was ok.

Great service, Adelina is a rock star! Lovely stay. Look forward to it every year. Thank you all. Love the room & patio. Rowing machine is terrific, towed on the Charles this morning. Looking forward to next year. Keep up the good work!!!!!!!

Eric, from the front desk, was so helpful upon arrival. He walked us through all the amenities and services — and we didn’t feel rushed at all.

The Meritage has improved considerably since we first stayed here. We have very nice dinners at both Ember and Olive & Hay. Our server Wilbert at Olive & Hay was particularly excellent.

The experience was very enjoyable and the service was impeccable! All the front desk team and valet team was very accommodating, detail oriented and worked very hard to give everyone a great experience and delivered a level of service that is very rare into today’s industry! Tiffanie at the front is a great host. The valet team Abdula , Trey , Dillon and Isai were very attentive, able and willing to help, professional and knowledgeable on the hotel. Putting in the extra work to help all guests and created a positive atmosphere and is a great first impression when you arrive to the hotel.