Recommends
Joined 10 years ago
August 24, 2007
Idyllic 15-room bed and breakfast in the heart of Santa Ynez wine country offers quiet escape and gourmet food..
In Short
Inside a white picket fence-lined yard, past the wraparound porch, this quaint country home offers blissful solitute for both world-weary travelers and wine-savvy pilgrims. Rooms range from the brightly floral Wildflower to the more masculine, log-cabin-like Davy Brown's. Several feature fireplaces. Tranquility is paramount, evidenced by a 10pm to 8am "quiet hours" policy, and the absence of phones and televisions from the guestrooms. The onsite Ballard Inn Restaurant provides complimentary made-to-order breakfasts, as well as destination dining for both hotel guests and walk-ins at night.
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Recommends
Joined 10 years ago
A WONDERFUL Treat.
If you want a relaxing, romantic getaway close to Solvang and Santa Barbara Wine Country, this place is wonderful. The staff was fantastic, the rooms are great, and the food is astonishingly good. After our first experience, my husband and I booked a second weekend three months later. This place is fantastic!
8/30/07 Update: make this a really nice weekend by booking dinner at the Ballard Inn Restaurant or at Mattei's (in Los Olivos a few miles away). Get a map of the local wineries and take a leisurely ride through wine country. Sadly, much of the wine trail has been polluted by drunken tourists because of the popularity of the movie Sideways, but take a chance and skip the ones that have limos and tour buses in the parking lot. Also make sure you're at the Ballard Inn for the evening complimentary wine & appetizer hour. My mouth is watering just thinking of the delicacies. Mmmmmm......
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