Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country [In-Depth Review]

When you think of California’s wine country in Napa and Sonoma counties, you probably think of rich people and refined experiences. That’s the impression held by most people I know, and elevated service at a quality hotel was our expectation at the Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country during a weekend visit.

Instead, we got a hotel we won’t likely visit again and won’t recommend to others.

Don’t get me wrong: Our suite itself was great. Unfortunately, the staff consistently failed to deliver even decent service, and the hotel needs some serious maintenance upkeep.

My wife and I spent a weekend here in mid-February 2025. A week later, Hyatt announced that this hotel was moving down a category, and my first thought was that it should move down 2 categories.

The hotel has a lot of potential. It just didn’t live up to it during our stay, and it will take a lot of time and money to fix what’s wrong. Let’s check out the experience to understand why.

Location of Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country

The hotel sits in central Santa Rosa, California, within walking distance of the downtown area, tourist information center, and several parks. Shops, restaurants, and cafés, including Railroad Square and the Santa Rosa Plaza shopping mall, are also close by.

Reaching the hotel by car is easy, with nearby access to Highway 101 and California Highway 12. The hotel is 8 miles from the nearest airport, Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport (STS). Yes, that Charles Schulz of Peanuts fame. Since we live in southern California, we were able to fly up to Santa Rosa for a weekend trip in less than 90 minutes.

Those looking for a bigger airport with more connections could fly into Oakland (OAK) 65 miles away, or San Francisco (SFO), 75 miles away. Alternatively, public transit users can arrive at the Santa Rosa Downtown station on the Sonoma-Marin SMART train that runs to Marin County, near San Francisco. This station is just a few blocks from the hotel.

Booking Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country

As the name suggests, the Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country participates in the World of Hyatt rewards program. This means you can earn points on paid stays at the hotel or redeem points and free night certificates for stays, saving you money.

During our stay, standard rooms were available for $195. With taxes and fees, the 2-night stay came out to $445.10.

The Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country charges a $35 daily “destination fee,” which is just another term for a resort fee. The list of inclusions for this fee covers many things that you’d expect to be free at a hotel: use of the pool and fitness center, the water station in the lobby, and daily bottled water in your room — something that’s a free, guaranteed benefit for World of Hyatt elite members at any status tier. Paying for something that’s free always bugs me.

Other inclusions with the fee were lawn games, yoga at the hotel, use of complimentary bicycles, discounts to get 2-for-1 tastings at several wineries, and “access to electric car-charging stations,” though this was just access, not complimentary use of the charging stations.

Luckily, having Globalist status (Hyatt’s top tier) or staying at the hotel using points means you don’t have to pay this daily fee. And points rates were solid during our visit.

Standard rooms were available for 12,000 Hyatt points per night since this hotel was a Category 4 property using off-peak pricing at the time of our stay. You could also book this hotel using a Category 1-4 free night award.

Even though it was a short stay, I used a Suite Upgrade Award on this visit since I had one that would expire soon. These suites were available for $325 if you paid for them, and the hotel used its Sonoma Suite as the standard suite for these awards.

Thus, I could upgrade to a suite without paying the extra cost, whether I paid cash or points for the basic room.

With Hyatt’s announced hotel category changes for 2025, this hotel dropped from Category 4 to Category 3 on March 25. Thus, you’ll now pay 9,000 to 15,000 points per night for standard rooms, depending on your travel dates. Moving to a different award category may or may not affect the cash prices for a stay.

Hot Tip:

If you pay for your stay — or even pay for room charges during a visit — consider which credit card you’ll use to earn extra points for your spending. The World of Hyatt Credit Card and World of Hyatt Business Credit Card both provide 9x points per $1 spent at hotels participating in World of Hyatt. Plus, you can earn even more points on your spending if you have elite status with Hyatt.

Checking In

The hotel had 2 entrances; my GPS took me to the entrance on Third Street, which had a ticket machine. We backed out of there once we saw the main entrance on Railroad Street.

Turning right from the entryway, we found a circular drive and short-term parking — as well as a valet stand — at the hotel’s front door.

On the left side was a statue of Lucy, the Peanuts character.

Since we were planning to check in and then leave within a few minutes, we parked our car off to the side and put on the flashers. The valet staff, despite being busy, gave us a friendly greeting as we passed.

Inside the lobby, we found a large central seating area with a fireplace built into the far wall.

The lobby was dominated by seating, which was broken up into 2 groups. Turning right, this section had chairs set around a coffee table.

As we entered the front doors, the reception desk was off to the right. With something akin to a “hey” and a head nod, we understood that the employee was beckoning us to the desk. I think she had used all the words she wanted to use that day, and she attempted to say as little as possible to us. Smiles? Forget about it.

Check-in included little more than her saying, “Here are your breakfast vouchers and your keys,” and then handing us this information sheet. So much for welcoming us to the hotel.

I asked about our breakfast benefit, and she said the hours were on the sheet before telling me breakfast was “down that way” and indicating a hallway across the lobby.

Keycards at the hotel were wooden and had a QR code on the back.

Scanning the QR code provided information about the hotel. Between this and the information sheet, it felt like the check-in employee didn’t think she needed to tell us anything. She didn’t even tell us how to find our room — we had to ask.

Bottom Line:

Check-in set a negative tone for the entire stay. The employee who checked us in welcomed us with an extremely off-putting attitude and near-hostile silence. She didn’t even tell us how to find our room.

Elite Benefits

I have Hyatt’s top status, Globalist, which provided several benefits during our stay. We received the suite upgrade that I had confirmed in advance, rather than wait for a potential upgrade at check-in.

Additionally, we received complimentary breakfast at the hotel’s on-site restaurant, Railroad Stop, each morning. We received vouchers for this, though we weren’t provided any instructions. We merely assumed we would give them to someone at the restaurant.

As we departed for our room, the employee blurted out, “Oh, wait! Do you want your complimentary bottle of (mumbling unclearly)?” We thought she was offering the complimentary bottled water for Hyatt elite members, so we said yes. Instead, we got a complimentary bottle of Rickshaw cabernet sauvignon, which costs $17 per bottle and has an 85/100 rating on Wine Enthusiasts — a wine my coworkers describe as “standard” and “nothing special” since I don’t know anything about wines. And we didn’t get the bottled water, which was unfortunate for 2 people who don’t drink alcohol.

Lastly, Globalist members on award stays using points or free nights are eligible for free parking. The employee didn’t discuss any parking or late checkout benefits with us, and we decided to let it go, preferring to end our interactions with her.

Hot Tip:

Wondering what it’s like staying at a hotel as a Hyatt Globalist? Check out this first-time Globalist experience from one of our writers.

Our Room: The Sonoma Suite

We stayed in room 226, which was on the second floor. The hallways had white walls and a carpet pattern that reminded me of a comfortable flannel shirt.

Rooms had dark gray doors, and the numbers were found on placards next to the door.

We entered a small foyer with a long, wooden table and circular mirror off to the right. It was great for holding keys and hats.

On the opposite wall was a full-length mirror and 2 doors that led to closets.

The closets were not adjoining in the middle, but each had a shelf, hangers, a folding luggage rack, and plenty of space. On the right side, we found an iron and ironing board. On the left, we had a hanging cubby for storage and 2 pairs of fuzzy slippers, yet only 1 bathrobe.

Looking around, we realized the doorframe to our room had multiple blemishes. It looked like the housekeeping cart had run into the door repeatedly, and we found these same marks on nearly every room we passed in the hotel. In fact, ours looked quite good compared to other rooms, which I’ll discuss in the “Service” section.

Living Room

The living room was immediately in front of us when we entered, occupying the left half of our suite.

On the left was a connecting door to the room next door.

On the right, we had a round table with a pair of chairs. A lamp hung over the table.

A wet bar was nearby. On the countertop, flanking the sink, we had glasses, an ice bucket, a coffee machine, and coffee supplies. The cabinets underneath were empty.

The center of the living room had a wooden coffee table, and the sofa folded out to reveal an extra bed.

On one side of the sofa, near the connecting door, was an end table with a phone and a lamp.

An empty minifridge was in the corner of the room past the sofa.

The opposite corner held a fireplace, which was activated by a switch on the wall.

Our windows overlooked the pool. The windows had screens, and we had both daylight and blackout curtains.

The room had a simple thermostat and a carbon monoxide detector, which were found near the connecting door.

Bathroom

The bathroom sat between the bedroom and the foyer. We loved its spacious layout and bright nature.

We had dual sinks in front of a large, back-lit mirror. The counter space was good, holding a pump bottle of Pharmacopia lotion, drinking glasses, soap, tissues, and a small box with amenities like cotton swabs and makeup removal pads.

A shelf at ankle height held towels and washcloths, as well as extra tissues, a spare roll of toilet paper, and a hair dryer.

To the right, we had a standard toilet and a small trash bin. A towel rack was above the toilet, which didn’t make much sense, given how far it was from the shower and the fact it was beyond arm’s reach from the sink.

At the other end of the bathroom, a large, glass enclosure held the shower. It had a rainfall showerhead with a handheld wand and pump bottles of argan oil products from the Pharmacopia brand.

The shower door had another towel rack, and there were hooks on the wall between the shower and the door to the bathroom.

Bedroom

Our bedroom was found after a left turn from the foyer, and a door from the hallway provided privacy.

The bedroom wasn’t enormous, but it was well-appointed. We liked the soft color palette and that you could easily move around the room without bumping into anything.

The room’s centerpiece was a comfortable king-size bed with 4 pillows, though none of them offered good support.

Each side of the headboard had a 3-prong outlet and 2 USB-A ports. We also had multiple 3-prong outlets on the wall, behind the nightstands, which was really convenient.

The 2 nightstands in the room didn’t match. On the right side of the bed, the nightstand reminded us of a cog. It held a lamp and an alarm clock with a faux-wood finish. The alarm clock also had USB-A ports.

The left side had a square, wooden nightstand.

The corner of the table had a QR code for information about the hotel. It had seen better days.

Across from the foot of the bed was a wooden dresser with a TV on top. In the corner of the room, there was an armchair and a small table next to a floor lamp. Windows here also overlooked the pool, and we had both daytime and blackout curtains.

Inside the dresser, we found a small safe.

The room also had a thermostat, which allowed for separate controls of the living room and bedroom temperatures.

A Note About Patio Rooms

The hotel advertised rooms with patios. Some of these faced into the hotel’s 2 central courtyards — where the games and the fire pit were located — while others faced the gardens behind the hotel, near the pool. These had a small fire pit, and the patios weren’t enclosed, meaning they weren’t private.

Amenities

Pool and Hot Tub

The hotel’s heated outdoor pool was open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. It was located behind the hotel building, and our room overlooked it. Accessing the pool area required tapping our keycard at the gate.

The pool was flanked by dozens of lounge chairs, and there were multiple shade umbrellas available.

Past the pool was a small hot tub with additional chairs and umbrellas.

Parking

The Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country offered both self-parking and valet parking. Valet parking cost $35 per day, while self-parking was $20 daily. Entrances to the parking lot were available at both ends, and automatic gates controlled access.

While the parking lot was large, those visiting the hotel for dining, swimming in the pool, or attending conferences used the same lot as the guests, and we regularly found ourselves hunting for a spot. By the time we left the hotel, we had learned to just go for the furthest corner of the lot, as the only available parking spots were in that area.

Hotel guests could enter and exit the lot by tapping their keycards. Visitors took a ticket when they arrived and inserted it (after paying) into the machine when it was time to leave.

Those who were paying for parking could pay at a machine inside the hotel.

Fitness Center

Found on the ground floor near the meeting rooms, the hotel had a gym with free weights, rowing machines, several exercise bikes, and a multi-function machine on one half of the gym. The fitness center was open 24 hours a day.

A wall divided the gym into 2 sections. Along this wall was a TV, a rack with exercise balls, towels, and even fresh fruit.

The other side of the gym had cardio equipment like ellipticals and treadmills.

Laundry

Laundry service was available, though it was done off-site. Guests could drop off their laundry at the front desk by 8:30 a.m. and get it back by 6 p.m.

Elevator

Elevators were available to access guest floors. Using them didn’t require tapping a keycard.

The elevators weren’t large and filled up quickly. They had hardwood floors and plain walls.

The only item inside the elevator was a sign detailing the hours of the lobby café, poolside café, and the main restaurant.

There was a door in the hallway that could close off the elevator doors. I can’t recall if I’ve ever seen this at another hotel. It was the same door type as the one for our room. We never saw this door closed.

As with most other doors and doorframes at the hotel, there were marks here — probably made from the housekeeping carts.

Ice, Water, and Microwave Room

Next to the elevator was a small room with a microwave, a water refill station, an ice machine, and small trash and recycling bins.

Firepit

The hotel had 2 internal courtyards, with guestrooms laid out in a square around these courtyards. The courtyard nearest our room had a large firepit with chairs circling it. Passing through this courtyard led from the lobby to the pool.

Outdoor Games

The other courtyard had a large game of chess and table tennis for guests. The games were part of the hotel’s $35 daily destination fee. There also was seating in this courtyard.

Meeting and Event Spaces

In the East Tower, where the games courtyard and breakfast restaurant were located, the hotel had multiple meeting and event spaces. There were 8 total event spaces available, with the largest offering 8,100 square feet.

The hotel also offered outdoor gardens for events, weather permitting. The garden at the rear of the property could hold 750 guests. Some spaces were much smaller, though, ideal for a conference with a dozen attendees.

ATM

The hotel had an ATM for guest use, just off the lobby.

Pet Friendly

The Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country is pet-friendly. There is a $100 fee per stay and no weight limit. The hotel provides pet beds, bowls, and treats.

The hotel also had pet waste stations at multiple points around the property with a trash bin and plastic bags.

Internet

While the connection was consistent, the hotel’s Wi-Fi speeds weren’t fast. We averaged under 6 Mbps in our room.

Food and Beverages

Oddly, the sit-down restaurant at Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country served only breakfast, not lunch or dinner.

Railroad Stop

Railroad Stop was the hotel’s main restaurant. It was accessible from inside the hotel and directly from the parking lot. The restaurant served breakfast from 7 a.m. until 10 a.m. on weekdays but served until 10:30 a.m. on weekends.

When going to the restaurant from inside the hotel, there were simple signs to follow.

Railroad Stop had 2 seating areas divided by a partial wall. The first seating area was near the host stand and had the majority of the restaurant’s tables.

The rear seating area had fewer tables. This was the room with the buffet.

Those with breakfast vouchers could eat from the breakfast buffet, which included yogurt, granola, and a few fruits.

The buffet had 3 hot dishes, which were the same on both mornings during our stay. They included scrambled eggs, potatoes, bacon, and sausage.

I don’t know what they did to these potatoes, but … wow, they were delicious.

A handful of pastries, breads, and bagels were next to a toaster.

The buffet also had oatmeal, and signs near each dish provided information about potential allergens.

The buffet offered self-serve coffee and 3 types of juice. The juices were very tart and low quality. If you’re familiar with breakfast buffets at Hyatt Place hotels, this buffet felt only slightly better than that.

For those paying for breakfast, the buffet cost $20 per adult. Railroad Stop also had a menu, offering things like avocado toast, omelets, pastries, waffles, and more.

The hotel automatically added a 20% gratuity to our bill each morning, which we signed and then were told would be erased because we had breakfast vouchers. Speaking of the bill, staff brought it as soon as we started eating — nowhere close to the end of the meal. It felt like they were trying to rush guests out the door, even though there were empty tables.

On the first morning, the hot sauce bottle at our table still had plastic wrap on it. Multiple types of condiments — such as honey and jam — were also at the tables, and it was equally common to find these condiments on the table as on the floor when sitting down.

Sonoma Café

The Sonoma Café was located in the lobby, on the side furthest from the reception desk. In the mornings, coffee was available here.

The café advertised an all-day menu, available from 3 to 9 p.m., despite having just a handful of barstools and a few seats at a communal table nearby. In the afternoons and evenings, there was a bar here, serving drinks from 3 to 10 p.m.

Against the wall was a water station that advertised flavor add-ins, though none of these were available when we checked.

Pool Café

In a small space near the pool, we found the Pool Café. It was open seasonally, and the hotel listed 2 sets of operating hours for this space. On the hotel’s website, hours for the Pool Café were 2 to 6 p.m. on Fridays and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays. However, a sign in the elevator said this space was open on Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. both days.

Though the space looked small from the outside, peering in the window revealed a full kitchen. The Pool Café served snacks and drinks when it was open.

Lobby Snack Shop

This snack shop, located near the reception desk, sells cold drinks, chips, and more. It is open 24 hours a day.

Service

We were thoroughly unimpressed with the service during our stay. There’s no way to sugarcoat it.

First, the employee at check-in was unfriendly and didn’t provide even the most basic information. Additionally, staff rushed guests unnecessarily at breakfast each morning. We also found condiment packets on the floor at our table each morning, meaning staff wasn’t cleaning well between seatings. At a hotel where I chose my own table, I could somewhat understand this. If a host is leading me to a table, I think it should be clean — including the floor under the table.

Then, there’s the issue with the wear and tear on doors. Nearly every door and doorframe in the hotel had damage. Are the housekeepers ramming the carts into the doors, the doorframes, and the elevator? This was unsightly. It needs to be addressed, and maintenance work should be done.

We also didn’t have a “do not disturb” sign in our room. When we went to the front desk to ask for one, we encountered another sour employee, though she told us maintenance would bring one to our room. When we returned to the room, housekeeping was there, so we changed our mind about waiting for the sign and went out for the day.

When we returned for the evening, more than 6 hours later, all the lights and both TVs in our room were on. Why? Housekeeping clearly left all the lights and TVs on when exiting the room. That makes no sense to me. It’s also wasteful.

A few days after our stay, I received a survey from Hyatt and filled it out. I was honest about the hotel’s successes and failures: great valet employees and breakfast potatoes; lackluster service and state of repairs. An employee from the hotel’s guest experience team emailed me about my survey, and I’m including it here in full:

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. We sincerely apologize for the issues you encountered during your stay, as they do not reflect the level of service we aim to provide.

We understand your concerns regarding the state of some of our doors and doorways, and we will address this with our housekeeping and maintenance teams to ensure these areas are properly maintained moving forward. We also appreciate your feedback about the breakfast options, and we will look into expanding choices for vegan guests.

Regarding your experience with our staff, we are genuinely sorry that you felt rushed and that the check-in process was not as informative or welcoming as it should have been. We strive to provide attentive and helpful service to all of our guests, and we will use your feedback to coach our team on improving this aspect of guest interaction.

We also appreciate you bringing up the issue with housekeeping and energy waste, and we will ensure better attention is paid to these details moving forward.

Thank you again for your valuable feedback. We hope to have the opportunity to welcome you back and provide a much-improved experience.

Email from the hotel after I filled out a post-stay survey

Checking Out

We aimed to keep checkout as quick as possible. We didn’t expect a friendly or courteous employee, so we simply said we were checking out and that we were fine with receiving an email with the final bill. This employee at least smiled, unlike other staff members we’d encountered at the hotel.

Since we only had small backpacks for this weekend trip, we hadn’t pulled our car up to the front door. When it was time to exit the parking lot, I pushed the “Help” button at the gate. I expected someone to ask what I needed, but no one replied. Instead, the gate simply opened, and we drove away.

Final Thoughts

Were we expecting the Waldorf Astoria Maldives? No. My wife and I have stayed at plenty of Hyatt Regency properties, and I believe we have realistic expectations during hotel stays. We know what a Category 4 Hyatt Regency property should be like. It shouldn’t look beat up, and employees shouldn’t be rude. It should have a better breakfast than Hyatt’s budget brands.

The Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country provided a great suite in a building with some cool Tuscan villa vibes, but everything else failed to meet expectations. The hotel is moving from Category 4 down to Category 3, but I fail to see why it even deserves a Category 3 rating. Until it offers better service and performs some maintenance, it feels like a Category 2 property at best.