Dreamy views of distant vineyards are pervasive in Napa Valley, California, but Las Alcobas, a Luxury Collection Hotel, flaunts the rare distinction of directly overlooking them. Adjacent to Beringer Vineyards in St. Helena, the 68-room property is the second from hotelier and founder of Las Alcobas Hotel Group Samuel Leizorek, who opened his first one in Mexico City in 2009. “I saw the location and I felt it was a brilliant place to replicate our hospitality model,” says Leizorek, who joined forces with Guneet Bajwa, codeveloper and managing principal of Sacramento-based Presidio Companies, for the project. “Mexico City and Napa Valley are two very different destinations, but the common thread between both hotels is the attention to detail and the level of refined design.”
Creating a sense of comfort and warmth was paramount to Leizorek. He once again turned to Yabu Pushelberg to translate his Mexico City vision—which the Toronto and New York firm was also behind—to California wine country, working closely with the design team to thoughtfully consider every material. “The notion of luxury has changed since the first hotel. People have come to mistrust too much artifice,” says principal Glenn Pushelberg. Keeping in mind this growing predilection for simple and honest materials, as well as the bucolic locale, Yabu Pushelberg, working with HRG Architects, treated the property like a resort, embracing subtle sequences and the intimate scale of an inn. “You feel your soul being replenished,” he says. “There’s a sense of serenity with the vineyard and colors of nature beside you.”
At the heart of the 3-acre property is Acacia House, which sets the tone for grandeur and relaxation with a wraparound porch. This circa-1905 Georgian structure original to the property was fully restored and encompasses six guestrooms, a small boardroom, an art-lined lobby lounge—a cozy space with wood beam ceilings and original leaded glass windows—and an eponymous restaurant led by San Francisco chef Chris Cosentino done in rich blue plaster walls and bronze-framed mirrors. Inside the earthy Atrio Spa, which is housed in its own barn-like structure, hanging lanterns and open trusses juxtapose deep gray lava stone floors and sliding barn doors fashioned from fumed oak. Heading outdoors, jute, cotton, and teak brighten the pool and cabana area, strengthening the connection to the surrounding landscape.
In the understated and inviting guestrooms—most housed in a series of new gray and brick outbuildings connected by pathways—linen upholstered headboards contrast dark oak paneling and floors, while folk art sculptures channel the hotel’s Mexican roots. Bathrooms contain devoted wet areas melding white micro-mosaic stone and blue-gray marble. “We try to limit materials. It forces you to be rigorous,” says principal George Yabu. To take advantage of the setting, rooms boast terraces with fireplaces, and some have deep-soaking tubs. “It’s about the outside coming in and the inside projecting outside,” adds Yabu. “Here, the interior and exterior are blurred.”
