The ranks of North Bay hotels featured in the prestigious Michelin Key Guide have grown by three, with Solage in Calistoga joining the guide with two keys and The Cottages at Little Saint in Healdsburg and Le Petit Pali in St. Helena earning their first one-key awards, the Michelin Guide announced Sept. 18.
SingleThread Inn in Healdsburg, Auberge du Soleil in Rutherford, and Meadowood in St. Helena retained their three-key distinction — the Guide’s highest rating — for the third consecutive year. Seven luxury stays across Marin, Napa and Sonoma counties retained the two-key honors they first earned in 2024, while a total of seven North Bay destinations now have one-key awards.
All told, 18 North Bay hotels now boast Michelin keys, including 11 in Napa County, six in Sonoma County and one in Marin County.
A relatively new honor, the Michelin Key — the hotel equivalent of the Michelin Guide’s famous dining stars — was introduced in 2024 with an inaugural class of 124 U.S. properties. That total has now grown to 336, including 57 in California. The Guide’s inspectors evaluate stays at luxury resorts, spas, lodges, and historic mansions based on criteria that include architecture and design, personality and character, service quality, sense of place, and value for price.
Three-key winners: ‘An extraordinary stay’
Starting at around $3,000 a night, the SingleThread Inn offers an intimate luxury stay with just four guest rooms and a 700-square-foot suite featuring in-room dining and a fully stocked kitchenette. The Guide highlighted the SingleThread Inn as one of the only three-key hotels with a three-Michelin-starred restaurant in the world, SingleThread Farm.
The inn’s approach reflects Japanese hospitality, stemming directly from the personal backgrounds of its creators, chef Kyle Connaughton and head farmer Katina Connaughton.
Napa Valley’s Auberge du Soleil, an iconic hillside retreat in Rutherford, and Meadowood Napa Valley, a luxury estate secluded in a St. Helena forested valley, have also retained their three-key distinctions since the guide introduced hotel ratings in 2024.
“The recognition underscores Meadowood’s enduring commitment to extraordinary hospitality,” Meadowood Napa Valley’s communication team said.
Wildly Simple Productions photo
Aerial view of the pool area of Meadowood Napa Valley resort on Jan. 12, 2024. (Wildly Simple Productions)
Two-key winners: ‘An exceptional stay’
The two-key category, described by The Guide as “a hotel of character and charm, run with obvious pride and considerable care,” welcomes a new local winner this year: Solage, in Calistoga.
A sister property to three-key winner Auberge du Soleil under the Auberge Resorts Collection portfolio, Solage is a 22-acre resort at the northern edge of Napa Valley featuring bungalow-style accommodations, a geothermal spa and a mud bar.
The rest of the regional two-key lineup remains intact. Yountville’s Bardessono and North Block, along with Napa’s Milliken Creek Inn, stand out as intimate, small-scale retreats centered around wellness and outdoor living.
Olive Terrace at Montage Healdsburg. (Christian Horan Photography)
In Guerneville, The Stavrand — a 1933 historic West County property turned 21-room boutique resort tucked into six acres of redwoods — retained its two-key distinction. Further north in Healdsburg, Montage Healdsburg, with its 130 bungalow-style guest rooms nestled among vineyards, and The Madrona, a historic mansion hotel offering luxury accommodations and fine dining, both maintained their spot on the prestigious list.
“The recognition comes amid an exciting year for The Madrona,” said the hotel’s public relations team. “Including the recent debut of its Friday Lunch Martini Cart and the launch of its new Garden Supper Club this fall.”
Cavallo Point Lodge in Sausalito has kept its two Michelin Keys since the award’s debut, while remaining the only property in Marin County on the list.
“Retaining two Michelin Keys is a wonderful recognition of the experience our team works so hard to create every day,” said Martin Nicholson, general manager of Cavallo Point, in a press release. “We are incredibly proud to see that combination of place, character and hospitality recognized once again by Michelin.”
The LEED Gold-certified lodge features 142 accommodations across restored historic and contemporary rooms and suites, along with locally inspired dining at Sula and Farley, restorative treatments at the Healing Arts Center & Spa and hands-on, organic-focused classes at the onsite cooking school.
One-key winners: ‘A very special stay’
For one-key recipients — defined by the guide as “a true gem with personality” — the regional lineup features two new additions in Sonoma and Napa counties: The Cottages at Little Saint in Healdsburg and Le Petit Pali in St. Helena.
Further north in the town of Elk on the Mendocino coastline, The Harbor House Inn stands as one of the region’s most exclusive escapes. Beyond its one-key distinction, the inn features a Michelin two-star restaurant that Sonoma Magazine previously noted “has gained a reputation in haute dining circles for its obsessive sea-to-table ethos.” The property was first awarded a Michelin Green Star in 2020 for its commitment to sustainability.
photo by John Burgess/The Press Democrat
The remodeled dining room at the Harbor House in Elk uses the warmth of redwood found in groves along the Mendocino coast. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)
Sonoma County’s The Sea Ranch Lodge retained its one-key honor, alongside Calistoga’s Four Seasons Resort Napa Valley and The Francis House. Other Napa Valley luxury destinations continuing on the one-key list include Stanly Ranch, from the Auberge Resorts Collection, and Rutherford’s Rancho Caymus Inn.
To read more about the local winners and other awarded stays across the United States, visit The Michelin Guide’s “All the Key Hotels in the United States: The Full 2026 Selection.”
18 North Bay Michelin Key hotels
Auberge du Soleil (Rutherford) — 3 stars
Bardessono (Yountville) — 2 stars
Cavallo Point Lodge (Sausalito) — 2 stars
The Cottages at Little Saint (Healdsburg) — 1 star
Four Seasons Resort Napa Valley (Calistoga) — 1 star
The Francis House (Calistoga) — 1 star
Le Petit Pali (St. Helena) — 1 star
The Madrona (Healdsburg) — 2 stars
Meadowood (St. Helena) — 3 stars
Milliken Creek Inn (Napa) — 2 stars
Montage Healdsburg (Healdsburg) — 2 stars
North Block (Yountville) — 2 stars
Rancho Caymus Inn (Rutherford) — 1 star
The Sea Ranch Lodge (Sonoma County) — 1 star
SingleThread Inn (Healdsburg) — 3 stars
Solage (Calistoga) — 2 stars
Stanly Ranch (Napa) — 1 star
The Stavrand (Guerneville) — 1 star