Gianna's Sexy Property Spotlight: Alila Napa Valley, St. Helena, California
There are Napa hotels, and then there is Alila Napa Valley - an escape, a retreat, an adults-only luxury that is Napa’s best kept luxury secret.
Tucked into the heart of St. Helena, arguably the most charming of Napa's small towns, where the Mayacamas Mountains fold into rows of vineyards and the historic downtown has the best shopping and art in all of Napa Valley. Cobblestone-chic storefronts with everything from home-goods to jewelry to fashion, wineries that have been pouring since the 1800s, high-end tasting rooms, bakeries people line up for and restaurants worth the trip alone… all a ten-minute stroll from the property. But you may not want to leave, and you don’t need to - they’ve thought of everything if you want to stay put and still get the full Napa experience.
Alila is adults-only and intentionally intimate with just 64 guest rooms, so it never feels like a crowded resort. It feels like your getaway. This makes it perfect for an intimate retreat, milestone birthday celebration, wedding, or a corporate buyout for smaller group programs. You can’t lose when it comes to the guest room selection - each either looks out onto the vineyard or onto the creek and the storied Beringer Winery next door (the two properties are connected by a private bridge), and every single room delights you with either an outdoor soaking tub or a fire pit and deck. You feel your shoulders drop the moment you walk in and your body thanks you after a blissful night sleep.
For those who want to stay put, Alila brings everything you need in a Napa experience or a retreat to you on property. My favorite offerings include the partnership with Beringer to do an in-suite tasting of library wines, the afternoon tea on the veranda - perfect for women’s spa weekend, blind tasting classes or complimentary daily wine tasting, even a custom scent making wellness experience.
The Spa: A Ritual, Not a Treatment
The Spa Alila is a destination in and of itself. Spa Alila doesn't just pamper you, it invites you to truly release what is weighing you down or holding you back - true transformation…and isn’t that why we really go to a spa? They have thought through the guest experience and offer ceremonious welcome and closing moments that instantly snap you out of your worries and into the present with intention.
On arrival, you’re welcome to select specific herbs to build your own "Burden Bundle," which is then steeped while you're getting your massage or facial, and then used at the end to soak your feet and shoulders; a literal, physical symbol of release and transformation. They also have little blessings you’re invited to select and take with you as a reminder of your visit (while indulging in hunks of dark chocolate that resemble brown glaciers and gourmet teas and nuts). I had a birthday facial there and walked out glowing, not spa-glowing, different-glowing and was grateful for the practitioner who was empathetic and helpful with recommendations but also let me meditate undisturbed during my treatment.
Violetto: Dinner With a Point of View
The resort's flagship restaurant, Violetto, blends the elegance of French culinary techniques with the warmth of Italian flavors. Situated inside a beautifully restored 1907 Georgian farmhouse it’s led by executive chef Mark Shoemaker, whose storied path here wound from his grandmother's kitchen through Michelin-starred restaurants in Chicago to a Washington farm where he deepened his connection to land and seasonality, a throughline you can taste in every course. The prix fixe menu features handmade pasta and signature fine dining dishes like braised Rabbit Violetti.
What makes it memorable is the hyper-local ingredient sourcing: everything is local and seasonal and you can taste the difference. Everything from honey to herbs used is pulled straight from the region. The moment you walk in, you feel serene in a room that is elegant yet down to earth in tones of lavender and organic touches. The second you sit down, you’re approached with a welcome cocktail of sweet vermouth and lavender honey that sets the tone completely. You’re welcome to select the four or eight course tasting menu, or dine a la carte in the less formal but striking bar or outdoor historic patio overlooking the estate. Every option is a delight and unique in its own right.
Customization: Not only does Alila offer many opportunities to customize your experience (i.e. pre-select what will show up in your mini bar or book an “explore your birth chart reading” but they go above and beyond to make sure your visit suits your needs. As it was my birthday, my husband called their restaurant in advance to request a gluten free dessert with chocolate for me (how thoughtful is that? He’s clearly been trained in the art of thoughtfulness). The chef presented a gluten free tiramisu with about 50 layers that was so delicious, I never would have imagined it was hypo-allergenic and took the time to connect with me persoally. They also accommodated my other dietary requests so that I could feel great and still enjoy the tasting menu - that is true hospitality and something I am grateful for.
The New Brunch: Salvia Terrace & Bar
If Violetto is the destination dinner, Salvia Terrace & Bar is the property's newest reason to linger over a lazy weekend morning in wine country. Chef Shoemaker now oversees the entire food and beverage program, and it shows here too: weekend brunch (Saturday and Sunday, 10:30am–2pm) leans into shareable plates, seasonal salads, and produce harvested straight from the on-site culinary garden and local farmers' markets. Think grilled vegetables and elevated avocado toast alongside craft cocktails and Napa Valley wines. You can take it indoors in the lounge, enjoy it at the bar, or out on the veranda with those iconic mountain-skyline views. It's easy, unhurried, and exactly the right register for a morning after a long dinner the night before with the hominess of a wine country B&B but the elevated cuisine of a Michelin star restaurant.
Rooms and Grounds
The rooms, designed by Yabu Pushelberg, are the kind of quiet-luxury you feel more than notice: oversized balconies or wraparound terraces, floor-to-ceiling glass, Italian linens, marble bathrooms, and those fire pits and soaking tubs that make you actually use your outdoor space instead of just admiring it through a window.
The pool is adults-only, too, and looks straight out over the vineyard. There is genuinely nothing like sipping a cocktail poolside and watching the grapes ripen in real time. It's one of those details that sounds small until you're enjoying it.
The Kind of Place You Bring People To
Beyond the rooms, Alila's social spaces, the outdoor bar, cornhole, scattered fire pits and pop up experience carts, give the property an easy, unfussy intimacy that makes it a genuinely great choice for hosting events of all types or meeting new friends. And the event infrastructure backs that up: at roughly 5,500 square feet, Alila has the largest event space in St. Helena, anchored by the Acacia Barn (a beautifully designed 2,200-square-foot venue built for weddings), the Acacia Lawn (2,640 square feet of open-air space with vineyard and Mayacamas mountain views as the backdrop), and the Violetto Private Dining Patio (an 820-square-foot al fresco spot right off the historic estate house, perfect for a golden-hour dinner).
For something smaller and more private, the Violetto Loft seats 10–16 for an intimate celebration or executive dinner, and the light-filled Boardroom handles more traditional corporate meetings. Altogether, the property can host up to 120 guests indoors and 200 outdoors, or you can go all in and buy out the entire 64-room resort for a true private-estate experience. Whether it's a corporate retreat, a wedding, or a milestone gathering, it's small enough to feel exclusive and just social enough to bring people together. I always recommend the Alila for a private corporate retreat, a wedding, a milestone gathering for a group that wants peace, real luxury, and something different from the usual Napa playbook.
The Real Differentiator: The Hospitality
Here's the final thing that actually sets Alila apart, more than any single amenity: the staff. Every person on property, from the online concierge team, to the valet to the servers, the room service staff and housekeeping team, to the spa therapists to the front desk… is genuinely engaged, not just going through the motions. Requests get met with a yes and a smile, not a "let me check." Cords get wrapped up with a note. Special occasions get noticed and celebrated and accommodations delivered above and beyond. It's the kind of hospitality that can't be manufactured through training alone; it comes from a team that actually loves where they work, and it's the thread that ties every other beautiful detail of this property together.
Rating: 10/10.
Overall Take: Alila Napa Valley isn't trying to be loud, it isn’t trying to be everything, but it is creating a sense of place and delivering personalized experiences that cater to all types and occasions. Quiet, sensual, deeply considered, and built for adults who actually want to slow down and experience something with history and heart, it may be the best kept secret in Napa. Between the spa’s Burden Bundle, the vineyard pool, and that soak in the tub overlooking St Helena’s prized vineyards, it's hard to imagine leaving anything but lighter than you arrived.
What I'm Obsessed with This Week: Summit Series Napa
Back in 2019, I attended Summit LA as a first-timer. I attended as pure "experience research" into what a best-in-class event brand actually looks like as I was building SoftBank Vision Fund’s first ever world class global event program. I've been to a lot of gatherings, including TED and Summit was up there as one of the very best experiences I’ve ever attended.
A few things that stuck with me:
The invite process was the product. Every attendee gets a personal phone call, not an email blast. They register you by phone, then reach out multiple times before the event to connect you with people you'll actually want to meet, and invite you into small curated dinners. That's a level of hospitality I hadn't seen anywhere else.
The content was genuinely diverse. Rap artists next to CPG execs next to tech founders. Not diversity for optics; diversity because it made the conversations better and often, my favorites were unexpected. The only complaint - it was hard to pick which sessions to attend because there were so any great ones.
The entertainment felt like Burning Man met a music festival. Interactive, immersive, major talent, creative/artistic, but woven into the experience rather than bolted on. The wellness and experiential partners pushed me outside my comfort zone from Theragun therapy sessions, a sound bath healing, things I never would've tried on my own. I genuinely took away real wellness learnings.
The serendipity was unreal. More coffee and kombucha meetups than any event I've been to (and the coffee game itself was incredible). I ended up at a private gathering in Tony Hsieh's trailer, and had sushi with a CEO I hadn't seen since my twenties and ended up joining her Board.
Today, I'm honored to now sit on the board supporting Summit's strategic partnerships. If you're curious about what it looks like to get involved, DM me and we can see about getting you or your company an invite to participate, especially at Summit Series Napa, which I’ll be attending myself in October, and hope to meet you there for a coffee (or wine) meet up.
