Solage Auberge Review for Families with Toddlers (Calistoga, CA)
Travel Dates: March 2026
Group: Two adults, one toddler (3, almost 4)
About Us: Multi-generational trip with my mom, myself, and my son! I traveled a lot before kids and love to travel now that I have kids.
Check out my other toddler-focused reviews: Grand Hyatt Indian Wells (during BNP Paribas), FS Hualalai, FS Punta Mita
- Note: This was a personal trip, not related to me being a TA (I only do Disney)
Room Rate: $750/Night for a Valley Two Queen Studio
TLDR- Rating: 8.5/10
Solage exceeded my expectations with its cottage-style rooms, great dining at Solbar, relaxed Napa vibe, and excellent service from staff. It is kid-friendly for Napa, but I wouldn't describe it as a resort where you can hang back while your kids entertain themselves for an afternoon. They have Summer Camp from June - August for ages 4+, but no child programming outside of these months.
Bring your own kids toys and books.
If you have childcare, the mineral water spa circuit is excellent.
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Vibe & Location: 9/10
Many of my favorite wineries are closer to Calistoga than Napa, so I was super excited to stay here! Calistoga is also a great spot for toddler families to be close to Safari West and Castello di Amorosa (the castle).
It took us a little less than 20 minutes to walk from the hotel to Downtown Calistoga. My toddler was able to make it there and back without a stroller.
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Arrival: 7/10
There was nothing special about the check-in process but nothing horrible about it either. The "lobby" / check-in area is pretty small. They had some wine open for the adults - no welcome drink for kids. Our room wasn't ready until 4PM so we parked and hung by the pool. When the room is ready, we drove around and parked closer to our cottage and brought our own bags in.
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Room: 9/10
We stayed in the Valley Two Queen Studio. It felt very spacious for a studio with its high ceilings and patio. The closet was pretty large too. Beds were extremely comfortable. Small fridge for any snacks you might need to store.
We were able to squeeze an inflatable toddler bed in between the two Queen Beds for my son.
Couple things I wasn't a huge fan of:
- The TV is in the corner, closer to one of the Queen beds instead of in between the two beds, so it kind of hurts your neck to turn sideways and watch a movie (or maybe I'm old lol)
- The shower in our room didn't have a handheld, and the floor is made of giant pebble stones. Cool for adults, but my toddler refused to get in. We showered him by the pool every day instead (the pool shower has a handheld).
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Service and Staff: 9/10
The staff was excellent and very attentive. Our waiters at Solbar were particularly great. Housekeeping was attentive and did a great job. Solage housekeeping was one of the only staff that actually listened to "please don't come between 1-3pm because my kid is napping."
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FOOD
Solbar 9.5/10: Breakfast is very solid here. We were happy to try new things from the menu every morning. Pancakes were nice and fluffy. I enjoyed the house smoked salmon lox with LOVESKI bagel. The benedict with dungeness crab cakes was indulgent. All of the omelettes were cooked well. I'm also pretty picky with coffee and their coffee was great.
Dinner is the star of Solbar. For apps, we loved the "canned" tuna, chip & dip, Sol nuggets, and butter lettuce. For mains, our waiter recommended the Carolina Gold Rice which was freaking good! The rice stayed crispy while the rest of the dish was creamy. The peas and pesto cut through the fat nicely. We also loved the crab pasta. For dessert, we were debating between some options and ended up doing splitting the s'more. Our waiter was very kind and brought out complimentary strawberry gelato.
They also have outdoor seating by a fire / water feature. We were surprised that our dinner was 2 hours because my son usually cannot last that long at a sit-down dinner!
Picobar 7/10: This is the restaurant by the pool. We tried a few items but they were all meh. They try to do contemporary Mexican cuisine but I don't think it was executed particularly well. I ended up just wanting normal Mexican food. And if I compare it to the hotel restaurant options at Las Ventanas, Chileno Bay, etc. it just doesn't measure up. (Those resorts are in Mexico I know.. but California has great Mexican food!)
Also Picobar is not super kid friendly. We usually don't order from the kids menu much cause burgers + chicken tenders gets boring. It was tough to order from the normal menu. E.g., there's no normal guac - they have some fancy whipped avocado with goat cheese. The kale chips have a chili lime salt on it, even the fruit came with chamoy and lime. The fish tacos come with a spicy aioli, and it was a sad looking plate when I asked for the aioli to come on the side.
*TRUSS: 5/10 (at the FS across the street): In case helpful - we also tried TRUSS. I like to stay at FS because they are so kid-friendly, but the FS didn't seem appealing to me for some reason. To satisfy my curiosity, we ate at TRUSS for dinner. It was the definition of Mid while also being expensive. Service was also terrible. The restaurant was only 20% full and the waiters were standing around talking to each other instead of noticing that the tables were trying to order, ask for water, etc. The restaurant also feels a little stuffy.
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Amenities: 8.5/10 for adults, 7/10 for young kids
POOL: The pool is nice. It's your standard rectangular pool, with hot tubs. One of the hot tubs seemed to be less hot, and there were some kids hanging out. It's overall a quiet pool environment, even with the kids. I think you would get some stares if you had louder kids splashing around. My son loved hanging out there!
The "splash pad" is basic, and I only saw someone in there once for about 10 minutes. It's just a small zero entry pool, tucked in the corner behind the main pool. Not a ton of fun design elements by it.
No kids pool toys, so bring your own!
BIKES: My son really wanted to bike but unfortunately they only have 1 kids bike for his age and another guest already took it for the day. Zero balance bikes. I thought this was weird to only have 1 kids bike, considering they market themselves as being super kid-friendly!
ACTIVITIES: None for kids. They have summer camp for ages 4+ from June - August but otherwise it's up to you to entertain your kids. They also don't have any toys or books, so pack your own! If you come when it's raining, your kids might be really bored - something to think about!
SPA & FITNESS: The locker room is scary white and under construction so it is not the best. But the outdoor mineral water circuit is amazing. I spent a nice afternoon there. I like that it's outdoors and it was even usable in the rain. The gym isn't huge but it had everything I needed to get a good workout in!
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Overall Value for Money: 8.5/10