Need to be in San Francisco but prefer to stay outside of the hustle and bustle of The City? Just north over the famed Golden Gate Bridge is a completely different world of calmness, beautiful scenery, great dining and a multitude of places to stay.
In our search for lodging, we decided to focus on the three hotels operated by Marin Hotels (https://www.marinhotels.com/):
Waters Edge Hotel is in the town of Tiburon. As its name implies, it is on San Francisco Bay and the view of the San Francisco skyline is said to be amazing. If the view isn’t enough, you can take the very short walk to the ferry landing and be on your way to San Francisco, Oakland or Angel Island. Breakfast brought to your room in the morning and a wine reception in the evening help to complete the package for this 23-room hotel. Tiburon is full of great restaurants as well.
Waters Edge Hotel
25 Main Street
Tiburon, CA 94920
Mill Valley Inn is right in the town of Mill Valley, which is a little farther north than Tiburon. Another boutique property, this hotel consists of two freestanding cottages as well as the 16 room Main Building and the seven room Creek House. Whichever you pick, you’ll enjoy the scenic redwoods as well as Mill Valley’s small town charm and great restaurants, all within walking distance. Mill Valley Inn also provides a buffet breakfast in the morning and a wine reception in the evening.
Mill Valley Inn
165 Throckmorton Ave
Mill Valley, CA 94941
Ultimately, we decided to stay at Acqua Hotel, also in Mill Valley. Of the three properties, this one seemed to fit our needs best of quick and easy access to San Francisco while still partaking in all that the Mill Valley area has to offer. This boutique hotel with 49 rooms is right on Richardson Bay. Acqua Hotel also provides a delicious full buffet breakfast (including an espresso bar) and a wine and cheese reception. The view of the bay along with the incredible Mt. Tamalpais are visible from practically everywhere on the property, and there are plenty of places from which to enjoy these views – the picture included with this article was the view from our balcony with the bay at high tide. We made use of the bayside walking path and especially the glassed-in atrium with fire pits when we had our evening wine and cheese. Complimentary mountain bikes and helmets are available for use on nearby trails. But, our stay wouldn’t have been as special were it not for the stellar employees of Acqua Hotel. Every person we encountered clearly enjoyed being there and that kind of attitude always translates to great customer service.
Acqua Hotel
555 Redwood Highway
Mill Valley, CA 94941
Dining options abound and we found two places that we were really were pleased with. Both were just a few miles from Acqua Hotel.
Piazza D’Angelo is owned by the same people who own Mill Valley Inn and is just a block away from that hotel. Named after the lively piazza of downtown Mill Valley, the restaurant specializes in Southern Italian cuisine. We selected the Beef Carpaccio, Caesar Salad with house made dressing, Zuppa di Pesce and the Porchetta. All were delicious, as was the amazing tiramisu. We were planning on ordering the tiramisu anyway, but it was an added bonus to discover that our Acqua Hotel room keys gained us a complimentary serving. We are big BYOBers, so we complemented our dinner with a 2016 Once and Future Zinfandel from the Forcini Vineyard in the Russian River Valley [Corkage = $25].
Piazza D’Angelo
22 Miller Avenue
Mill Valley, CA 94941
Left Bank Brasserie has three locations in addition to the Larkspur location just north of Mill Valley where we dined. The others are in Oakland’s Jack London Square, San Jose’s Santana Row and in Menlo Park. There is a sister restaurant, Petite Left Bank, in Tiburon. All are owned and operated by Vine Hospitality, which also has a few other restaurants in the San Francisco Bay area. But rest assured that this restaurant felt nothing like a chain. Opened in 1994 by Vine Hospitality’s co-founders, Left Bank Brasserie in the Blue Rock Inn was named for the left bank of the Seine River in Paris and is designed to emulate the brasseries in that area. We had a truly delightful dinner on the patio; the only problem was deciding what to order among the delicacies offered on the menu. After much deliberation, we decided on the Steak Tartare, Salade Lyonnaise, Moules Frites and the Grilled Pork Chop. The deliciousness of the food was matched by high level of the service. Timing of the courses was perfect and the serving staff was extremely friendly and helpful. When we commented to our server that we would visit them all the time if we lived in the area, the couple at the table next to us overheard and said they would do the same – they were visiting from Southern California as well. We paired our meal with a 2016 Bedrock Heritage Red from the Bedrock Wine Company – corkage $25.
Left Bank Brasserie
507 Magnolia Avenue
Larkspur, CA 94939
While visiting the Mill Valley area, getting in some sightseeing of the area is a must. A couple of places we visited were China Camp State Park and Muir Beach.
China Camp State Park is on the shores of San Pablo Bay in San Rafael. The park has wonderful views, picnic grounds and trails and a rich history going back to the indigenous Coast Miwok people. We were there mainly to check out the Chinese fishing village that was established after the gold rush; and completion of the transcontinental railroad. A small museum is open year round with artifacts and photographs and a snack shop is open on the weekends. At its peak, China Camp housed over 500 Chinese immigrants working in the shrimp industry. Sadly, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 started the slow decline of the village’s population and the industry. The last resident shrimper of China Camp, Frank Quan, died in 2016, at the age of 90. There is much more information on the website.
China Camp State Park
101 Peacock Gap Trail
San Rafael, CA 94901
Muir Beach is about three miles west of its perhaps better known cousin Muir Woods. It is a part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. A favorite among locals, the cove, beach, lagoon and hiking trails provide a stunning experience. We enjoyed the short walk to the beach on the tree lined bridge complete with images of the flora and fauna to look for. A little north of the beach is the Muir Beach Overlook, offering another viewpoint of this scenic wonder.
Muir Beach
www.parksconservancy.org/parks/muir-beach
Michael and Karen Perlis have been pursuing their passion for wine for more than 30 years. They have had the good fortune of having numerous mentors to show them the way and after a couple of decades of learning about wine, attending events, visiting wineries and vineyards, and tasting as much wine as they possibly could, they had the amazing luck to meet Eve Bushman. Michael and Karen do their best to bring as much information as possible about wine to Eve’s Wine 101 faithful readers.
