Appellation to Open Four NorCal Hotels

Appellation Hotels is about to open a 108-room hotel in Healdsburg, with three more Northern California hotels to follow, including two in the north bay.

The Healdsburg-based hospitality firm led by Michelin-decorated chef Charlie Palmer plans to open Appellation Healdsburg this summer at 165 Foss Creek Circle, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

The developer aims to open the boutique hotel in August, according to Chris Hunsberger, a former Four Seasons executive who serves as its COO.

Next year, the firm plans to open a Silicon Valley hotel in Morgan Hill and a hotel in Pacific Grove, near Monterey. In 2027, it plans to open another Sonoma County hotel in Petaluma.

A fifth hotel, which it opened last spring in Lodi in the Central Valley, is due for a makeover and new restaurants this summer.

The 8-acre Appellation Healdsburg will include a 4,700-square-foot restaurant and a rooftop bar run by Palmer, with 108 rooms spread across 12 buildings. The $100 million hotel will include two pools and a spa, a fitness center, two dozen fruit trees, culinary gardens and a terrace overlooking Wine Country, according to its website and the North Bay Business Journal.

Instead of the classic front desk, guests will first breeze by the restaurant, kitchen and circular fireplace to the reception desk set off to the side.

Rates at Appellation Healdsburg are expected to start at just above $500 a night, plus a daily resort fee of $45, according to Sonoma Magazine.

Hunsberger said Appellation is targeting local appeal as trade wars and immigration crackdowns dampen international tourism.

The hotels are designed around culinary and experiential features — from high-end restaurants to spas, craft classes and bike tours — that draw loyal regulars. He expects locals, rather than overnight guests, to drive business on the hotels’ food and beverage side.

“Even the pool in Healdsburg is built to accommodate a local following,” Hunsberger told the Business Times. “We want them to be a place you go to and it becomes that go-to place in the community.”

Palmer said what sets apart Appellation is its focus on local flavors, such as a new culinary garden in Lodi to add greens and herbs to its restaurant fare. Hotel guests can also sip local wines and take classes from makers of wine, leather goods, candles or locally made olive oil.

The Healdsburg hotel will include what Palmer called “the largest indoor-outdoor catering space in Sonoma County.” A large lobby-level restaurant — Appellation declined to provide a name — can seat nearly 200 guests, while a rooftop bar can take another 89, according to the Business Times.

Hunsberger said there’s a “healthy mix” of events for fall heading into next year between weddings, corporate groups and philanthropic mixers. Appellation is reconfiguring its website to drive more group business to more than 10,000 square feet of event rooms.

Palmer’s Dry Creek Kitchen, attached to the Hotel Healdsburg he opened in 2003, draws up to 70 percent of business from local residents.

— Dana Bartholomew