Wine and Wellness at The Mount View Hotel and Spa, Calistoga

Calistoga, California’s reputation as a spa town is unquestionable. Located in an area of thermal hot springs, the healing waters figure prominently in any local spa treatment.

 But let’s not forget, Calistoga is located in America’s most well known wine region, Napa Valley. For getaway that includes wine tasting and spa treatments, Calistoga’s Mount View Hotel and Spa makes a perfect weekend or girls trip. One of Calistoga’s original hotels, the Mount View Hotel and Spa embodies both history and modern charm. 

Updated 2025

Spa Treatments at Mount View Hotel

While the spa at the Mount View no longer offers the wine and wellness treatment, there are numerous other massage treatments and body wraps to choose from. They still offer mud wraps using Bentonite clay as the base however instead of crushed grape seeds it is mixed with anything from matcha to CBD, to coffee. Sounds great to me. 

The process is the same as I outlined here, just substitute one of those other ingredients for grapes seeds.

Mud wrap

After changing into your spa robe and slippers in the women’s dressing room, an attendant takes you to a private room lit by softly fragrant candlelight. A hydrotherapy tub filled with Calistoga’s famous thermal waters awaits. 

After about a twenty to thirty-minute soak, a light tap on the door alerts you that it’s time for your grape seed mud wrap. Already relaxed from the hydrotherapy, this treatment is perfect if you want to just doze off, which is what I did. Moor Mud is the name of a particular type of mud, 100% natural and rich in herbs and minerals. The thermal water increases circulation, thereby helping to flush toxins from your system and detoxify the skin.

After a light exfoliation the warm mud and grape seed rose hips concoction is applied and you are wrapped in warm blankets, while your hands, feet, and scalp are given a light massage.

Lest you think this is just a gimmick, grape seed oil is high in linoleic acid, a potent anti-inflammatory that is found in many therapies for the treatment of cancer. It helps moisturize the skin and build collagen to maintain skin tone, assisting in an anti-aging effect.

Bonus: your skin will feel like velvet for days afterward.

The entire experience was so relaxing, I was glad that I was staying overnight at the Mount View Hotel. I didn’t even have to change clothes. I just went straight to my room in my robe and slippers. 

Mount View Hotel, Calistoga history

You’d never guess that this sophisticated boutique hotel was once a flop house where you could rent rooms by the day or by the hour, as the need dictated (or so I was told by a local fellow who invited me for a chat over coffee and a muffin at Bella Bakery one morning). He had moved to Calistoga in 1975 and said the only word to describe Calistoga at that time was “redneck.” Brannan’s, a popular restaurant named after one of the founding fathers of Calistoga, Sam Brannan, was called the Wagon Wheel, and there wasn’t much else except a gas station and a few dive bars.

Luckily some things do change, and today the Mount View is rated a top boutique hotel and spa by Zagat and is a member of the Green Spa Association. It is now an oasis of relaxation, beauty, and rejuvenation in Napa Valley.

Stay in a wine suite

The wine suites are a fun and unique feature of the hotel, each one hosted by a local vineyard. Of course, a bottle of wine comes with the room, hand-picked by the corresponding winemaker. Other in-room features: crazy comfortable Plush 7 mattress, Illy coffee maker, iPod dock, and standards like a hairdryer, ironing board, and flatscreen TV.

For breakfast, the Mountview will give you a voucher for their new restaurant Johnny’s, named after John B. Ghisolfo, an Italian emigrant who built the historic Mount View Hotel in 1919. He and his son, Johnny Jr., operated the bar & restaurant of the hotel, known now as Johnny’s for over fifty years.

Other features of the room which I particularly enjoyed were the dual shower bathroom and the eco-friendly luxury bath products. I also liked that there was great light in the bathroom. Perhaps the only downside was there was very little cabinet top space for your personal items. There was also a separate room with an old-style claw foot tub if you wanted to soak some more. My skin felt so great after my spa treatment I didn’t take advantage. Perhaps next time. 

While you can book a spa treatment even if you’re not a guest at the hotel, I highly recommend staying there because this hotel is a delight. Located on the main drag in Calistoga, it is convenient to restaurants, shopping, and the all important morning coffee!