For 25 years, it was called The Pink Mansion, this stunning 150-year-old Victorian on the edge of downtown Calistoga.
With an exterior coated in Pepto Bismol and an interior tailored to the tastes of a wealthy matron, she was stately but a little tired. A sweet bed and breakfast, to be sure, but one that never quite reached its potential.
A stay in a ryokan in Hakone, Japan, in a region famed for its natural onsen, set the mansion on a new path.
A tatami platform set Japanese-style with a low table and cushions.(Courtesy of Okaeri)
Like Hakone, Calistoga is fed by hot springs and mineral waters; like Hakone, Calistoga has long been a resort town, a relaxing retreat from the normal. When Eva Chen and son Peter Chiang—the family behind Kanpai Wines—purchased the mansion shortly before the pandemic years, they envisioned a stay that would bring the sister towns together at last.
The stunning estate isn’t a ryokan—it’s not trying to be—but out front they’ve transformed the yard into a Japanese-style garden with a waterfall, and sliding, paper-covered shoji doors open and close to reshape the main floor and suites. The former indoor pool has been covered with bamboo and turned into a breakfast salon under which koi fish swim, surfacing at a cutout in the center of the room.
“Okaeri isn't Japan, but there's a little bit of Japan in a lot of what we do,” explains chief operating officer Craig Degraff.
Rooms at Okaeri have hinoki and cedar Japanese soaking tubs in their baths.(Courtesy of Okaeri)
Indeed, details small and large tingle the Japanophile’s senses, from the burnt cedar (yakisugi) in the hall to the hinoki and cedar soaking tubs in the guest rooms, from the traditional woodblock prints and fans hung throughout the mansion to the (optional) tatami-style sleeping mats in some rooms.
But through Okaeri, Napa Valley runs just as deep. It’s in the daily social hour featuring Kanpai Wine and the red-floored wine cellar where private tastings are held; in the firepits outside and cloud-soft beds inside; in beautiful but functional pieces like the front desk and “woven” front door sourced from local galleries and artists. They’ve traded the Barbie exterior for sophisticated Wine Country white and gray.
We “honor the fact that we are in Napa Valley and people visit Napa Valley for its own uniqueness as well, so it was always keeping the two thoughts in mind with everything we did,” says Degraff.
Each of Okaeri’s seven rooms has different layouts and details like wallpapers, tiling, and furniture. “You can stay with us seven different times and have seven unique experiences,” Degraff continues.
Beds are king-sized and cloud-soft(Courtesy of Okaeri)
I’m in the Hi No Tori Suite, a spacious two-room apartment that sleeps up to five—two in the bedroom’s king bed, two in the sofa bed in the outer room, and one on the tatami platform which, when not in use as a bed, is set with a low table (chabudai) and floor cushions (zabuton). There are two bathrooms—the main ensuite with a Japanese soaking tub and a walk-in shower, plus a half-bath/powder room up front—and a private balcony with panoramic mountain views. The minibar is stocked with a complimentary half bottle of Kanpai Wine and a proprietary and compostable pour-over coffee from Cento in San Francisco. The electronic “fireplace” doesn’t issue any heat but adds a cozy touch nonetheless.
Other rooms have their own special features, like the tower sitting room in the Fuyo No Tsuki Suite; the private, hanging wooden walkway and four-poster king bed in the Hikari No Hana Suite; and the dining table and antique wooden fireplace in the Tsuchi No Koe Suite. All are distinctly charming.
Breakfast is served for all guests simultaneously, as the koi fish observe the goings on in their iridescent orange and tuxedo-print suits. A recent Culinary Institute of America chef, Giovanni Martini, crafts the menus, which at some times lean more East Asian than others, with dishes like miso soup, rice, and marinated salmon. The morning I’m there, the meal begins with pillowy housemade croissants, continues with thinly sliced sashimi with melon, and ends with two excellent quiche options (vegetarian or not). Cold-pressed juices—orange/pineapple/ginger, apple/beet/carrot, watermelon/lime/mint—change daily.
Koi fish pop up through this cutout in the breakfast salon's bamboo floor(Courtesy of Okaeri)
The concept of omotenashi—“selfless, anticipatory hospitality,” according to Degraff—is the artery running through Okaeri, the one that brings both its Japanese and Napa Valley sensibilities into harmony.
The project “was all about bringing something different and magical to Napa Valley,” he says. “Technically we are a bed-and-breakfast inn, but that term doesn't begin to describe the building or the experience that our guests have with us… I like to refer to Okaeri as a luxury inn, a place for people who are looking for a personalized, peaceful experience in an intimate setting.”
// 1415 Foothill Blvd. (Calistoga), okaericalistoga.com
The wine cellar at Okaeri (Courtesy of Okaeri)
