As Umbria is to Tuscany, Sonoma is to Napa: a quieter, more rustic destination that is often underestimated for the caliber of its hotels, restaurants and wineries. We last visited in 2021, lured by the debut of a Montage resort in Healdsburg. That stay also prompted us to reevaluate Hotel Les Mars, a resolutely traditional guesthouse just a two-minute walk from Healdsburg Plaza. Both earned solid ratings.

In 2010, Foley Entertainment Group, the hospitality company behind the commendable Wharekauhau Country Estate in New Zealand and Farmhouse Inn in Sonoma County’s Russian River Valley, quietly acquired Les Mars. Fifteen years later, Foley rebranded it as 27 North, a “vibrant and artistic lifestyle hotel.” Lifestyle hotels and names with numbers both give me pause, but the total design overhaul made a return visit irresistible.

27 North

The welcome was promising — a valet and two bellmen greeted us with warm smiles and polished efficiency — but our arrival proved to be a high point. The classic French-inspired interiors now featured generic contemporary furnishings. In our Premier Room, a four-poster bed, vintage writing desk and large antique wardrobe preserved some of the hotel’s former style. However, a painting declaring “It’s–It Cigarettes After Sex” somewhat sabotaged the effect of the lodging’s otherwise decorous appointments.