Wine Country adds new ultra-luxury resort in the midst of a pandemic shutdown
Matt Villano • Updated 26th December 2020 Healdsburg, California (CNN) — The newest ultra-luxury resort in California Wine Country has a yoga lawn in the middle of a vineyard, a guest-friendly apiary program, a massage with locally sourced olive oil and a special glass-enclosed dining room that is cantilevered into the middle of a 100-year-old oak tree. Still, perhaps the most notable attribute of the new Montage Healdsburg in Sonoma County is that the 130-room resort with rates starting at $695 per night opened in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. Technically, the 258-acre resort in this tiny-but-vibrant town opened earlier this month (Dec. 12). Because that date also was the start of the county's latest shelter-in-place edict, occupancy is way below what management expected, and the hotel is significantly limited to "essential" travelers only by order of the county public health officer. When the order expires, guests will enjoy one of the most highfal...