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Northern California Wine Country Inns are Open for Business

SACRAMENTO -- Despite the television images of fires raging across swaths of California's wine country and the reports of catastrophic damage, the vast majority of the region's wine and tourism industry escaped unscathed. But they're suffering now that the smoke has cleared.

"Many boutique hotels and bed and breakfast inns in the region are receiving cancellations because travelers don't realize that they are open for business," said Jenn Iliff, Program Manager for the California Association of Boutique and Breakfast Inns (CABBI).

Of the 46 CABBI-member inns in Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino Counties, none were damaged by the fires and all but one are open for business. The one inn that remains closed—Kenwood Inn & Spa—expects to re-open shortly.

The Beazley House Bed & Breakfast Inn in Napa has been hosting guests and PG&E workers without interruption since fires began just over two weeks ago. Owner Jim Beazley said the City of Napa was never evacuated; nor did anyone in the city lose phones, power or services.

Beazley and his wife Carol toured Napa Valley from Napa to Calistoga this week along the two the major wine tasting routes: Highway 29 and Silverado Trail. Though some fire damage is visible along Silverado Trail, Beazley said that none of the most famous wineries along Highway 29 were damaged. "Of the 450-plus wineries in Napa Valley, only seven wineries were severely damaged or lost," said Beazley. "Over 99% of Napa's wineries remain open."

It's a similar story in Sonoma County, where Farmhouse Inn owner Joe Bartolomei said that of the hundreds of wineries in the region, only a handful were damaged or destroyed.

Bartolomei has been fielding reservation calls from guests who wanted to cancel because they thought the inn had burned down or wanted to postpone because they were uncomfortable visiting while the region is recovering. Bartolomei tells them, "The best thing you can do right now is come and support the tourism businesses."

CABBI has set up quick links on its website for visitors to search for inns in Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino Counties.