Fess Parker Wine Country Inn
Davy-Crockett-actor-turned-vintner Fess Parker's 19-room Los Olivos inn — Sideways stop #1.
A 19-room Los Olivos inn built by Fess Parker — the actor who played Davy Crockett, retired into wine country, and built one of the first serious wine-country properties in Santa Ynez. Sideways stop number one. The inn is in the village of Los Olivos, two blocks from the Fess Parker Wine Country tasting room and a block from a long list of others.
Los Olivos is the tasting-room-village heart of the Santa Ynez wine country (made famous by the 2004 movie). The Fess Parker Wine Country Inn is the village's anchor lodging.
The setting
The inn sits at 2860 Grand Avenue, on the central block of Los Olivos. Walking distance to all of Los Olivos's tasting rooms (more than 20 within a few blocks), restaurants — Bistro Laurent (the destination French dinner), Sides Hardware & Shoes (the Pinot bar), Wandering Dog Wine Bar — and the Mattei's Tavern (the historic 1886 stagecoach stop, now a Joel Robuchon-trained chef's project). Solvang is 10 minutes south; Foxen Canyon Wine Trail starts at the north end of town.
The drive in from Santa Barbara is 50 minutes north on US-101 and CA-154 (the Chumash highway over the San Marcos Pass); from LA, two and a half hours.
The building
A two-story new-build wine-country inn — clapboard exterior, dormered roof, deep porches, the New England-meets-California vocabulary the Santa Ynez vintner-built properties leaned into. Materials are clapboard, painted-wood interior, and brass. Public spaces include the lobby, the breakfast room, the pool deck, and the Fess Parker Wine Country tasting room next door (separately operated).
Owner-operated. Built by the Parker family.
The rooms
Nineteen rooms across kings, queens, and a few suites. From around $525. Bathrooms updated; furniture is country-traditional, leaning toward the wine-country aesthetic. Some rooms have fireplaces and balconies; pool-side rooms face the courtyard. The aesthetic is committed wine-country traditional.
Food & drink
The Bear and Star is the on-property restaurant — California-ranch-leaning American, dinner most nights, plus breakfast and lunch. Open to non-guests. The food program is one of the better in Los Olivos. For more options, walk to Bistro Laurent, Sides, and Mattei's Tavern (a five-minute walk).
On the property
A small wine-country inn's amenity stack:
- Outdoor heated pool
- The Bear and Star restaurant
- Wine concierge for tasting reservations
- Walking distance to 20+ tasting rooms
- Open year-round; harvest (August–October) is peak
Who it's for
- Couples doing a wine-country weekend with walking-distance tasting access
- Sideways pilgrims (Los Olivos is the village; the Hitching Post II — the actual restaurant from the movie — is 25 minutes south)
- Repeat Santa Ynez visitors who like village walkability over destination-resort scale
- Wine-list folks — the Bear and Star and the Los Olivos restaurants are all serious
Who it's not for
- Travelers expecting a full resort with spa, gym, and tennis
- Anyone wanting a small B&B-scale stay
- Budget travelers — this is the Santa Ynez wine-country tier
Nearby
The Los Olivos tasting rooms — Stolpman, Grimm's Bluff, Carhartt, Fiddlehead, Andrew Murray, Beckmen, Stolpman's tasting room — are within walking distance. Foxen Canyon Wine Trail (Foxen, Andrew Murray, Beckmen) starts at the north end of town. Sta. Rita Hills AVA wineries (Sea Smoke, Sanford, Babcock) are 25 minutes southwest. Solvang's downtown (the windmill village, Mortensen's Bakery, Old Mission Santa Inés) is 10 minutes south. The Hitching Post II in Buellton is 25 minutes south. Los Alamos's Bell Street tasting strip is 15 minutes north. Skyview Los Alamos is 15 minutes north for the design-hotel alternative.
