Calistoga Motor Lodge & Spa

Calistoga's value base: pool and hot tub, free hot breakfast in a family-friendly breakfast room, and a walkable-to-downtown location (the practical upvalley pick).

Calistoga's handmade-pizza standby: fast, casual, and cheap by valley standards, for hungry kids after the pool.

One of the few hot-springs hotels that lets kids into the big mineral pool, with mud baths for the grown-ups.

The kids menu has mac and cheese, chicken tenders, a hamburger and cheese pizza, at Indian Springs.

A historic Calistoga resort with a big mineral pool, lawn games like bocce and croquet, and bikes to borrow.

Sushi plus cooked Japanese plates for the kid who won't do raw fish, and deep-fried Oreos over vanilla ice cream for dessert.