Harvey’s Hosts Options

[Carl Hansen]

Greetings!

I need your guidance and suggestions.

We would like to join Harvest Host this fall when we take delivery on our Elite I. We love the idea and concept of HH and would love to support their businesses by purchasing their goods and services.  

It appears that many, if not the good majority, of the hosts are wineries. It looks like they are have beautiful and desirable settings perfect for an overnight stay. 

Our problem is that we do not consume alcohol. Do most wineries have other goods or services we can support for our stay?  Are there other appropriate ways to show our gratitude and appreciation for our stay?

What are your thoughts, experience and suggestions?

Carl

 

[ScubaRx]

We have not considered joining since the majority of the HH's seem to be centered around alcohol. I've wondered the same things.

 

[Mcb]

We have found plenty of places to stay using HH that are not related to alcohol.. It’s been well worth it. 

[Frank C]

We’ve used HH stops quite a bit, and we have really enjoyed them, and they are great for quick overnight stops when on the road, but you are correct that probably over half of all the HH locations are wineries or breweries.   Our stops have been about a 50:50 split of wineries vs. museums and farms.  But the winery gift shops typically always have plenty of other things to buy besides wine as a way to support the business.   Some examples of great HH locations that we’ve stayed at that are NOT wineries have been the Glenn Curtiss aviation museum in Hammondsport NY, Paw Paw’s pecan farm in Atkins Arkansas, and the Thomas Stafford air & space museum in Weatherford Oklahoma.  All great overnight stops with non-alcohol related things to do.  Some other hosts have offered electric hookups for a small fee.  We think the HH membership is a bargain, even if you only use it a few times a year. 

[Mike and Carol]

A lot of HH are wineries and distilleries.  Also farms, museums, restaurants, etc.  The wineries we’ve stayed at have gift shops with items to purchase.  It’s been a fun way to overnight on the way to a destination.  Mike

[Landrover]

I have always found different items to purchase at the winery, If it was a wine or distillery’s only items.  I’m sure a small cash donation would be much appreciated.  I’m thinking of adding the golf course option even though I don’t play golf.  There is always ways to patronize hosts. 

[Time2Go!]

Most wineries have small plate items as cheese & meat plates, chips/dips, mini-app type foods. Others have full on menus available. I don't think I've ever been to a winery that didn't have a gift shop area with all types of things available from t-shirts to Christmas ornaments. We've only stayed at one place so far on our way home from picking up our Ollie but it was the Melrose Plantation in Melrose, LA. It was a very nice area and we did a guided tour the next morning. We had reservations this past weekend to take our 9 year old granddaughter to a nearby Alpaca Farm but we've received 5.75" of rain over the last week and it rained all weekend so we ended up canceling. We are hoping to reschedule for this coming weekend.

Just keep in mind when adding the golf option that some (not all) courses require you to play a round of golf. Others allow you to shop in the club house, use the spa services or have dinner. We did purchase the package and hope to use it in the coming months.

Harvest Host recommends that you spend $20 minimum in return for your stay. We pick hosts that we are interested in anyway and that we would tour whether we were traveling or not. HH is intended to be a overnight stop on your way to your destination... not the actual destination.

You can also join the HH Members, Advice & Reviews FB page where folks post photos and reviews of their stays to get an idea of what's available before you join. 

Cindy

[Carl Hansen]

This is all great feedback!  Thanks so much for taking the time to share your experience and thoughts!

I have also wondered about a cash donation as an acceptable gratuity.  Has anyone ever used a cash donation?  Is that considered an appropriate alternative to purchasing HH goods? 

[Landrover]

1 hour ago, Carl Hansen said:

This is all great feedback!  Thanks so much for taking the time to share your experience and thoughts!

I have also wondered about a cash donation if I am at an HH as an acceptable gratuity.  Has anyone ever used a cash donation?  Is that considered an appropriate alternative to purchasing HH goods? 

I have not made a cash only donation. Even if i only found a small item to purchase  say 15.00 I’ll round up to 20.00 just to show my appreciation. 

[JRK]

I get free wine from my wine wholesaler daughter, so, being cheap, don't usually buy wine. But HH is worth the membership fees. Do what you are comfortable doing to support host. I like cheese, so buy good bread and cheese, maybe some vinegar and olive oil or fresh produce. 

Second the Stanford museum. The admission sales person made sure I used my senior discount entry fee, $5, I signed a login sheet and that was it. Bought a space gift in the shop, but the kids running the place had no idea I was there for HH. There were several spaces in their parking lot that was also next to the municipal airport and housing tract access. 

There are many non-alcohol related locations