The last rain storm blew-out the Eel River for steelhead fishing for a few days, but it's clearing quickly now and promises to be good fishing by tomorrow and all through next week. Anglers...check back...for photos and conditions.

Great news for The Benbow Hotel. For the 16th consecutive year the Benbow Inn received the prestigious AAA Four Diamond Award rating for 2008. Only one lodging has been honored this year with a Four Diamond Award, making the Benbow Inn the only full-service Four Diamond property in Humboldt County. John Porter, Innkeeper, is seen here accepting the award from AAA area Manager, Judy McKinley. We are very pleased and proud to receive this honor.

We're getting spring-like weather right now. The trees are begining to bud, and the hills are lush green. This is a beautiful time to stay at Benbow.

Fishing conditions on the Eel were prime and the weather was spring-like this weekend. We heard from Patrick Burns, of Kikn'Back Guides, quote: "I fished the Eel today with two friends and had a great day. With a combination of catching fish, running some white water and great weather it made for an excellent day here in Southern Humboldt." These photos confirm they had a good time. We're expecting some rain this week and we hope it won't blow-out the Eel River too much. We will post river conditions and photos so check back.

For all you Anglers out there....the South Fork of the Eel River is prime fishing right now! These photos were taken this morning on the South Fork of the Eel near Tooby Park showing a driftboat and one South of Benbow Dam off Sprowel Creek. They are catching steelhead near Sylvandale's. We have several anglers staying at the Benbow RV Resort reporting good luck near Piercy. We spoke this morning to Patrick Burns of Kikn'Back Guide Service, he said he's fishing the South Fork of the Eel River tomorrow. Good luck out there. For a terrific article on Eel River steelhead fishing, see the back issue of Salmon & Steelhead Journal - Winter 2006. Check back here for updated fishing and river condtions. If you're catching fish...comment...let us know.

Remember, the Benbow Hotel is open all year now and offers a terrific $90 winter rate. We have a fine restaurant and bar lounge. If you're staying with us and here to fish, we'll pack a box lunch for you upon request.

Our weather is sublime! The last two days has teased us with some spring-like sunshine with clear blue skies. The golf course looks great right now and golfers are out there warming up and getting their swing in shape for the coming season.

The Hotel and Restaurant was brimming with romance last night for Valentine's Day. Benbow has long been known for great romantic gettaways and now that we're open, we've been busy all week hosting lovers coming here to celebrate. We are expecting more sweethearts this weekend.

Attention all Anglers!

Fishing is good right now and they are catching steelhead 1/2 mile south of Benbow on the upper section of the South Fork of the Eel River. The river has cleared and it is prime fishing out there. These photos were taken this morning. Boats are setting out at the boat launch just south of the Benbow Hotel. The condtions are prime!

Weather should be good all week.

It's sunny and clear today...we've had 2 beautiful sunny days and we can see the hills still have snow at higher elevations. The water level of the East Branch and South Fork of the Eel River is slowly dropping, but it's still swift and too muddy for steelhead fishing. (Anglers - check back for Eel River fishing conditions.) The golf course had some hearty golfers out on the greens yesterday - they were itching to play in the sunshine even with cooler temps.

The Seghesio Winemaker Dinner last Saturday night was a big success. We had some very happy guests. Our next one features Breggo Cellars on Saturday, April 26th.

This Friday we are hosting our annual Humboldt "County Wide" Chamber of Commerce Mixer here at the Hotel in the Lobby from 6pm to 8pm. The Hotel will be buzzing with social activity for a few hours - this is always a fun event. Our hotel guests are encouraged to join in. The Restaurant will be open and serving dinner. Call for reservations if you wish to dine 1 800 355-3301.

This time of year, we work on special projects that we can't get to during the busy, high summer season. Administration is upgrading our on-line reservation process, Housekeeping is doing deep-cleaning, Maintenence is working outside on electrical lines and the installation of our new generator. In early January high winds during a storm blew down Redwood trees that knocked out our power for 2-3 days. The maintenence crew fired up our new generator and for it's first test, it worked great! Now it's being permanently installed and it can power the whole hotel. So, you can count on Benbow having power year round.

The rain is melting the snow today, but the runoff has the East Branch and South Fork of the Eel River roaring against it's banks. The river is very swift and muddy right now and you can hear the rushing waters push against the historic stone bridge. Many of our guests have told us they like to relax by the lobby fire with a glass of wine and just watch the rain fall on the Redwood hillsides and listen to the river flow.

Today we're expecting many of our guests to arrive for our Seghesio Winemaker dinner on Saturday night. Our Executive Chef is busy preparing the final menu details, wine parings are being tasted, tested and finalized. These kind of events are creative and fun for our Wine Program Director and for our culinary team. We are looking forward to it!

For you Steelhead anglers, check back, we'll post Eel River conditions and notes on Steelhead - if they're catching them.