Solvang spends six weeks as a Danish Christmas village. Polo House is the boutique hotel near Solvang that sits seven minutes away, with fourteen keys, fires lit, breakfast made every morning and wine poured every evening.
Fourteen keys in total, and these are the dates the valley books earliest. Pick a stay below or set your own.
For six weeks Solvang becomes a Danish Christmas village, and every hotel room in it is spoken for by autumn. Polo House sits in Santa Ynez, the next town over, close enough to catch the eight o’clock light show and far enough that the town goes quiet when you come home.
Fires lit, a cedar barrel sauna out in the garden, breakfast made each morning and the Polo House Aperitif each evening. Our own street has its restaurants and its coffee, and all of them are on foot from your room.
Check your datesSix suites in the main house and eight bungalows with their own front doors, several of them with fireplaces, all of them a short walk from a fire pit.
Julefest runs for six weeks, but four stretches of it book before the rest. Each one below carries its own dates straight into our availability.
Thanksgiving · November 26
December 4 and 5
December 23 to 26
December 30 to January 2
Dates as published by Visit Solvang for Julefest 2026. Programme details occasionally move, so check solvangusa.com in the week before you travel.
Hold Your RoomThese run through the whole season rather than on one weekend, which is the argument for booking a quiet midweek stay instead of fighting for the first Saturday.
One more for the diary, after Julefest closes: the Tree Burn on Friday, January 8 at five in the evening, weather permitting.
The light shows run every hour from five to nine, which is the detail that makes this work: you can take the Aperitif here first and still be in Solvang Park for the eight o’clock show.
Check in runs four to six. Several rooms have fireplaces, and the fire pit is lit outside whatever the temperature does.
Santa YnezLocal wine, charcuterie, flatbreads and seasonal bites in the wine garden. Included in the stay, and it is the reason nobody here arrives in Solvang hungry.
The Wine Garden
Drive in for the eight o’clock show, ten minutes of light and music that finishes with snow over the park. Stay for the nine if you want the modern one too.
Solvang
Bakeries, the Nisse hunt, the carolers on a Saturday, a candlelight tour if you booked one. All of it within a few blocks of the park.
SolvangSeven minutes home. Quiet hours across the property run nine at night to nine in the morning, and on a December evening that is the point of the place.
Santa YnezMade here, every morning, with lattes running all morning. Then the valley: tasting rooms, Los Olivos, or nothing at all.
The PorchNone of this is a package. It is simply what a December night looks like when the village is seven minutes away and you are not sleeping in the middle of it.
Six things that arrive without being asked for, every day, for every guest in the house.
Six suites over the lobby and the porch, eight freestanding bungalows with their own front doors. Several of them have a fireplace, which is the one thing a December stay is really about.
Where the evening lands once you are back from the village. Quiet hours across the property run from nine at night to nine in the morning.
Twenty minutes in here on a cold evening is a better argument for the season than anything we could write.
Local wines from nearby vineyards alongside charcuterie boards, flatbreads, pizza and other seasonal bites. The garden closes at eight.
Homemade, every morning of your stay, with specialty coffee and lattes running all morning. Nobody in your party cooks the holiday breakfast.
Tables held on our street, candlelight tour tickets, tasting appointments, cars for the group. Tell us the plan and it is arranged before you land.
The crowds that fill the valley in summer are gone by the holidays, which is the best reason to come now rather than in July.
S.Y. Kitchen, Trattoria Grappolo, the Maverick Saloon and coffee in the morning, all from your own front door.
Sunstone, Sanford, Demetria Estate and Roblar, without the summer queue. The concierge holds the appointments.
Four walkable blocks of tasting rooms, artisan shopping and farm to table tables, dressed for the season.
The stables and The Polo School, for a morning that has nothing to do with Christmas.
The Old Mission, State Street and the harbour, and the airport is forty five minutes from our door.
A fireplace, the sauna, the fire pit and a book. Plenty of guests book the holiday and never move the car.
“Wonderful hotel in a cute town with shops, coffee, bakeries, etc but not crowded. Much better than staying in super crowded Solvang, which you can visit in just a 7 minute drive. Convenient to everything.”
“I LOVED my stay here. It was absolutely perfect. It was incredibly relaxing, peaceful, cozy, clean, and friendly. I hope to go again!”
“Our stay was excellent. The property was lovely, and we appreciated the amazing restaurants within easy walking distance.”
“Highly recommend! The location was perfect, we walked everywhere. It was so clean and cute, beds were comfy and the staff was awesome.”
About seven minutes by car. We are in Santa Ynez, the next town east of Solvang, and almost everything in Julefest happens within a few blocks of Solvang Park. Our two addresses are 1121 Edison Street and 3523 Sagunto Street.
Because the light and snow shows run every hour from five to nine, you are never choosing between the village and a proper evening here. Most guests do both.
For most guests, near it. Every hotel room inside Solvang is spoken for by autumn, and the village stays busy late into the evening through Julefest. Staying one town over in Santa Ynez puts you seven minutes from the eight o’clock light show, with a quiet street, a lit fire and breakfast made here every morning.
Yes, but the closest ones go first. Polo House holds fourteen keys seven minutes from Solvang Park, six suites in the main house and eight bungalows, and Christmas (December 23 to 26) is one of the four stretches that books earliest. Check your dates or call (805) 362-0606 and we will tell you what is left.
Now, if the dates matter to you. The whole hotel is fourteen keys, six suites and eight bungalows, and Thanksgiving, the tree lighting weekend, Christmas and New Year are the four stretches that go first across the entire valley.
The balance is due 21 days before check in for individual reservations, after which the stay is non-refundable. For groups of four or more rooms it is 60 days.
Yes. A homemade breakfast is served every morning and the Polo House Aperitif every evening, for every night you are booked. Specialty coffee and lattes run all morning. Room service is not available, and we are glad to work around dietary needs with 72 hours’ notice.
Non-registered guests can join you for breakfast at $30 per person with 24 hours’ notice, which is worth knowing if family are staying elsewhere in the valley.
Yes, and people do. Fourteen keys split into six suites in the main house and eight freestanding bungalows, so a large family can have one address without anyone sharing a bathroom or a front door. Call us rather than booking key by key online: (805) 362-0606.
Julefest is built for them. The Nisse Adventure runs the whole season, Santa’s Village is open weekend afternoons through December, and there are storytimes and a parade. Here, children ages two to eleven are $25 a night and children under two stay free. Rates are based on double occupancy and each additional adult is $50 a night.
Pets are welcome in Bungalows 1 to 6, the six standalone cottages on the Sagunto side, for a $75 fee per stay. Bungalows 7 and 8 and the six main house suites are pet free.
Check in runs 4:00 to 6:00 pm and check out is 10:00 am. The front desk is unstaffed overnight, so tell us in advance if you are arriving later. There is no curfew. The wine garden closes at 8:00 pm, the other outdoor areas at 9:00 pm, and quiet hours run from 9:00 pm to 9:00 am, which still leaves the nine o’clock light show in Solvang comfortably within reach.
Yes. Candlelight tours and trolley tickets go through Visit Solvang and sell out, so tell us early and our concierge will get them held along with your tables and any tasting appointments. Call (805) 362-0606 or write to polohouse@polohousehotel.com.
Pick the nights and we will show you what is left. The tours, the tables and the cars we can arrange once the room is held.
