A Special Place...

Guest: D&T (New Zealand)
Date of Stay: 01/03/11 Review Submitted: 01/16/11

Your cottage far exceeded our expectations. This is a HOME and we felt right at home staying in your wonderful property. It was the perfect place for us to relax, cook, walk, read, listen to music and find a sunny spot to sit. Cambria is a little piece of paradise and we enjoyed the walking in the immediate area and further afield. Cambria village is great and so nice to wander and enjoy the different stores - Brett White Photography and Cambria Coffee Roaster were two of our favourites! This place touched us deeply and we will definitely be back...and for longer...thank you so much for making your home available. Diane and Tony

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, sightseeing, adventure seekers.

Artist's Cottage in Cambria

Guest: SimiWriter (Simi Valley, California)
Date of Stay: 02/13/10 Review Submitted: 03/26/10

We were looking for a special place to celebrate our 30th anniversary, and this cottage was perfect. Bright, clean, in a quiet neighborhood with a quarter-mile stiff walk to the beach (all uphill on the way back), it was the perfect place for us to relax. Town was only a few minutes away, with too many wonderful restaurants (The Sow's Ear! Robin's! Linn's!) to mention. Moonstone Winery's tasting room was among the best we'd been to anywhere, as was the Black Hand Winery's tasting room. With Route 46 near by, we had plenty of wineries to visit. With Morro Bay just a 20 minute drive down the coast one way and San Simeon a 15 minute drive up the coast the other way, there was a lot to do and see if we felt like leaving the comfort of the cottage. The best part was being able to walk for hours along the Fiscalini Ranch bluffs, go beachcombing amongst the tidepools, and then retreat to the cottage for a glass of wine and a nice meal on the small balcony off the master bedroom, where we could see the waves and watch the sun set. And yes, we saw plenty of mule deer walking next to the house, a lovely surprise considering we were surrounded by other houses. The kitchen was easy to cook in (electric stove and oven), but bring your own spices and staples (sugar, flour, olive oil, cooking oil, etc) if you're going to do some serious cooking as the freshness of some of them was questionable. The entire place was clean and inviting - the bed was FABULOUS and the bathroom upstairs, just amazing. On the downside, this is truly an open plan cottage with the upstairs bedroom being completely open to the downstairs. Even walking around upstairs is noisy. I can't imagine being there with three other people - at times, one other person was bad enough! And while you can hear the ocean from the house, the views are very limited and best seen from upstairs. The pictures are misleading - the house isn't as isolated as they make it look, and you aren't right on the water. The driveway is steep, as are some of the hills getting to the beach, and I would not recommend this property for someone with difficulties walking, or with balance problems. And the spiral stair leading to the bedroom can be tricky if you have vision issues. But the downsides are minimal when you compare the absolute wonderfulness of the place. We are definitely planning on coming back next spring.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, sightseeing.

Guest: Gray Family (Benicia, California)
Date of Stay: 05/10/09 Review Submitted: 05/10/09

We spent our 4th anniversary here in February, 2009. We were so delighted with this home that we are already planning to return in February, 2010. The ocean views were spectacular, especially from the master bedroom. It was a five minute walk down to the beach. The amenities were plentiful; we couldn't have asked for anything more. We loved the spiral stair case to the bedroom, too. We loved our quaint, beach cottage, it felt like our home. It was a perfect anniversary trip for my husband and I. I still have the address programmed into my favorites on my GPS since we'll definitely be returning in 2010!

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Guest: snowchick (Michigan)
Date of Stay: 01/28/08 Review Submitted: 01/28/08

I particularly enjoyed having the three levels--and our first bathtub in two weeks of rentals. Because we were here during the unusual rainy weather all along the coast, it was nice to take a hot bath and enjoy HGTV from the big King bed with views of the ocean, while my husband watched his sports events down in the living room. We ate at dinners at home with the cozy fire going. The only difficulty was with the spiral staircase going up to the bedroom, which I had to negotiate with great caution. As such, we didn't take our large suitcases upstairs,but kept them on the main floor, which worked just fine. Loved the free long distance service and the cordless phone, which more than made up for the lack of cell phone service there. The patios and decks would be fabulous in dry weather. We loved shopping the two villages nearby, and enjoyed touring Hearst Castle and the chowder at Hamlet.

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Guest: Jennifer & Eric Sinclair (San Mateo, CA)
Date of Stay: 08/29/07 Review Submitted: 08/29/07

We loved our stay in your artist's cottage in Camria. It was clean, well-appointed, and very confortable. Our kids LOVED the spiral staircase. We especially enjoyed sketching the deer and quail from the dining room table; it was so special to see baby deer right outside the window! We enjoyed walking to the beach and on the bluffs; the tidepools were very enjoyable.

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