Europa Gästehaus - Peaceful Garden Retreat

Lie number 1: There are NOT three bedrooms. The common room has a queen bed in it which connects to one of the two bedroom and does not have a door. Only one of the two bedrooms has a door for privacy. So, if you are looking for privacy during your vacation, this is not the place for you.

Lie number 2: Air conditioning. Only one of the two bedrooms has an air conditioner. The common room with the bed does not have an air conditioner. Ashland can be very, very hot in the summer and not having an air conditioned space to retreat to definitely ruined my vacation.

Another small misrepresentation (compared to the two big ones above) is that you may expect to find a reasonably well stocked kitchen. The only things one finds in the kitchen, other than flatware, dishes and some cookware, is a minimal amount of tea and coffee. Other places I stayed in had a well stocked assortment of both as well as many other things such as mustard, ketchup, pancake mix, syrup, etc. and other things one usually finds in a kitchen. This place had none of that.

It was hard to picture the exact configuration in advance, but now I get it! On the back of Irenee's house are two apartments. The one on the left - you walk in and the bed is right there in a good-sized bedroom with a wood stove; from the bedroom is a short staircase leading to the kitchen and bathroom. Small bathroom, no sink, just a shower and toilet; good-sized well-equipped kitchen. In the other apartment, you walk into a large bedroom/living room, and off that room are a tiny kitchen, large bathroom, and stairs to the large bedroom above. This room has a large bed and a single bed. (Ceiling up there is mostly sloped, so tall people be careful!) There are no TVs, and we were fine with that. The WiFi worked fine. It's a comfortable and quiet place with a huge garden, and Irenee is wonderful. We were just there, in mid-June, and needed no heat or air conditioning, but the weather was just turning hot, so that upstairs bedroom will need a/c now! We would stay here again.

We planned a trip to the Shakespeare Festival in Ashland and searched for a place that could accommodate 3 couples. We chose the Europa Guest House which combines a two-bedroom unit with a one-bedroom cottage. The house is on a quiet street with a lovely garden, with only a 20-minute walk to the theaters.

The two couples who stayed in the bigger place felt it is better suited to a family, as the lower bedroom with a comfortable kingsize bed also serves as the living room/dining room and is right off the small kitchen and bathroom. The upstairs bedroom has no door, and the couple who slept there weren't very comfortable. Neither bedroom has much privacy, but the downstairs bedroom/living room was a nice place to hangout and eat breakfasts together. The kitchen was well-equipped, especially for one so small.

The other unit was was light, airy and very comfortable with a larger kitchen and good, firm bed. It has a vaulted ceiling which would be good for stargazing if it is a clear night. The bathroom and kitchen are a few steps up, nicely separating the space. The bathroom in this apartment has a shower, but no sink, so the kitchen sink works for both. This kitchen is also well-equipped and better suited for cooking. We all felt, that this was the preferred unit, and my husband and we would stay in it again.

Over all, Europa House is a well-situated, well-suited place to stay while attending the plays. I am giving it 4 stars instead of 5 because of a couple of things that happened during our stay. One was that the toilet in the two-bedroom house was clogged, and a phone call to Irene was unanswered. We wound up having to go to the hardware store to buy a plunger. When Irene came by much later that evening with a plunger, we had already fixed the problem. While it is unreasonable to expect Irene to be there all the time, It would have been good to have someone on-call to respond sooner.

The other thing that happened is that it was unseasonably cold—in the 40s— and very wet the four days we spent there. We came home after a play to find the units really cold and tried to turn on the heat. It had been shut off, and we had to ask to have it turned on. That in itself wasn’t too bad, but even though the next night was equally cold, the heat had been turned off again. After arriving home cold and wet, we had to once again ask to have it turned back on, and it took us awhile to get warm.

That aside, we greatly enjoyed our stay in Ashland.

Our weekend at the European Gasthaus was the first sunny one in weeks, so everyone's spirits were high. This house is on the North side of town, several blocks uphill from Main St. There is plenty of street parking and entry is through the garden past the main house, where the owner lives, to the rear deck which connects two apartments. It was an ideal gathering place for our multigenerational family, crawlers to seniors. The third (upstairs) bedroom is part of Apartment #1, sharing bath & kitchen; occupants must walk through the main room/ bedroom to get to the bathroom, restricting who could comfortably use it. In addition to the Q & K beds in each room, there are several daybeds and a sleeping platform appropriate for kids in sleeping bags or an air mattress. But if all the available beds were occupied, there would be 8+ sharing one bathroom. It's a large one, but I suspect that 8 would strain the plumbing system. Apartment #2 , flooded with light, is especially charming with a highpitched roof, a wall of windows looking out to the deck , a Q bed, good sized kitchen and tiny bathroom. A beautiful Japanese blue tiled partial roof has been integrated into this thoughtful add on. Other Japanese things are featured in the decor and there is a gas stove as well as central heating. No AC, which could be uncomfortable on the hottest summer days. But the garden here is large and lovely, the hostess accommodating, and outdoor spaces in Ashland, like Lithia Park, are as outstanding as the theater.

Comfortable roomy accommodations, with a deck and small courtyard. 10 minute walk to theaters.