Entire home

Beautifully Updated Historical Cottage Retreat with Garage!

Cottage with kitchen, near Fashion Island

Overview
Amenities
Policies
Location

Exceptional

1 bedroom1 bathroomSleeps 2760 sq ft

Popular amenities

Dryer
Washer
Barbecue grill
Outdoor space
Kitchen

Explore the area

Newport Beach, CA

Place, Balboa Pier
‪17 min walk‬
Place, Fashion Island
‪18 min walk‬
Place, Corona del Mar State Beach
‪4 min drive‬
Airport, Orange County, CA (SNA-John Wayne)
‪8 min drive‬

Rooms & beds

1 bedroom (sleeps 2)

1 bathroom

Bathroom 1

Toilet · Shower only

Spaces

Deck or patio

Kitchen

Balcony

Outdoor play area

Garden

Dining area

About this property

Beautifully Updated Historical Cottage Retreat with Garage!

Welcome to one of the most artistically rendered homes on Balboa Island—The Cottage Retreat. This upscale, private cottage is separate from the main house and offers its own exclusive entrance, ensuring a serene and intimate stay. Nestled in one of the best locations on the island, this charming retreat comes with a coveted private garage, a rare and essential feature on Balboa Island where parking can be a challenge.

The Cottage Retreat is the perfect alternative to standard hotels, offering a unique and authentic Balboa Island experience. Ideal for an executive, single traveler, or couple, this cozy getaway comfortably accommodates one to two guests. Immerse yourself in the quaint, historical charm of Balboa Island, just two blocks from the vibrant main street, where you'll find an array of local shops, restaurants, and the iconic Balboa Ice Cream Bars.

Enjoy the convenience of having the bay just steps away, or take a short, scenic ride on the famous Balboa Island ferry to explore the stunning Southern California beaches. This property provides everything you need for a memorable stay, including a stocked gourmet kitchen, high-speed internet, and a sun-drenched balcony. The large outdoor patio, complete with a BBQ, offers the perfect space for relaxing and dining al fresco.

The Cottage Retreat is designed with your comfort in mind. It features high-speed wireless internet, a smart TV with cable, and office essentials like a copier and scanner. The cottage boasts new Cape Cod-style windows that invite the cool island breeze, a charming blue Dutch door, and the finest linens. Additional amenities include a private washer and dryer, a ceiling fan, and a well-equipped kitchen perfect for any culinary enthusiast.

Located just 6 miles from John Wayne Airport and close to Irvine's business district, The Cottage Retreat combines convenience with the allure of island living. Whether you're here for a few days or an extended stay, you'll appreciate the charm, comfort, and unbeatable location of this delightful cottage in Newport Beach.

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Amenities

Kitchen

Washing machine

Dryer

Free WiFi

Outdoor space

Parking available

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Kitchen
Free WiFi
Air conditioning
Fireplace

House Rules

Check in after 2:00 PM

Minimum age to rent: 18

Check out before 10:00 AM

Children

Adults only

Events

No events allowed

Pets

No pets allowed

Smoking

Smoking is not permitted

A Rental Agreement will be required to be signed via DocuSign. A Guest Information Sheet will be provided as well.

Important information

You need to know

Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy

Government-issued photo identification and a credit card, debit card or cash deposit may be required at check-in for incidental charges

Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges; special requests cannot be guaranteed

On-site parties or group events are strictly prohibited

Host has not indicated whether there is a carbon monoxide detector on the property; consider bringing a portable detector with you on the trip

Host has indicated that there is a smoke detector on the property

Safety features at this property include a deadlock

Property Registration Number SLP11456

We should mention

A car is not required for transport to and from this property

About the area

Newport Beach

Located in Balboa Island, a neighbourhood in Newport Beach, this cottage is near theme parks. Newport Pier and Pelican Hill Golf Course are worth checking out if an activity is on the agenda, while those in the mood for shopping can visit Fashion Island and Irvine Spectrum Center. Orange County Fairgrounds and Newport Harbor Nautical Museum are also worth visiting. Discover the area's water adventures with jet skiing and scuba diving nearby, or enjoy the great outdoors with ecotours and cycling.

View more Cottages in Newport Beach

Newport Beach, CA

What's nearby

Balboa Pier - 17 min walk - 1.4 km
Fashion Island - 18 min walk - 1.6 km
Balboa Beach - 2 min drive - 1.2 km
Corona del Mar State Beach - 4 min drive - 2.6 km
Newport Pier - 6 min drive - 4.5 km

Getting around

Laguna Niguel Station - 20 min drive
Orange County, CA (SNA-John Wayne) - 21 min drive

Restaurants

‪Harborside Restaurant & Grand - ‬5 min drive
‪Todos Santos | Kitchen De Mexico - ‬10 min walk
‪The Galley Cafe - ‬3 min drive
‪Dad's Original Frozen Banana - ‬3 min walk
‪Bayside Restaurant - ‬11 min walk

Frequently asked questions

Is Beautifully Updated Historical Cottage Retreat with Garage! pet-friendly?

No, pets are not allowed at this property.

What time is check-in at Beautifully Updated Historical Cottage Retreat with Garage! ?

Check-in begins at 2:00 PM.

What time is check-out at Beautifully Updated Historical Cottage Retreat with Garage! ?

Checkout is at 10:00 AM.

Where is Beautifully Updated Historical Cottage Retreat with Garage! located?

Located in Balboa Island, this cottage is 0.8 mi (1.3 km) from Newport Harbor Nautical Museum and 1.3 mi (2.1 km) from Fashion Island. Balboa Fun Zone and Balboa Pier are also within 1 mile (2 km).

9.8

Exceptional

Reviews are presented in chronological order, subject to a moderation process, and verified unless otherwise labelled.

Learn more

10/10

Cleanliness

10/10

Amenities

9.4/10

Property conditions & facilities

8.0/10

Eco-friendliness

9.8/10

Check-in

9.6/10

Communication

10/10

Location

9.8/10

Listing accuracy

10/10 Excellent

Kathleen L.

31 Jul, 2025

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Such a great holiday in this darling cottage. I’ve stayed here before many years ago and it still has its charm - upgraded features of course! Back for sure when I visit the Island next!

Stayed 3 nights in Jul 2025

10/10 Excellent

Thomas S.

25 Jun, 2025

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Our always Balboa Island VRBO

Perfect

Stayed 4 nights in Jun 2025

8/10 Good

Jane F.

24 Aug, 2025

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Cute cottage. Great location to Marine Avenue shops and restaurants. Had some issues with electrical outlets in the kitchen and power leading to the refrigerator. Construction right next-door with a house being built. Overall, the stay was great. Luckily we are not the type who spend much time inside during the day.

Stayed 4 nights in Aug 2025

10/10 Excellent

Bradley D.

2 Apr, 2025

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Balboa Island

Nice clean property.

Stayed 4 nights in Feb 2025

8/10 Good

Neil P.

18 Mar, 2024

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Great location

Great location. Great for walking, shopping, eating and dining. Very nice little cottage.

Stayed 5 nights in Mar 2024

8/10 Good

meggin b.

15 Jul, 2023

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Cottage retreat

Charming! Good location and perfect for a short getaway!

Stayed 5 nights in Jul 2023

10/10 Excellent

Enrique M.

29 Sept, 2024

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Cozy and perfect for two people

My wife and I had a great time at the beach cottage! The space was cozy and perfect for two people, and the location near the beach made the stay even more special. The host was incredibly kind and made sure our stay was comfortable from beginning to end. We highly recommend staying here 100%, and we’d love to come back!

Stayed 3 nights in Sep 2024

10/10 Excellent

Jennifer L., Cincinnati

18 Dec, 2022

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

A wonderful stay!

This charming home is exactly as advertised. The location is perfect and the home is neat as a pin with all of the amenities you could ever need. I highly recommend!

Stayed 4 nights in Dec 2022

10/10 Excellent

alta s.

30 Jun, 2023

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Sweet spot

Wonderful spot on balboa island. Everything is right there.

Stayed 27 nights in Jun 2023

8/10 Good

Lorie J.

31 Mar, 2024

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, listing accuracy

Cozy Cottage

We really enjoyed the cottage. It has everything. It just needs more blankets or a comforter to keep much warmer at night.

Stayed 4 nights in Mar 2024

10/10 Excellent

TIm K.

7 Nov, 2024

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Comfy retreat

We greatly enjoyed our time at this property. It was exactly as presented in VRBO.probably the best well kep CRBO we have ever had. A great location. We really appreciated having a garage on Balboa. We had an issue with the oven the first evening and the owner responded very quickly and graciously and helped resolve it for us. We would happily stay there again.

Stayed 3 nights in Oct 2024

10/10 Excellent

Chris s.

7 Aug, 2023

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Just right

Clean and comfortable

Stayed 5 nights in Jul 2023

10/10 Excellent

Thomas S.

10 Oct, 2024

Liked: Cleanliness, location, listing accuracy

The Truth

If you need the best small intimate location in Newport Beach you will not do better than this apartment.

Stayed 4 nights in Oct 2024

10/10 Excellent

Mary P., Mesa, AZ

10 Jun, 2023

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Anniversary and Birthday

Thank you for making our anniversary and birthday celebration during Memorial Weekend so extra special. The cottage was so clean and perfect for a couple! We love the location and very blessed with the garage! The property with all the beautiful flowers just gave us big smiles! We shall stay here again and again!

Stayed 4 nights in May 2023

This review was submitted before 2018 and has not been verified.

10/10 Excellent

Bill J., Scottsdale, AZ

5 Jul, 2014

Awesome cottage on Balboa Island

The cottage was perfect for our 3 night stay on Balboa Island. Everything so clean and relaxing, perfect for my husband and I. The owner was wonderful and so easy to work with. Instructions were very clear. Having a place to park, in a garage no less, was a nice plus. We would definitely recommend to friends and stay again when we are in the area.

10/10 Excellent

Peter W.

15 Feb, 2024

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Perfect Stay at Cottage Retreat

Our stay at this location was perfect, This was obviously recently renovated. Everything shined. The size was great for a couple. The kitchen was equipped with everything you need, even coffee. The bed and pillows were comfortable. The towels and face clothes were soft. The location to everything on Balboa Island couldn't have been better. Detailed instructions were provided ahead of time to cover everything. The garage was a huge plus since on street parking is limited. This was our first experience with VRBO and we loved it.

Stayed 7 nights in Feb 2024

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

12 Aug, 2023

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Cute Cottage

The location is great and the space is perfect for 1-2 people. It’s a small, fully furnished apartment over the garage, sharing an outdoor patio with the main house. There is no air conditioning, so if the house is closed up in the summer months it can get quite hot, but once you open up the windows and the adorable Dutch door, a nice sea breeze keeps it very comfortable. We had a few issues with the stove and electric water kettle and the owner took care of both of those things right away.

Stayed 7 nights in Jul 2023

8/10 Good

Richard W.

26 Jan, 2025

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

We love this property and our second use - but….

We stayed at this property two years ago and really like it. However, on our first visit, we were concerned (and discussed with owner) the lack of a smoke alarm. Owner did not install one so we bought one ourselves and took it home as it was not our job to install safety equip. Upon arrival this trip, we were surprised there is still no smoke alarm, so we bought another. Considering the risk of fire and legal consequences, to protect both VRBO and the owners against litigation in event of a fire, that there be a smoke/CO alarm installed. Otherwise, the property advertisement needs to include disclosure that appropriate smoke/CO alarms are not included on property and guests stay At their own risk.

Stayed 5 nights in Jan 2025

10/10 Excellent

David L.

1 Sept, 2025

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Very nice clean spot in a perfect location on Balboa.

Stayed 4 nights in Aug 2025

6/10 Okay

Shanna S.

11 Aug, 2025

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Great Location, No Screens or AC

This place has a great location and is a beautifully decorated cottage over the garage. It is close to the Main Street in Balboa and an easy walk to the grocery store. Check-in was a breeze and it was great to have a place to park our car and even store our bikes.Where this place fell short was a big deal for me…there is no air conditioning and no screens on any window. I live at the beach in San Diego and know that you do not need air conditioning most days as it’s nice to get the cool ocean breeze. The days we were here it was pretty warm and could not breathe in there without the windows open ALL the time. Having the windows open is not a big deal with screens on them, but there was none at this cottage. I got eaten up by mosquitoes! It was so bad I considered leaving early. I had to choose between sweating all night and making my husband suffer as well or dealing with the constant itch and pain from the mosquitos, they do not like my husband’s blood apparently.We were on vacation for our anniversary and now I’m home and just want to rest because I feel like I didn’t get any on my vacation. It’s a pretty big deal to spend that kind of money and be miserable. A couple other things that were a bit annoying is toilet paper…you need more than one roll for two people staying there for 4 days. Also, the owner lives in the main house and just popped over to drop off a lamp. Though she is a nice lady, it was a bit awkward and weird.

Stayed 4 nights in Aug 2025

10/10 Excellent

Mary P.

28 Jul, 2025

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Great cozy place! So convenient to everything!

Stayed 3 nights in Jul 2025

10/10 Excellent

Nanci F.

27 Jul, 2025

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Charming Cottage is Balboa Island Perfection

We had a wonderful stay and loved this charming upstairs cottage. We walked, road bikes, paddle boarded, shopped and ate. This place is close to everything!! Having the garage to use for storing all our toys was the best!! We did not need to drive anywhere!!! We will be back!!!

Stayed 4 nights in Jul 2025

10/10 Excellent

Lori P.

25 Jul, 2025

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Wonderful Balboa Cottage

Loved our stay here - so perfectly themed Balboa cottage! great location, and loved having a garage to keep our bikes & beach stuff. We will definitely be back!!

Stayed 3 nights in Jul 2025

10/10 Excellent

Janis W.

2 Jul, 2025

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Our Special Get Away!

It is our special place to stay when we travel from Chicago to visit our granddaughters!

Stayed 4 nights in Apr 2025

6/10 Okay

Jill P.

13 Mar, 2025

Liked: Check-in, location

Loved the location, robes and garage!

Location and garage access I would rate 5 stars. The steep stairs, uncomfortable furniture and having to get down on my hands & knees to adjust the heater several times a day I would give 2 stars.

Stayed 6 nights in Mar 2025