The Garden Cottages

If you like rude awakenings, stay in Cottage A. When we arrived, the cottage was clean and the gardens were pretty. So we thought we would have a nice stay. But that was not the case. The quirks began to show themselves when we got ready for bed. WiFi was slow as we began to check e-​mails and search for things to add to our itinerary. TV worked okay, but was very small. Then when we went to bed, the bed had a big dip in the middle so we rolled to the center, making it uncomfortable to sleep. I would imagine this bed has reached its life expectancy. Then in the middle of the night the heat came on. I don’t know what supplies the heat, but it felt like the air was being pumped straight out of the Mohave desert. It blew directly on the interior (right) side of the bed and immediately made it feel like a sauna. It was so hot, it was uncomfortable to stand in front of the vent to even turn it off. But the worst part was when it came time to shower in the morning. My husband showered first and said the shower curtain kept blowing into the shower stall, and the handheld shower was less than cooperative, but did the job. We did have plenty of hot water. However, when he had gone to get coffee and it was my turn in the shower about half way into my shower, I started hearing a buzzing noise. It was loud, but just intermittent at first, so I thought it was just the pipes creaking. But it eventually grew into a very loud, blaring, constant buzz, so loud I quickly finished my shower and ran out of the bathroom, only to isolate the sound as the smoke alarm going off! It was so loud, I had to throw on some clothes, and run out the front door into the cold with my hair all wet. I left the door wide open and after about 10 minutes it finally stopped. I was completely shaken up, and after a bad nights sleep, I couldn’t take it anymore. My husband and I changed our plans and left a night early, not wanting to experience another bad night (and morning)! Of course, when we called to inform the owner that we intended to leave early, she told us she would have to charge us because she could not re-​rent it in time for the second night. So we were charged for the second night even though we did not stay. I cannot vouch for Cottage B, but Cottage A I would not recommend to anyone until these issues can be rectified, especially considering the price. We ended up driving into Tacoma and staying in an extremely nice Holiday Inn, with a great free breakfast, for considerably less that we paid for the cottage. Not worth the money, to be sure.

Wow, my boyfriend and I just got back from our first (hopefully first of many!) trip to the Garden Cottages in Lopez, specifically Garden Cottage B… I cannot even begin to express how much we loved this place! They are located in a prime spot in Lopez Village – the area with the shops, grocery store, restaurant, and some beach access – but as soon as you walk into the garden cottage property, you feel like you are in your own private oasis… you walk through a trellis covered in beautiful vines and flowers, and into a beautifully landscaped yard with hummingbirds, swallows, and butterflies fluttering around and playing in the fountain… even though the property isn’t ginormous, each cottage has a large deck which is out of view of the others, as well as it’s own big grassy area – plenty of places to sit and relax, or have a meal or glass of wine outside! The cottage itself is very well appointed, full of art and décor that has clearly been carefully selected and added over the years – the kind of charm that is genuine, not intentional and artificial – and also full of lots of thoughtful treats – some microwave popcorn, ample supplies in the bathroom, lots of votive candles, and lots of books on the shelves (also a bookstore and library in walking distance if none of the books tickle your fancy :)
During the day, even if it’s grey out, the cottage is entirely lit by natural light, and come night time, there are a lot of lamps in addition to the main overhead lights, and all of them have dimmers, so you can entirely customize the ambiance – great for relaxing!
There are plenty of dishes in the kitchen for any kind of cooking (we made french toast, and happily found all of the supplies on site!), as well as a french press and regular drip coffee pot, and the coffee provided is the good stuff! There’s also a microwave, oven stove, and fridge. The kitchen sink does stick a tiny bit, but it’s not difficult to operate at all, like the past reviewer suggested – every house has a quirk or two, that’s just life…
The bathroom has a changing area, big sink/​vanity counter, and full bathtub and shower – and the shower-​head has a detachable handle so lots of bathing options – I don’t know what the other reviewer was talking about… The tub is maybe a little narrower than some I’ve seen, but totally big enough to bathe and shower in, the water pressure was great, and neither my boyfriend or I ran out of hot water. Another cool surprise was that the bathroom also has a washer-​dryer! Very handy if you get your clothes dirty on the beach! (We didn’t use these, but definitely good to know they’re available!) And, like the rest of the house, totally lit by natural light during the day, which is awesome! It is true that the wall to the bathroom doesn’t extend all the way to the ceiling, but I would hardly say it’s not a «private» bathroom. Sound does carry, but if you’re sharing a cottage and bed with someone, my guess is they’re not a stranger, so neither of us found it a problem at all…
Also, there is a step up to the bed/​bathroom area; I’m guessing it’s an architectural feature to create a separation between living space and sleeping space… it’s not hard to navigate, it’s just like having a sunken living room… and the TV is small, but like another reviewer said, why would you come to Lopez to watch TV? Plus, it has a jillion stations, AND there’s wifi, so the cottage is plenty «connected.»
Anyway, I cannot recommend this cottage enough, and we will most certainly be back… hopefully for longer, this was just a two-​day trip, but now that we know it’s such a nice place to slow down and relax, hopefully we can get away a little longer!