I never enjoy giving a 2 star review, but there were too many negatives and not enough positives with this little Inn.
When we arrived we were not greeted by the girl at the front desk, but rather ordered to follow her so she could give us a tour. I had to use the bathroom badly, and just wanted to get to our room, but we followed anyway. No welcome greeting, no smile, no anything from this girl. It felt cold and awkward. As she brought us into the common room where they had a kitchen guests could use, along with games, books, dvds, she gave us the low down on how we must act. She literally told us that we are to be nice to other guests and not to be rude to people while in the common room because it's for everyone. It was so weird to be lectured in manners and kindness by a girl who didn't seem to know how to take her own advise. We did not see her again after the "tour"...actually, we didn't see a single staff person or any of the owners during our stay.
Moving on to our room - the Sonoma Hills room. We were told we got the best room in the place, but boy were we disappointed. I don't care if decor is outdated, but for the price they ask for their most popular and sought after room, we were less than impressed. The room smelled weird and was visibly dirty. The furniture all looked as if it was just randomly picked up at a thrift store and thrown in the room. The carpet was gross and things were just run down looking. The bed was comfortable at least...but the headboard on the bed was lit up. Yes, you read that correctly, there was a lighted headboard. Although it was tacky looking, we didn't mind the light during the day, but we didn't know how to turn it off, and that was a problem when we were trying to sleep because it was bright and right there in your face. Of course I discovered how to turn it off as we were getting ready to leave, but it would have been nice to know initially.
The shower was beyond annoying. There was no plastic divider to protect the curtain from getting wet, so the fabric curtain got soaking wet with every shower, continually sticking to you as you're trying to shower and then dripping all over the floor after said shower. The rod holding up the curtain was not only the wrong size for the shower, but it was not at all attached to the wall, so that kept falling off, whether we were in the shower or not. My boyfriend finally propped it up high so that it would stay put, but we were both surprised that no one had caught those issues and fixed them so guests did not have to deal with it. Not cool.
And, despite there being tons of NO SMOKING signs posted, and all the paperwork and email confirmation stating you'd be fined hundreds of dollars if you smoked on or near the property, everyone staying at the Inn smoked cigarettes. We were in the upstairs room, and the room below us had it's own private entrance and patio area - they were smoking. The room facing the coffee shop that was next to the common room - they were smoking. Then there was the dude talking loudly on his phone standing in the walk way to the Inn, right below our room - smoking. I sure wish staff regulated a little more, and it's not like the 4 people we saw smoking were trying to hide it. One couple even had a make shift ashtray sitting out on their patio table. So yea, that part sucked.
The saving grace was the location. Terrapin Creek and the coffee shop were so nice to have across from the Inn, and we had fun checking out the shops in the area. The location of this Inn is what makes it special. It's so close to Bodega Head, too, and the Secret Garden. Unfortunately, we were not impressed enough with the Inn itself, and likely would not stay again, especially for the price and considering what else is in the area. read more