This is a fantastic townhome and amazing hosts. We loved everything about our stay. The unit is…read morespacious, well-equipped with anything that may be helpful for a great vacation, and super clean. The location is perfect, right in between the pier and main shopping street. Bill is a wonderful host, very attentive and easy to connect with. We look so much forward to coming back!

Condo at 311 Avenida Del Mar is a real pleasure! It has everything you could possibly need and…read moremore! This is our second stay and looking forward to our next trip. Bill Medina, our host, couldn't be more attentive! He sets the bar very high!

Superb vacation rental. Owners are fantastic, the perfect balance of engaging and granting privacy…read more The property is situated at the bend of a road that leads down to North Beach. Easy access to the water and a short walk to the San Clemente pier, restaurants and other great sandy beaches. There are awesome walking trails all along the coast that are perfect for early morning walks. The deck is huge and very private. What a great way to unwind and relax. Cook dinner on the gas grill, lounge on the comfy patio furniture and take in the ocean views and sounds. It's truly one of the best attributes this place has to offer. Inside has been remodeled and is immaculate. Great little kitchen with everything you need to prepare a meal at home. The bedroom is large and has a nice king bed. Lots of storage space to put your things. Windows everywhere with the ability to open them up and let in the cool ocean air. No central AC but you don't need it. We visited in June and it was in the 60s at night. Perfect weather. All the tech and amenities you need. Flat screen TVs, high speed WiFi, Netflix, HBO, etc. Not that you'll use it but it's there. You're a short drive or 15 minute walk to old town San Clemente which is really cool. Lots of shops and restaurants to visit. We will be back!!

You can't go wrong renting this place. From the minute we stepped on the deck to enter the…read moreproperty we knew we were going to love our stay. The deck is large and has a great view of the ocean. The trail to the beach is right in front of the house. Inside Sheryl and Doug have done an amazing job decorating and providing everything needed for a great vacation. They also own a restaurant called The Grill. They provide a complimentary meal. We loved it so much we ate breakfast there 2 more times. The location is perfect. The pier is walking distance. We loved being able to walk to the restaurants near the pier. Bring your bikes. There is a path that follows the ocean right there.

Nope, manager leaves a lot to be desired in my opinion plus you have to haul your own trash to the…read moreback of the park . Just my opinion is all! Good luck

My husband and I stayed at Casa Del Mar Thanksgiving weekend and could not recommend this unit…read moreenough! We fell in love with the unit from the moment we arrived. The host had beach boy music playing from the speakers when we walked in giving us the perfect introduction to the San Clemente lifestyle. Best part was there were PLENTY of amenities from complimentary wine and beverages in the fridge to accessories we had available to use like stand up paddle boards, beach chairs, towels and even bikes! If you're new to San Clemente and don't know where to start, Avenida Del Mar is basically core of what makes the town so lovable. The house was right in the heart of that so we getting a taste of everything, from parks to restaurants and even a farmer's market on Sunday, the weekend felt so dreamy. We had the luxury of never needing to drive anywhere that weekend and took many strolls down to the beach and around the charming town. Thank you, thank you, thank you Staying With Friends! We will see you soon!

The rental was so well equipped with everything you could need while on vacation. The owners were…read moreresponsive and had everything ready at your fingertips. Lots of tips on what restaurants to go to and where to visit in the area. Very helpful. Would definitely recommend and stay there again.

This little place is amazing: Frida the owner is a phenomenal chef. She made us a Spanish: Spanish…read moreby the sea breakfast, brunch .so much food ,so amazing the rooms are very comfortable. They have to have just about everything you need. she's got really good coffee which is always a plus and she is very attentive. she's travel the world, and she loves to explain it in detail about the food that she makes for you, and her adventures. She can book restaurants for you ,and knows a lot of the owners as my wife and I do too. We love coming out to San Clemente 3 to 4 times a year..this was our first time staying here and will definitely not be our last .. Thank you again Freda for everything. You're amazing host. The food was phenomenal. Everything was fantastic. Freda wanted to show you I smoked my tomahawk and it came out the best I've ever done We picked up truffle butter from the meat and fish shop up the street from you. Absolutely fantastic.

Freda is a top class entrepreneur who goes out of her way to make a stay excellent at the Always…read moreInn. She is resourceful, kind, and a generous chef who serves delicious breakfasts on her special dishware. It's rare that an inn owner goes to the extent she does to make a guest comfortable!

This is our go-to to when visiting San Clemente. It is convenient, clean, and close to everything…read morewe need. The beach, grocery store, freeway, shops and restaurants. Never ridiculously overpriced even during the busy season. Customer service is always so kind, and accommodating as best as they can. Having a kitchenette is such a help. Dishes, utensils glasses pans dish soap included. We have been coming here for at least 20 years and have never been disappointed. We don't need fancy, just convenience and comfort. I do wish our door lock had a hotel upper lock, our toddler could easily open the door on her own. Not sure why that isn't in place. Overall another great experience.

Restaurant was great. Few issues with room, Remote in bedroom didn't work, burner on stovetop…read moredidn't heat properly, no luggage rack. Location was great, parking fee is waived if you have handicap sticker or plates.

Attended a wedding here and it was a great location, hidden away in a campground right by the…read morebeach. The views were gorgeous! Some things to note is that there is very limited parking and wedding had to be finished by 10pm. No hotels truly walking distance (in heels!) but this spot as a wedding venue was gorgeous!

We chose the Historic Cottage for the price, fantastic view of the ocean, and charming location…read more That said, while the venue has a lot to offer, they are missing some key elements. Covering all those missing pieces to host a successful event takes an immense amount of work (even with a coordinator). While we are thrilled with how the actual day of the wedding went, it took a lot of effort to make it as successful as it was. Ultimately, if ocean views and a Spanish California theme at a decent price are your highest goals, this is probably the best venue. But if you care deeply about the accommodations, ease of logistics, and helpful venue staff, we would recommend looking elsewhere. Pros: Once you get past the tents and RVs of the State Park campground, the Historic Cottage is a naturally beautiful location. White adobe walls and red Spanish tile, a full 180 degree view of the California coastline and the Pacific Ocean, all the features of sandy cliffs, and distant lights of the San Clemente suburbs as a background. You can (as of October 1st, 2022) bring in any vendor you want. This was extremely important to us for cost and quality. Almost every other venue required us to go through their catering. This meant higher costs and in some cases lower quality of food for our guests. Bringing in our own vendors also meant huge alcohol savings because we were able to purchase our own alcohol from Costco and then ask our bartending rental and event company to serve our alcohol. Inconvenient but saved us about $3,000. We were able to purchase our florals from the LA Flower Market and a family member created the beautiful arrangements. The option of bringing in our own vendors would not have been possible had we gone with Casa Romantica or Ole Hanson. (The Casino San Clemente was much less strict and probably would have been just as good an option) However, we still had to get prior approval for all of our vendors because they have banned certain vendors in the past. Cons: The public bathrooms. This is a venue located in a California State Beach park. There are no private restrooms for your guests to use, so everyone at the wedding and all visitors to the beach and/or campground use the same restroom. They are large, open air restrooms that flush, but at the end of the day they are public state park bathrooms complete with sand, ants, and missing soap. The State Parks staff "thoroughly" cleans them before every wedding but depending on how many people visit the beach that day, you have to accept the state of the bathrooms as being a part of your wedding. We provided luxury soaps, paper towels, electric candles, toiletries, etc. to help but it was frustrating to have to provide these items. The contract- they can change anything they want at any time with no notice or warning. And they did. Three weeks before the wedding. There is no lighting on the lawn after dark you need to provide stand alone lighting. The ocean breeze means you need to have sturdy and heavy centerpieces/decorations. Unprofessional staff. From one of the State Parks coordinators who scolded us for being on-site during business hours even after we called ahead and asked permission to be there to plan our wedding layout, rude teenage park entrance staff refusing to let us enter the park until 1:00 PM on our wedding day (as in turning the groom away at 12:58 PM. We were told we couldn't enter the venue until our start time, not that we couldn't enter the park) to a Parks Monitor basically ordering our DJ to play his favorite song "Sweet Caroline" on our paid time, and then later telling us we might be getting a fine because some food from the wedding spilled onto the floor tile. Nothing happened, but if you don't want food to fall on your historic tile, you should probably stop hosting weddings and putting the tile at risk every week. In general, all of their staff need serious training in customer service. On the whole, we were willing to put up with these challenges for the beauty of the cottage, an outdoor venue during the Pandemic, and as a way to cut costs. Our wedding was nearly perfect with gorgeous weather, great photos, happy guests, and an overall excellent day. But this happened in spite of the Historic Cottage staff. It would have been a less stressful wedding planning process had the staff been more cooperative in their behavior and rules/regulations. Our best recommendation if you decide to book this venue to reduce stress is to hire a full wedding planner and all inclusive catering vendor. (catering/tables/chairs/bar/cake/staff, etc.) If you can afford the money, this will help in many DIY logistics/planning issues. But at the end of the day, many of the cons we mentioned will still exist. Our hope in writing this review is to help future couples consider this place carefully before committing to it for their big day. N&R (Photo Credit- Larissa Bahr)