Mar Vista Cottages At Anchor Bay

Just checking out after 3 perfect nights with my husband at Mar Vista. Tom & Renata are the perfect inn keepers. In Addition to all that they do right, they don’t do anything wrong either! I stay in corporate hotels for business, and this place is so refreshing. Nothing is annoying here, for instance, I never had to re-​log into the wifi for my entire stay. They have thought through the mar vista experience so expertly, and made it perfection. Yes, the chickens are hilarious, and the goats are adorable, but having 3 days of pure relaxation is priceless.

We just spent a lovely 2 days at Mar Vista Cottages! What a delight! Tom and Renata could not have been more welcoming and accommodating! We loved the fresh eggs on our doorstep, the beautiful vegetable garden, the friendly goats and Rascal, the dog! It was my husband’s birthday and they kindly placed a «Happy Birthday» banner above our bed. It was the perfect location for exploring the West coast beaches, including a great hike to Point Arena Lighthouse! We will definitely return and spread the word about this idyllic get-​away!

Went with my wife and 18 month old son and so very pleased with the overall experience. Hosts were incredibly nice and helpful. Cottages were very clean and comfortable. But the best part of all is the overall experience from the resident goats, chickens with fresh eggs, the grounds that included firepit, community glass house to have your meals, open grill pits, and rustic, old world feel. We highly recopmmend Mar Vista if you want to get away from the crowds and enjoy some peaceful family time with the nicest people you will ever meet. We will definitely be back.

I rented out all of the cottages for my bridal party for the weekend that I got married, and I am so glad I did! Renata, the owner, was so friendly and helpful in the months leading up to the wedding and during the weekend. She went out of her way to make our stay the best it could be. And it was the best!
The cottages are so so adorable. It was so nice to have a kitchen and full fridge, not to mention fresh eggs everyday and a wonderful vegetable garden to pick from. And all of my friends were obsessed with the resident goats! They are fun, quirky creatures that made each day memorable. We got ready in the greenhouse in the middle of the property, which was a beautiful setting for pictures and a great place to all hang out. The whole property made me feel so relaxed and has this sort of escape-​to-​the-​simple-​life feel. I really enjoyed all the unique touches that make Mar Vista special.
I will definitely be back in the future! A truly wonderful place.

If you’re lucky enough to stumble onto this place, you’ll be so pleased! Grounds are meticulous. Hosts are wonderful. I mentioned once that it was my birthday trip — I was welcomed by a Happy Birthday banner in my cottage!
Included: We picked our own organic salads and flowers every day and the host delivers fresh laid eggs in a basket on your patio. There is a lovely «river» walk with towering redwoods on site. A friendly goat, Lola roams the spacious grounds. Pet friendly. Our cottage #7 had a view of the ocean, great sunsets and a wood fireplace with unlimited wood. Full kitchen. Ironed duvet comforter in bedroom. WiFi too.
I saw a shooting star one night among the fabulous view of the Milky Way. Cozy and quiet. Totally relaxing. Head-​clearing.
So much better than other choices. It gets five stars for overall unique and enjoyable experience.
Go there. Say hi to Tom!

Just back from a lovely stay at Mar Vista. The word I use to describe this place is magical. Our cottage was cozy and comfortable. The grounds and lovely and the pet goats were a fun surprise. Having fresh eggs delivered to our door was great and we got greens from the garden and made a yummy breakfast. We were in Cottage #8 and it had amazing views down the hill and down the coast. Such a special, special place. Prepare to come, unplug and relax.

Well appointed, shaker-​style cabins. Tom and Renata are the lovely owners and their attention to detail is exceptional. Every time I’ve been there, I immediately feel right at home. So cozy and comfortable at all times of year. Can’t wait to go back.

Incredible place! We had a very relaxing time at Mar Vista and cannot wait to return. The cabin we stayed in was comfortable and a perfect place to unwind. We wished we would have stayed longer!

What a treasure of a place! Cabins are thoughtfully appointed and charming. The owners have thought of everything and have succeeded in creating a very comfortable and peaceful place to stay. A quick walk takes to you to a beautiful sheltered beach. There’s hiking on the property, a vegetable garden you can pick from, fresh eggs from the chicken coup, wifi, library, games, and a flower cutting garden. Great restaurants are nearby in both Gualala and Point Arena. We could see the ocean from our cabin. If you’re on the coast and looking for something out of the ordinary, this is the place.

Mar Vista was the perfect spot for a girls’ weekend getaway… too bad we had to bring the husbands and children. Nah, I’m kiddin – all 12 adults, six 3-​year olds and three babies had an incredible time and it looks like we’re making an annual trip out of it. With the centrally-​located glasshouse and BBQ pit, the place is ideal for group dining and we took advantage of it by dividing dinner and breakfast responsibilities between the couples, using veggies from the garden and eggs from the hens and wine from the cases we shlepped up from the City.

It turns out Mar Vista is also ideal for kids and dogs, which we appreciated immensely. I can imagine that it would be a nothing less than terrifying to open your serene and impeccably clean cottages and grounds to SUV after SUV full of road-​wrecked, vomit-​covered kids and anxious, pent-​up dogs. But open arms are what greeted us, with details that warmed the heart of at least this parent: a cozy cot set up for our son, with a down comforter and a sweet teddy bear that became his instant Mar Vista companion, outlet protectors, and black-​out felt available for the bedroom window so he could nap better.
Tom also very graciously put up with no less than three Type-​A calls from me the day before we arrived (I think I needed to ensure that they had real wine glasses in the cottages, to know what kid-​friendly activities there are in the area, and to find out if we needed to bring charcoal for the BBQ – answers were yes, go outside dummy, and yes btw). He didn’t really call me a dummy, but I felt like one when we unleashed the kids from the cars and watched them tear off across the property, just happy to run in that much grass and get to pet goats that weren’t corralled in a petting zoo.
So go, go! But follow the rules and regs, which are somewhat unusual for B&Bs – like paying half the price six months in advance (for a group of five cottages or more), six-​month-​advance written cancellation, and no kids in the edible garden (so they don’t pull things up and waste them). It’s all worth it to spend however long you can in a little piece of Northern Californian paradise.

This is our second visit to Mar Vista. We spent a couple days there last year, but I never got around to writing a review about it. It’s difficult to want to share something that you would like to horde all to yourself!
Tom and Renata are absolutely wonderful and everyone else who works there has always been friendly and pleasant. As we drove up to the cottages on our first day there, Tom greeted us with a bow and a wave and handed us a brochure of the cottages and all the activities and sights to see near by.
We stayed in Cottage 9, which has a nice view of the trees and ocean from the sitting area of the cottage. The cottage wasn’t just clean. It was immaculate! The kitchen is stocked with all the pots, pans, and utensils you need to cook or bake and salt and pepper. We spent most of our stay cooking rather than dining out, since the amount of restaurants nearby are fairly limited. We were able to find a wonderful mix of salad greens from the vegetable garden to add to our dinner and in the morning we scrambled up eggs which Tom delivered to our cottage the night before.
There are no TV’s in the cottages, but it was a nice change to spend the time enjoying the outside views rather than sitting around connected to a TV. I have AT&T and was not able to get a reception here, but there is a phone outside of the office which is available if needed. There is also wifi, which was helpful as well (especially with a teenager who claimed he was disconnected from the rest of the world until he found the wifi connection).
Highlights: Dog friendly, which is a big bonus for us. However, you would not know dogs had even stayed in the cottages, no sign of fur anywhere or any other tell tale signs. Kid friendly. Each time we have stayed there, I’ve seen the children enjoying the spacious grounds, playing on the rope swing, and helping Tom pick eggs in the afternoons. So much to do; sit around on the yoga deck or swing and enjoy the ocean views, walk across the street to the secluded beach and enjoy the ocean, pick vegetables or flowers from the garden, pick eggs with Tom, soak in the sitting tub outside, walk around the beautiful grounds, BBQ dinner, make Smores over the fire, or stargaze at night.
Mar Vista is a beautiful place to be! It immediately became our all time favorite place to getaway.