Dancing Coyote Beach

Rooms

The 4-cottage terrace is oriented east-west beside Tomales Bay with views north to south, for maximum light and great sunrises. There's a raised bed garden to the front (north) with gravel paths, and a deck with chairs and picnic tables.

None of the cottages are large. You enter straight into your living room with ready-laid fireplace - additional kindling and wood are provided in a basket - and (comfortable) sofabed, plus a wicker bucket armchair, footstool and side table. This leads onto the galley kitchen, which has French doors that open onto a small private deck with planter deck chairs and a built-in sofa.

Upstairs is a mezzanine level with banister rails. There's a bedroom area with a super-comfy queensized bed with McCroskey mattress (handmade in San Francisco), a shower bathroom with bathrobes and towels (and biodegradable liquid soap), and a nook area with love seat and shelves with books, games and puzzles. A door leads onto a small balcony with a chair - ideal for skygazing and birding.

The front of the cottage overlooks the gardens and has slim double-height windows with nifty blinds, which descend from ceiling to floor for privacy at night, although the skylights allow light to flood in in the mornings.

All cottages are the same size, except cosy Skye (described as a Studio Cottage), which has a loft-style bedroom accessed by a ladder rather than a mezzanine floor, and an outdoor shower, so it's best suited for couples. Beach is more expensive because it is at the end of the row and has windows overlooking Tomales Bay plus a larger secluded deck. You may hear your neighbours as all units are in a terrace arrangement, but the architecture has been carefully designed to maximise private spaces.

Decor is cosy and functional rather than super-stylish, with New England grey tongue-and-groove wooden walls. Artwork is local and marine-themed - in Birch, where we stayed, there were framed shells and pictures of birds.