My daughter and I had a great stay at Nancy's Beach Cottage.
We were welcomed by Nancy's friend and given great advice on eating places in the neighborhood. This is a great home-base neighborhood in Santa Monica. Easy walking to cool cafes, restaurants, shopping, yoga studio and beach. Great to have a parking permit thrown in.
The cottage is spacious and artsy and comfortable.
Communication with Nancy is easy and friendly. She very kindly allowed us have a late check-out so we could most enjoy our last day.
This was the perfect mother-daughter weekend. I went to yoga in the mornings, daughter slept late and did homework, then we played in the afternoon and evenings. The cottage is a short drive from LAX and car rentals are really cheap - we'll be coming back. My goal next time is to get my awkward teenager to cut loose and dance at that Venice Beach drum circle!