Marie's hospitality and cottage exemplifies all the best aspects of the Bay Area. Seriously, lets start with Marie. She is open, welcoming, thoughtful and interesting. We arrived on Thanksgiving and after some great conversation and time with her dogs she brought my wife and I a delicious Thanksgiving day meal. How cool is that, right? Her stuffed portabella mushroom was next level umami. She was a pleasure to speak with and was very accommodating for our stay. In short, she rocks.
The cottage is surprising large, stylish and with cool flourishes just like the Bay Area. In fact there is a great library of books about Oakland and California. Having lived here for a larger part of my life I was still drawn to the books and learned something new about the Bay. The cottage is in a quiet upscale cool neighborhood that is just very to walk around and explore. A 10-15 minute walk down the hill is the Grand Lake neighborhood and Lake Merritt. Great restaurants, coffee shops, Trader Joes and the Farmer's Market on weekends. Spend a day walking around the lake, petting dogs, drinking Peet's Coffee and talking with people passing by. That's how you spend a Saturday afternoon.
Our stay at Marie's cottage was a memorable part of our trip and reflective of the Bay Area. The scenery is beautiful but the vibe is what makes it unique. Marie brings that vibe. Thank you for the great stay, we'll see you again!