The walkway to the cottage behind the main house is lovely, it has been redone in mosaic tile and the garden area is beautiful. There are large plants and mature foliage that was flowering and we enjoyed it very much!
When putting in the code you simply turn the little lock "knobby thing" clockwise and it will unlock the door. This is very different than the lock pad on my door and so we struggled not realizing we had to turn the knob (not the door handle) to unlock it.
Upon entry, there are double doors to the right that go to the main residence. This appears to be their kitchen and it's often quite noisy due to the fact it's their living quarters. On the left is a two-seater table it was nicely appointed with lovely settings.
Continuing along straight is the kitchen. There was a small toaster oven, a small microwave, a heating plate with two units, a small refrigerator-freezer on the counter, a Keurig coffee maker (she did supply PODS of regular coffee, you may want to bring your own if you drink decaf), and a water jug (this was a nice touch)
May want to bring spices with you if you have a particular sort that you enjoy. There was also no small flat pan to use in the toaster oven, so we ended up using aluminum foil. Later, I did find some ceramic cookware in one of the pull-out drawers. The small one did fit in the toaster oven, so be sure to look around.
As you exit the kitchen, you make a left to go up the stairs to the bedroom and the bathroom. This was basically a full flight of stairs, so if you have large luggage you may want to prepare for that.
The blow dryer in the bathroom shut itself off if you used it on high, you may want to bring your own if you have a need for more than low air.
There was one hand towel and only one washcloth. You may want to bring your own as there was only liquid bath wash to use, unless you bring your own bar soap.
The shampoo and bath wash were very nice and was very convenient for them to be provided!
The bed was very comfortable, I do not sleep well and typically toss and turn but we both found this bed to be very comfortable. My daughter likes a very soft bed and I typically like more firm, so it must be somewhere between because we both slept very well!
There is a portable AC unit in the bedroom and it kept the room very comfortable at night! it was quite cool at night so, if you like fresh air, certainly opening the windows would be nice. We found it humid so we use the air conditioner whilst we slept.
Back down the stairs and to the left is the door to the back yard. Stairs to the left again take you to the jacuzzi-pool area. The tub is not actually hot as it shares water with the pool. We enjoyed sitting in this area in the mornings while we were deciding what to do for the day. In the evenings it was hot until the sun got past a certain point, and then was nice . There are many birds and hummingbirds in the trees around her pool area. It is a very relaxing area. We were rarely there in the middle of the day, if you are the type that you don't mind cool water, I would think that when the sun was high the cool pool would have felt nice if you were sitting in the sun.
La Jolla is a beautiful area, very safe and upscale. The highways and towns were easily accessible from here . we took a day to drive up the coast parkway almost to Los Angeles, then took another day and went East to the mountains and then into the desert. If you have the time for this definitely try to at least do the desert, it was beautiful. About 2 or 2 and 1/2 hours East is the Salton Sea. The drive there was fantastic.
Watching Surfing at windansea was fabulous. The la Jolla tide pools were fabulous.
About one block to the right as you exit the property is an entrance to the ocean. There's a large rock that people sit on and we watched the sunset there every night. It is a fantastic little area!
For the price, this place is a great deal. Maile seems to be in the process of updating the property. I can imagine it is a lot to care for.
I will definitely stay again if we ever return to the area!
Thank you Maile for everything, it was such a joy to stay at your place!