I would love to be able to give Helen's place 4 stars. Helen is a terrific host, very friendly and communicative. She even checked in with us throughout our stay via email. The accommodations are lovely, with a really nice layout and comfortable bed and furniture. She has thought of everything, and the heated towel rack is everything it was cracked up to be. The location is also terrific, being only a few minutes drive from the beach and the town of El Granada, and less than 10 minutes from the town of Half Moon Bay.
Unfortunately we had a couple issues that keep me from being able to rate our stay a little higher.
A day or so before arriving, we were notified that the hot tub wasn't working. This was very disappointing, as it was one of the reasons we chose to stay there, and it was something we were really looking forward to. We thought we might have been offered a discount to soften the blow, but that didn't happen. Not the end of the world, but still a disappointment.
Of bigger issue, unfortunately, was the noise. Footsteps up above were quite stompy throughout the day and evening and woke me up abruptly at 4 am the first morning. Activity upstairs started at around 7 am both mornings, so sleeping in wasn't really an option. It was all just a bit uncomfortable, so we spent as much time as we could out of the room on our one full day and left early the next morning without our hoped-for relaxed coffee time.
Like I said, I wish I could have rated this place a little higher. It really is lovely and could be quite special.