La Playa is in fact a member of the Historic Hotels of America and one can see from such quintessentially Californian, olde world charm. The room we were given, in fact turned out to be one of five cottages-by-the-sea - in fact an old log cabin dating back to beyond the last century. Not only did we get more than the two rooms we had booked for - we were suprised to discover, we had three bedrooms, a kitchen, a dining room, a living room, a private courtyard, a downstairs bathroom and toilet and an upstairs living quarters with en suite! The cabin itself was tucked away in a quite niche amongst a small patch of forest, minutes walk from Pebble Beach and the famous 17 Mile Drive. The fact that the main hotel and reception was back in the old villa, dating back to 1904, was no inconvenience, instead providing us with a light, walk in which to gather our surroundings. There was no need for a car here either, everything could be conducted on foot - as Carmel was merely blocks away. Parking however, was a small problem as the town gets particularly busy during the holiday season but this was soon resolved by the friendly staff, who lavished their attention upon us as soon as we had arrived. I cannot stress enough what a delightful hotel this was - really summarised our Carmel experience.
The charm of the quaint little log cottage was enough to make this stay truly memorable. Small, adorable touches such as the stable-esque double door, the real wood burning fireplace and well-stocked bookcase, were welcomed. Perhaps even more interestingly, the cottage had many photos of the original villa and the cabin from the last century, giving a real sense of history to the place. Perhaps a little too much history...as it soon became supposed that our upstairs living quarters could have had a ghostly resident. Still, ghost-busting and all, it seemed to add to our adventure. The outside seating area provided us with some quiet time to relax amongst the landscape and beauty of Carmel and had the weather been slightly more accomodating the pool back at the villa was surrounded by delightful gardens and had a real family atmosphere.
