First off, let me say that my wife and I greatly enjoyed our stay at the Sweetwater Spa and Inn.

Finding available accomodations for the weekend in Mendocino was challenging, possibly due to Winesong. When I finally found the Apple Cottage at Sweetwater available, I booked it immediately. Thereafter I saw the reviews on Tripadvisor and groaned. However, I had already exhausted most other options, and seeing that the negative reviews were primarily focused on service and the spa experience (rather than the accomodations themselves), I decided to roll the dice.

I am really glad I gave Sweetwater a chance. We loved the Apple Cottage! The cottage was very sweet and cozy, with a nice four poster bed (if a little creaky), a very comfortable couch in the sitting room, and a relaxing fireplace. Since we had our 8 month old with us, it certainly didn't hurt have a kitchen in the unit too, for bottle cleaning & prep, etc.

The only staff I interacted with was the proprietor upon arrival. She was very genial and made us feel welcome.

Locationwise, our accomodations could not have been better (unless perched on the bluffs perhaps!). We were in easy walking distance to everything in town, and returned often throughout each day to rest, relax, and play Cribbage while the baby napped.

At $175 a night, I feel the cottage is priced well for what it is; it can truly accomodate a family. If we ever go to Mendocino without the kids, I will probably try one of the highly rated B&Bs in town with a room around $140, but if I have even one kid with me, you will find me back at the Apple Cottage.

Thanks Sweetwater for the great stay!

This is an older home converted to a hotel. Our room upstairs (no elevator) was very comfortable but was located facing the street which could be very loud at times. Breakfast was not included with the room. If we returned to Mendocino I would look for something a little more economical (the room seemed pricey).

We stayed here a year ago and had a delightful room with a full breakfast. This year we stayed and found a opened condom wrapper on the floor of our room,water was off for 12 hours,no breakfast or even coffee for the AM.I would not recommend it for anyone.No one on premise to help you after 6 PM.

The the room we stayed in was at first glance clean and comfortable. However, there were a lot of little things and some not so little that made it less than what we expected. The blow drier in the bathroom didn't work, the shower didn't drain properly, but the annoyingly low water pressure kept it from flooding, the towels felt as though they'd been washed in salt water, and there was a previous guest's DRIED BLOOD on our sheets. Each time I tried to call down to the front desk (at least 4 times a day) there was no one there and I was transfered over to the spa staff. We did have a couple of very nice massages, but the desk staff at both the inn and the spa left something to be desired. This was not the relaxing, pampering weekend we were hoping for on our first anniversary, and I would not stay there again. For $275 a night there are much better places.