It had been 16 years since we'd been in the islands, and were looking forward to a great isolated weekend. Waterfront cabin was "OK" at best. Not worth $130 a night that's for sure. We never actually met Carol Jo, but she was a great communicator and left us alone for the weekend which was really great. The cabin is cute, in a great location, has a wonderful view and all that, but the spider webs hanging from the ceiling and layer of dust were unwelcome downers, the view from the hot tub was mostly obscured by the mass of 6' high overgrown tangles and brambles. There weren't any glasses to drink from other than toddler size plastic, wine glasses or coffee mugs? Just the general disorganized, messy feel wasn't our style at all! Needs a full blown ceiling to floor cleaning of the cabin and it's soft surfaces like blankets and draperies, and the main house/yard and connecting breezeway look like a garage sale in progress.

Certainly a nice place to spend a weekend doing very little. A place you can sit, walk or a short drive around the island from

I stayed 4 days in the Garden Cabin which sits behind the more expensive and more recently remodeled Waterfront Cabin. It's old but clean and well furnished and the best value on the island. (Admittedly you can stay cheaper at the hostel at Doe Bay but all you get there is a bed and shared bathroom.)

The owner, Carol Jo is very nice and very helpful. She told me the cabins were built in the 30's and later moved to her backyard. The Waterfront cabin was recently renovated but the Garden Cabin is still on her to-do list. In the meantime it's very comfortable and very reasonable on an island where most accomodations are double the price.

Cabin has a nice living area with kitchen on the back wall. Kitchen has a full sized stove with oven, microwave, coffee pot, coffee grinder and small fridge. Pots, pans, dishes, glasses, tableware are furnished. There is a small table with two chairs. Living area has a nice sofa and an armchair and coffee table. Small TV with VCR player. (About 10 movies included.) TV is only for playing video tapes. Radio with CD/Tape player with box of tapes and CDs. Assorted board games and playing cards.

Bedroom has large queen size bed, dresser and large closet. Very comfortable bed with lots of covers and pillows. Antique looking furniture. It's sort of like sleeping over at grandma's.

Bathroom is small but adequate (just a shower, sink, toilet). Towels are clean, thick and soft.

I called at the last minute and was lucky to get in. She wasn't going to be home when I got there so she left the cabin open with the key on the table and said I could pay her the next morning. Only takes cash or checks so be prepared. She usually requests you send her a check for the first night to hold your reservation.

Blackberry Beach is located in the village of Olga. Olga has a post office, a dock, a handful of houses and sometimes a small store. It's very quiet and pretty much on a dead end road so very peaceful. Only noise you might hear is the sea plane which lands and takes off from nearby Rosario and that's only once or twice a day. During the summer the passenger ferry from Bellingham uses the Olga dock so you might see a few people then but most of the time you feel you are the only one there. Good place to stay if you want to hike in Moran State Park which is only about 5 minutes away.

From the ferry landing it's probably a 35-40 minute drive. You have to drive past Eastsound through Moran State Park. (After passing through the park the road makes a sharp left at Cafe Olga but you go straight into Olga. Turn left at the post office and it's on the right about the second or third house.)

I found this spot through a blog on the San Juan Islands. It was described as a nice and reasonably priced place to stay. We booked through the owner's web site (got the address there and called her). We stayed in the cottage with the view of the bay and were delighted with it ($130/night off season - no one night stays). We hadn't expected it to be as large or as nicely decorated. There is a separate bedroom with a comfortable bed. The bathroom is a small add on heated by a small space heater and was perfectly fine. And the views! From the small dining room, the living room, and the deck you, you had a spectacular view of the water and sunset. Did I mention the hot tub? Comfortable couch? Or the full kitchen? The cottage is accessed by a walkway along the side of the owner's house, but that was not a problem. She offered us the use of her phone if we needed to make calls and was nice and helpful, but not invasive. We were there off season (mid-October) and it was perfect - mild weather, only a little rain one night, and no crowds. I can't think of any negatives except that it is a bit remote on the island. The cafe in the art gallery nearby was closed most of the time we were there, but I cooked almost all our meals in the well supplied kitchen area anyway. I was delighted with the whole experience.