wine

I love all sorts of accommodations when we travel. My favorites tend to be more private though (like our incredible Prague apartment), so when I was invited to an event being held by Flipkey, I was definitely interested in learning more. The event ended up being canceled, but I followed up to ask about houses in Northern California. We had just purchased plane tickets to Oakland with the plan to spend five days in Healdsburg and surrounding Sonoma County. A few emails later, and Flipkey kindly offered to cover a portion of our stay so that I could review their service.

Using Fliipkey is incredibly easy, from its simple and clean interface to the straightforward search engine. Once you pick your location and dates, you can narrow down by price, amenities, location, and more, allowing you to find your perfect spot. We knew we wanted to be in Healdsburg or Windsor, so we zeroed in on those spots and found an affordable country cottage in a perfect location in Windsor, but minutes from the Healdsburg border.

Our Country Garden Cottage was located at the top of a long driveway that had grapes on one side and horses on the other. In front of the long driveway were vineyards for ages. The cottage owners also lived on site, but we had our own entrance and tons of privacy and quiet.

On the outside, there were beautiful things growing everywhere and beautiful views to match. The many flowers brought in butterflies and hummingbirds that we loved to watch while we weren’t out wine tasting and exploring.

We also made a point of being home for the sunset a few of the nights. It was so incredibly beautiful and peaceful to sit in one of the many outdoor seating areas on the property. Our hosts really thought of everything when they set up this guest home, and appreciated all of the comfortable details.

Inside was even cozier. The cottage had one bedroom with the same view of the hills across the way, and it had fantastic dark curtains and the comfiest bed, ensuring a nice long night of sleep. Plush carpets throughout meant walking just felt nice.

The living area was spacious and nicely decorated, and the house was complete with a small kitchenette with glasses dishes, teas and coffees, plastic wrap, and many other little comforts that we used throughout our stay. There were also magazines, books, maps, DVDs, and even some toys for younger guests. Country Garden Cottage is truly ready for its guests to arrive and start their vacations. Hanging out at night, listening to crickets, and loving the peace was what we needed; we didn’t turn on the TV or open our laptops the entire time!

We spent every morning enjoying coffee with a view and playing with the resident animals, a beautiful white lab, a cat, and a bunch of chickens. I am pretty sure I was born to live in the country, wandering around growing things and hanging out with animals, so these days made me incredibly happy. . . and very hard to leave a place I already am in love with.

Our cottage owners provided us with figs and fresh eggs on arrival, and my vacation breakfast became soft boiled eggs and fresh figs. It was pretty much as close to perfect as you could get.

We felt so lucky with our Flipkey find, and just browsing through, it definitely seemed like there were a ton more great properties available. I think Flipkey rentals are ideal for a vacation where you might want your own space and an area to cook and relax. They are perfect for families, and it really seems like there is something for everyone. Now excuse me please while I go look at airfares so we can visit our Northern California cottage again soon.

If you are looking into a trip to Sonoma County, you can also check out Flipkey’s travel guide to Sonoma here.

Flipkey gave me a portion of the cottage rental fee in exchange for a review of their service. All opinions are my own.