The real beauty of Eureka Street Inn in Sutter Creek is greater than the location or the beautifully manicured property itself, it's in the form of the hosts, Sandy and Chuck Anderson. They make one feel so welcomed and comfortable it is hard to resist adding them to your short list of people you want to spend more time with. It was 20 years between visits to Sutter Creek for me and I now find myself trying to work it into a biannual or even annual event. I imagine myself whiling away hours reading on the front porch.

The property is located a block away from the main street, Old Highway 49. We slept like babies here partly because the bed was so comfortable, but mostly because after 45 years, the town was successful in getting the state to go along with a bypass that routes freeway traffic away from rather than through the town. The property is intimate, only having 4 rooms to let, but each one has a unique character and any one of them would be lovely. The bathrooms were generous in size and included toiletries.

The craftsman style house was filled with craftsman style oak furniture and accessories just perfect for the period theme. It was cozy on a grand scale. All guests enjoyed mingling in the living room and on the front porch, and this was only possible because of the limited number of rooms. It would not have worked half as well in a larger property.

I secretly dreaded a country B&B imagining patchwork quilts and funky mismatched furniture, like the hotel on our first foray into this area, but Eureka Street Inn was very tastefully decorated in a restrained and refined manner.

The dining room with its built in cabinetry was very comfortable to use and all guests were served breakfast there at 9:00 a.m. My traveling companion does not especially like interfacing with complete strangers, but enjoyed our stay and the breakfast conversations. All this was in part due to the excellent food. On the first morning we were served fresh fruit and yogurt in beautiful antique teacups with saucers. I regret that I did not get a photo of it, but I did manage a photo of the puff pastry encased omelet, with sausages and a lemon pound cake. On the second morning of our stay, the fruit was bananas and strawberries with a pomegranate coulis. The main dish was a tour de force of caramelized apple covered French toast with strawberries and ham. It was so moist, it was almost a bread pudding. We loved it.