My husband and I stayed in Pilot's Cottage for a week in June 2015 while we attended a sailing class offered by the Northwest Maritime Center. The cottage was a super home away from home and we really enjoyed our stay. The location is terrific—can't be beat—and we were able to walk back and forth to our classroom and our boat in 2 minutes or less. The deck out front is a perfect spot for a peaceful morning cuppa, with great views of the harbor, the bay, and the surrounding mountains. The front porch is a nice shady spot to sit and relax in the evenings and provides excellent people watching opportunities. The yard is full of fragrant bushes and flowers, like honeysuckle, morning glories, roses, and fennel, and sitting on the deck in the midst of all of that is an olfactory pleasure. The cottage has a full kitchen and is supplied with just about everything you could conceivably need to cook and eat all your meals in-house, which is what we did. The two bedrooms are nice and are well-supplied with comfortable beds and bedding. The bathroom also is well-supplied and is a lovely sunlit room. The shower is excellent. The living room has two big couches and another large overstuffed chair. We didn't use the fireplace or the Jotul stove because Port Townsend was experiencing a heat wave while we were there, but they would be nice to have in cooler weather. If you have a lot of electronics with you, it might make sense to bring a power strip and a few two-to-three-prong adapter plugs for the outlets, since three-prong outlets, while they do exist in the cottage in several places, are not necessarily where you want them to be. The cottage is old and shows its age in some ways but it has obviously been well-loved and well cared for. The owner was very responsive to our needs and has obviously given a lot of thought to what guests might need during their stay. We would very gladly stay at Pilot's Cottage again and, in fact, look forward to doing so.
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We stayed in the Pilot's Cottage during September, 2014. This rustic cabin has a terrific location next to the marina in downtown Port Townsend. It is within a short walk (a couple of blocks) of restaurants, interesting shops, theaters, beaches, boating, and all of the character of old Port Townsend. Additionally, many of the PT festivals are centered in this neighborhood. The area immediately surrounding the cabin is comprised of boat building activities, all interesting to watch.
The cabin itself appears to date from the 1930s when it was actually used as an office for the boat pilots. The owner has decorated the cabin with nautical items and antiques, some of which came from her own family and which she personally restored. It was enjoyable to hear her sailing stories, and having grown up here she is very knowledgeable about the area.
The cabin has two bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen and living room, and the spaces are comfortably sized. The front porch has chairs and overlooks the marina. The kitchen has a good full-sized refrigerator and the electric stove works well. In the bathroom, the shower had plenty of hot water, the fan was better than most, and the toilet flushed well (wasn't expecting that!). The living room would seat five people comfortably. The wood burning fireplace works well, and we were able to buy wood at the hardware store. The bedrooms each have one double bed and a small closet; no real space for luggage. There is wi-fi and it worked decently well. There were a couple of space heaters that were definitely needed in the bathroom and living room. We moved them between rooms as needed. One plus is a convenient parking spot right in front of the cabin. We also really enjoyed and appreciated the fresh flowers!
The cabin is fairly rustic and lacking in some amenities you might expect. Though there is a small, ancient TV, you probably won't bother with it, as your laptop screen will be larger and more functional. There were no side tables in either the living room or the bedrooms, so we were continually moving the three kitchen chairs around the house to serve this purpose. There is only one reading lamp in the living room and none in the second bedroom. Half of the toaster worked. There is no dishwasher or garbage disposal. The shower, though unappealing, works; the bathroom sink has separate hot and cold, but the hot barely works so you'll be washing with cold water. There are limited electrical outlets and some of them don't work. If you have a variety of devices to plug in and charge up, you'll want to bring a couple of power strips, extension cords and a couple of three-to-two-prong converters. All of the windows are broken and difficult to get open and shut; we gave up trying after a couple of attempts. Housekeeping is pretty casual. There is no washer and dryer, but the owner gave us a code for the laundry at the marina; it was clean and worked fine (bring a lot of quarters and some detergent).
To sum up, if you are adaptable and don't mind roughing it a bit, you'll enjoy this charming cabin – especially the fantastic location. If you are a bit picky, prefer more modern amenities and like things super clean and convenient, then you might be more comfortable somewhere else.
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I have been staying there for my whole life with my family,I love how it is so close to the water front,and all the historical value it has. It's always so crisp and clean whenever we visited Jana the owner was always so nice and open with is having our dog Luna.7 stars
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This is arguably the best location in Port Townsend. The building is very tired and dated. The furnishings are adequate but not user friendly. In fairness it did meet my basic requirements of lots of hot water, a reasonably comfortable bed and clean linens. When we visited the weather was unseasonably cold and Jana had the unit nice and warm using the gas central heater and an electric oil space heater in the bathroom. There is a large fully equipped kitchen with pretty much everything you need. The pipes are obviously not insulated as it took ages for the water to warm up when you wanted to do the dishes. Minor. The living room had some dated seating and no coffee or end tables so it was difficult to relax with drink or snacks. Unfortunately I am a bit of a TV baby so was disappointed that there was no TV except a tiny tabletop unit with a DVD player attached. There is very good wifi! On the positive side, you can walk everywhere that count in Port Townsend from here. Also due to the time of year and cold weather we couldn't really take advantage of the front porch and outlook.
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Thank you for your graciousness. Letting us stay for one night with no notice. We were so fortunate to find a truly wonderful home. We had a fire in the evening and woke up to coffee and boats coming and going from the harbor. Wild dill and fennel growing everywhere. The smell amazing. Perfect cottage made me think of my family and all my summers spent on the water. I hope I will be lucky enough to come back.
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