Laura Ashley’s cabbage-rose design aesthetic lives on at Mendocino inns: lace curtains and flowered wallpaper are the norm. Some call it classic, I call it stale—but it matches the 19th-century gingerbread-cottage architecture. In the top-picks category, I’ve mostly listed places that break this stereotype, or at least do it really well.

Because of their age, many Mendocino inns have paper-thin walls. Choose an upstairs room whenever possible. All provide breakfast. Most have no TVs; if it matters, ask when you book.

Mendocino Motels, Inns, and B&Bs
My favorite place to stay in Mendocino is the Stanford Inn ($$$$). High on a hill, surrounded by lush flowering gardens and acres of rolling land on the banks of the Big River, the Stanford Inn is Mendocino’s only proper resort. Sure, the village’s tiny inns are cute, but you can’t make a move in them without running into other guests.

Not so here. The Stanford Inn’s rooms are in modern buildings with wood-burning fireplaces, knotty-pine-paneled walls, excellent soundproofing, and balconies overlooking gorgeous gardens and a horse paddock. The ocean lies in the distance, its roar never out of ear shot. The indoor swimming pool—a rarity on the Mendocino coast—is gigantic, perfect for laps, and open 24 hours. Town is a ten-minute walk away, but there are free bicycles to get you there faster. The inn’s organic gardens provide food for the vegetarian dining room, the Ravens, which makes a terrific breakfast. The Stanford Inn is also dog-friendly.

On the edge of the village, Alegria Oceanfront Inn & Cottages ($$$$) is Mendocino’s only inn with private beach access. Perched on a cliff above the mouth of the Big River, the converted house has rambling gardens and a series of interconnected decks overlooking the ocean. Some rooms have drop-dead water views. The decor is not overly fussy, and has an inviting, homey feel that’s instantly comfortable. Grown-up bohos love it. I do to. The service is just right—personable without being personal. Don’t skip the mouth-puckering lemon bars at tea time. Yum.

For the classic Mendocino experience, stay at the Joshua Grindle Inn ($$$–$$$$), Mendocino’s original B&B. An elegant 1869 Victorian house with gingerbread trim, it’s ideally located near the heart of the village on two lush acres of land with gorgeous gardens and distant ocean views. Service is superb: The charming innkeepers are there when you need them, then disappear when you don’t. Rooms are decorated with Americana country furnishings (think quilts and wing chairs); it’s predictable, but matches the house and manages to be pretty, but not overly frilly. Some rooms have fireplaces. Say hello to Charles and Cindy; they’re really nice people.

Bless the gay boys. Done up in a blue-and-white nautical theme, the John Dougherty House ($$$–$$$$) is one of Mendocino’s only inns that looks like it was styled by real decorators. And it was. Some of the design touches are too aggressively urban, like the flat-panel TVs, but thank God someone in Mendo finally had the cojones to break ranks with other innkeepers and import real style to this sleepy little town.

Likewise at the Packard House($$$$), which looks like something off the pages of Architectural Digest, with fabulous limestone bathrooms and contemporary design touches like sisal rugs and butter-soft leather club chairs that beautifully complement the classic lines of the Victorian house. You’ll find copies of Wallpaper, not Country Living, on the coffee table in the living room. ‘Nuf said.

I’d be remiss not to mention the MacCallum House ($$$–$$$$), which I swear must be run by the Mendocino mafia. Every year they grow bigger and bigger, with an ever-expanding inventory of rooms on multiple properties. They’re marketing geniuses, and they’re all over the web. But choose your room carefully. I don’t care for those in the main house; they’re attractively furnished, but they’re upstairs from a busy restaurant and have thin walls; and foot traffic up and down the stairs seems never to cease. Book the barn, one of the cottages, or the way-cool water tower. Skip the so-called luxury suites: they’re overpriced and in a modern house with little charm.

Looking for a rural retreat? Leave your Lancôme at home, and head 25 miles north of Mendocino, past the tiny hamlet of Westport, to Howard Creek Ranch ($–$$$). The last permanent structures before the beginning of the Lost Coast, the 1880 ranch house and carriage barn stand on 60 idyllic acres across the road from the ocean. This is the boonies; you may even see a bear. Rooms in the original farmhouse feel like a traditional B&B, but my first-choice rooms are in outlying buildings. Those in the carriage barn have stunning woodwork, fashioned of recycled old-growth redwood by the owner, a master carpenter. The decor is strictly Americana country. Don’t even consider bringing kids. The only drawback? Having to drive 15mi to Fort Bragg to eat dinner. But ask about other options when you book.

Rates are great at the Blue Heron Inn ($$). Upstairs from the Moosse Café, right in the Village of Mendocino, the inn has only three small rooms (two share a bath), but the beds are deliciously comfortable and have high-thread-count linens. Rooms are small, but at these prices, so what?

If you’re tight on cash but want the classic Mendocino experience of a Victorian B&B, try the Sea Gull Inn ($–$$). The rooms are compact and simply decorated with a few frilly touches. One teeny-tiny room, without a shower, costs a mere $65—a steal, considering the inn’s locations smack in the middle of the village. Continental breakfast comes to your door on a tray, a nice touch. The meandering gardens are perfect for dozing off with a book on your face.

Across Hwy 1 from the village, the Blackberry Inn ($$–$$$) has comfy rooms with traditional American furnishings like rag rugs, brass lamps, and tufted-velvet easy chairs. It’s basically a fancy motel with a façade of Old West-style storefronts (yes, they’re cheesy, but you don’t see them once you’re in your room). Many rooms have fireplaces (some gas, some wood-burning), and there are distant ocean views. The place is understated and quiet: I like it because it’s totally unfussy, and the innkeepers are nice like my grandmother. And the rates are damn good for Mendocino. Town is a 10-minutes walk away, or a two-minute drive.

I have mixed feelings about the Mendocino Hotel ($–$$$$). Town’s original hotel, it was built in 1878 and has some modest rooms with shared baths and thin walls, but they’re a bargain in pricy Mendocino, and the place is rich with history. There’s even a resident ghost (scaredy cats, fear not: she hangs out in the dining room). For thicker walls and modern plumbing, book one of the garden suites, built a few decades ago. Alas, they’re style free and provide no sense of place.

Fort Bragg Motels, Inns, and B&Bs
You’ll get more bang for your buck by staying in Fort Bragg, a blue-collar lumber town 10 miles north of Mendocino. Think of it as Mendo’s ugly stepsister.

The best reason to stay in Fort Bragg are: a.) you can’t afford Mendocino, or b.) Mendocino’s inns are full. Still, there are some good places. Here’s a selective list.

Of Fort Bragg’s B&B inns, the Weller House ($$–$$$) is by far the nicest. A beautifully restored 1886 Victorian, the inn has a grand floor-to-ceiling redwood-paneled ballroom on the third floor, where guests have breakfast in the morning, then congregate over backgammon boards in the evening. There’s a hot tub in the adjacent water tower, town’s highest structure. The decor is traditional Victorian; leave the kids home or they might break something.

I love the Rendezvous Inn ($–$$), if only because the best chef on the Mendocino coast cooks your breakfast (really). Rooms are on the second floor of a Craftsman-style house; on the main floor is the top restaurant on the Mendocino Coast (read my review). Rooms aren’t at all fancy, but they’re comfortable enough—if you’re not a fussy traveler. Out back there’s a cottage ($$$) that sleeps four, good for families.

Budgeteers: If you’re considering one of the motels on the suburban strip of Hwy 1 south of downtown, be forewarned that most do not have air conditioning, which means you’ll have to sleep with the windows open and endure truck noise. Of these cheap motels, the Super 8 ($) has totally generic rooms, but it has air conditioning.

On ocean-front bluffs north of downtown, there are three motels in a row. Choose the Hi-Sea Inn ($), the least pretentious of the lot. Who cares if your foam pillow is wafer thin when you’ve got the Pacific roaring right outside your window?

The best bargain on the entire north coast is the Colombi Motel ($); every unit has two rooms, either two bedrooms, or a bedroom and a kitchen—a boon for families on a budget.

If you have kids, the Holiday Inn Express ($$) has the most family-friendly amenities, chief among them a swimming pool. Otherwise, you’ve seen this motel in a hundred different American cities.

Vacation Rentals

Vacation rentals can be tricky to navigate, but the payoff is huge. Whether you’re a budget traveler who can’t afford the double-whammy cost of hotels and restaurants, or a luxury traveler who wants seclusion and over-the-top grandeur, you’ll get more space and privacy for your money by booking a rental property. And you’ll have a kitchen too. In Mendocino, we recommend Coast Getaways who rent vacation homes in village of Mendocino and the nearby coast. 415-874-9480. Read our vacation rentals how-to guide to find our how, and where, to rent.