Sometimes you long to jet off to faraway lands.
Other times, you crave a less taxing getaway that’s more easily reachable by car.
For times like that, look no further than the Olema House, a perfect spot to act as home base as you explore the beauty of nearby Point Reyes National Seashore.
That’s exactly what my husband and I did last week when I was invited to be a guest of the inn for two nights.
The boutique inn, located just off Highway 1 in the town of Olema, has a recommendation from the Michelin Guide. It is part of the Mosaic Hotel Collection, which operates half a dozen hotels, including North Block in Yountville and The Madrona in Healdsburg.
It was originally built 150 years ago as a hotel and saloon on the old stagecoach route. Today, it retains that rustic charm yet with all the modern accoutrements one would desire with a total of 24 rooms and cottages set on four acres beside a creek.
It boasts a market, where one can pick up snacks, breakfast baked goods, and coffee, as well as its own restaurant, Due West. A lot of hotel restaurants in semi-remote areas may fall back on being just good enough. But the food at Due West surprised by exceeding expectations. So much so, that we ate there both nights rather than venturing elsewhere on the second one.
The restaurant is not open for breakfast. But at the market next door, you can pick up banana bread ($4), fresh raspberries, a chia pudding, yogurt, specialty coffee or matcha drinks, or a bacon, egg and cheese burrito ($12) to start your day.
Step inside the hotel lobby that’s decorated with comfy chairs done up in sheepskin and cowhide. A bookcase holds a range of binoculars that you can check out to use on your hikes. Bags of dominoes sit on another shelf that you can take back to your room to play.
Our suite was in the main house, up a flight of stairs from the lobby. The website cautions that these suites feature a steep staircase, and that’s no joke.
The main floor features a sitting area with a flat-panel TV above a fireplace, a coffee station, a refrigerator, and the bathroom. French doors open out onto a balcony that overlooks the fire pit below.
Climb those steep stairs, which thoughtfully have motion-sensor lights, to find a loft just large enough for a king bed and a small closet.
Back on the main floor, there are welcome gifts: a bottle of Olema House red wine, along with a basket of snacks that includes potato chips, a chocolate bar, and house-baked chocolate chip cookies.
You can bet those cookies came in very handy, too, as we toted them on treks to the serene cypress tree tunnel that formed naturally over the years as the towering trees grew together to form a lush canopy; the Point Reyes Lighthouse that’s reachable by traversing 313 steep, narrow steps; and Drake’s Beach and the Point Reyes Lighthouse Station, both places where you just might encounter huge elephant seals closer than expected.
After amassing a 12,000 step count for the day, we settled into a table at Due West for glasses of wine and an appropriately named Point Reyes Punch ($16), a rum drink bursting with orange, pineapple, King Floyd’s cherry cacao bitters, and lime for a satisfying, boozy, adult riff on childhood fruit punch.
With a long, dark bar outfitted with a chandelier, wood tabletops, and plenty of windows, the restaurant has a relaxed vibe.
Since you’re on the coast, oysters are a given here. Half a dozen Tomales Bay oysters ($28) get dressed with lemon-garlic butter, then cooked, leaving them plump and juicy.
I’m a fan of Brickmaiden Bread in Point Reyes Station, and slices of the tangy, chewy sourdough loaf come with butter from Straus Family Creamery in nearby Marshall.
I like that the restaurant goes the extra effort. Take the fried calamari ($17) served with tartar. The lightly breaded, fried rings and tentacles sport a crisp, lacing coating that’s satisfying own their own. But the chef gives the same treatment to slices of fennel and Anaheim pepper, and adds them to the mix, making the dish more interesting.
My husband raved about the deeply flavorful broth of the cioppino ($38) that was infused with concentrated seafood flavor, as well as a little hit of spice. The bowl was chock-full of prawns, clams, and rock cod.
My mushroom “pot pie” ($24) also was a winner. Hot and flaky right out of the oven, the pretty golden ring of puff pastry was heaped with plenty of cremini mushrooms and peas, along with chunks of chicken (an additional $8), all in a creamy, velvety sauce.
For dessert, there is what’s billed as a Basque-style cheesecake with strawberries ($12). While tasty, it wasn’t what I would consider Basque-style that usually is characterized by a firmness at the rim that gives way to an increasingly softer — even oozy — center. This was more New York-style with the same creamy yet denser texture throughout.
The next night, we took advantage of Happy Hour, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, when you can enjoy a Negroni for $10 plus food specials that included half a dozen oysters on the half shell for $20 that were pristine and perfect.
You can also enjoy two smoked cod croquettes for $9, which are absolutely delicious. They’re crunchy on the outside, and creamy within with an ample amount of the smoky fish. They could have easily just been served on their small pool of tartar sauce. But the kitchen goes one better by garnishing with crunchy, paper-thin slices of apple and fennel — a nice touch.
You can also enjoy two fish tacos for $10. They’re lightly battered and fried crisp, then snuggled inside warm, soft flour tortillas with a creamy slaw.
We also took advantage of being there on a Tuesday night to try the Blue Plate Special. A different one is offered Monday through Friday — and it’s a deal at $29.95.
Tuesday’s Blue Plate Special is fried chicken. You get three pieces of fried chicken, moist and crunchy, with potato salad and coleslaw on the plate. You also get a sizeable green salad with a few cucumbers and watermelon radish slices in the jumble, all lightly tossed in a sherry vinaigrette. Additionally, you get your choice of a glass of house red or white wine. In this day and age, I call that a bargain.
The only addition we added was a side of broccolini ($9), an ample amount cooked al dente with garlic and olive oil.
We skipped dessert that night to save room for s’mores. When the sun goes down, the fire pit behind the hotel gets lit, and all the fixings for the campfire favorite, complete with long wooden sticks, is set out for you to indulge. Who can resist?
Relax by the fire in an Adironack chair or on the wooden swing built of repurposed logs. Or play a round of cornhole.
The Olema House makes it easy to unplug, unwind, and absolutely chill out.
