We'll be celebrating our big day on a private property VERY close to the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens. It's technically in Fort Bragg, but along Highway One are a series of towns that are only minutes apart. We probably wouldn't recommend staying any farther South than Albion, or farther North than Fort Bragg. They're all very close together, though--from Albion to Fort Bragg is only 25 minutes, and from downtown Mendocino to our venue is about 8 minutes.

Rooms that are already booked under Claire's name

We want to make sure that all of you coming to town to celebrate with us have the opportunity to secure accommodations that fit your needs/desires accordingly. As we've mentioned in the Q&A section, most hotels in the area won't let us block out/hold rooms. But in a panic-fueled frenzy, I (Claire) went to Booking.com and rented all the available/potentially viable rooms she could that have a free cancellation policy. (These are few and far between.) The thumbnails to the left represent those hotels; in order, from left-right: Joshua Grindle Inn, Mendocino Hotel, Atrium Bed & Breakfast, North Cliff Hotel, and Little River Inn. We will need to release unclaimed rooms in a few months, so if you would like one of these rooms, let us know ASAP!  We'll work with you to transfer the reservation over. An inventory of these rooms can be found on the first tab of this (ridiculously intense, we know) Google Spreadsheet, j+c accommodations. (Also at the bottom of this page.)

Other Options

There are tons of other great options, though, and we've compiled some information/personal notes from our Mendocino visit on the spreadsheet below. The first tab will show you the aforementioned reserved rooms, the second tab will give you some other great possible hotels & B&Bs, (which we couldn't reserve,) and the third tab is a list of suggestions of some great vacation rentals. There are PLENTY more out there, but we wanted to give everyone a starting point and ideally make this as easy as possible. As an alternative option, there are also many campgrounds in the area, if that's up your alley!

Hopefully this spreadsheet is helpful and not anxiety-inducing.

Or feel free to completely ignore this and forge your own path as well!

Why don't you have a hotel block for the guests? What's wrong with you?

Well, as you may find in the hotel/B&B search, Mendo isn't really home to any large chain hotels, which we actually think is pretty neat. Most places are family-owned and only have a couple dozen rooms, and they just aren't willing to put a "hold" on their accommodations. And the majority of the hotels will only book a room once you've paid a deposit. (Usually 1 night's stay.) That's why we can't buy out a hotel or hold a block of rooms for guests, and that's why we're urging people to get this out of the way ASAP.

What if I ignore all of this and don't book soon? Will I have to sleep in a hotel lobby?

Of course not! There are plenty of options in the area, and we know there will still be options available all the way up until September. We just wanted to be upfront and warn everyone that this will be a heavily-trafficked weekend, so you may be limited in your choices the longer you wait. If you know for certain that you'll be able to come, we highly recommend getting this out of the way and booking for that weekend now. BUT! We'll hold the rooms we've booked (see this spreadsheet) for a couple months, and if you claim one now but need to cancel later, that won't be a problem.

Vacation rental or hotel?

Totally up to you! But you'll find that this area is particularly rich in amazing vacation rentals (no pun intended) so there are definitely ample opportunities to stay in a neat property. Plus, this provides the possibility of sharing costs, making your own breakfast, etc. if you're looking to keep expenses to a minimum. NOTE: it seems that the majority of properties are listed on VRBO as opposed to Airbnb. Also, if you find a property on VRBO that is also listed on VACASA, book through VACASA! You'll save about $25 on booking fees.

Booking.com and TripAdvisor say all the rooms are sold out!

They're dirty liars. If you see a hotel that you're interested in on a site like the ones above, but it's telling you there aren't any more rooms for your dates, call the hotel directly. (Or take a look at their website.) We found that many of the area hotels only make a few rooms available to these booking sites, but have additional availability outside of those platforms.

I don't know my travel dates yet! 

If you find a place you want to stay, we'd recommend booking for the minimum--say, Friday & Saturday nights--the 2 nights where competition will likely be the highest. (Most have a 2-night minimum on the weekends anyway.) Then, as you get closer and know your details more firmly, you can try to adjust/extend your reservation. It will be much easier/more likely to find availability if you extend than start from scratch.

What if I book now and need to cancel?

A lot of these hotels, since they are smaller/family-operated, have a small cancellation fee even if you're many months out. (Most are about $20.) In our view, it's much safer to risk this expense than end up without the place you want. AND, we'll be adding a discussion board to the website, so anyone who wants to find a roommate, needs to offload a rental they no longer need, etc, will be able to do so.