Merrybrook Lodge, Boulder Creek

The cabin was clean and functional, but I felt it overpriced. For $150/night all I was getting was bare bones accommodation. However, the next morning, I spied a mother duck with her ducklings paddling down the stream just off our cabin's deck. The sweetness of that scene more than made up for the lodge's utter lack of charm.

It's just north of "down town". Stayed there a couple times, and relatives have too. No bells and whistles, but easy to get to, and no traffic in the cabin area. Water pressure is a bit low. Place is fine though, within walking distance from Scopazzis.

The San Lorenzo Valley is actually in the mountains, between San Jose and Santa Cruz. It's a stretch of about 20 miles, spanning four towns: Boulder Creek, Brookdale (real small, but featuring the famous Brookdale Lodge), Ben Lomond, and Felton. There are places to stay along the way but the MerryBrook is special because 1) it's mostly cabins with easy handicapped acccess. 2) you can walk down to the creek to relax. 3) the cabins have wood stoves if you go in the winter, not that it gets that cold. 4) Some cabins, like #5, where our family stayed this past weekend (7/13/07-7/15) are plenty large and have decks, some overlooking the river, with full kitchens and a separate bedroom and a main room with TV and a couch that converts to a bed and an extra twin bed. The kitchen has a microwave, toaster, range with oven, large frige with freezer, sink, cleaning stuff, eating ware, etc. Want more? Ask the guy at the office, who is always around. One cabin has a ping-pong table. There are a few motel-like units we didn't check out. It is very quiet, even in the middle of July, and cool, because you're under the redwoods. The cabins are non-smoking but you can smoke outside on your deck, on the plastic chairs and small table provided. I think there are some barbeques at some of the other cabins. Best thing is, you can walk to downtown Boulder Creek (2/10s of a mile). Just remember the town rolls up its sidewalks early. Also: Easy access to many state parks and of course, Santa Cruz. We paid $150 for 3 people for cabin 5, they will charge less for 2 ($130), and probably much less off-season and if you grumble about your AAA discount. The stars and the redwoods are worth it.

The cabins smell like old old socks. The little kitchen areas are filthy...old tin foil around the burners, towels that saw better years 10 years ago, you have to check out by 11am and they charge whatever they feel like. The place is filthy, and at $150 a noght I'd expect a heck of a lot more. Depressing!

I love these cabins. They are very cute and clean. They have little kitchens that you can cook some meals in. The surrounding trees and the little creek are very serene. It is wonderful for relaxing. I plan on making another trip this year with my entire family.

Excellent place! Nice, quite, very clean and best of all, excellent hospitality from the owner. Cabins overlooking the creek are the best cabins we ever been..

Cabins are run down, musty and hot. Do not go in mid-summer (no air conditioning or fans). There are 0 amenities that one would expect at this price point. (Our room was $220 a night!!) Ohhh... cable TV! How about some shampoo in the bathrooms, maybe even an extra roll of toilet paper? You can also look forward to taking all your garbage out and finding the dumpster located somewhere on the grounds. Don't worry, in case you forget there are plenty of signs littered about the cabin reminding you to clean up and remove all trash—this is how I like to spend my vacation! Our room was supposed to sleep 4. There is one king bed in the bedroom and 2 sofas in the front of the TV. No sheets for these "beds" however a couple pillows and blankets were provided. Also be sure to tell them EXACTLY how many people are staying there. We had one less than we thought (and made this clear on check in) yet were charged for four. We talked to some friends the next day who had also spent the night at Merrybrook and found they were charged $70 less than us. Same number of people, same cabin lay out. The owners gave no explanation why and were quite rude. The lodge was described as having a quiet location on route 236. This was not the case. It is right on the road and traffic noise of cars and motorcycles accelerating out of town is very loud late into the night. I cannot recommend staying at Merrybrook.