Travel & Leisure
January 2001
Inn of the Month
Check out other recent articles:
Los
Angeles Times
November 4, 2001
Shifting
Gears In Marin
By Eileen Hanse
“I
was ready to get off the bike and into the cozy pub of the Pelican Inn. Inside,
a young Irish couple and their visiting mother sat close by, conversing in a thick
brogue. 'You know,' said the daughter to her mother, 'most so-called pubs here
are just a lot of old furniture, but this is authentic.
And it is.
With whitewashed walls, leaded windows and period furnishings, the Pelican
Inn is more 16th century England than modern-day Marin. Our spacious room was
furnished with a queen bed flanked by tapestries, English country prints on the
walls and windows that overlooked stables across the street. With its waterfall
of a shower and a one-night price of about $205 plus tax, it was a far cry from
our rustic cabin the night before--but without being too polished. Worn Persian
runners, low ceilings and slightly off-kilter floors kept it charmingly authentic.
That night we ate near a roaring fire in the inn's dining room. Breakfast,
included in the rate, was hearty: grilled tomatoes, bangers, hickory-smoked bacon,
eggs, toast, strong coffee and orange juice. I felt like I had swallowed a Buick.
But later, as we climbed back over the mountain on a steep trail above Green Gulch,
a Buddhist center and organic farm east of Muir Beach, it served me well.”
Los Angeles
Magazine
May
2001
52
Great Getaways
“This
slate-roofed hideaway tucked in a valley at the center of the Golden Gate National
Recreation Area is so saturated in British hostelry tradition that in each of
the seven guest rooms a tiny stone with a hole hangs over the bed to ward off
witches and rickets. By day, guests can explore nearby hiking trails, catch some
sea mist at rugged Muir Beach, and then refuel on prime rib, Yorkshire pudding,
and cottage pie in front of the fireplace. At night--after a round of pilsners
and darts in the paneled Tudor bar--they retire to snug rooms filled with English
antiques, heavily draped canopy beds, and worn Persian rugs. Morning brings a
copper vase of fresh flowers outside the door and a classic English breakfast
of bacon and eggs, bangers, and grilled tomatoes.”
Travel &
Leisure
January 2000
100
Great Trips for the 21st Century
“If your
idea of a good time is to watch the sunset on a driftwood-strewn cove with your
black Lab and a bottle of the region's fine chardonnay, then seek out Muir Beach
(and good luck, since the tiny seaside community is just a blip on some maps and
not even listed on others). The best place to stay in town, the seven-room Pelican
Inn, is modeled after an English country inn; pub dishes like bangers-and-mash
are big hits on the California-British menu. Innkeeper Katrinka McKay cheerily
directs guests to her favorite spot, the mediation garden at the Green Gulf Farm
& Zen Center, a short walk from the Pelican.”
Coastal
Living
November-December 1999
A
Merry Olde Yule
“Perfectly nestled between
Muir Beach and Muir Woods, the unabashedly English Pelican Inn offers an intimate
respite during the holidays and year-round. Amid the winter green hills of the
Golden Gate National Recreation Area, this surely is a setting as fair as Camelot.
The lodge's Tudor architecture and traditional details are enough to send even
the stodgiest English visitor into a dewy-eyed reverie-and never more so than
during the holiday season. Now, wreaths and mistletoe adorn the scene; Yule logs
burn bright; and merry gentlemen and ladies come a-wassailing. Good cheer flows
like ale at this gracious hostelry.”
New York Times
October
10, 1999
By Harriott Manley
Away from the Crowds at Muir Woods National Monument
“A
few days later, I went for a run along the road to Muir Woods, continuing past
the park toward the sea. About three miles ahead, just before I reached secluded
Muir Beach, I pulled up at the Pelican Inn. This charming lodge, an ivy-clad and
whitewashed reproduction of a 16th-century Tudor country inn, has always been
special to me: it's where I spent my honeymoon night a dozen years ago. Today,
my husband and I—like a lot of residents of the area—still covet weekend
getaways there in one of its seven antique-filled rooms, enjoying a game of darts
in the pub, roast-beef-and-Yorkshire-pudding dinners by an enormous fireplace
in the dining rooom,then a cozy night in a canopy bed.”
Travel & Leisure
50
Great Beach Hotels
“What does a 16th century-style
English inn have to do with California's Marin coast? A lot, it turns out. Sir
Francis Drake beached his ship, the Pelican, nearby 400 years ago. If this inn
had been around back then, Drake would have enjoyed the seven atmospheric bedrooms,
all with canopy beds and Oriental carpets.”
1,000 Places to See
Before You Die
2007
