The cottage was perfect in many ways! The profile picture is actually the front porch of the main house where the owners live, but there is a shared deck that connects the Main house to the Boat house cottage. The deck has plenty of sitting space to take in the beautiful scenery.
The cottage was perfect--very clean and accommodating. We thought it was odd that the shower was in the laundry room instead of the bathroom, but it was actually genius-- so while someone was in the shower--the bathroom was still accessible.
You pretty much only need your toothbrush and a change of clothes; the owners provide everything else from toiletry items (shampoo, conditioner, and soaps) to laundry needs (detergent, dryer sheets) to linens (extra pillow, blankets, sheet sets) to coffee, coffee creamer , milk, and bottled water.
We had nice weather so we did a lot of walking in Mystic. EVERYTHING was well within walking distance. Food, shopping, and even a playground. And just about everything was open in this resort town. (Unlike some towns who have an off -season such as Berlin, St Michaels, Watch Hill...)
This cottage is only 2 streets away from the Mystic River waterfront boardwalk and the drawbridge. Between those two streets (Willow & Cottrell) is the very clean and well maintained Mystic River Park and Playground.
This rental is also perfect for destinations beyond Mystic. We often visit Watch Hill RI, and go even further up the coast to Bar Harbor ME this will be our go to lodging for future New England trips as either a waypoint or a destination. We are from MD and stayed at the Boat house and roamed Mystic the first day, then next morning went to Watch Hill- only 25 minutes up the road we went for the beach and my daughter likes to go visit Harkness House. Not much was open due to the off season, and also power outages and damage from the storms. And then returned to mystic for dinner and evening strolling though Mystic. On our way home through New York we were able to jump off of I95 and hit PSleepy Hollow and Tarrytown on the
Sadly, New England was hit by some really bad storms just before our arrival that did quite a bit of damage, and the standing water, downed branches and higher than average winds were still present, and things appeared in slight disarray during our stay-- so, we did not partake in all that the owners had to offer, (bicycles,kayaks, fire pit) but that still did not negatively impact our stay in any way.