Two Santa Cruz California
Vacation Rentals in One
Spend your Santa Cruz California Vacation Steps From Beach Bonfires
and the Best Surfing in California
The view from the deck of second-story unit.
Click here for a photo tour of Villa Vista.
• The view stretching from the Boardwalk to Pleasure Point surfing grounds is what a Santa Cruz California vacation is all about!
• Nice extras like a jetted tub in one bathroom of each unit and detachable shower heads; drawers full of games, movies and CDs
• The location is the perfect antidote to the
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk crowds.
• Ultimate flexibility -- especially if you’re planning a family vacation for a multi-generation group. En-suite bathrooms, your choice of two twins or a king-sized bed, separate living areas.
• Lots of space inside and three parking spots per unit
Sometimes you want a sure thing. According to a generation of repeat renters, Villa Vista is that for a Santa Cruz California vacation: enviably located, comfortable as a slipper, with a reliably spectacular, wraparound view. The idea for two flats with three master suites apiece came from the layout of an Acapulco vacation rental, the owners, Ginger and Bob, loved. The top unit has better views; the ground floor has a hot tub. Together, they accommodate 12 with a private bathroom for everybody (not so common in large rentals). If you're planning a family vacation, looking for reunion ideas or graduation celebration ideas, follow the lead of families and friends who have been gathering at Villa Vista -- some every year -- for two decades to celebrate everything from 80th birthdays to college graduations. While flexibility is a bonus, it's Villa Vista's unbeatable views that captivate. The two units face a quiet, dog-friendly beach nested between the bike path along the cliffs of Pleasure Point and a serene lagoon. Two walls of windows look out to sparkling ocean by day. And at dusk they showcase the lights of the
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
away across Monterey Bay. If you're set on a Santa Cruz California vacation, this is a great place to be.
Villa Vista … in a nutshell
Perfect for
Up to six couples, singles, small families, reunions, girlfriend getaways. Looking for anniversary ideas or graduation celebration ideas? A Santa Cruz California vacation at Villa Vista could be the perfect solution. Unit Configuration
- Top floor: 3 bedrooms/3 bathroom flat w/private balcony (sleeps 6)
- Ground floor: 3 bedrooms/3 bathroom flat with private hot tub (sleeps 6)
Price
Per night (three-night minimum)
$1,250 to $2,000 per unit for three nights, depending on time of year and midweek or weekend stay Per week
$3,000 to $4,000 per unit, depending on the time of year, holidays
Kids? Yes. All the usual precautions apply, of course. Watch small children closely on the deck, near the spa, on the rocks in back and the near the sometimes busy road in front. There’s no lifeguard on the beach. Pets? No
The top floor unit had soaring ceilings and expansive views.
Villa Vista ...what it’s like to stay
When we arrived at Villa Vista, we just stood and stared. Kids were chasing the waves crashing onto the pocket of sand outside our unit. One guy swung his play-blissed dog around at the end of a stick. Surfers paddled out to catch the waves of Little Windansea (a patch of water known for its A-frame waves, named after a prime surf spot in La Jolla). In the distance, kite boarders were flying across the water. Late on Friday afternoon -- prime time -- there were people, but no crowds. All the ingredients of a Santa Cruz California vacation. By the time I noticed the décor in our upstairs apartment was a tad outdated, I just looked back out at thumping waves and endless, glittering blue ocean through the two walls of window and thought, “Who cares?” I’ll acknowledge that Villa Vista seems caught in a 1980s time-warp (think shag carpet and Princess phones), but this two-unit vacation rental is a gem for a lot of reasons you won’t get tired of. First of all, the units don’t scrimp on space. There’s plenty of room to kick back and relax as a group. The soaring ceilings, skylights and two walls of windows in the upper unit location make you feel like you’re floating. The wraparound deck ends in a large outdoor barbecue area. Of course, the main event is a beach location that has Santa Cruz California Vacation written all over it. What seems like a small pocket extends into a gorgeous stretch of sand, which eventually becomes a broad rock ledge where the crashing water makes a spectacular show. (Take your camera!) When we returned from the beach, we continued our walk on a path lined with fragrant eucalyptus trees along the Moran Park lagoon, headed for the pedestrian walkway along the cliffs of Pleasure Point. This is a great place to sit and watch three and four surfers ride the same wave, sometimes all the way to shore. We’d been to the
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
(always a good time), so we headed toward the Victorian-style town of
Capitola California
and browsed boutiques and antique shops. (Visiting this town is a must on a Santa Cruz California vacation of any length.) At night beach bonfires glow on the beach below us, and the lights of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk glittered around the bend of the bay. By the end of the first full day the stress we arrived with had drained right away.
Lay of the land
Villa Vista is designed to carry out Ginger’s and Bob’s primary goal for the second home where they also spend time: to make you relax. Bleached-wood, porthole windows and muted sand tones are perfect for the laid back California beach house, which is decorated with Bob’s own oil paintings. Villa Vista’s almost-identical flats each have a spacious living area that’s ideal for casual entertaining or just kicking back and soaking up the view on your Santa Cruz California vacation. There’s a wet bar, stone fireplace and fully equipped kitchen in the cozy ground floor unit. Upstairs: a wraparound deck with plenty of space to barbecue your fresh catch. The ground floor apartment has a concrete patio with a picnic table and a private hot tub. The second-story flat has a soaring beamed ceiling with skylights in the living area and floor-to-ceiling windows cover two walls. The third wall is an entertainment center with a small electric wood stove-style heater (supplies more ambiance than heat these days). The kitchen island faces the ocean, which gives new meaning to be being “stuck” in the kitchen preparing meals – whether by microwave or Cuisinart. One master in the second story apartment has a vaulted beamed ceiling and a porthole window. In both units, all three bedrooms have twin beds that convert to a king-sized bed. Plus a feature I appreciate that too many homes forget: bedside reading lamps. One of the three bathrooms in each unit has a jetted bathtub. (The others have showers.) And all are conveniently equipped with hair dryers. The views from the ground floor apartment are less expansive, but still exceptional. With a gas fireplace insert in a rock wall, it seems cozier. Everything you need for a proper Santa Cruz California vacation. While you can’t step directly onto the beach sand from Villa Vista (unless you scramble across some rocks), it’s easy to skirt the neighboring house and be on the sand in seconds.
The ground floor unit has a cozier feel and its own hot tub.
Amenities
Everything you’d expect, in each unit:
• Telephone (free local calls)
• Wi-Fi (DSL)
• Fully stocked kitchen(s) with all the equipment, utensils and serving ware you need to prepare Thanksgiving dinner for 12
• TV with cable/satellite, DVD/CD player and /VCR
• A library of art, history and travel books, novels and magazines
• Jetted bath tub in one bathroom
• Washer and dryer in each unit (two of each in the ground floor flat!)
• Three marked off-street parking spaces per unit
Villa Vista is on a local's beach made for families and water sports.
The very best things
• That wraparound view is what a Santa Cruz California vacation is all about
• Nice extras like a jetted tub in one bathroom of each unit and detachable shower heads, as well as drawers full of games, (VHS) movies and CDs
• The location couldn’t be better when you want to escape the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk crowds. Bike along East Cliff Drive. The captivating village of Capitola California is just five minutes away. Bonus: the sound of the surf drowns out sound of traffic on East Cliff Drive.
• Ultimate flexibility —especially if you’re planning a family vacation for a multi-generation group. En-suite bathrooms, your choice of two twins or a king-sized bed, separate living areas. If your Santa Cruz California vacation includes a big group, the flexibility Villa Vista offers is a huge plus. For example, young families can have the ground floor flat and all 12 of you can gather for dinner and a view in the second-story unit.
• Lots of space inside and three parking spots per unit
What's not perfect
• "Retro" style (think: Princess phone, shag carpet and doilies) and un-homey touches like plastic corner guards on hallway walls might make you cringe; however, the units are absolutely immaculate, well-equipped and plenty spacious. And the view never gets old.
• The ground floor unit has nice beach views, but the patio opens onto gravel parking lot; it also has lower ceilings and less light than the upper
• You can hear the voices and footsteps of renters in the other unit (along with the sound of the surf!).
In an emergency
In each unit, Ginger has posted a long list of telephone numbers for local service people she’s grown to trust over two decades.
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Why not add a weekend at another California beach house?
Click here to see what's available in
in Pacific Grove, Bodega Bay or Dillon Beach.
Villa Vista: The Owner’s Favorites …
Santa Cruz Art & History Museum Evergreen Cemetery Tour
A tour of this old cemetery, established in the 1850s, is well worth an hour of your Santa Cruz California vacation and the $1 fee. Knowledgeable docents share anecdotes and memories of early residents buried here – pioneers, former slaves, women of the West. You can even take take home a gravestone rubbing.
Johnny’s Harborside
No Santa Cruz California vacation is complete without a trip the Harbor. This casual restaurant has a great view of the Santa Cruz Yacht Harbor and Monterey Bay. But the phenomenal Fish & Chips (tempura-battered cod and garlic fries) keep the locals, like us, coming back.
Gayle’s Bakery, Capitola
Take a number. It’s not unusual to wait for 20 people to be served before you’re up. Take the time to peruse the inventory of desserts, bread, salads, and sandwiches -- all superb. There’s a 50% discount for day-old items and the 10% off for seniors.
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