How to choose a room style at Smart Pine Harbor

The twelve rooms at Smart Pine Harbor are planned in three styles. The differences are real and worth understanding before you enquire, particularly if you are deciding between the Open-air Bath Suite and the Cliff Edge Room.

Pine View Room: the baseline, which is not a compromise

Eight of the twelve rooms are Pine View Rooms. They are the smallest style, but small is relative: each is planned with a floor-to-ceiling window, a cedar interior and an indoor soaking tub beside the window. The view runs through the pine canopy to the sea, which means the water is present but framed rather than panoramic.

For a single night, or for guests who expect to spend most of the day outdoors, this is the sensible choice. Rates and what is included are given by email for each stay, because they depend on the season and on what you ask for.

Cliff Edge Room: more sky, a private deck

The four Cliff Edge Rooms sit at the outer edge of the site, where the slope falls away most steeply. The view over the water is wider and less filtered by trees. Each room has a private timber deck with space for two chairs and a small table, and the same cedar finish and indoor tub as the Pine View style.

These rooms suit guests who want to be on the deck: reading, watching the water, having breakfast outside. If you are sensitive to wind or heights, say so when you write, because the deck is exposed on purpose.

Open-air Bath Suite: a private bath under the sky

The four Open-air Bath Suites have a private bath on a separate timber deck, screened from the neighbouring rooms by fencing and the edge of the forest. Each suite also has a small sitting room with a low table and floor cushions, apart from the sleeping area, and the floor area is larger than in the other styles.

Whether the water in a bath is hot-spring water (onsen in the legal sense) or heated tap water is stated per room in our reply, and we use the word onsen only where it applies. If a private open-air bath is the main reason you are writing, put that first in your message.

A note on length of stay

The kitchen is planned to change its menu daily, and the forest and the shoreline look different from one day to the next. One night gives you the place. Two nights give you something of its rhythm. Three or more is where many people stop planning and start resting, though that is only our impression and not a promise about how anyone will feel.

If you are still unsure, the questions people usually ask page covers the practical points, or you can write to stay@smartpineharbor.com and describe what you are looking for. Nothing is booked until we confirm it to you in writing.