Cliff Cottage Inn

Cliff Cottage Inn is located in the heart of the Historic Downtown of Eureka Springs, Arkansas, a community which is fast-rivalling Las Vegas for hassle-free weddings. This Victorian artists' colony, population 2100, lies in the Ozark Mountains and offers romantic activities.

Describe your most romantic room.

Actually, all our suites and cottages are romantic since we specialize in romantic getaways and honeymoons. We are an all-suites and cottages B&B -- this means, all our accommodations are large and very private suites or individual historic cottages. They all have Jacuzzis for two with monogrammed Inn bubble-soap, fridges with Champagne or white wine and other sodas chilled and waiting for the guest, and in the morning our elf delivers a full-gourmet breakfast on a silver tray to the suites (a basket to the cottages).

The suites are tastefully decorated with art objects which the innkeeper (Sandra) has collected on her world travels -- she singlehanded a 35-foot sailboat in the Pacific for 7 years and collected a lot of wonderful things during her adventures. One of the cottages is Victorian (1880) and filled with wonderful antiques, including an antique piano! The other cottage is decorated in a very elegant safari theme with antique furnishings and paintings which Sandra's hubby Arthur brought from his homeland in South Africa.

Pretend you are a couple visiting your property for the first time. What would you plan for your special weekend?

Arrive at the Inn, pop the Champagne to unwind from the trip, either enjoying it on your private balcony, or on your private front porch overlooking all of magical Eureka. Friday at dusk, drive up to the Great Passion Play for a spectacular view of Eureka and the Ozarks from the Christ of the Ozarks Statue, then come back into the village for a fabulous dinner at one of the many celebrated restaurants for which Eureka is famous.

After dinner, a carriage ride thru the Historic District and back to your suite or cottage for a relaxing dip in your private hot tub or jacuzzi. Maybe lay back and watch a romantic movie on your VCR (the Inn has a huge selection of movies they share with guests). And of course, those cookies the elf left for a midnight snack....yummy!

Saturday morning, after a splendid breakfast delivered by the Inn's elf, how about a wonderful trail ride through the Ozark Mountains (especially nice in the autumn), or a canoe ride down the beautiful White River -- the innkeeper can arrange these. During the afternoon, what fun to browse the many galleries and specialty shops of downtown Eureka with lunch in one of the great restaurants. In the evening, maybe a boat sunset cruise on Beaver Lake aboard the Inn's 24-foot pontoon boat with a Victorian Picnic Supper while anchored in one of the many picturesque coves of the lake.

Then back to town for some pub-crawling -- Eureka is famous for Blues and there is always somewhere to dance the light-fantastic. Sunday morning, you might like to get up and take an early-morning walk winding above the Inn where white-tailed deer and even wild turkeys wink at you as you pass by. Then back to the Inn for another one of those scrumptious breakfasts delivered by the elf.

What are some of the most unique aspects of the Cliff Cottage Inn?

Sandra has been travelling since she went to school in Scotland at age 11, then later got a degree from Grenoble, University in France. She has lived in Jamaica for an extended period of time, and then of course, the seven-year sail from San Francisco to 1837 miles off the Galapagos....and after that, she goes every year somewhere new for 2 months.

Last Christmas, she and Arthur took toys to 1200 kids in Nicaragua and helped teach English and do repairs to a church in the middle of the wilds -- Sandra was "camp cook." Arthur came to Eureka last year -- he is originally from South Africa where he taught at Rhodes University for 21 years. He is a renowned expert on Chaucer and Tolkien and studied at Oxford under Christopher Tolkien. He conducts Tolkien seminars at the Inn from time to time.

The Inn also has an art gallery featuring works by local artists and this year, also works by artists in Nicaragua which they are trying to sell to help the artists down there. There's always something new and exciting happening at the Inn. Sandra founded two theatre companies in Eureka and the smell of the greasepaint isn't far behind her. The Inn, itself, is an interesting architectural landmark -- it's the first kit home ever featured in Sears' catalogue. Cliff Cottage, designed by Eastlake, was featured in the catalogue, bought by a local fellow and shipped in to Eureka on the first trip of the Eureka Railroad in 40 boxes. It's now a State and National Historic Landmark.

What's a typical breakfast at your B&B?

All our breakfasts are original recipes created by Sandra who learned to cook in France on an 18th century woodburning stove. "Making up the recipes is the easy part," she says. "Coming up with the names is the harder part." Some of her breakfast recipes are: "Red, White & Blue American Toast Evolution of A Bread Pudding With A Five-Berry Romanov Sauce and Sandra Picked the Blueberries, Herself " or "Mexico After Dark - When You Wander Around Mexico At Night, You Run Into All Kinds of Strange Things.....You Never Know what They All Are, Exactly, But They Are Always Very Interesting" or "Artly-choked Spinach & Egg Bake". One of her favorites to make is a Lemon-Orange Soufflee.

Do you host weddings at the Cliff Cottage Inn?

We do small intimate weddings, vow renewals and commitment ceremonies for the couple and up to four guests. Sandra is an ordained minister and guarantees her weddings are good on land as on sea since she is also a ship captain. She also says she's the only minister in Eureka who cries at the weddings.

Do you have a romance or honeymoon package?

We were the first B&B in Eureka to set up packages eight years ago and then we realized the guests were paying for things they didn't have time to enjoy or preferred to go to other restaurants rather than use coupons provided. In other words, they were losing money on the packages. Sooooo, we now offer optional extras and are happy to set up any of these things for our guests: In-suite massages, horsebackriding, canoe trips, flyfishing excursions with guide, boat cruises, Passion Play or Music Show reservations, and carriage rides.

For More Information:

• www.cliffcottage.com