Black Sands Inn

We were failed to be told that the roof was being replaced duriing our stay which was intended to be a quiet stay. caution tape anchored by the chairs to view the surf. The out door fire place wasnt working. Ithe balcony was covered in roofing debris that blew inside living room. It felt like walking on pebbles

Outstanding location, literally steps above and overlooking excellent tide pooling and a beach. The coastal flowers in between offering a perfect frame. Great coffee shop 100' south. Clean tasteful room. The lack of insight management was a first for us and present a few minor logistical challenges, the most important thing to know is that the code you're given for your room is NOT for the lockboxes in the unstaffed office. It's to be entered in the slightly finicky digital locks on each room door. Parking for a few vehicles directly on premises is possible but it's not clear who it's for (with a roof box we used a spot at the office). Numerous good restaurants nearby and the one town grocery is decently stocked. Ten minute drive from the Black Sands beach serving as the southern terminus of the Lost Coast Trail segment running 25 miles north to Mattole.

Building is in a great location but hard to find. Need better signage. Vacant lot is a mess directly behind the property

The no-contact check in is terrible. I did not receive any information on which room was assigned to me and how to get in. No physical person on the premises. I had to find a number to call-someone in San Diego! I am a disabled senior and was assigned a third floor room with no elevator. I had to ask other residents to help carry my luggage up three flights of stairs. The balcony sliding door was broken-it could not be close fully, nor could it be opened. I was told a handy man would come to fix it, but they never showed. I was allowed to change rooms but moving all my things down another set of stairs was tiring and dangerous for me-I could have easily fallen and injured myself. In general, the building is in disrepair: missing roofing tiles, rusted metal joints, water damage to door threshold. The view is nice, but very little else is good. I would not stay here again!

Very nice property. Ocean front. Hot tub and fire pit on site. Room renovated and very comfy. 👍

Booking and checking in were very easy. The location is awesome, loved the chairs out front and the hot tub. The room we had, Room 1, was large and like a small apartment. Very nice. Three negative points for us: the sheets are not cotton, the coffee maker didn't work, and a 10a check-out is far too early. They did try to send someone to fix the coffee maker, but we were already out and about.

The view is great. You can’t beat it. There are 10 units and where they tell you to park along the fence only has enough for 6 maybe 7 cars. Not sure what you do if you arrive later. There is nowhere to sit in our room. You have 2 beds and that’s basically it. There is not indoor mats so the floor is cold. There is no staff on site that we can tell and that’s fine but if you are going to send email instructions then they should be custom to your room type. We got an email about not cooking fish in our room. We don’t have a kitchen. So that’s confusing. They have a coffee machine in the unit which is nice but if you want tea or decafs you are out of luck. Not a big deal but just making note for others.

The room itself (premium king with kitchen) was lovely and the view beautiful. Unfortunately, we did not arrive until 8pm (spent 30 minutes trying to find the property) and it was dark. The inn sign (on the side of building only) is not illuminated nor is there other exterior lighting. We slowly made our way from the parking to the exterior stairway in the dark when a motion light finally helped us find our way. Tired from our long day of travel we looked forward to getting into our room. Alas, the door code we had been sent did not work. Luckily the intermittent cell service allowed me to call the property management for help. We were then given the previous guests code which worked. My husband then went back down the stairs, to get something he forgot in the car only to fall (significantly hurting himself), by missing his footing in the dark. All in all, despite the room being very nice and the view lovely, our experience at Black Sands Inn was disappointing. Sadly, we will not return.

You need to fix the parking situation.

This is the second time we have stayed at the Black Sands inn and I would definitely recommend it. No on site staff but everything you need is provided, location is amazing. We had a ground floor room and the guests upstairs were noisy so maybe an upstairs room would be better. Only complaint is the size of the trash can in the room (tiny) and porch light that is on constantly. But otherwise lovely beach rooms, great view of the ocean, love listening to the waves all night, awesome hot tub and lovely location.

Great view. Clean, comfortable room.

While we were there, renovations were taking place, which no one warned us about. There were sheets of playwood and boards lying on the floor right in front of the entrance the entire time we were there. Workers were installing a new roof, and at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, we were awakened by the sound of hammers. Words cannot describe our outrage, as we wanted to get away from the city noise for our anniversary and simply enjoy the sound of the waves and nature … 1. Dog hair all over the floor and on the sofa. 2. White drywall dust on the floor in various places, probably from removing light fixtures from the ceiling. 3. One light fixture is hanging directly above the stove, revealing a hole leading to the attic. 4. A strong dog odor, which caused my wife to have an allergic reaction. 5. And the most unpleasant thing is that all the bedding on the bed is covered in the same white drywall dust. (((( We stayed at this place a few years ago, in a different room, and everything was great, but this time, unfortunately, all these problems significantly spoiled our stay here, we're very disappointed . When I asked why there was no notice of renovation work, I was told that the problem arose unexpectedly. They simply lied to me. They suggested that I go somewhere while the maintenance staff came and cleaned, and this was on the only full day I was there. Moreover, there was no closet in the room where we could put our things. Terrible.

Our room was very nice and clean. Looked newly renovated. It was quiet, had beach access. Very nice coffee shop next door.

This was one of the cleanest hotels I've ever stayed at. The ocean view is incredible. The contactless check-in was easy. The staff was extremely responsive via text and email.

Stay was good - bed was very uncomfortable-shower was filthy - no one on site to talk to about anything - as far as view it’s a 10 everything else is about a 4

Very clean and gorgeous view

FANTASTIC staff/clean & modern everything.

Clean and simple place to stay. The view of the beach right out the window is amazing and the hot tub is nice to relax in.

Great spot. Clean and comfy.

We stayed in room 2 on the ground level. The room was nice. Small and comfortable with good storage. Very clean and updated. Cute decor. Bathroom was nice size and shower was large and clean with a great handheld shower head. Check in and out was easy. Host was quick to respond to messages. The view from the room was AMAZING! This place is absolutely gorgeous. It takes a while to get there and the road is steep and curvy. But it’s so worth it. Listened to the waves from my bed all night and most of the morning. A pleasant wake up call from the seals barking in the early morning. I loved it. There is a small bar and coffeehouse close. The early 10am check out is my only complaint. I wasn’t ready to leave yet.

Spacious and clean with beautiful views

Very comfortable, beautifully decorated room with an amazing view. I was unaware of how secluded Shelter Cove is, but it is really so beautiful and the view from my room was unbelievable. We even saw a few whales swim by! The only thing I was not crazy about was that there was no staff on site that I was aware of. There was self check-in which went fine, and I had a question that was answered immediately through Hotels.com messaging. It just got me thinking what would happen in an emergency with no staff on site. Cell phone only worked on WiFi in the room as well. Probably my own ignorance for not researching the area. Sad to say that we were only there one night and never tried the hot tub!

The no-contact check in is terrible. I did not receive any information on which room was assigned to me and how to get in. No physical person on the premises. I had to find a number to call-someone in San Diego! I am a disabled senior and was assigned a third floor room with no elevator. I had to ask other residents to help carry my luggage up three flights of stairs. The balcony sliding door was broken-it could not be close fully, nor could it be opened. I was told a handy man would come to fix it, but they never showed. I was allowed to change rooms but moving all my things down another set of stairs was tiring and dangerous for me-I could have easily fallen and injured myself. In general, the building is in disrepair: missing roofing tiles, rusted metal joints, water damage to door threshold. The view is nice, but very little else is good. I would not stay here again!

the view was spectacular. small but quaint. other patrons were very friendly. getting access to room slightly difficult, since we had no internet reception to receive instructions, need to make better heads up notice on door.

I think we’ve stayed in all of the hotels or Inns In Shelter Cove. This was by far the most beautiful appointed interiors and exteriors. They had outdoor lounge chairs for looking at the ocean and a little bistro set outside our door as well. The beds were memory foam. My husband said he slept great. Will definitely stay there when we return to Shelter Cove.

Hate digital check-in, especially when the code doesn’t work! The instructions for opening fort are imprecise. The area around the hotel is depressing—filled with junk, run down. The room was clean and comfortable, with a great view of the ocean.

Wonderful views, convenient location, and practical layout of the units.

Our view was incredible, the newly remodeled rooms were calm and tasteful, the location perfect. It was the perfect stay and the tiny details went above and beyond, such as well appointed kitchen, fun to read books, and great bed and bath linens.

The room (#3) was beautiful however the bed frame was broken & no table in room. Luggage had to be stored on the floor. This room does not have a balcony but it would have been nice to have the high table & chairs inside the room. These are small issues and the view itself is worth every penny for a room here. Will definitely stay here again but will make sure my room has a balcony.

Love this place. Modern, beautifully decorated. Perfect ocean view. Will be back.

Simply crazy to receive the door code. Don’t send it on the afternoon of arrival then note that cell reception is spotty, at best. What? Then, code did not work. Barely got signal to call help desk who calmly said, “Oh, I see the code never worked.” Great, hours to get to you and then, there was a code failure. Too much anxiety for days and too much effort for 2 nights. Treat your guests like adults. Yes, gorgeous location. Did see the roof needs repair, as does the Inn next door. Think you are just renting this into the ground. Sorry, never again.

The hotel is great, it is directly on the ocean. The waves are crashing right outside. My only complaint is check in is at 4pm and check out at 10am. This is significantly later and earlier than any average hotel. Especially my email had no specified check in time. We got there at noon and had 4 hrs to kill. Also they saod the code was my cellphone number, but it wasnt and i had to call at check in time and get the actual code since no ine emailed it to me. Other than that, we would definitely stay again for price and location.

Property was AMAZING! Only issue was with virtual check in as I had poor cell service and could not download the form. Once I was able to do that everything went smoothly 🙂

When I reserved two nights in May of 2025 it was considerably less than when we stayed in August. In fact it was over 200 dollars more per night. Also we had to make several calls to be able to access our room. There is absolutely no one to assist with any issues you may have. Probably our last visit to shelter cove.

It was clean, easy to book, etc. The absence of regular staff for checking in, etc. was a little strange. All automated with mobile phone, SMS, coded door, locks, etc. It all worked well though. …And those views and the roar of the ocean… Oh my goodness!

This site was uniquely beautiful. Outside our screen door were two chairs at the edge of a small cliff overlooking the rugged coastline. We lost track of how much time we spent in these chairs. We saw the high tide. We saw the low tide. We saw large hawks swoop down low just in front of us. We watched deer as they sauntered right in front of our little cliff. We watched a baby seal play in the cove for nearly an hour. The weather was cool, the sea was tumultuous. That night in our room we fell asleep the steady roar of the ocean. And...there was a lovely cafe just 70 feet from our room. Now, the bad: You might find that the site used for pre-check-in to be difficult to use. For me it was a bad experience. My photos would not upload as the site kept rejectcing them. Finally I emailed the host and we took car of the pre-check-in photos through SMS. That was easy enough. They might want to find a frienlier pre-check-in process than the one I tired using at first.

Nice view of ocean from room. Had to call to get code to room. No one on site to help.

Check in was a little challenging but the room was excellent!

This is a remote check in hotel, owner was responsive and answered any questions in seconds via text. Great place to stay right on the shore

Not received the check in access code till 3:30 pm. Although in the previous emails, the host kept saying the code will be sent shortly.

Awesome property. Comfortable condo-like accommodations with spectacular view. Private cove and secluded. Off the beaten path and worth the drive.

If you're looking for fun and exciting this is not the area for that BUT if you're looking for peace and relaxation, there's no other place is rather be than Black Sands Inn. The quadruple room comes with a full-size kitchen so buy groceries before entering the area, we stopped in Willits( traveling from Bay Area), at a Safeway and got everything we needed for our stay. The property is excellent and would definitely return in the future.

Ten unit boutique property with all rooms literally just feet from the ocean. We watched whales spout and seals frolic while sipping wine on our patio. The room was well appointed and, although there is no onsite staff, the hotel was immediately responsive to questions via email. The 24 mile ride in and out of Shelter Cove from Hwy 101 is not for the faint of heart so plan on staying within Shelter Cove for the duration of your stay ( this is not a good base for exploring the redwoods). As for Shelter Cove, just a handful (like five) places to eat, some only open for brief windows of time or certain days so be prepared for that. Also, while the rest of California was under an extreme heat advisory the high in Shelter Cove was 62 during our July stay. It gets windy, damp and foggy even during the summer so be sure to pack warm clothes. This is not a lie on the beach and swim vacation destination, but if you enjoy watching big waves crash on the rocks and spotting sea mammals right outside your door this is a place you should check out.

The drive from 101 to Shelter Cove is not for the faint of heart! The Black Sand inn was worth every bit of it! Right on the Ocean. The view is extremely beautiful. The sounds of the waves crashing on the rocks is hypnotic. Great living room and kitchen with everything you need. Bathroom and bedroom were excellent with great linens. If you want peace and relaxation this is the place! My first visit but not my last!

Private beach! Beautiful views

Very clean and beautiful ocean views. Limited restaurant dining nearby.

Shelter cover is a hidden amazing destination. The road getting there is full of switch backs. We got there late, wish there had been water in the rooms as there wasn’t a real front desk and everything in the town was closed. Amazing sleepy little town

We stayed in room 2 on the ground level. The room was nice. Small and comfortable with good storage. Very clean and updated. Cute decor. Bathroom was nice size and shower was large and clean with a great handheld shower head. Check in and out was easy. Host was quick to respond to messages. The view from the room was AMAZING! This place is absolutely gorgeous. It takes a while to get there and the road is steep and curvy. But it’s so worth it. Listened to the waves from my bed all night and most of the morning. A pleasant wake up call from the seals barking in the early morning. I loved it. There is a small bar and coffeehouse close. The early 10am check out is my only complaint. I wasn’t ready to leave yet.

Located in a small fishing village, the location is very remote, (almost an hour from the 101 fwy), but one of the most beautiful places we have ever stayed at. The suite is really more of a modern apartment with all of the amenities of home, including a full kitchen. It is located right on the ocean and the views are extraordinary. While jockeying for time in the hot tub for a private dip was a little bit of a hassle, once in, it was an amazing experience soaking while looking out at the ocean only steps away. The perfect romantic getaway. Our only regret was only staying there one night.

Shelter Cove is an isolated location protecting the natural beauty of the area. Bring your favorite wine and other romantic items because there’s not a lot around regarding culinary delights However, we didn’t venture out because of the pounding rain. Never underestimate the local culinary delights

Well appointed room (both bedroom and living room areas) with a small refrigerator AND freezer area and microwave. Important since no food close by. Comfortable bed; lovely balcony with table and chairs. Parking area by fence gets crowded; recommend larger bath towels. Lost Coast area is a beautiful treasure!

If you're looking for fun and exciting this is not the area for that BUT if you're looking for peace and relaxation, there's no other place is rather be than Black Sands Inn. The quadruple room comes with a full-size kitchen so buy groceries before entering the area, we stopped in Willits( traveling from Bay Area), at a Safeway and got everything we needed for our stay. The property is excellent and would definitely return in the future.

Stay right next to the water and listen to the crashing waves all night long! Very comfortable bed, a few very good eating options within walking distance. The beach is right out of your door. Bring your own herbal tea.

This place was a gem! Every suite was a gorgeous ocean view with perfect patio furniture so you can actually see the water while you sit out there. It was like a little apartment with plenty of room with updated features. Suite was clean and tidy. You can walk down on the black sand beach. Hot tub is off to the side of the building, we didn’t see it until the morning we where leaving. Only place to eat is the brewery which is a 2 min drive/10 min walk, but beer and food where good and had a nice patio space where ocean was visible. This was the best spot we stayed on our trip.

What an enjoyable surprise! We didn’t know what to expect but what we got was a beautifully appointed, newly renovated and extremely clean king room. The location was superb with Adirondack chairs for ocean-gazing. We did not use the hot tub and couldn’t light the fire pit. Close to Gyppo restaurant and a coffee shop was in the adjacent hotel. WiFi, TV, coffee makers and refrigerator in the room. We would definitely return to Black sands Inn.

Shelter cover is a hidden amazing destination. The road getting there is full of switch backs. We got there late, wish there had been water in the rooms as there wasn’t a real front desk and everything in the town was closed. Amazing sleepy little town

We stayed in room 2 on the ground level. The room was nice. Small and comfortable with good storage. Very clean and updated. Cute decor. Bathroom was nice size and shower was large and clean with a great handheld shower head. Check in and out was easy. Host was quick to respond to messages. The view from the room was AMAZING! This place is absolutely gorgeous. It takes a while to get there and the road is steep and curvy. But it’s so worth it. Listened to the waves from my bed all night and most of the morning. A pleasant wake up call from the seals barking in the early morning. I loved it. There is a small bar and coffeehouse close. The early 10am check out is my only complaint. I wasn’t ready to leave yet.

This room looks to be newly renovated and it’s beautiful! And what a view! Surf crashing on the rocks just below our room - that’s why we came here and it did not disappoint. The room was large with a full kitchen, and since this location is so remote, I’d highly recommend bringing some groceries with you so you don’t have to drive out. It’s a long drive to any grocery store, but there ARE a couple of places nearby where you can get a meal.

Looks newly renovated. We hade a 1-Bedroom apartment with a fireplace and a huge bathroom. It was very nice. The kitchen was convenient because there are not many restaurant options nearby...my biggest complaint. There is a breakfast/lunch place right next door, though. Beautiful surroundings and right at the shore...heard the ocean waves crashing in the night. The sea lions were resting on the rocks about 200-300 ft away, too. This hotel is self check-in but there is 24hr phone # to reach someone, if necessary.

Shelter Cove is an isolated location protecting the natural beauty of the area. Bring your favorite wine and other romantic items because there’s not a lot around regarding culinary delights However, we didn’t venture out because of the pounding rain. Never underestimate the local culinary delights