Six suites perched on a bluff above Pillar Point Harbor, with private decks aimed at the Pacific and the kind of size that lets the innkeeper learn your coffee order by Tuesday. The Inn at Mavericks is the small, considered counterweight to the Ritz down the road.
"Six suites perched on a bluff above Pillar Point Harbor, with private decks aimed at the Pacific and the kind of size that lets the innkeeper learn your coffee order by Tuesday. The Inn at Mavericks is the small, considered counterweight to the Ritz down the road."
The Inn at Mavericks occupies a modest bluff on Princeton Avenue, two blocks above the fishermen of Pillar Point Harbor and a five-minute walk to the cliff-edge trail that leads to Mavericks itself, the legendary big-wave break. The building is intentionally low-key, a two-storey shingle-and-stone structure that reads more weekend cottage than hotel. Inside, the operation runs to six suites, no more, and the small scale is the entire commercial argument: this is the property on the San Mateo coast that you book when you do not want to share a lobby with anyone.
Each of the six suites holds a king bed dressed in good linen, a gas fireplace, an oversized soaking tub positioned with the harbor in sight, and a private deck or patio. Three of the suites take the front line and look directly across the harbor to the breakwater; the rear three give a quieter garden view and run a touch less in season. Memory-foam mattresses and blackout drapes are standard. Bathrooms are generous for the building footprint, with separate rain showers, heated tile floors in the upstairs units, and the kind of toiletry edit (Malin and Goetz, locally made bath salts) that a small operator can curate where a larger property cannot.
There is no restaurant on site and no spa, which is the property's most useful clarification: this is an inn, not a resort. Breakfast is a self-serve continental laid out in the small ground-floor lounge with coffee, baked goods, and fruit, and the innkeeper has standing reservations at Sam's Chowder House next door and Barbara's Fishtrap across the harbor for guests who want a table at the obvious dinner choices. The harbor itself is the in-room amenity: morning fog burns off by ten, the fishing boats run in and out under your window, and the sunset from the deck reliably ends the day.
Service is innkeeper-led rather than concierge-led, which is appropriate to the scale. The property is dog-friendly in three of the six suites, runs a same-day shuttle to the Ritz-Carlton spa for guests who want a treatment, and keeps an arrangement with the surf school at Mavericks for guided sessions when the swell is in the right window. The Inn at Mavericks is consistently among the highest-rated boutique stays on the San Mateo coast, has been listed by California Boutique and Bed-and-Breakfast Inns since 2010, and is the cleanest answer to the question of where to stay in Half Moon Bay without the resort overhead.
A solo stay at the Inn at Mavericks is the property's quietest commercial proposition. Book a front suite, walk the bluff trail at dawn, take the morning fog from the deck with the inn's coffee, then drive twenty minutes to the Half Moon Bay beach trail for the afternoon. The six-suite scale guarantees you will see at most three other guests across a midweek stay, the innkeeper can arrange a single-cover dinner reservation at Navio at the Ritz when you want one good meal, and the absence of a bar or restaurant inside the building means there is no obligation to perform in public. It is the right answer for a reading week on the coast.
For a quiet anniversary, the Inn at Mavericks is the unfussy alternative to the Ritz-Carlton at the south end of town. Book one of the three harbor-front suites, request the in-room sparkling wine and chocolates on arrival, and have the innkeeper hold a table at Mezza Luna in Princeton-by-the-Sea for the celebration dinner. The fireplace, the soaking tub, and the private deck do the romantic work that a larger property would charge a suite premium for, and the total bill comes in at roughly a quarter of the equivalent night at the Ritz.
A honeymoon at the Inn at Mavericks suits couples who want the Northern California coast at its most intimate rather than at its most resort-style. Pair three nights here with three nights inland in the wine country (Healdsburg sits two hours north) for a low-volume honeymoon that swaps the spa-and-pool circuit for harbor walks, dawn surfing at Mavericks if the swell cooperates, and quiet dinners by the fireplace. The innkeeper arranges in-room massages on request and keeps a sommelier-vetted list of small Coastal wineries for self-driven tasting days.
346 Princeton Avenue
Half Moon Bay, CA 94019
United States
Princeton-by-the-Sea district, 2 blocks above Pillar Point Harbor; 25 minutes south of San Francisco airport
6 oceanfront suites
King suites from $229/night
Harbor-front suites from $279/night
Premium suites to $399/night
2-night minimum on Friday and Saturday
Check-in: 3:00 PM
Check-out: 11:00 AM
Dog-friendly in three ground-floor suites ($20/night)
Free on-site parking, free WiFi throughout
Six suites total, all with private deck or patio
Gas fireplaces and oversized soaking tubs
Memory-foam mattresses, blackout drapes
Self-serve continental breakfast
Walking distance to Mavericks bluff trail and Pillar Point Harbor
Complimentary WiFi throughout
From $229/night. Peak summer and autumn harvest dates book one to three months ahead; midweek shoulder availability is usually possible inside two weeks.
Compare Room Rates →The 261-room cliff-top resort at the south end of town, two golf courses, the Navio restaurant, the spa benchmark of the San Mateo coast.
The 95-room Princeton harbor hotel with marina-front rooms and a small spa, the practical mid-tier alternative on the harbor side.
The 81-room lodge at the head of the Old Course golf links, a low-rise property aimed at a slightly more relaxed weekend.
The six-room garden inn one block off Main Street, English-style courtyard, a Victorian counterpoint to the harbor inns.
Last updated June 11, 2026
A ranked shortlist, a special offer worth booking, and the overpriced stay to skip. Straight from the editors.