Cottonwood Cabin in Homer, AK

Cottonwood Cabin (right)
and Bathroom (middle)

Rating: You Should Go

I may be a little biased because my aunt and uncle own Cottonwood Cabin, but I was really impressed by it. It is an actual tree-house built by my uncle in the front yard of their house. The pictures on the website may be a little confusing to tell what you're looking at (and a lot of them are out of date - it looks much nicer
now) so let me explain. The ground floor is just a supporting wall and decorative ladder. Behind the wall, there is a regular set of stairs to climb up to get to the front door. Just watch your head or you might bump it on one of the beams. Next to the front door, there is a ladder you can climb to get up to the balcony area (it has great views), but it's not necessary for you to climb it you have a problem with ladders.

Inside, there is a small dining table, a kitchenette with a sink, mini fridge, microwave, toaster oven (don't run those last two at the same time, it'll reset the outlet), an electric burner, coffee maker, and some basic dishes and cookware. There is a small living area with a dresser for your clothes (trust me, you do not want to try to get dressed on the top floor where the bed is), a love seat, a few chairs, and a television. The TV is really only good for watching movies at the moment, which there is a large selection of both in the tree house and in the main house. To get up to the bedroom, you will need to take a short ladder. The top floor has a twin bed and a queen bed, but the ceiling is only about 4 feet high. Expect to be ready for bed when you get up there, because getting dressed while crouching down is almost impossible. The love seat is also a pull-out twin bed so, technically, the cabin can house 4, but I would only recommend that if you're a couple with 2 younger kids. Otherwise, it's perfect for 2 or 3. There is a propane heater that gets the place warm fast (you won't have to worry about air conditioning in Homer) and thick curtains over all the windows to make sure the summer sun doesn't keep you awake (it stays light all day during part of the year). Below is a little video I made for my parents just to give you a little better look.

The restroom is on the ground floor, so you'll need to take a little stroll to use it, but it's right next to the cabin. It has a huge sink that you could wash a baby in (if that's something you might need) and a little crate/shelf for housing your family's toiletries. The shower's water pressure isn't the best but it stayed warm for both mine and Nate's showers and the towels were nice. The whole thing was kept very clean during our stay.

The only downside is the location. It's about 7 miles south of the main part of Homer, so you can't just walk to your destinations for the day. But I think it's worth the drive for the views and for the unique experience. Where else can you stay in an actual tree house B&B? And compared to the rest of Homer, the price is a steal. It's $125 a night for 1 night (2 people), $100 for each additional night, and $15 for each additional person. The rest of Homer is around $150 to $300 a night in the summer. I would definitely recommend staying at least one night for this once-in-a-lifetime experience.