Guests reach the Place at Cayou Cove on Orcas Island, Washington - the largest and most diverse of the enchanting San Juan Islands of Puget Sound - by ferry, yacht or plane. The planes remind innkeeper Charles Binford of Fantasy Island, the popular 70s and 80s television sitcom. He, along with his wife and co-innkeeper Valerie, may not fulfill every visitor’s fantasy, but in many respects they come close. The numerous repeat clients that revisit the inn attest to this fact.

For starters, the proprietors’ restoration of the guest cottages as well as of their own home, leaves a definitive statement that conveys their style par excellence. Their extensive experience as international travelers has brought The Place at Cayou Cove to a superior level of sophistication.

About 90 miles northwest from Seattle, four cottages (one, the Allen Cottage, is a stand-alone facility that the Binfords manage for the owners/neighbors) at the island’s southwest tip are nestled on the shore of Deer Harbor. Guests are wooed with panoramic views of the snow capped Olympic Mountain Range. Plus, 500 feet of private shoreline brim with treasures like driftwood, starfish, shells, clams and oysters to harvest in season.

The Binford’s cottages themselves (“right out of Architectural Digest,” one guest was quoted as saying) will leave the connoisseur wanting no more. The spacious facilities greet travelers with king or queen Eurodown beds, down pillows and comforters and Italian linens. Other amenities in each cottage include a private hot tub, fireplace, satellite TV/DVD/CD, wireless internet access, kitchens and large, well-appointed baths, not to mention maid service, fruit baskets, local confections, Egyptian cotton robes, slippers and Pelindaba Lavender Farm Toiletries made here on Pacific Northwest’s San Juan Islands.

The property’s history begins back in the mid-1800s with Louis Cayou who homesteaded the land. A generation later, Louis’s oldest son, Henri, built the main house in 1913. After numerous incarnations, its present history started in 1996 with the Binfords.

Charles explains, “We decided to take some of the outbuildings and convert them into cottages. The Carriage House, for example, used to be a hay barn and the Gardner’s Cottage used to be a three-sided machine shed. We rented rooms in the house and the cottages, but now we’ve gone back to just the cottages; so we can concentrate on them and take them up into the really high-end luxury line.”

Although the guests at The Place at Cayou Cove are mostly couples, families are also welcome. Celebrations and special events like honeymoons and intimate weddings also commence on premises.

The main house and cottages are located on approximately four acres. “A little more than that, depending on whether the tide is in or out,” Charles says. The grounds are expertly manicured; a refuge, like the other San Juan Islands, for deer, eagles, blue herons, whales, seals, sea lions and an assortment of birds.

The kitchen garden is one of the most communal spots. Some of the organic fruits and vegetables grown are lettuce, squash, radishes, beans, peas, onions, garlic, corn, figs, raspberries, strawberries and blueberries. Guests are invited to graze or pick their own produce for eating fresh (or grilling on the firepit/barbecue) later.

For enthusiastic explorers, the San Juan Islands are well-known for the whale watching, kayaking, fresh water fishing, hiking, pottery making and other activities. Biplane rides and first-class restaurants are also on hand.

Although high season runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day, The Place at Cayou Cove is a four-season enterprise. “Wintertime, it is a magnificent place to relax. It’s quiet. It’s not real cold. We rarely ever get freezing weather; it’s known as the Banana Belt of the San Juan Islands because of the warm ocean currents,” Charles says, adding that spring is also a delightful experience for travelers, “because of the flowers and because of the long-growing season, is just magnificent and then again in the fall when the leaves are turning.”

This year, the inn was designated by Andrew Harper’s Hideaway Report as Bed and Breakfast of the Year, USA. Although the Binfords never knew who the judges were, the anonymous guests surely experienced the gourmet breakfast. (Charles does the cooking; Valerie serves as the inn’s hostess.) "This morning, for example, we delivered papaya with raspberries sprinkled with white sugar and then for breakfast we had a small piece of pork loin and potatoes Provencal, and a Havarti cheese omelet topped with fresh avocado slices.”

Probably the best fantasy experienced at The Place is one of solace—one in which you can go incognito, without the daily demands of real life. “People of note come here….We are very private. We don’t have a sign on the place….Valerie and I traveled a lot before we bought this place and one of the things that we liked was privacy…because we were both in public life. So people can come in here almost anonymously and get out without ever anybody knowing they’re here.”

Now, that’s a getaway where you can really get away and let yourself go as far as your fantasy will reach.