Cottages booked through November

FOR THE RECORD

A deck headline below the “Cottages booked through November” headline in Tuesday’s Pilot should have said that the chance to reserve Crystal Cove cottages will be available in one month. June 1 is when vacationers can begin to reserve spaces at the park.

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Hundreds of people took a second shot Monday at renting one of 13 refurbished Crystal Cove cottages in November, jamming phone lines and booking the high-demand vacation homes in a matter of minutes.

“We had pretty much sold everything by 10 a.m.,” Richard Rozzelle, superintendent of the state parks department’s Orange Coast district said. Several residents who tried to book vacation units Monday morning said they were told the units had filled up just minutes after their 8 a.m. start time.

Reservations for the months of June to October filled up in a matter of hours Thursday, and Monday was supposed to be a second chance to rent one of the 13 cottages, which became available for the month of November, Rozzelle said. Now vacationers will have to wait until June 1 for a chance to book the cottages for the month of December.

The high demand left many feeling frustrated that their second attempt at renting one of the cottages had come up short.

“I had tried last week with no luck at all,” Yorba Linda resident Jamie Loop said. “Then I tried three times this morning and all of the service reps were saying there were no available dates.”

Loop said she was hoping to book one of the cottages for a weekend getaway with her family and also secure another seven-day rental for her boss.

Vacationers have had their eyes on the cottages since 1979 when the state bought the property from the Irvine Co. The last resident left the 1920s-era cottages in 2001 and a $14-million renovation campaign got underway in March 2004 to convert the units into vacation property.

Park managers hope to eventually open 24 more cottages for overnight stays, but the completion dates on those units have not been announced. State parks officials estimate it will cost $15 million to restore the additional cottages for summer rentals.