#3 Chester @ Birchwood Cottages at Loon Lake. Family Friendly Waterfront

Had trouble unlocking door because I was not familiar with key fob. Easy after that. Beds were very comfortable, even the sleeper sofa was. The coffee pot didn't work, but I didn't bother to notify Patrick as I was the only person that wanted hot coffee. Nice tight screened in porch, no bugs. Will be visiting that area again.

This property was just what we needed, close to my family that lives in Riparius. Everything you need for the night or a week, and in a beautiful location :) Would definitely bring my family back

Was great! We can’t wait to stay again! Affordable price and we could bring our dogs, thank you! Really enjoyed the beach too!

For people who are ok with disconnecting and bringing everything to the rental, this is perfect for you. Otherwise, you might want to reconsider. Pros: 1) The lake is across the street. Very beautiful. 2) Kitchen is well-stocked with expected appliances and utensils. MIcrowave and oven worked. I didn't use the stove. 3) Property manager responded quickly to messages and referred me to the caretaker for questions. 4) I felt safe. 5) All lights and hot water worked. Cons: 1) Property is very dark at night. There are no outside lights near the cottage so I used a flashlight to find it. 2) To me, if a property has such a strict cancellation policy, I need all details to make a decision prior to booking. When staying here, you have to bring your own sheets, pillowcases, towels, toilet tissue, paper towel, dish soap, hand soap. I HATE that you don't know what until after you book. I booked within the 30 days so I couldn't cancel if I wanted to. 3) The wi-fi is pretty much nonexistent. So much so that it shouldn't be labeled as a feature. They should market it as off the grid. Phone signal can be spotty but I had great service in the bedroom closest to the kitchen area. I have T-Mobile but when roaming, AT&T would pop up. So I think if you have AT&T, even better. 4) The property could be better maintained. All the flags hanging outside were pitiful in appearance and part of a window frame was peeling off in the kitchen. 5) The TV didn't work. Said no signal. I didn't care that much but you might. 6) No central temperature control. They provided 2 radiators for heat. So when we checked in, the cottage was freezing! 7) They have you take the trash to the local dump after your stay. Stay was ok but not a good fit for me and my family. I want to be informed of things that make a stay unique, like bringing your own sheets. If you're used to these things, however, you'll have a great stay.

A bit run down and could just some renovations. We've stayed at many cottages and this one just feels moist and gross. Door handles and floors are gross. Microwave was brand new. Both showers are extremely tight. You basically have to stand in one position while using it. It got pretty cold at night and they only supplied one heater (we had two bedrooms-pretty awkward to keep the bedroom doors open to share the heater). We only had hot water on the first night. The next two nights one 1 of us was lucky to get hot water. The remaining 4 of us had freezing cold showers. The TV didn't work and we had to text/call for the Wifi PW (which barely worked). One of the beds had a huge pee stain on it. They definitely didn't change the sheets. Luckily, we brought our own but that was pretty gross. We were charged a cleaning fee which i feel is a complete rip off because there were notices left stating we had to mop/sweep/vacuum before leaving. Also, we were responsible for dumping our trash at the town dump. It isn't far (10 mins away) but you have to pay and we ended up waiting on line for about 20 mins. Why charge us a cleaning fee if we had to do it ourselves? The most annoying thing was we weren't allowed to use the boats/kayaks. And the rec room was closed. We totally understand it's due to the pandemic but we should've been given a heads up! Why isn't the description updated? We wouldn't have chose this place if we knew. That's just wrong. Lastly, on our third night, we sat on the front deck chatting and had to go inside because someone starting pointing a spot light on us from the mainhouse. So rude.

Love the lake!!