This property was not presented well as the photos displayed on VRBO. The house, not cottage, is in deplorable shape. There are many issues with this house that must be fixed as it is not safe to stay there. There is damage to the foundation, to the upper deck and when it rains, water runs into the sun room below the upper deck and there are falling ceiling tiles. The hot water is too hot and not regulated on the water heater. A small child would be burned. The house does not have AC and it was not a pleasant stay with windows open and box fans to use. The north roofline is resting on the upper deck balcony rail, due to the foundation giving way. The northeast and southeast foundations both are giving way and must be fixed before things collapse. Many things, too many to mention, needs to be addressed and fixed. We were highly disappointed. As the four of us are busy, hard working individuals, we expected to stay in a "cottage" maintained as well as our own homes. Although Mark reached out to me prior to our stay and once as we left (I did not respond to the text), I'm highly disappointed in Mark for listing a home like this on VRBO. I feel that we were taken advantage of. I'm highly disappointed in VRBO as well, for allowing a home in this condition to be listed. They should inspect all properties before they allow a listing. And most of all, I'm disappointed in myself for not ready the reviews. An 8/10 should suffice, but not in this case. Can only upload 8 pics
Do not overlook this gem! The house has character and wears its age well. The location is great: quiet, walking distance to a park with unobstructed views of Mackinac Island and Mackinac Bridge, close to a grocery store, and a 3 min drive to downtown St Ignace. 5 bedrooms means plenty of room with 2 bedrooms on the first floor. All the kitchen essentials and a full size washer and dryer for after your waterfall hikes and beach days. An upstairs balcony deck or a screened in front porch are great for enjoying morning coffee or settling down in the evening. You will not be disappointed!
As others have mentioned the property is rough. While you can see the water from the upper balcony they fail to tell you the home is across from some kind of commercial shipping yard where semis are coming through during the night. The yard is not at all private. The firepit is in the side yard sitting at an intersection. There is not enough seating indoors or out for the number of people they say the home can fit. Im thankful we had chosen ahead of time to eat out throughout the weekend. The kitchen would not have been fun to cook in. Anything I used out of the cupboard I washed prior to using. The house was overall clean as was the bedding. However, itâs an old cottage ⊠These are just some things I wish I had understood before booking.
Read the reviews⊠house is old, but clean. Great location with lots of rooms. We loved exploring the area during our stay! No A/C, but stayed cool with windows open.
Came from WI for the car show. Cabin was located by the water. Cabin leaked water when it rained and smelled musty and moldy. The whole house was unlevel.
Five adults travelling with two devices each could not find enough outlets to charge everything without negotiation. Not all the bedrooms had lighting. Those with lighting didn't have enough bulbs. We fixed that, because, we were seniors, light is imperative. None of the floors were level. If you are unsteady on your feet, this place is not for you. Remember we were five seniors. We loved the location and laughed about all the quirks, because we felt the rent was fair for the level of accommodation offered.
It was a great location and it was cheap BUT... You are greeted by a door that can not be opened fully because the floor is warped. There are 1/2 inch cracks between doors and windows. We were amazed the place was not overrun with bugs and mice but it was not. One room had only one electrical outlet and 3 extension cords were used to connect to a bedside lamp. All fixes to the house were done poorly. Ceiling tiles are hanging down. Again, it was cheap and convenient.
People pay a mortgage payment or more for vacay. They want a place that's better than home, this is not. True, this is a 125yr old home, but one that has a serious foundation problem. There's things the owners could do to make better, like caulk, shim, fix the roof and ceilings. No AC, but only one ceiling fan, have stationary fans, but not enough. Soot on walls from furnace. It could use freshening up. Location is right by municipal building, trucks start out at 5:30am. So if you think you're going to sleep in, think again. True, it is a good center for getting around the area. Neighbors dog runs loose and craps in the yard. We made the best of it. I wouldn't suggest for people who aren't stable standing or walking, floors are very sloped because of foundation.
The cottage was cleaned well, but leaked everywhere in the rain. Water came down the walls and through the back door that you could see lots of daylight through. Walls were warped from water damage. Whole house leaned due to foundation issues floors extremely uneven. Our 17 month old often fell due to how uneven the floors were.
My husband, kids and I stayed at this house in June for several days.
The area is beautiful, it's so close to everything we were looking for. Downtown St. Ignace was right around the corner, there was a park down the street as well as access to the lake. We love that the grocery story was just up the street as well, that made it very convenient in case we needed to run there for anything.
*HINT* If you want any sports balls, go to the Dollar General and purchase it there, ask them to fill it with air at the front desk.
Mark (host) was VERY helpful and responded very quickly to my any concerns and questions we may have had.
Although, the house had enough beds to host a larger group, the beds were not comfortable. I had mentioned that and several other things to Mark and he assured me that he would be making changes soon. Overall, he was a great host and easy to deal with.
The house is very old, so keep that in mind. The floors are uneven, which took some time to get used to.
But we didn't spend a ton of time there because we wanted to explore the area daily. So it fit our needs.
The kitchen was well stocked and the grill works just fine:)
We loved that there was access to a full washer and dryer as well.
Overall, we enjoyed our visit and made the most of it.
Thanks Mark!
House is a shack. Falling down around you. From the floor leaning to the cracks in the walls and ceilings from the foundation giving away. None of the doors close bc they are not square. 1 inch gaps in each door from left to right. The whole house is leaning. Hope this help the next group.
We had a great stay! The house is close to everything. You can see the water and island from the house! The beach is only a couple minutes down the road and so are all the shops and places to see or go! We will be back most likely!!! Thank you!
This shack was nearly crumbling from the foundation to the roof. It had none of the rustic charm advertized. It was rusty, not rustic. It smelled of natural gas and mold. The furniture and beds were probably claimed from dumpster diving. Many of the lights had no bulbs or didn't work at all. We stayed one night and requested some tefund from the host for the other four nights. He refused to reply to our texts.
Let me say, I wish I could upload some new photos on here. The ceilings were black from the heat, the bathroom tub was so sketchy, the room with twin beds felt like the floor joist had given in, there were huge cracks and holes in the walls upstairs. The kitchen drawer fell off in my hand when I went to get a spoon. There was a huge crack at the back door where old air kept blowing in and the floor was rotten where I assume rain or snow got in. I could go on and on. We have rented numerous times through VRBO. This is the only time we got burnt. We also couldnât take the trash out because there was no trash can outside. We waited to place it outside when we checked out. We couldnât earlier because the neighbors giant dog came running up and barking when we would pull up. Just keep looking.