Raymond Vacation Rental cottage

This charming Maine camp was an idyllic spot for our family's summer vacation. The house had every amenity necessary to enjoy a week on a lake. We especially loved the three boats(canoe, kayak, rowboat) and the blow up toys for water play. Our three kids, aged 12, 10, and 9 thoroughly enjoyed the 'swimming wharf' that they could swim/paddle to and jump off of and push each other off of! We loved the outdoor campfire area, roasted marshmallows there with the kids and friends. We are former Maine residents and rented this house so that we'd have plenty of room to invite our friends for meals, lake play, and sleepovers. There was plenty of space for two families to hang out for the day with lots of seating inside and out. There were also lots of extra beds for the kids' friends to sleep over. The children loved the HUGE DVD and video selection to choose from. We had one really cold and rainy day, it was so nice to have games and puzzles and movies to enjoy, along with the woodstove inside. I can't say enough good about this place. It's certainly not a 5 star hotel or decorated with the latest fashions, but in my opinion, a Maine Camp shouldn't be. It fit our needs perfectly and we'll be back!

We stayed at this cottage near the end of September and found it to be quite comfortable. It's location is great with N. Windham nearby with a Super WalMart and every other store or restaurant you could need for supplies, etc. We also found the location to be close enough to Portland and to Freeport (LL Bean) that they made nice day trips.

The dogs loved the water (even though it was a bit too chilly for us to swim) and jumping off the dock. We really liked the deck out back with grill, picnic table, long bench and campfire pit plus room to set up our hammock. I think we were out there every night just looking at the stars and listening to the loons (and the quiet!). The cottage was nicely furnished and had more than enough seating for us in every room (but there were only 2 adults). The downstairs is all knotty pine and beautifully renovated. Upstairs was a bit more rustic, but was classic camp. I stayed in the upstairs bedroom with the wall of windows overlooking the lake and found the bed to be quite comfortable.

One of best parts of this rental was that there is TV with cable, internet hook-up (which we couldn't get to work, but Tony did offer to troubleshoot for us--I LIKED the week away from work!), and all other "creature" comforts. This way if you wanted to focus on the pond, nature and the quiet you could. But if you wanted to sit and veg in front of the TV for a while, you could do that too!

There are houses on both sides of the cottage, though when we stayed, only one side was occupied. I think we would have liked a bit more of a remote location in that aspect, especially with the dogs running around. Plus one house was having a new tile floor laid and the workers liked loud music the entire time they were there.

We were surprised that we went through about 10 gallons of bottled water for the week. The kitchen was nicely stocked with dishes, etc., and there were extra paper towels and rolls of tp available. The dishwasher is a blessing!

Tony was very easy to deal with and was accessible if needed. The cottage was a great girls' retreat--we felt very safe (of course, the dogs were there and my best friend is a former Army MP). We planned to fish, but never got to it. One of the best parts was that the dogs could join us--something that's not too easy to find!

Panther Pond is lovely and relatively quiet (not too much motor boat activity). It is a great place for kayaks and the pond is clean for swimming. The swimming float was fun to have off the dock.

The cottage was nice, with a clean, serviceable kitchen (a little lacking on hard goods (drinking glasses, silverware, utensils, etc.) to cook and eat with. It was handy to have a dishwasher. We were not phased about having to buy bottled water to drink, our family of five went through about 12 gallons in a week (some of which was used for cooking).

There were four pleasant bedrooms; and one of them on the second floor had a great view. The house was clean enough (it was left dusty and the upstairs floors were not swept) and the bathroom was clean. The bedrooms were sparsely furnished, but that was part of the "cottage charm." The biggest problem with this property was that all of the beds are uncomfortable and the pillows were also not particularly good. It was tough for anyone to get a good night's sleep, which really detracted from our experience. The futon in the TV room was the best bed, but it made for uncomfortable TV watching/sitting....and there was only one other chair in that room. Most of the blankets smelled musty.

On a positive note, the two kayaks were a nice perk, and the rowboat (which had a slow leak) was also handy for fishing (which was not too plentiful). We did not use the canoe, as the seats were both broken.

If the owner replaces the mattresses and fixes the issues with the boats, we would think about recommending the place and about going back. Short of those improvements, I do not think we will go back to that specific property......but we would like to go back to Panther Pond.