Sister Lakes Vacation Rental cottage

We had a wonderful stay at this cheerful, roomy cottage the third week of June 2009. The living room is particularly spacious as is the dining area so you do not feel cramped for space if the weather does not cooperate and you're confined to the indoors. The white walls and surrounding windows with marvelous views of the lake, the skylight in the bathroom, just made it a cheerful place with all the natural light even on a rainy day. The list of amenities did not mention the VCR and DVD players that were available as well as a portable CD player. The kitchen was fully equipped, microwave, blender, coffeemaker etc. The cottage was very clean and the surrounding property is nicely maintained. We enjoyed sitting around the fire pit in the evening and relaxing on the deck for morning coffee at the umbrella table. Picnic table was nice for meals when we cooked on the new Weber charcoal grill that was available. The garage space for storing our bag toss game & flotation devices
as well as having access to a washer & dryer was a real plus. The lake was unusually high this year so there was no sandy beach but we didn't have any young children with us so it did not spoil our stay at this wonderful lakeside cottage. The owners are very friendly and shared with us information about shopping and restaurants.

My husband and I invited our two adult children, daughter-in-law, and elderly parents to share this cottage with us. All in all we had a great time but were disappointed that my parents weren't able to do lake activities due to the steep and rather dangerous steps down to the lake. There is a handrail but the steps are slanted downward and are difficult to impossible for elderly people to manage. My parents are in very good health for their ages but the steep climb was too taxing and they were afraid of falling. Even our dog had difficulty not falling. Though we didn't have small children with us, I would think that they would also have problems with the steps. My mother also nearly fell in the shower, as the only handrail is outside next to the toilet and the shower is slippery. There are many positives about the cottage, though. The bedrooms and bath are good sized, the couch and 3 recliners are comfortable, the dining table pulls out to seat 10, one twin bed has a tempurpedic mattress, there are 4 window air conditioners and a ceiling fan, the TV is large, and the deck and deck furniture are nice. Views of the lake are super both inside and out, the hammock was a favorite, there was a tree swing and a swing set, really nice firepit, plenty of outdoor seating, picnic table, great fish-cleaning station in the garage, washer and dryer, nice raft, sandy bottom, sturdy pier with bumpers. The kitchen was adequate for cooking and storing food. Behind the cottage is a nice grassy area for kids to play but beware of the poison ivy. The lake was high so I don't know if normally there is a beach but right now there is no place for little ones to play in the sand by the water. The water is pretty clean and not too weedy by the shore. We had great fishing and caught huge perch, bluegill, sunfish, and tons of large-mouth bass. During the week there aren't many boaters. We rented a pontoon from Lake Effects Marina. Owners ask you to clean when you leave so we hired a cleaning service. I left the number with Bill. I had to wash the dishes and cookware before we used them as they had a greasy film probably due to not being used over the winter. The rest of the inside of the cottage was very clean but we didn't use the grill or deck furniture because they needed to be cleaned first. The owners are very nice people and were very helpful and accommodating. We would probably rent it again except the steps are a deal-breaker. If they fix those, we'll be back.

I've been going for the last 2 years and is a great cottage. The property is very well maintained and the owners are very accomodating. I would definitely recommend this cottage.