23 Reviews of Property 154857 in Traverse City, Michigan

We had the opportunity to stay at this cottage during a fall color tour through Michigan. The pictures that are posted on the website are exactly how the cottage looks. We found it to be very clean with all of the comforts of home. The view across the lake was stunning with yellow, orange and red trees. It made us want to stay at the cottage instead of exploring the Traverse City area.

Although the dock had been taken in for the winter, my husband still did a little bit of fishing from the shore. About 15 feet from the shore line, a 2 foot pike teased him by just hanging motionless while my husband cast all about it. You can see the fish in the crystal clear water from the deck which sits a couple of stories above. My husband would have loved to fish the lake on a boat (which had been winterized and is available during the summer.)

I do have to agree with a previous poster that additional towels are necessary if you are staying a week as there are no laundry facilities available. And it can get a bit noisy in the lower level sleeping area as one of the beds is on the other side of the wall from the room which houses the water heater and furnace. I ended up sleeping in the living room because I am a light sleeper and the noise bothered me too much.

On the last night of our stay, the large, single residence (Spider Lake Retreat) across the lake from us ended its stay by putting on an hour long fireworks display. We were able to watch from the comfort (and warmth) of the living room and this perfectly capped off our lovely stay at Pinewood Shores. We would recommend it to others.

We stayed the cottage one week, it was a very enjoyable experience, everybody loves it, stunning views, we spent lots of time on the lake , fishing , boating... the cottage itself like home, the owner almost prepare everything for you, Will come back in the future !

Xi from Novi, Michigan

My husband and myself and another adult couple enjoyed a week on Spider Lake. Kathy was very easy to work with and made the rental experience simple.

The positives of this home: amazing lake view, very clean and comfortable home, quiet neighborhood, excellent internet access, very nice grill. The deck is great and we all enjoyed lots of time out there. We didn't utilize either of the water crafts but they were very accessible had we wanted to.

The negatives: although linens were provided, there were not enough to get us through the week so we had to do laundry and no facilities on site, I recommend packing a few extra washcloths and towels. We also ran out of toilet paper and paper towels mid-week. The couple staying in the basement apartment reported that it was pretty noisy down there during the nighttime, probably the water conditioner. Although the home has cable, it has very few channels and while no one goes on vacation to watch tv, we had a few rainy days so hung out at the house more than we expected.

Of note is that both bathrooms are on the main level so guests staying in the downstairs bedroom will need to utilize the bathroom off of the main living area.

One thing I was surprised with based on my experience with other rentals, there were no condiments in the kitchen (ketchup, mustard, sugar, etc). While I would not expect an owner to supply these items, my experience has been that often ketchup, mustard, butter, sugar are left in the fridge from guest to guest. Again, I would not expect the owner to supply food and perhaps all other guests take everything with them.

Strongly recommend the local restaurant Peegeo's... great pizza, wings, and mexican food and very relaxed atmosphere. And the little farmers market near the house has excellent ice cream and locally grown fruit and veggies.

Overall, a very good experience.

We stayed at the beautiful Pinewood Shores this June! It was lovely! Everything about it was so beautiful! We can't say enough wonderful things about how clean, beautiful and perfect it was. The lake is crystal clear and the fishing is AMAZING!! The boat was a special blessing! The view from the house is breathtaking! It was quiet and relaxing and just the perfect vacation. Our teenage girls loved every minute, too! We will be back for sure!!! Thank you for sharing your lovely home with us!!!
The Clark Family

Our week stay in the beautiful cottage was excellent. The motor boat worked great and helped us explore the islands and coves. The center island was close and had the best tree climbing and swimming area. We loved the kayake trips around the lake coves. On one such exploration we located the old Waco float plane tied up to a dock on the other side of the lake. It was stunning to see as they are no longer in production.

The cottage had everything we needed and was so clean! We fished daily off the dock and our son caught 3 bass with his whole kernel canned corn. We all enjoyed playing fuse ball daily and sitting on the new deck.

The location was perfect for our day trips to Canada, Traverse City, Mission Point Lighthouse and Macanaw Island. We'll be back again!

Thanks for sharing your home with us Kathy! We truly had THE BEST family vacation ever!

As a large family of 6, this home was perfect for the varied ages of our children, 9-20. The home was clean, great location, fun amenities: fooze ball table, kayak, small motor boat. The kitchen was well appointed and met all our cooking needs. The lake is crystal clear and sandy.

Cottage was not what I expected from reading the reviews listed on this site. I did not think it was very clean. Grill was so covered in crusty food and grease that it caught on fire the first night we were there. Beach area was must smaller than I anticipated, in fact, there was no sandy beach area nor any grass for the dog to do his business on. Carpet stained, dirty dishes put back in the cupboard, and previous tenants did not pick up their dog's poo. On the plus side, Kathy was very accomidating when we had to reschedule our trip and always very friendly when we communicated. I am sure my experience was probably because of the previous tenants and their pets.

Our Family stayed at the Pinewood Shores Cottage and had the most wonderful time. The home was clean and comfortable and just as discribed in the Home Away Website. While there we toured Chantel Chateau Winery, went shopping in DownTown Traverse City and Charlevoix. We also rented a Pontoon boat from American Boat Rental for two days and cruised Beautiful Spider Lake and it's many Islands. Our Son-in-Law really enjoyed the fishing boat that was included in the Cottage rental. I think he went fishing everyday.