Reviews of Property: Charming Lakeside Gingerbread Cottage in 5 College Area - Sleeps 6-8
Description
Cottage, 1200 sq. ft.,
2 Bedrooms, Sleeps 8, 1 Bathroom
2 Bedrooms, Sleeps 8, 1 Bathroom
Amenities
beach, lake,
pets considered,
air-conditioning,
internet access,
satellite or cable
Rates
per property
(USD)
$125 -
$225/night
$800 - $1,250/week
$1,295/month
$800 - $1,250/week
$1,295/month
Rebecca Southwick or Dot Lane
978-355-6582
Speaks: English
8 Reviews of Property 189587 in Amherst, Massachusetts
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1
From Tampa, FL
Review Submitted: October 8, 2009
Date of Stay: September 2008
Without a doubt this is the cleanest, most well equiped and well furnished home we have ever rented for vacation. Dot and Rebecca met us at the house and explained everything. The kingsize bed is great. Doing business with they was a breeze. Very highly recommended.
A Lovely Retreat
Review Submitted: July 14, 2009
Date of Stay: July 2009
We rented "Abigail's Cottage" via the internet, without seeing it beforehand, to accommodate our scattered family for a long Fourth of July weekend. We chose it's proximity to Amherst College where our daughter was living in a dorm, the Amtrak station to bring my son and friend from NY City, and Hartford airport for our flight from Florida.
Charming accommodations -- comfy, and they've thought of everything to make your stay a treat. We worried about the one bathroom for all of us, but the spirit of cooperation it required made the stay even better. Close enough to many things to do (including the lovely Montague Book Mill), but still somehow secluded in its lakeside location.
We'd happily do it again next week! :)
Charming accommodations -- comfy, and they've thought of everything to make your stay a treat. We worried about the one bathroom for all of us, but the spirit of cooperation it required made the stay even better. Close enough to many things to do (including the lovely Montague Book Mill), but still somehow secluded in its lakeside location.
We'd happily do it again next week! :)
Better than home!
Review Submitted: January 7, 2009
Date of Stay: August 2008
This cottage is fantastic. Our family stayed at Abilgail's cottage for a nearby wedding last August. It was great to have a home base where we could relax. The cottage comes with laundry and internet, which came in handy for a two week stay. We were also able to host a pre-wedding dinner with the bride's family. The rooms are such that it isn't too hard to carve out some personal space if you want some down time (I recommend the front porch). We spent our last day there talking about how nice it would be to live there. Two weeks wasn't long enough. Oh, and you can kayak on the lake across the street. I highly recommend staying here. The owners are super friendly, helpful and accessible.
It felt like home!
Review Submitted: September 21, 2008
Date of Stay: September 2008
Thank you so much for your lovely cottage. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and would recommend it to anyone. The house is lovely!. I had a chance to really unwind and be with great friends in a wonderful surrrounding. Waking up to sun glistening on the lake was wondeful. What a nice lake to swim in.
Our women's get-together was just delightful.The house was very clean and the beds were very comfortable. It was fun to be back in our college area and visit UMass and Amherst Colleges, where most of us went to school, but my favorite place to visit was the Quabbin Reservoir. What a beautiful pristine place. I visited there for several long walks and saw wild turkeys and six deer. The views of the water and hills are breathtaking.
It touched our hearts to be back in the area and have such a comfortable place to come "home" to. The owners were very kind and hospitable. We thoroughly enjoyed our week and have made reservations for next year!
Our women's get-together was just delightful.The house was very clean and the beds were very comfortable. It was fun to be back in our college area and visit UMass and Amherst Colleges, where most of us went to school, but my favorite place to visit was the Quabbin Reservoir. What a beautiful pristine place. I visited there for several long walks and saw wild turkeys and six deer. The views of the water and hills are breathtaking.
It touched our hearts to be back in the area and have such a comfortable place to come "home" to. The owners were very kind and hospitable. We thoroughly enjoyed our week and have made reservations for next year!
Wonderful retreat!
Review Submitted: September 20, 2008
Date of Stay: August 2008
We found Abigail's Cottage charming. Just what a cottage should be, warm and inviting. The pictures tell the story. The layout makes for easy entertaining. The long table is perfect.
The beds were comfortable and the rooms had abundant storage.
I still miss morning coffee on the sofa overlooking the lake with the train whistle in the background.
No one wanted to leave.
The beds were comfortable and the rooms had abundant storage.
I still miss morning coffee on the sofa overlooking the lake with the train whistle in the background.
No one wanted to leave.
Disappointing and expensive!
Review Submitted: September 11, 2008
Date of Stay: July 2008
This house is neither charming nor comfy. It is not as advertised and I would never recommend it. The basement is extremely damp. We emptied two full containers of water from the dehumidifier in the basement EVERYDAY and still the bedroom in the basement was unusable. Depending on one's tolerance for dampness the house without the basement becomes a one bedroom house. If you are over 6 feet or near it, this house is almost impossible to walk around in. Many of the beams and ceilings are lower than 6 feet. It is cramped and crowded with too much furniture yet a lightly equipped kitchen. The owners really like cleaning, which is nice, but the toxic mixture of cheap cleaning products is hard on the lungs for the first few days. Items in the house are as cheap as possible; all the pillows are foam and most of the sheets are polyester, dyes from the cheap towels ruined our shirts in the washing machine.
Access to the lake is over a fence and then over big rocks. There is no where to sit or be comfortable by the lake. It is very slippery and uneven, especially for children. Getting the canoe in and out of the water - over the fence and rocks - is tricky. We tied the canoe up, in the lake, on their property but someone stole it and the oars. We found the canoe but were charged for the retrieval of the oars! We were charged for everything under the sun, the owners took our entire deposit and tried to charge us $85 more. The description does not mention that it is in the flight path of air force planes that fly very, very low over the house, day, night and weekends and make so much noise it is impossible to have a conversation when the planes are practicing in the air.
The lake is pretty but the public beach is not and it is pricey to enter. All in all it was a very disappointing and expensive house. We felt ripped off.
Access to the lake is over a fence and then over big rocks. There is no where to sit or be comfortable by the lake. It is very slippery and uneven, especially for children. Getting the canoe in and out of the water - over the fence and rocks - is tricky. We tied the canoe up, in the lake, on their property but someone stole it and the oars. We found the canoe but were charged for the retrieval of the oars! We were charged for everything under the sun, the owners took our entire deposit and tried to charge us $85 more. The description does not mention that it is in the flight path of air force planes that fly very, very low over the house, day, night and weekends and make so much noise it is impossible to have a conversation when the planes are practicing in the air.
The lake is pretty but the public beach is not and it is pricey to enter. All in all it was a very disappointing and expensive house. We felt ripped off.
Owner's Response: We are truly sorry that this renter was unhappy at Abigail’s Cottage. We try to make every traveler’s stay as wonderful as possible. This is our first and only complaint from any of our renters.
From day one, we bent over backwards for this renter. When she complained that our 100% cotton sheets weren’t to her liking, we bought her new ones. When she said our four serving bowls weren’t enough, we bought her four more. When we found out she lost our two person kayak and our two double paddles, we were alarmed.
Damages caused by this renter: 4”stain in butcher block countertop, 3” burn mark on coffee table, stains on two end tables - all these pieces of furniture needed to be sanded and refinished. Indelible magic marker on couch, tables and floor needed professional cleaning to remove. Smashed full width glass shelf in refrigerator and four towels were replaced. Lost kayak and two double paddles (found later by our neighbor.) Extensive cleaning needed to get the cottage back to rentable shape.
We do not expect damage or lost items during a renter's stay. If there is damage beyond normal wear and tear such as needing to refinish furniture, we use the security deposit to cover the costs. We believe this renter retaliated with this negative review because we used the security deposit to pay for damages caused by her.
Our pillows are down, tempurpedic contour and foam polyester. Each bed has a set of 100% cotton sheets. Our lowest ceiling height is 6’8”, highest 12’. One beam in the house is 6'3" and another 5’8” (will be raised to 6’3".) National Guard planes fly overhead one weekend a month (actually, quite a sight to see!) Our downstairs walkout level is simply not as damp as the renter says. We occasionally have dampness when we have lots of rain (which we did while she was here), and remedy it with a dehumidifier. We’ve never needed to empty it more than once a week. Our Town Beach, a few minutes walk from the cottage, has a sandy beach and is impeccably clean. They provide life guards and paddle boats during the open season. There is an easy access boat launch next to it. We’re not sure why the renter didn’t use the boat launch.
We use Pinesol, Lysol and Comet products. And, yes, we take pride in keeping a very clean house for our guests. Even our cleanliness seemed to be a problem for this guest.
All in all, we love our charming and cozy Abigail’s Cottage as have all our guests except this renter. This is our first complaint ever.
From day one, we bent over backwards for this renter. When she complained that our 100% cotton sheets weren’t to her liking, we bought her new ones. When she said our four serving bowls weren’t enough, we bought her four more. When we found out she lost our two person kayak and our two double paddles, we were alarmed.
Damages caused by this renter: 4”stain in butcher block countertop, 3” burn mark on coffee table, stains on two end tables - all these pieces of furniture needed to be sanded and refinished. Indelible magic marker on couch, tables and floor needed professional cleaning to remove. Smashed full width glass shelf in refrigerator and four towels were replaced. Lost kayak and two double paddles (found later by our neighbor.) Extensive cleaning needed to get the cottage back to rentable shape.
We do not expect damage or lost items during a renter's stay. If there is damage beyond normal wear and tear such as needing to refinish furniture, we use the security deposit to cover the costs. We believe this renter retaliated with this negative review because we used the security deposit to pay for damages caused by her.
Our pillows are down, tempurpedic contour and foam polyester. Each bed has a set of 100% cotton sheets. Our lowest ceiling height is 6’8”, highest 12’. One beam in the house is 6'3" and another 5’8” (will be raised to 6’3".) National Guard planes fly overhead one weekend a month (actually, quite a sight to see!) Our downstairs walkout level is simply not as damp as the renter says. We occasionally have dampness when we have lots of rain (which we did while she was here), and remedy it with a dehumidifier. We’ve never needed to empty it more than once a week. Our Town Beach, a few minutes walk from the cottage, has a sandy beach and is impeccably clean. They provide life guards and paddle boats during the open season. There is an easy access boat launch next to it. We’re not sure why the renter didn’t use the boat launch.
We use Pinesol, Lysol and Comet products. And, yes, we take pride in keeping a very clean house for our guests. Even our cleanliness seemed to be a problem for this guest.
All in all, we love our charming and cozy Abigail’s Cottage as have all our guests except this renter. This is our first complaint ever.
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