Excellent until Friday morning when our privacy was compromised

Guest: PBerg (Minnesota)
Date of Stay: 08/20/11 Review Submitted: 09/07/11

This is one of the best escapes. Beautiful cabin, lots of room, great accomodations, closeby stores. We had all of our meals on the new porch which is fantastically beautiful. Rented a few years ago and had a great time here. Loran says: "There is a cabin by the home that is NOT rented to the public. It is for my personal use only." I call this his "family cabin". When Loran is NOT using this "family cabin" in front of this rental there is privacy. When the "family cabin" is in use it interferes with the rental privacy! Especially in the beach area. We rented Sat-Sat, August 20th-27th, 2011. Loran gave us a "deal"...but he did not notify me that his family (10+) would be arriving Friday morning the 26th between 9:30 a.m.-12 noon and would be at the "Family Cabin". I would NOT have rented that Friday for $$$! In March I paid to rent August 20th-27th. Loran called August 17th to offer August 28th for $$$. Thank goodness, I DID NOT take that offer....I would have left Friday and lost BOTH the 27th AND the 28th due to lack of privacy. Once we realized this large group was to be there, we spent a total of 3 people X 5 hours each= 15 hours of cleaning to make this rental spotless when we left. It included cleaning EVERYTHING, washing the bedding and making the beds as instructed by the sheet in the cabin. I requested my deposit check after we had finished cleaning. Before renters leave I think the deposit check should be returned once that last inspection of the premises is done. Just before we left Loran OK'd our rental cleaning but he said he couldn't find the deposit check. I received it 9/6 by mail. We rented both the boat and motor which were in pristine condition. Ran out of gas Wednesday (Used it Sun-Wednesday). Wednesday called Loran for more boat gas (didn't know the mixture). Thought he would have gas handy near the cabin; however, Thursday night at 10 pm he called to tell me he would bring gas at 11 a.m. Friday morning (no boat/motor then for 2 days)....he could have told me at THAT time his family would be arriving the next morning, but he didn't. We didn't use the boat again after Wednesday... The gas grill was rusted out..... He called to have it repaired...repair person arrived Friday when his family arrived so we didn't use the gas grill. We hadn't brought charcoal. I requested a refund for Friday night....but was refused. If that extra Sunday was going to cost $$$ then the refund for Friday night should be $$$.

Recommended for:

Excellent

Guest: Grandma (Rochester, MN)
Date of Stay: 07/30/11 Review Submitted: 08/20/11

The spaciousness of the cabin for our whole family, (10 adults and 2 toddlers), was incredible. The 2nd full sized refigerator was a real blessing, plus an small refigerator also. Ice maker and filtered water was incredible. (Last summer we had to go to store every day for Ice and drinking water). Three tables for eating was great too. We used one for serving the food. Was nice to have a dishwasher. My husband spent many hours out on the dock fishing. You could see sunnies whenever you walked out on the dock. The four season porch was very nice. We played table games out there at night. We had a good time.

Owner response:Thank you for staying at basslakeescape am I'm glad your family had a great time. Hope to have you back again in the near future. Thanks again Loran

Recommended for:Families with teenagers, romantic getaway, age 55+, girls getaway, sightseeing, families with young children.

Fantastic place, highly recommended!

Guest: happy vacationer (Germany, CA, MA, CT & MN)
Date of Stay: 06/03/11 Review Submitted: 07/01/11

We had a phenomenal two-week family reunion at this lake home. We found the owner very hospitable; he answered all our questions and gave good tips. He was kind enough to lend us fishing poles for our kids and made us really feel welcome. The house is enormous and well-furnished; the common space is unbelievable. The bedrooms are distributed nicely so everyone's sleeping schedules can be accommodated. The kitchen is a bit small for a house this size, but we all love to cook. It is well-equipped, though, and there is a second large fridge (and a third smaller) on the lower level. When we arrived the house was very clean. The lake is beautiful and we loved seeing loons, herons, muskrats and more. The kids loved the sandy beach area and lake bottom and could practically catch fish with their hands from the dock. The location is very quiet; there are neighbors but we rarely had any human noise at all. Annandale (a short drive) is a lovely little town with nice stores for browsing. There was plenty to do in the area but we spent most of our time relaxing and enjoying the house and the surroundings. We're hoping to be able to return; it's a doable drive from the Minneapolis airport (ca. 1.25 hours). We can recommend it for kids to older adults; the house does have two levels but it is an easy flat walk out to the lake.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, age 55+, girls getaway, families with young children.

Clean And Spacious!

Guest: Mike (Central MN)
Date of Stay: 02/04/11 Review Submitted: 02/07/11

Wonderful (winter) weekend with my kids. This is a great place if you need space! We had five adult couples and three toddlers in our group. Plenty of bathrooms and lots of room to spread out. When it was bedtime for the kids or if you needed quite time, you could simply retire to the lower level that includes a family room, two bathrooms and three bedrooms. The two main floor bedrooms and kitchen are a little small (not tiny). The adjacent dining room(s) and four season porch gave us plenty of room to prepare and enjoy our meals. The place was clean when we arrived. View of the lake is somewhat limited due to placement of owners cabin close to the lake. All in all a great experience!

Recommended for:Girls getaway, families with young children.

August 28-Sept 3, 2010

Guest: Judy_HAC120287 (Milaca, MN)
Date of Stay: 08/28/10 Review Submitted: 10/24/10

Very nice large house and 4-season porch for entertaining. Accommodated our needs immensely. The house could have been cleaner. Make sure the house is left impeccably clean (even though there is a cleaning lady). Your damage deposit may be in jeopardy. We had totally cleaned everything, emptied the garbage, swept the floors, emptied the dishwasher, but did not vaccuum. Loran was upset with us and that is why we will not rent this place again. We had no trouble the first year and booked the second year.

Owner response:When I got to the lake home the cleaning lady showed me how much sand that she sweep ed up from the upper floor which was allot. I toke the garbage out myself. And they did not vacuum. I did send back ALL of there damage deposit. I know it is hard to please everyone. We try to make your vacation a pleasant one for you and your family. Thanks, Loran

Recommended for:Families with young children.

Guest: Diane McCaslin (Spring Valley MN)
Date of Stay: 07/15/09 Review Submitted: 07/15/09

This is the second year that we've enjoyed the "Bass Lake Escape." We use it as a family summer get-together for Grandma, my husband & I, as well as our 3 adult children and their spouses / children. We love the spaciousness and cleanliness. The beds are all very comfortable. The beach area is small, but adequate. We're not big into fishing, but it appears fishing is excellent. Location is close to several smaller towns, including 30 minutes away from St. Cloud (mini-golfing) and Albertville (mega-shopping). Hope to go back in 2010!!

Recommended for:

Guest: Jada1 (Columbia Heights, MN)
Date of Stay: 05/27/09 Review Submitted: 05/27/09

We had a great experience on bass Lake. The cabin is very spacious. The amount of common space is unbelievable; the new upper porch addition is spacious and gorgeous. We had three couples, 2 kids and one single man and the sleeping arrangements were perfect.

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