Vacation Rentals by Owner

The best of both worlds

Guest: Megan (Winthrop Harbor, IL)
Date of Stay: 07/30/11 Review Submitted: 08/26/11

Our family of five had a wonderful vacation the first week of August. The lake is beautiful and quiet. It was rare that we ever saw more than 3 boats out on the lake at the same time. We had a great time fishing and our 10 year old loved the fact that he could "Captain" his own boat - the pedal boat. The lake is a little too weedy for swimming but we just picked up some rafts and floated around in the water. The outdoor speakers and stereo were perfect, especially while sitting around the fire pit. The location was perfect for us as we like to be on the go. We had lunch in Eagle River, were able to go-cart, bike, and play mini golf in St. Germain and went to the movies, shopping and wildlife park in Minoqua. There was always something to do. The house itself is clean, comfortable and charming. It has all the amenities of home without any of the stress. The caretakers are very nice and extremely helpful. We'll be coming back!

Recommended for:Families with teenagers, romantic getaway, sightseeing.

Peaceful Vacationing

Guest: Jan C (United States)
Date of Stay: 07/09/11 Review Submitted: 02/19/12

Had a wonderful and relaxing time in St. Germain. We had great weather, so we enjoyed the sun while fishing, reading out on the pier and paddle boating! The home was so cozy and clean and had everything for our living and cooking needs! Lots of hiking, star watching, canoeing (Hawks Nest) and enjoying life (Tiki Bar!). I hope to return this summer, too! Thanks Bob!

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, romantic getaway.

Fantastic

Guest: Mary (Mukwonago)
Date of Stay: 07/02/11 Review Submitted: 08/01/11

We had the priviledge of renting over the 4th of July week, and had a wonderful week. The house was very clean and had a beautiful view of the lake. Being the 4th, we thought it would be loud and busy, but we were wrong. My friend's son is a guide and took my husband and friend on a fishing trek for musky. About 80 casts or so, he brought in a musky. Our friend from Oklahoma is "hooked" on Gilmore Lake.We will be back if we can.

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

Great Family Vacation

Guest: Casey I. (Indianapolis, Indiana)
Date of Stay: 06/25/11 Review Submitted: 03/06/12

My family and I could not have been more pleased with this trip. The house was in great shape, and Bob was great for any concerns we had. Spending our week here was completely relaxing. Everything was so beautiful and peaceful. The kids loved running around outside while I read in the hammock and my husband fished on the pier. Entertainment was easily found both at home and in town.The paddle boat was perfect for a sweet romantic ride at sunset, and there were many great places for both family dinners and date nights. The homey and rustic feel of the location was exactly what we were looking for in a fun and relaxing week off as a family.

Recommended for:Families with teenagers, families with young children, romantic getaway.

Perfect fall week!

Guest: Getaway (Madison, WI)
Date of Stay: 09/25/10 Review Submitted: 10/11/10

We love this vacation rental! It is a well-laid out cabin for family togetherness. The lake is beautiful and was very quiet the week we were up (fall 2010). The foliage was spectacular. We especially enjoyed having plenty of room to play with our daughter in front of the large windows overlooking the lake. Great overall experience.

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, families with young children, girls getaway.

Great experience

Guest: olgaF (evanston, il)
Date of Stay: 08/22/10 Review Submitted: 09/01/10

We stayed in the house the week of August 22nd, 2010. We absolutely enjoyed our time there. The house is very nice, clean, comfortable - has everything one may need on vacation and more. Large windows overlooking the lake in both bedrooms allow you to watch beautiful sunrises without getting out of bed. The house is sitting on a very nice wooded lot, you don't see or hear the neighbors, just occasional fishing boats trolling by. We enjoyed sitting by the fire and watching the stars at night. The house has a big TV - I am sure it is great, but we never even turned it on - lake activities, hiking, mushroom picking, fishing kept us occupied every waking hour. The owner was extremely helpful answering all our questions and Ed, the caretaker, made sure all our needs were taken care of right away. Gilmore lake is very weedy, and not very good very good for swimming right now, so we followed owner's suggestion and swam in the Cunard Lake which is 0.5 miles down the road - very nice and clear lake that only allows electrical motor boats, it was a great experience. Gilmore Lake is very good for fishing, we had great luck with bass and northern pike. We had such a great time, would definitely come back!

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, age 55+, families with teenagers, romantic getaway.

"On Golden Pond"

Guest: Jim (Naperville, Illinois)
Date of Stay: 07/24/10 Review Submitted: 08/03/10

My wife and I along with my 82 year old father rented this lake house for the week of July 24, 2010. We have rented cottages that were part of resorts in prior years on Little St. Germain and Big St. Germain Lakes. We completely enjoyed the week on Gilmore Lake and much of our enjoyment came from the numerous amenities that came with the lake house. Gilmore Lake is smaller than the lakes that we have been on in the past and is quite weedy which limits some boating activities, but didn't affect us as we are fishermen. There are a limited number of lake houses/cottages on Gilmore Lake. I'd estimate that there are less than 25 such facilities on Gilmore Lake and there are no resorts. Many of these facilities were not occupied during the week that we were on the lake. There is a public boat launch on the lake which was used on a daily basis by a couple fishing boats which seemed to suggest that the locals believe that fishing on Lake Gilmore is very good. Our personal fishing experience confirmed what the locals thought as we had success catching large mouth bass and walleye after we found the right bait. The peace and quiet on Lake Gilmore was amazing. Except for the occasional fishing boat which passed in front of the lake house to fish the weedbeds, we hardly saw anyone else. It was almost as if we had the lake to ourselves. The lake house has four large windows that face the lake and offer a very picturesque view of the lake. As I commented to my dad, it reminded me of the movie, "on Golden Pond". The owner and his caretaker made an extra effort to make sure that our experience was good. Our week at this lake house exceeded our expectations and we intend to return in the future.

Recommended for:Age 55+, families with teenagers, families with young children, romantic getaway.

Rob

Guest: Rob (Tinley Park, Illinois)
Date of Stay: 07/10/10 Review Submitted: 07/21/10

We had a great time on our vacation at Gilmore Lake. The Cabin , which was on a beautiful private wooded lot, was bigger and nicer than we had expected. It was extremely clean and comfortable. We really like the flat screen tv on the one day it rained. Most of our time was spent on the lake ,which we pretty much had to ourselves. We did alot of fishing and the kids went tubing. We really enjoyed watching the Eagles and Osprey. In the evenings we would listen to the Loons call each other . St Germain was only a few minutes down the road so we took full advatage of the nice supper clubs and shopping. We had a great time and our rental experience on Gilmore Lake greatly exceeded our expectation. We hope to be back soon!

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, families with teenagers, romantic getaway, sightseeing.

Wonderful

Guest: Kathy (Neenah WI)
Date of Stay: 07/03/10 Review Submitted: 07/14/10

The privacy, the cottage amenities, the wildlife, and the lake size all combined perfectly for a wonderful week. The location between interesting cities like Eagle River and Minocqua made it fun even on rainy days.

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

The Herriotts

Guest: Polly (Miami, FL)
Date of Stay: 06/26/10 Review Submitted: 07/13/10

We had a great time at Gilmore Lake. The house was very comfortable - nice TV for watching all the World Cup matches and beautiful views of the lake. Also, the location makes it very easy to visit neighboring communities. Eddie was very helpful, especially with getting the gas grill back in operation. We enjoyed our visit very much.

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, age 55+, sightseeing.

Guest: Rich & Jan Gnat (Brookfield, WI)
Date of Stay: 08/12/08 Review Submitted: 08/12/08

We've stayed here 2 years in a row now and really love it. A nice private location on a very quiet lake, with all the comforts of home. Just sitting on the deck we enjoyed seeing eagles, loons, hummingbirds and a very busy muskrat. We enjoy the outdoors and had plenty to do in this area: hiking (Raven Nature Trail is especially unique with its "Forest Art"), picnicking/swimming (we like the Tomahawk Lake and Clear Lake Picnic areas for these), kayaking (Hawks Nest west of Eagle River),and geocaching (cabin even has internet to "log" your finds!). On a rainy day, Minocqua or Eagle River are nearby for shopping fun, and can't forget Cathy's in St Germain for the best ice cream ever! All in all, we had a very relaxing time and really enjoy this very comfortable cabin in such a nice area of Wisconsin. We'll be back!

Recommended for:

Guest: Jan
Date of Stay: 08/11/08 Review Submitted: 08/10/08

An email from a guest, June 2008: Hi Bob, Back in Alaska after a wonderful trip; the house on Gilmore Lake is quite special to our family now, as we spent fun=filled days there, even though not as long as had hoped; the granddaughters had many experiences that were new to them--boating with their Dad on a fishing boat with an outboard, actually catching fish, feeding the "pets" dockside, hearing the loons and frogs; the two eagles on the point across the lake posing atop the pine in all their granduer; horseshoes, a campfire on the last night and a black bear strolling through the back yard {walked between the outhouse and the big stone} the morning we left; quite a punctuation mark to our stay! We took one morning and drove about the area--Eagle River-Three Lakes and I was so glad to find it really hasn't changed all that much in a few decades:) The hummingbirds were quite happy there and so were we; A very special time and place! Just wanted you to know we appreciated it!

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Guest: Jennifer
Date of Stay: 08/11/08 Review Submitted: 08/10/08

An email from a renter July 2008 Hi Bob, Thanks for following up with us~we had a great time! It's unfortunate we had to come back to the hustle and bustle of Chicago! Some feedback: cabin was extremely clean and organized and it smelled good when we walked in the door (not like a musty cabin as some do). It is a huge selling point for us that your cabin was equipped with bikes, swingset, fishing boat, paddle boat, video games,wireless internet, and linens. We loved sitting by the firepit at night overlooking the lake! Nice touch! Of course we would have loved the use of the pontoon, however, I understand the liability involved! We loved the note from Bradley about feeding the pet fish everyday. They were happily taken care of by my two boys! Thanks for a wonderful experience in the northwoods! Jennifer

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