The White River Cabin

The cabin is great and the location is just what we were looking for.

There were 2 couples renting this house. We all agreed that it was perfect for us. The house has open concept with a big kitchen, dining area that looks out French doors onto the river, and a living area with plenty of nice leather furniture and tall windows as high as the cathedral ceiling. The house was clean and new looking inside. The outside is somewhat weathered, but we didn't care because there wasn't anything inside that needed any updating. We enjoyed our stay very much.

It does take a good 20 minutes or so to get here from town. If you plan ahead that's not a problem. The plus side is that you barely see other houses from here. You DO see deer every morning, or at least we did. The view of the bluffs is amazing, but honestly some judicious tree trimming would do wonders for the view during the growing season. We didn't hang around here during the day or cook much, but the place is well appointed if you wanted to. A guide to tell you how to get the TV and all to work would be useful. Fortunately, one of us was a total couch potato and figured it out so I didn't have to. Previous places I've stayed outlined it out for you.

To be honest, I think the layout is a little odd. There is no master suite with its own bath. Not a problem for us because I was there with two high school friends from 40 years ago and didn't need that. But it wouldn't be ideal for everyone.

Previous reviews mentioned poison ivy on the path to the water. If it was there then, it absolutely isn't now.

Referring to earlier reviews, the only dead bugs I saw were up on a high window sill and didn't bother me. The biggest cleanliness issue I had was that there was no paved walk from the parking area into the home and it had been raining so I was sweeping crud off the kitchen floor constantly. That said, it didn't really bother me but if you're lazy you're mileage may vary.

To sum up, we were comfortable and the place met our needs. There was hot water for showers, the furniture was comfy, the cooking facilities are nice for a "cabin" and the heat worked fine. I have no real complaints. I'd come back.

Good & bad; with that in mind-I give the home a 3.5.

Good: Area is GORGEOUS! We were constantly in awe of how beautiful the area was, the wildlife, the coyotes howling in the distance. Manager was HIGHLY responsive; contacted him re:the AC prior to our arrival per email, & he called me in less than an hr to address (AC no issue). The seclusion is fantastic if you lead busy lives & want to get away. 2 coffee shops in town, both good. Loved the proximity to the river. Kitchen was adequately stocked, & I cook on vacation so this was great.The wifi & satellite service worked fine for our family of 5. The citizens are friendly.

Bad: NO service. NONE. iPhones can get iMessages; otherwise, I hope you have FB Messenger or something as you WON'T be receiving calls (only bad depending on how "away from it all" you want to be). Firepit had cans & trash in it. We didn't use it :-(. Pretty big carpenter ants @ the kitchen window area; kids saw spiders a few times. Daddy just got Raid. There's not a lot of "other" to do-went to the Blanchard Springs & Caverns, visited Mirror Lake waterfall, & went to Batesville for shopping & Colton's Steakhouse. The housekeeping was...not great. Tidy, but not clean. One of the doors to the laundry closet was broken, which wasn't an issue, but I like to know ahead of time (personal preference). Someone brought a pet @ some point, & there was still pet hair. In the rug, on the stairs-everywhere. I swept the stairs asap. Within the day, there was pet hair again. If you have ever lived in a pier & beam home, you know this is sometimes an issue with the ac unit; possibly needs a good vacuum & the filter changed. As my kids have asthma & allergies, we spent a lot of time giving breathing treatments in the house. Oddly, the outdoors didn't pose much of an allergen issue.

The other: For young & older people: cabin is on a hill. You walk down to the river, & back up the incline from the river. Going "TO TOWN" as my hubby calls it takes about 30-35 mins; 20 is just on the road the house. Road is CURVY. It's easy to get turned around, read Brant's instructions. Narrow street, 1/2 paved, then shale. WILDLIFE. DRIVE SLOWLY.

Truth: If you're looking for a vacation home, you're gonna be disappointed. Perfect for my husband & myself;kids were intermittently bored. If you're looking for what this is-a fishing cabin, it's a classy updated cabin! Great for adults on fishing trips & outdoorsy fams! And groups of college kids per my hubby.

We arrived at the cabin to no air conditioning. And in my opinion the cabin only sleeps five comfortably. The couch does not pull out. They had an air mattress. While the owner got an air repair company out there the next day, they had no clue what they were doing. The cabin was between 79 and 89 degrees the entire time. Well, we had one night where it cooled off. But it was only because of a storm and slight cold front that moved thru. When we checked out the cabin was again at 82 degrees. In general, inside is nice, bathrooms are tiny but clean. Outside is dirty, needs a serious power wash. We wanted to go to the river but guess what, the path was completely covered in poison ivy. Yea nature, I get it, but the path to the river should be safe, to get there you have to walk thru the stuff all over the ground. It does say river access. You can’t get there without traipsing thru the stuff. My kids and myself are allergic, so that was out. And how about this, we get a call at eleven on check out day asking why we Hadn’t left. Our itinerary stated that we checked in at 10 am and out at 3 pm. We were all in the middle of brunch and the owner wants us out by 1pm. Two hours early. Honestly, I just felt like the whole experience was more of an ordeal than I care to have again on a summer vacation. My 80 year old grandparents were with, and not having air conditioning was so hard on them. I felt horrible. Truly felt it was a bust.