Ottertail Lake, MN cabin with 3 Bedroom, Sleeps 6

While I appreciate the kind words our guest had to say, I do dispute the negative comments. Starting with their reservations, we only book 7 night stays, Sunday to Sunday from Memorial Day to Labor Day. This is noted multiple places in our information on VRBO's website. However, when they booked somehow they were able to book a 6 night stay due to glitch in VRBO's system. I allowed them to do only the 6 night stay and didn't enforce the 7 night minimum policy we have costing us 1 night's stay income. As for the cleaning fee, this was a new policy we began last year due to so many guests leaving our cabin unclean (previously we had a policy of " it's clean when you come, leave it clean when you leave" policy or we charged a cleaning fee). Unfortunately, we felt we needed to add a cleaning fee to our policy and they were the 1st renters after the policy was added. We gave them the choice of cleaning the cabin or paying the fee and they elected to pay the cleaning fee, it was totally their choice. As to the tarp on the roof, they were aware of it being there prior to their arrival per conversations I had with them. We had storm damage and the insurance company put it there to prevent any leaks ( we did not have any). While it looks alittle funky, it does not affect the cabin usage at all. We have contacted over 12 roofing contractors in the area. Of the ones we contacted, only 4 came and gave us a bid and only 1 was willing to give us a time they would come (July 4th week). When we asked for alternate dates, they only had after Labor Day available and told us to contact them late summer for a date. They never responded when we contacted them. After talking to many people in the area, it is noted it is very hard to get any contractor to come do any jobs that were not considered a big job. We are still in the process of getting it done, but there hasn't been any leaks noted. As for the shower leaking, we had just caulked the shower and asked them to wait till the next day to allow the caulk to cure. I only had 4 hours before their coming to do the change over and do the repairs as we noted some water on the floor prior to their coming. It appeared they did not wait for it to cure and the caulk did not hold, hence the water leakage. The kitchen faucet was fully functional and not leaking, but we have high mineral content of our well water so some brown staining was noted at the base of the faucet. After their complaint (they were the only ones who ever complained) the faucet was replaced with a brand new one. As for their damage to our boat lift, their damage deposit only covered $500 of the $750 it cost us to have the lift repaired. They were advised not to tie their boat up to the lift but did so and bent an aluminum support post of the lift. It was their fault for improperly tying up their boat. I did inform them I would be applying the damage fee, but was only able to collect partial repayment for the damage done. I do feel bad they felt stressed, but I had limited time to repair the damage they did. I try very hard to communicate with my guests and give my personal cell number to text or call me with any questions or concerns. Never once did they communicate any complaints to me about the roof. I repaired what they had problems with the faucet and shower and even went above and beyond doing replacement of working items. If they had waited for the caulk to cure the shower would not have been a problem, I had to completely tear out the caulk I had just put in and re-do it all over again adding additional time, expense and stress to an already tight turn over time -table on top of trying to get the boat lift repaired before our next guests. I made every effort to do what I could to make their stay enjoyable, but I guess you can't please everyone, especially if they don't follow some simple requests like waiting for the caulk to cure. We make every effort to have good pictures of our cabin and property and good descriptions our

Thank you for your kind words and taking such good care of our cabin. Your family is welcome back any time!

Thank you for the kind comments, but I am disappointed that nothing was ever said to me about the bathroom, even when I was there after they came. I gladly would have done what I could have to make it better for her. I always review how the cabin was cleaned by the previous renter and felt it was left very clean. About the only additional thing I could have done was spray bleach cleaner again so it smelled cleaner. The water has a high mineral content, so every 2 weeks a cleaner is used to dissolve the minerals, but this was the off week, so maybe it appeared less. It is hard to please everyone To the fullest extent, but we try and will be more diligent to assess these areas in the future. We also use a antibacterial and antiviral spray on surfaces between renters and use the Microban spray for the bathrooms that is especially potent against Covid 19, killing the virus for up to 3 days.

Thank you for your kind words Lisa, You are welcome to stay anytime.!

Thank you Linda and Jon for your kind words and a good review. I'm so glad you had such a good time at Ottertail and our cabin. You are welcome back anytime!

Thank you Sara for your kind words. You are welcome back anytime, Spring, summer or Fall!

Thank you for the good review. I appreciate that you left the place so nice and clean . You are welcome back anytime!

Thank you for your kind words and taking such good care of our cabin while you were there. You are welcome back anytime!

Thanks you for your kind words Becky. You are welcome to come back any time!

This renter wrote a bad review because we applied the cleaning fee when they left our cabin filthy dirty. I have pictures as proof. I am disappointed and frustrated as well with a guest that doesn't tell you there are concerns or problems. I was 5 min away during his stay. I stopped by 45 min after he checked in to see if everything was ok and he never complained until 8 days later after we applied the cleaning fee and then threatened to write a bad review unless his fee was returned. His one call, -a tall grass emergency- I did come by within the hour to pull it and he had already done it, so no return call was needed. In our 4 years of renting only 1 other renter did not receive their full refund. We usually try to take care of any problems as soon as we can when we know about them. I can assure you they did not clean anything including drawers, windows or grill. All of our cabinets and drawers, grill etc are cleaned routinely, however this is the country and this is a cabin. Even in the best and newest of homes, pests can come when you least expect them. Mice, spiders, ants are a fact of life in the country. If there was mice, it's because they left food out. We do not charge a cleaning fee. We leave the cabin clean and ask that it is left in the same condition or the cleaning fee will be applied. We send a detailed checklist of items that will need to be done (simple basic things like, sweep/vacuum the floors, shake the rugs, wipe down the appliances, bring in swing cushions, etc.). We ask renters to strip the sheets. They didn't on 3 of 5 beds. How did they sleep the 8 guests on 2 beds? If renters do not want to do the check list and choose to spend their time fishing, as he said he did, the cleaning fee will be applied. It is noted on the VRBO website this is a PRIVATE cabin, not a resort, EVERYTHING is personal that is there. We have extra sheets, blankets, pillows, etc. that are left on site. Our cabin is 1060 sq ft. We post all the pictures VRBO allows us to post so potential renters can get the best view of our cabin. I agree the bathroom is small, but who spends alot of time in the bathroom? The cabin IS open and good sized. The pictures do it justice. You can't fit a king bed in a room that isn't good sized. There is a working plunger at the cabin, but it hasn't backed up before, it makes me wonder what they put down the toilet. Only 1 screen needed repair and has been fixed. All windows have always been fully functional.