Beachfront Cottage w / Boat Launch on Lake of the Woods near Kenora!

I’m sorry to hear about your experience. We certainly strive to ensure that all our guests enjoy staying at and using our cabin as much as we do. Your vacation time is as important to us as ours is. For the vast majority of time, we succeed in doing this as seen from the multiple 10/10 reviews from other guests this past summer and in the weeks leading up to your arrival, along with our many year-over year repeat / returning guests. Sadly, your experience was different, I apologize for that and I am happy to respond to your critique. Over the many years of renting out our family cabin, there has been a couple occasions where a mouse has got in the house. Often, I think this is the result of doors being left open, particularly the lower-level walk-out basement door, and outside nature finds a way in. At some point prior to your stay this seems to have occurred. In your case, I attended to the property less than 48 hours after being notified of the issue. Traps were set, messes were cleaned up and disinfected, the mouse was caught and disposed of. Neither of the two guests staying after you reported any issues, so the mouse appears to have been dealt with. In regards to your feedback on the older worn couches, we have ordered 3 brand new sofas for the livingroom and they are set to be delivered Oct 13th. The sofa’s we had during your stay are old and very worn, they have had many family pets sit on them and have seen many sandy, wet bathing suits. But that furniture was very comfortable, and, it’s cabin furniture. That said, we did feel it was time for some brand-new furniture again. I didn’t realize our Vrbo photo still had the black couches. They had also become worn and were discarded. Thank you for the heads up about the air hockey table. Unbeknownst to me, it had likely got unplugged at some point by pulling on the cord rather than the plug and the two became separated. I’ve since purchased a brand-new air hockey table for guests to enjoy, and of much higher quality. Thank you for identifying the other issues, areas for improvement and/or things that had been overlooked. Your feedback will enable us to provide a better experience to both our returning and future guests. Warm regards, John

Hi Connie, I’m disappointed to hear that our family’s cabin did not live up to your expectations. I’m equally disappointed that I’m hearing about these issues for the first time in this review and after the fact, rather than at any point during your stay. I always encourage guests to reach out at any point if they have questions or issues, whether it be prior to arrival or at any point during their stay. I’m only 2 hours away if guests need anything, and more importantly, I’m always available by text or phone call. In reading through your critique, many of your criticism’s are communication issues that I feel could have easily been addressed if you had either asked, or brought up at any point during your stay. Since you’ve chosen this platform to inform me of these issues, I’ll try to address each of your criticism’s in this response below. Power at the dock: Contrary to your review, there is power at the dock. There are two outlets on west side of the beach deck next to the blue pump. If this was something you were wanting, I really wish you would have asked me. Had I known, I also would’ve brought you down an extra extension cord for your convenience. I’ve since uploaded a picture showing where the plugs are. Mouse traps / Ant traps: I do have several mouse traps set up in the 3-season screen room on the ground level. I set them up in the spring at the start of every season as a preventative measure. During our walk through, or at any point during your stay, if these bothered you or you were worried about your children playing with them, I wish you would have said something. These mouse traps are plastic and safe for any adult to pick up and put on a shelf. Had I known they bothered you, I could have put them away and out of reach of your children, or have had someone do that if you didn’t feel comfortable moving them yourself. To be clear, there were no mice in any of the traps. It’s a preventative step. In regards to ants, I did come across a couple ants in the cabin prior to your arrival. I set out some ant traps/poison (round pucks) to eliminate this issue. Like the mouse traps, the ant pucks are safe for any adult to pick up and put on a shelf. Had I known you were concerned about your children playing with them, myself or someone could have easily put them away. I don’t think the assessment of “dealing with ants like crazy” is fair, as the guests before you didn’t mention anything, nor have any of the guests after you. Spiders / Wasps: Many cabins, especially those that are waterfront and or near the water, may have spiders present. One might come across these at the dock, on the cabin, and occasionally there might be one that makes its way inside the cabin. I will explore options of reducing spiders on the outside of the cabin. As far as a Wasp nest goes, I wish you would have mentioned it and told me where it was. You’ve been the only guest to have mentioned it, and our family hasn’t seen it, so it’s more helpful if you had told me where it is. We also keep a can of wasp spray in the cabin should guests happen to see any outside. Baby gate: I don’t include a baby gate nor do I mention supplying it in my listing. If this was something you needed, I wish you would have asked and we could have discussed. We do have a crib, but no baby gate. Ironically, there is a homemade plywood barrier that a past guest supplied as a means of preventing his pets from going on the stairs. It slides it between the spindles on the stairs. It actually works remarkably well for what it was intended for, and this past guest left it for others to use. Beach area: I’m sorry that our beach this year was smaller than what you thought. What affects the size of the beach is not what year the photo was taken, but how high the water is on any given year. With this being a high-water year with the amount of rain we’ve had, some of our beach is in the water. On a low water year there’ll be more beach area. There are spots of grass that seem to grow in some sections of the beach area. We will generally pluck these out each season and just happened to do it while we were vacationing there after your stay, even before seeing your review. Contrary to your review, the thistles are not on the beach, but there are some growing in the wild grasses off to the side in a small area. I have a wonderful neighbor who cuts the grass for me. Had a known these thistles bothered you, I could have had him remove them. The thistles will be gone by the time this review is posted. In regards to the beach though, in addition to our own private beach, there are also two local beaches that are very close by. One is Keewatin beach, about a 10 minute walk (or less) and Norman Beach, which is about a 5-10 minute drive away. Cleanliness: This is one area I’ll push back a little. The guests before your arrival have been staying with us for years and have always left the cabin clean and in great condition. In addition to that though, I myself also attended prior to your arrival and went over everything with a vacuum, a Swiffer, and disinfectant spray and wipes including in the kitchen and bathrooms, all of which we keep on hand at the cabin. We ask guests to clean up after themselves and leave the cabin “neat, clean and tidy” so that it makes my job easier doing the cleaning between guests. When your family arrived, I gave you a tour inside the cabin, showing you each room and space. I have a hard time understanding the remarks in your review that you spent 3 days cleaning upon your arrival. With that said, if you discovered that something was overlooked, and appeared not to have been cleaned, I wish you would have told me what that area or thing was. Letting me know would have been far more helpful. Main area couches: Contrary to your review, I would disagree that the main floor couches are falling apart per se. All three main floor couches are real leather, and have seen a lot of use over the years, including past pets and many wet bathing suits. Do they look new? No, they are scuffed and worn, but they are comfortable, and most importantly, it’s cabin furniture. In conclusion, our guest’s vacation time spent at our cabin is as important to us as our own vacation time spent there. We really do try to ensure our guests have a great time, and quality family time together. Whether it be the use of our 4 kayaks, paddle boat, canoe, our horse shoe pits, or any of the lower level games including ping pong, foosball, and air hockey. We supply you with propane for bbq’s, fire wood for camp fires, and wi-fi strong enough to be at the waters edge and still be connected. But the one thing we do require, or like to have, is some communication. Over the years we have found that the guests who reach out, ask questions, and communicate tend to have the best times and best vacations at our cabin. Regards, John

Hi Jacqui, Thanks for the review and glad to hear you enjoyed your stay! It was a pleasure meeting you and your family, and we look forward to hopefully seeing you all again! Until then, take care and best wishes, John

Thanks for the review Dawn and happy to hear you enjoyed your stay! It was a pleasure meeting you and your family. Best wishes, John

Hi Carla, thanks for the review and great to hear you and your family loved it and had a wonderful time! Thanks also for the heads up regarding some weeds. I typically try to make a habit once a year to remove any weeds between the beach and the end of the dock. My apologies as I didn't do that this past summer. In reading your review, it sounds like there's some needing to be removed. Thanks for letting me know so that I can ensure they're gone for next summer! Thanks again and best wishes! John