I struggle with this review, because our family had a great time on our Torch Lake vacation and I really hate to write negative reviews - having said that, I wish I'd had the benefit of some of this info before arriving on the property so I feel I should write the review honestly. The best way I can put this is that if I had known several key things about this property in advance, I would have searched for something that was a better value for the price. The grounds themselves are as pictured and well maintained, but you don't have exclusive use of them as I'm accustomed to on a VRBO (or if they are shared, that's usually made clear). The owners live 50 feet from the cottages in their summer house and you share the grounds with both them and a rental house they own next door. Also, our kids were playing on the dock in a way that we immediately corrected, but the owner came down less almost immediately to scold us and correct us. I don't really enjoy being watched while in a rental property on my vacation. Another downside to the cottages is that they are very, very small. When the weather is nice, this isn't a problem because you want to be outside anyways. But there was at least one day that was a little chilly and it sprinkled, and while the property sleeps 9, there is absolutely no way that it can comfortably accommodate 9 people in the living rooms of either cottage unless you split the group in half. Not good for a group of 9 in that way. In addition, the cottages are located very far from the lake on the property, so there aren't lake views from them, and they are close to a road that is surprisingly noisy at night while you try to sleep. I'd also take issue with the term "newly-renovated" in the description. The cottages are perfectly fine for a rustic vacation, but one of the kitchens doesn't even have a dishwasher which seems typical of a "new" renovation.
On the plus side, the dock is very nice, the swimming area is great because of the shallow water depth (good for younger kids, which we have), and the beach area down by the water is very nice. The owners are responsive to issues as they arise. Torch Lake is a fantastic place to have a family vacation. I just wish the description of the property fully reflected the property that you are renting so I could accurately determine whether it was a good value for the price (which I ultimately thought it was definitely not).