Quiet, relaxing home on Lake Watab in beautiful St. Joseph, MN near SJU and CSB

Thanks Kari. We hope to see you again soon!

Thanks Beth. Since you had such a great time we were hoping a five star would be in order. Hope to see you again soon.

Thanks Mike. We look forward to having you again!

Thanks Sean, hope to see you again soon!

Thank you Jackson’s. Hope to have you back again soon.

Thank you Gary.

Thanks for the review Patrick. Hope to see you again soon.

Thanks Hayden, we are glad you enjoyed your stay. Hope to see you again soon. Best, Cici and John

Thank you for the nice review. We hope to see you again soon!

Thank you for the review. In response to several of you comments, we have found that most of our guests say they wanted a Keurig coffee maker and we provided a few days of coffee for our guests. The two queen beds are both adjustable Sleep Number beds so they can be made harder or softer. The remotes were right on the night stand. We have not put cushions on the new deck furniture as they get wet. Thanks again for staying with us.

Thank you Chris for the nice review. Hope to see you again soon.

Thanks Shawn. Hope to see you back again soon.

Thank you Chris and Allison. So glad you enjoyed it.

Niall, thank you for the review. Sorry to hear about the couches. You are the first to comment on this. We will investigate this asap. We hope you will visit us again.

The guests obviously did not read the lake home guidelines that are on the website and in the newly remodeled lake home upon entry. It clearly states that the lower patio and gas grill are for the owners only, who are rarely on-site. They did use the gas grill and clearly deceived us about that. No apologies were offered by the guests. There is charcoal grill for guests use with lighter fluid and charcoal, which was in the closet. The guests again clearly did not review the guidebook. We were on-site for two days and one night. We again rarely were present around the guests. We never are in the guests’ space as claimed by the guests. They had three more people stay on the property than they stated and allowed. We change the batteries in the smoke alarms every quarter, so I am suspect they died on our guests, given what we saw. We did offer to pay for the batteries, and they declined. Very deceitful guests. We would change our rating on them, if we could.

We all have had guests that either do NOT read our guidelines and/or neglect to follow the guidelines when they come. These guests were both. Here are just a few of the examples: 1. It is clearly stated that occupancy is for six guests, they came with eight. 2. It clearly states the guests are not to have parties of any kind, and they had one with outside guests. The main guest said they were not having a party, but when questioning the other guests as they arrived, they said they were coming for a party. 3. It clearly states that the garage is for the “owner’s use only.” They used it to store their inflatable water toys. 4. It clearly states that the hosts may be using the lower level of this duplex during the guests’ stay, which is secure and private from where the guests stay; they were annoyed by this because they neglected the guidelines of more guests and parties and they now knew we knew. 5. It clearly states there is NO public access on this lake. Guests can buy a pass at the private boat club (we also have posted a picture of sign) for a fee to launch a small fishing boat only. They came with a LARGE fishing/speed boat and a jet ski. 6. It clearly states that the guests may have only two large vehicles on the driveway with no on-street parking; they had that plus another truck and boat trailer and jet ski trailer parked on the street upsetting the neighbors. 7. It clearly states that a small fishing boat can be docked on owner’s dock as a courtesy, not as a requirement; they came with a LARGE fishing/speed boat, a jet ski, three kayaks and numerous very large lake inflatable toys. To address their comment on the tornado issue, as in most lake cabins, there is no basement. Common sense and guidelines from the National Weather Service and we quote states, “In general, get as low as you can. A basement below ground level or the lowest floor of a building offers the greatest safety. Put as many walls between yourself and the outside as possible. Avoid windows at all cost!” Lastly, the main guest’s son was operating a jet ski illegally, which bought the DNR to our property and they were cited for multiple violations. This was very disturbing to us as hosts. As you can see, not someone we would welcome back as guests.

Thank you for the review. Cici and I take great care in making sure everything is up to excellent standards for our guests. We made sure that you were aware that we may be present in the lower level when you arrived. We were not there at all that week. Additionally, it is quite clear that laundry facilities are not provided on the Homeaway website. While premier towels are provided for our guests (two of you), we never set the expectations that they would be cleaned for the week. It is interesting however that you bring this up because you used all six sets of towels in all three bedrooms over the week. Lastly, we have never had an issue with the 65 in. flat screen TV and home theatre system from previous guests. Maybe they were just tech savvy. We will address this with more clear, written instructions. Also, we never had someone suggest that was a slight odor from the well water. It is crystal clear and very drinkable. Again, thank you for your comments and review. We hope you do visit us again soon.

I will try to make my response polite, but it will be difficult. This guest clearly does NOT follow the little guidelines we have; that all VRBOs have. They clearly are NOT experienced VRBO guests. There are no hidden fees. All are on the VRBO website. The guests do not read well. They booked for 6 people and showed up with seven or more. We were not on-site, but we know this based on how messy things were when it was cleaned. They did NOT follow clean up guidelines at ALL. It was awful! The booking clearly states that having over four people is an extra charge. When they booked it, they saw the fees and paid for them. They complained after the fact. There is air conditioning through the entire house, as well as two large fans, so their statement is TOTALLY FALSE! The couches are new leather sofas, another totally false claim! The house is on a beautiful lake. Not one guest has EVER said the hill to the lake is steep. Is there goose poop by lake? Yes! Some! It’s a lake resort, and it also has a beautiful 100 shoreline with a sandy beach! These guests obviously do NOT know what a lake vacation is. My strong recommendation is to NOT book these guests ever!

We must take extreme exception to this rating as you can tell from our other ratings. It is a "quiet, relaxing home." Why they have said this , we have some idea. The unit is FULLY air conditioned with new AC throughout. There is an entrance to the "entirely separate space" that is TOTALLY separate from our guests. The Ring cameras at the front and back of the house are for external security that VRBO suggests. This is for the safety of our guests. We had 70 mile an hour straight line winds one week before our guests stayed there. It destroyed four trees on our property while knocking down an edge of the roof with our beautiful Maple tree. It has no effect on the internal portion of the lake home and the tarp was there for protecting the roof from water damage in case it rained. We are getting it repaired and because of the total damage in the area it is taking longer than anticipated due to shortage of workers. This was all explained to the guests. It had no effect on their sleep. There is a charcoal grill for our guests use, which is noted in the property description. We fly the American flag which obviously our guests didn't like. We are very proud of that and we think that's what triggered this review! We take great pride in maintaining our lake home, but there are always a few that you can never please!

We are sorry you feel this way. It is the first review we have had like this ever. You did not share the house with us. You were on the second level with your own kitchen, three bedrooms and private bath. We have a separate entrance and were never in your space other than when we tried the fix the Apple TV, which was working before you showed up and disconnected it to play your computer games. The WiFi was down for an hour with the snow blizzards we had and were back up again within the hour as you stated to us. There is no smell from the water. We have great water softener. The water is soft and they may be unfamiliar with it as they were from California and probably aren't used to well water. Again the house is NOT shared and it is beautiful. Our guests were friendly also and we hope they do come back if they wish.