Lakefront Escape Bordering Nat Park w/ Hot Tub!

Reviews

• 5/5

  There was much said in previous reviews about the driveway, and as my (Adult) son said, you needed to approach coming down the driveway with caution, and going out you needed to approach it with confidence, knowing where your tires are on the concrete surface. We had no problem with the driveway. What is needed to be said is that there are two ways to get to the cabin, and you need to have someone watching the GPS and the road at the same time as the first time coming in, I must have missed a slight left, and instead of the normal recalculating it just skipped straight to the second way in, which took us on some very narrow, non-graveled roads. We loved the peace and quiet, and loved the canoeing also. We went to several waterfalls, we saw where several creeks ran into the lake.The only real disappointment was the park trail that was adjacent to the property started out looking nice, then got narrower, then you were walking on a very steep side hill, which after a rain was a little slippery, but then when you got around the corner, it went down into a ravine, and I lost the trail. That was a little disappointing, but overall we had a blast. On one of the rainy days we took a tour of the cave at the Lost Sea in Sweetwater, TN. I would also recommend this or any underground exploring for anyone for the rainy days. We also enjoyed the Murphy River Walk, and the Hiawassee dam. There were many more areas to explore, but there was not enough time.

  *This review was originally posted on Vrbo

• Loved the privacy of the cabin!

  5/5

  Great experience. The property manager was very responsive to my questions!

  *This review was originally posted on Vrbo

• Great getaway! but a few issues?

  4/5

  First off, Lake Apalachia is a very beautiful lake, serene, quiet and peaceful ( Only saw/heard one boat on the lake during our entire stay.) The house was very clean, roomy (for more than just the two of us!) and well appointed (furnishings, kitchen, towels, accessories, etc) This being said, not sure I would choose to call this location "lakefront". The listing and photos do not accurately show or describe how the lake access is accomplished. We brought our kayaks, as that was one of the main reasons we booked the house, little did we know that to access the lake and "canoe - -kayak launch area you face a very difficult portage on an unkept path with serious elevation change...or access (for the community) down a series of very steep and winding stairs / boardwalk (again a very steep elevation change and around 80 steps with dogleg direction changes (nearly impossible to portage that way). As a fallbackposition we did use one of the owner's canoes (a pretty nice molded model) and we caught a good number of large mouth bass while touring the lake. If the listing had called this out, showed additional photos, or perhaps a detailed description or map we probably would not have booked the house. To us, a Lake House has both visual and easy physical access to the lake! Several other reviews noted the very tight access road to the house and a very steep concrete drive (the listing called for 4WD or All Wheel Drive for easier access.) Our Audi Q7 Quattro made it up and down Ok with a bit of coaxing at the top coming out!All in all a very nice mountain cabin "with limited lake access and view" (at least for 65 plus visitors like us) or families with children and lots of stuff to cart to the lake?

  *This review was originally posted on Vrbo

  Manager's Response:

  From the owner: "Hello Steven, thank you for the 4-star review and for staying at our cabin. We are sorry that the access to the lake was difficult for you and that you were not satisfied with the trail to the lake. I guess everyone has different expectations of things. Regarding your comment about the driveway, this is what the listing states. We feel this is pretty clear.
  - NOTE: AWD or 4WD is required in the winter months and highly recommended in all other seasons depending on the vehicle.
  Again apologies for your difficulties with accessing the lake. We are happy that everything else was acceptable and that you enjoyed your stay. We are certainly not attempting to deceive anyone."

• Secluded and peaceful

  4/5

  If you want to be out in the middle of nowhere, this is the place! We only saw a handful of boats on the lake our entire stay. You feel like you have the lake to yourself most of the time. We took the canoes out everyday to fish and caught numerous bass and a variety of panfish along the shore. The trail down to the canoe launch is technical and steep, but it didn't keep us from going out twice a day! The last few roads to the house are gravel and single lane. The driveway down to the house is paved, but it is definitely steep. House was nicely appointed. Make sure you pack in all your supplies because there is no "running to the store" if you forgot something.

  *This review was originally posted on Vrbo

  Manager's Response:

  From the owner: "Hi Jennifer, Thank you for the great review. Yes, we are out in the middle of nowhere which is what we like . Good to have Murphy and McCaysville about 30 minutes away though. Glad you got to enjoy the lake and fishing. Hope to see you again. Thank you for being wonderful guests!"

• Must have AWD or 4WD

  3/5

  The rental was clean, quiet and beautiful, but the property owner needs to come clean and stress that AWD or 4WD is necessary year round. The driveway is unbelievably steep and not fully paved, so unless you gun it towards the top, you get stuck on the rim, fishtailing in gravel. There is zero wiggle room to correct this (wrong move and you will plummet into a ravine), so we had to call a tow truck to pull us to the top. The tow truck guy said he has pulled literally hundreds of people out over the years. Another option would be to park at the top and haul all of your stuff down the steep hill. We would have preferred doing this had we known the odds of getting up and out with our Camry were slim to none. Again, the place was lovely, clean, and peaceful, but you need to have a 4WD, be an expert driver in dangerous situations, or be willing to fork over and additional $160 and a two hour wait for a tow outta this place.

  *This review was originally posted on Vrbo

  Manager's Response:

  Hi Susan, we want all of our guests to find the perfect vacation rental for their stay, so we take the accuracy of our listings seriously:
  - The listing clearly states that AWD or 4WD is required in winter, and it is highly recommended in all other seasons depending on the vehicle. The owner would never try to mislead a guest, and we're upfront about the driveway.
  - The owner confirmed that it is not required at all times, but we encourage guests to thoroughly review the listing to familiarize themselves with the details prior to booking to ensure it meets their comfort level.
  This is a family cabin, and the owners work hard to provide an ideal stay for all guests - we look forward to this home hosting many happy travelers!