The Boathouse - Lovely Lake Home in Sturbridge MA
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| Details | |
|---|---|
| Bedrooms | 3 |
| Bathrooms | 4 |
| Sleeps | 8 |
| House | |
| Suitability |
|---|
| No Smoking |
| Suitable for Elderly |
| FlipKey traveler rating |
| 10 reviews |
| Stayed here? Write a review. |
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All reviews are written by verified travelers
Details
| Rental type | House |
| Minimum Stay | 2 nights |
| Bedrooms |
3 Total
Show Details ►
|
| Bathrooms | 4 Total |
| Sleeps | 8 |
| Suitability |
Pet friendlyAsk Smoking allowedNo Suitable for childrenAsk Suitable for the elderlyYes Wheelchair accessibleNo |
| Theme | Luxury, Lake, Waterfront |
Description from the owner
We built this vacation home in 1999 and have enjoyed many happy summers here as well as some winter parties and activities. Now that our kids are grown up, it is time to let others enjoy this beautiful property and area as well.
Sturbridge is equidistant from the capitals of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. It enjoys easy access to the Mass Turnpike and is only 2 1/2 hours to New York City. Sturbridge is a historic town best known for Old Sturbridge Village. This major attraction which hosts visitors from around the world recreates American life in 1830's New England. Many fine antique shops and restaurants have located in t...Read more
Amenities
Location
The Boathouse - Lovely Lake Home in Sturbridge MA
Sturbridge, Massachusetts
(Property location is approximate) ?
What's Nearby:
Additional Location Information
Location Type Lake, Waterfront
Rates
Rates shown in $ USD (change)
| Date | Weeknight | Weekend Night | Weekly | Monthly | Minimum Stay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rate Summary | $180 - $275 | $180 - $275 | $900 - $1,375 | $5,500 | 2 nights |
| Oct. 1 2012 - Apr. 30 2013 Low Season |
$180 | $180 | $900 | - | 2 nights |
| May. 1 2013 - Sep. 30 2013 High season |
$275 | $275 | $1,375 | - | 2 nights |
| All Other Dates | $275 | $275 | $1,375 | $5,500 | 2 nights |
| Can't find rates for your travel dates? Contact the owner | |||||
Rental fees
- Cleaning fee - $95 / stay - Other
- Damage deposit - $500 / stay - Security Deposit
Additional notes from owner
For every 5 nights you stay, you get the next two nights free
Security Deposit $500
House preparation and cleaning fee $95
Availability
AvailableUnavailable Last updated: May 02, 2013 ◀▶
What Past Guests Are Saying
Overall Rating
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Frankie Ross
Cleveland, OhioCompletely satisfied!
Left on 10/28/2012 for a stay in October 2012
We rented the house for our sons wedding weekend. We were so pleasantly surprised, as the house and accommodations exceeded our expectations! We would highly recommend this as a perfect way to spend a mini-vacation!!
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Caroline
Northamtonshire, UKBeautiful Boathouse
Left on 06/25/2012 for a stay in June 2012
Spacious, spotless, comfortable and homely. Bedrooms are perfect - crisp white sheets, cosy duvets and comfy pillows. Surrounded by spectacular beauty. The pond is fabulous.
Truly a home from home. We spent happy hours fishing, swimming and kayaking (fishing kit and kayaks were provided). We spent a great deal of time out on the deck - dinner cooked on the gas BBQ, a glass of wine or an ice cold beer (tankards in the freezer), camera at hand to photograph the myriad wildlife - absolute heaven. Swaying gently in the hammock, watching the clouds drift by whilst listening to the water babbling under the dock, is a memory that I will keep forever.
The screened area of the deck is lovely - enabling you to enjoy being 'outside' in comfort until late at night. We also enjoyed being in there if it was raining.
The pond (and you are right on it), is wonderful. It provides lots of opportunity for activity and fun and it's stunningly beautiful. Often, on a clear evening, it becomes completely still, mirroring the trees and sky. You can catch Sun Fish from the doc, although feeding them with bread is much more fun. We also watched people fishing from boats on the pond - although none of them with the success of the osprey. We were delighted to see him every evening, trout in talons (although we did witness him become the victim of a fly-by mugging by a bald eagle on one occasion).
The Robinsons are excellent landlords. They're on-hand if you have any questions, whilst leaving you to enjoy the privacy to relax. Our experience very much reflects that of the vast majority of reviewers, the Robinsons are charming. Their property is splendid and they seemed genuinely pleased for it to be enjoyed to it's fullest. Respecting it as you would expect your own home to be respected, is more than reasonable.
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naomi
brooklyn, nyAn absolute gem!!
Left on 02/20/2012 for a stay in February 2012
We just got back from what was by far our best experience with vacation property. The pictures in the listing do not do justice to how beautiful, spacious, warm and inviting the house is!! Forget about everything you know about a vacation rental. This is home with everything and more. The place was impeccably clean, everything we needed was there and handy and the owner was quick to answer all our questions. We can't wait until it gets warmer and we can come back again and enjoy the lake, especially since I promised my daughter that we'll return as she asked "why isn't this our home???" :-)
I recommend wholeheartedly!!! -
Natasha
CambridgeAmazing Weekend at an amazing House!!
Left on 02/19/2012 for a stay in February 2012
I found this property a week before I needed the reservation for a graduate student retreat; Chris got back to me quickly and on the day of our arrival he and his gracious wife called to make sure we got in okay.
The house was amazing!! We were expecting to "rough" it in the wilderness but this blew us out the water. It was incredibly clean & gorgeous and they called with clear directions for the heating and garbage; we were also told to call if we needed anything (Which I did).
It has all the modern amenities, great decks! Master is incredible and the bathroom in the master was amazing as well. Everything about the house was more than we expected.
The view of the Lake was so beautiful, it could only be trumped by the guy we saw ice fishing on the lake out back the next day! Ice Fishing?! This was new to us and in a couple of hours we all went down and skated on the ice.
I could keep going on but the bottom line is if you are looking for a really nice property to rent for vacation/retreat/honeymoon this is it! It has the view and the house itself is great. Chris and his wife were incredibly hospitable and we would love to go back there again soon!
P:S The only thing we disliked was that we had to leave. -
Bill and Sue from CT
Newington, CTPerfect Vacation House
Left on 08/28/2011 for a stay in August 2011
Just got back from a two week vacation at "The Boathouse". This home has all the amenities you could want. It is a peaceful haven surrounded by trees with a beautiful view of the lake. We went swimming every day and made good use of the kayaks we brought with us. The neighbors were friendly and would always give a wave as they passed the house. The dock was a nice place to enjoy a little sun (we shared it with a family of 5 ducks!) and the patio area down by the water gave both shade and sun depending on where you sat. I'm fair skinned so a little shelter was nice to read a book or use the computer down by the lake without getting burned. The furniture at this house is very comfy and the screened-in porch off the deck was a nice treat for later in the evening. As far as being buggy, we did not have that experience. There were some mosquitos a couple of nights but that was it, nothing a little hit of bug spray couldn't cure. We ate out on the deck almost every night. Three of the 14 days we stayed were torrential downpours (5" in one afternoon) but it is such a great open fun place to stay that it didn't bother anyone. The set up of the first floor gives a place for everyone to find their own space, whether it be watching tv, playing games, reading or working on puzzles :), and at the same time it's a great space for a large gathering. Wonderful floorplan. The master bedroom upstairs is like a spa retreat. A luxurious open, tiled shower actually has a little seat in it. The view from the deck off the master bedroom is spectacular to wake up to. The house is decorated tastefully, nothing was spared. It looks like something out of a "Better Homes and Garden" magazine. The owners are such nice people, very helpful and greeted us when we arrived to show us around and make sure we were comfortable. Can't wait to go back - we have already booked for next year!
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mitchly
BostonTrouble on the Lake
Left on 08/27/2011 for a stay in July 2011
My wife and I, retired and in our mid-sixties, have had the good fortune in our lives to rent vacation homes in many gorgeous places all over the world. I usually hate to read the complaints about the proprietors and always figure, “hey, just get along.” But now I have to say, our month-long rental on this lakeside property was disrupted by the owners.
As is their right, the owners will no doubt dispute what I say and make accusations of their own, but you can be the judge. I’ve never made a negative remark before about any property so this is a first.
I will only say wonderful things about the property itself (save plastic chairs that crack if you weigh over 180), the swimmable lake (wear a t-shirt while swimming –fish, I found, are amazingly territorial -they bite you on the back) and the Sturbridge/Charlton community and restaurants (you must go to Rovezzi’s Restaurant, B.T.’s Smokehouse and annie’s Country Kitchen).
Our landlords showed up unannounced at our rented property 5 times at all hours during the 3 weeks and two days we stayed there.
The first was at 9:20 PM on July 4th while all five of us seniors and my 31 year old daughter were all reading, demanding, “Why are all these cars here? Are you having a party?” And that’s the way the month went.
Well, actually worse. They insisted that my daughter’s dog (the landlord initialed the contract to allow a dog) was not welcomed because I had not filled out their complete pet addendum before entry. They never asked me to fill it out then. The dog was not over 60 pounds and was there for 5 days totally.
Then, strangely, they insisted that no more than the two of us could stay there at any time. Yes, we could have guests but they were so inquisitive about who and when that my wife asked if they wanted a list of all people who intended to visit us.
I know that sounds bizarre, but apparently not even guests were allowed as one of the landlords came in the middle of our stay, took the money intended for a maid we thought we had hired, and took away all the guest sheets and bath towels for the guest bathrooms (including my daughter’s sheet she brought). This is a four bedroom house.
My wife and I went out and bought towels so our “wild and crazy” college friends from 1969 could stay with us that weekend and our Sabbath group friends could come and visit us the next.
Because we strenuously asked for towels and sheets for our guests (and were told no), they then demanded that we leave the premises as of the next day (almost two weeks into our stay). I refused without a court order.
They responded that I must leave the next day, Friday , at “10 am, one way or another.” That phrase made me fearful as “another” is not always pleasant. So, being older and not particularly adept at defending myself from “another”, my wife and I went to the police to seek protection.
The police called the landlord and the officer reported back to us that we could stay in our paid-for ($4,800) for the rest of our time there. Blessed, we were left alone for a whole week and a few days.
However, on our 41st anniversary (July 25th), at 8 PM, just as we were going to have dinner by the lake, the landlord showed up again, demanding to know when we were leaving the following Saturday. The landlords said she was so upset that I told her to leave the property that they took her to the police, whom I guess, made her feel better. They sent the local police to my property that night to check us out. They were surprised to find an old man, I guess, wanting to be left alone.
At this point we became so uncomfortable with the aberrant behavior, we left early in our lease on Tuesday of our fourth week there. I demanded half of the money back, but they said they won’t give any money back.
You meet all kinds of people in life. We are fortunate people and know it, so we won’t be doing anything about this because we have new vacations planned and wonderful, generous, hospitable people to meet. But we thought we’d let you know about our “Troubles on the Lake”, which sounds like a good name for a horror movie.Response from Chris Robinson - 11/10/2011
Owner
I should start by saying that during the time that we have been renting our vacation home on Flipkey and VRBO we have had nothing but five star reviews. I had read about the nightmare guest and considered ourselves lucky that this had not happened to us. Little did we know that our time was yet to come. Do not be fooled by the ‘little old man in his 60’s’ story. This is a very large, very aggressive, attorney who knows the law and is fond of screaming it at you an inch from your face until you back down.
He rented the property for a month and signed the rental agreement for occupancy by two adults, no children, and no pets. I am now told that this is a common ploy with vacation homes and then they move in large numbers of people and pets knowing that the rental would have been refused had they disclosed their true intentions. We had put out 14 towels not including face cloths and kitchen towels and full sets of linens for all the beds. There is also a full size washer and dryer. In just a couple of days they were taking more towels out of our owner’s closet which they entered without permission. We have to empty the trash weekly as there is no pickup at this location. This was the only reason for our visits. In less than five days there were 11 bags of trash. It was obvious that this was not from two little retired seniors.
They moved in a dog the size of a small pony and put a huge cage for it in our living room. They rearranged the furniture, disconnected the fire alarms, broke the deck chairs, used our private items, and constantly sent emails complaining about one thing or another. We want happy guests and so, during the second week, I offered them a refund if they wished to leave. They refused. Unbelievably, this attorney then went to the local police to file a restraining order against us preventing us from coming onto our own property on the basis that we were interfering with his “quiet enjoyment” (some legal term he kept quoting) – basically he did not want us to see what he was up to in our home. When my wife went by to empty the trash bin in the garage he came out of the house and verbally assaulted, threatened and intimidated her so badly that she was reduced to tears and feared for her own safety.
After 3 ½ weeks they left of their own accord and then he got one of his lawyer buddies to threaten us with legal proceedings if we did not pay him a large sum of money in compensation. A quick look at our calendar shows that we are booked 12 months in advance by good people who want to have a great vacation in a really nice home. I guess that our time had come and we are glad that it has passed. Lesson learned.
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happytravelor09
Plymouth, MassachusettsBeautiful lake home
Left on 05/27/2011 for a stay in May 2011
We had the pleasure of staying at "the Boathouse' with extended family 5/20 to 5/23. for a family wedding. The house is well equipped , loved the open floor plan. plenty of room for everyone. The deck over looking the lake is wonderful. My grandsons enjoyed fishing from the dock. My husband and daughter even went out in the canoe. The house is even more beautiful than the pictures. We had friends over to visit while we were there, they could not get over how wonderful everything was. Would love to rent again.
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Mark
North CarolinaA Peaceful retreat by the lake
Left on 04/18/2011 for a stay in March 2011
We couldn't have been more delighted with our stay at the Boathouse. I was initially concerned that it might be far enough out as to be inconvenient, but the description of the place convinced me to give it a try. After checking in, I discovered that the pictures cannot do justice to the beauty of the home or of the view of the lake. Everything about this place exceeded my expectations, and it is actually conveniently located just off a main highway so it is very easily accessible, and just the right distance from Boston to give you a peaceful retreat without being too far. The furnishings were just right and made us feel right at home. The pictures cannot do justice to the beauty of the home or of the view of the lake. We were able to host a birthday party for a friend while there at the house, and the big table in the kitchen gave us plenty of room.
Chris was superb host. He and his wife met us at the house when we arrived (which was later than we had planned due to weather and traffic), and showed us around, and then called the next morning just to make sure everything was ok. Later in the weekend when we lost a car key, Chris drove to Worcester for us and picked up the spare key. He certainly went beyond the "second mile" to show genuine hospitality and ensure that we had a nice visit in Massachusetts. Thank you!
If you are considering a trip anywhere near Sturbridge, Boston, or Worcester, you absolutely owe it to yourself to check this place out. As a side note, my mother who is very sensitive and has allergies, had no problems with this place. We found the place extremely clean and supplied with everything needed for a comfortable stay.
We look forward to visiting the Boathouse again in the future. -
Recent Renters
North Andover, MAGreat Stay
Left on 01/30/2011 for a stay in January 2011
My husband and I stayed at this beautiful home with two other couples. We had a great time! The house is very comfortable and clean and the views of lake are spectacular. I would recommend this house to anyone that is looking for a nice relaxing getaway.
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a2traveler
Ann Arbor, MIPerfection!
Left on 05/27/2010 for a stay in May 2010
If you’re looking for a place you love to come “home” to at the end of a day of sightseeing, or—even better—a place you don’t feel like you have to leave to be having a truly relaxing vacation, this is definitely it. We were a group of bridesmaids and family visiting for a wedding, and during the 10 days we were there a few dozen people came by for a brunch and a dinner, and every one of them was enchanted by this home. It is an excellently designed, perfectly decorated, well supplied house maintained to a high standard in a gorgeous setting. We slept 8 people comfortably, and the four bathrooms (3 full, plus a half bath on the main floor) made it easy for us all to get up and get moving in the mornings. The heated floors were a welcome luxury on chilly mornings, and rain or shine we could not get enough of the beauty of the lake and the woods surrounding it.
Out on the deck you feel as if you are sitting on top of the lake, and you’ll find yourself eating all of your meals there. The house itself is comfortable and elegant at the same time. Having this as a gathering point for family and friends attending the wedding we were in town for made it possible for everyone to enjoy each other's company in way that renting a group of hotel rooms never could have. And after wondering whether we should stay closer to the wedding venue in Sturbridge, we were delighted to discover that the 10 minute drive to the house from town on peaceful, winding roads was a relaxing and spirit-lifting bonus.
Very importantly, the owner provided just the right amount of support—a helpful opening tour of the house and an invitation to call him with any questions or problems. If you are fortunate enough to be able to book this home for your vacation you will not be disappointed. The week we spent here was not nearly enough time, and we will be looking for excuses to return.
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