East Otis Reservoir Cabin w/ Porch - Walk to Lake!

Reviews

• Cute cottage

  5/5

  Lovely cottage. Very clean. Everything we needed. We had a great time!

  *This review was originally posted on Vrbo

• Sweet Cottage

  4/5

  Sweet cottage with a lovely screened in front porch and cozy living room. The kitchen is stocked with food in case you've forgotten something. The cottage is a few hundred yards from the lake, a perfect walk. Along with daytime, twilight is a wonderful time to meander down to the water; the lake is tranquil, ducks are out and about and the sun still glows. The owner is very responsive to all questions. The landscaping is artful and tender. Ferns are allowed to display their majesty and someone loves a small white pine enough to pull it back from the path by pinning it to a rock. Hummingbirds are frequent visitors to the feeders and the soft humming of their wings is delightful to hear while sitting on the front porch.

  *This review was originally posted on Vrbo

• A magical stay in a loving cottage.

  5/5

  Are you looking for a vintage Western Mass/Berkshires experience? Look no further! Patty’s magic cottage was our spot for six glorious days in August of 2019. We have kids and a dog (reasonable fee). The house was so well appointed and “ready for anything.� We spent time at the lake (a 5 minute walk door to dock-also the state’s largest recreational lake!) and rented a boat. We enjoyed surrounding areas including Lee, Lenox, Stockbridge and Monterey. My part of the trip included time at Jacob’s Pillow—Becket is also a magic little town! Otis boasts a Farmers Market and nearby gas/grocery. A charming New England town center with all of the trappings of real 413 living. It is barely remote, but close enough to civilization and neighbors that my city kids weren’t in shock. I told Patty we’d be back to stay again for more hiking, shopping, and making of family memories.

  *This review was originally posted on Vrbo

• A cozy stay in the Berkshires

  4/5

  We booked this cabin in order to be close to our daughter's summer camp. The cabin is quaint and cute. We were there when the weather was gloomy and rained for days. We liked all the older furniture and the character that it added to the cabin. The owners organized EVERYTHING for the house to make it easy to find what you needed. From toiletries to lake toys, there was a little bit of everything to choose from. We spent time enjoying the fireplace and the Harry Potter DVD collection. Kids played Lincoln logs and I pulled out a book from the onsite library. We had games to play and an enclosed patio area to also relax in.

  The bathroom is pretty little and this takes some getting used to. The kitchen was well stocked with all that we needed to make homemade meals. We love pour over coffee so this was a plus as well.

  We found it easy to get to many attractions/shopping in the area. If you are there be sure to check out Jacob's Pillow, the outside theater has a beautiful backdrop and they had free concerts in June.

  The outside of the cabin on arrival is a little run down and the porch /entry does need some work. But overall we really enjoyed how comfortable this place was and it is not so fancy that you worry about the kids messing something up constantly. We stayed June 16th thru June 22nd.

• Wonderful hostess, adequate property.

  3/5

  Although generally I did not have a bad time, the property had limitations. It was an older cottage and had drawbacks that limited my enjoyment. First of all, the main rooms and porch were quite dark. The old furniture was covered in blankets and the deep couches were neither comfortable for me nor easy to get up from. The lock box was hard to open,; the front steps were home made of slate and stone and high and rather dangerous for a smaller , older woman ( my companion). The fridge was not working properly and our perishables and left overs spoiled before we realized there was s problem. TO HER VERY GREAT CREDIT, the owner brought a tabletop refrigerator and gave us a generous amount of money to replace our losses. The house was also musty and I awoke each day completely congested until I left the house. The bathroom was tiny. On a positive note, the House was clean. I am highly allergic to dryer sheets, and there were placed in every drawer in the bedroom ~. Not a happy state for me. I was also disappointed in the distance to the reservoir as my impression from the literature was that it was quite close.

  *This review was originally posted on Vrbo

  Manager's Response:

  Louise, thank you for your review. This homeowner has asked us to pass along the following response:
  
  "Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. I am so sorry that you had a refrigerator failure! I did everything in my power to ameliorate that unfortunate situation (getting a repairman there asap, setting up a tall dorm-style fridge for you on a handy table for accessibility, and giving you a generous monetary reimbursement for your loss of food and the inconvenience). On the plus side, I had delightful visits with your cousin while delivering the fridge and then monitoring the repairman. It is true that the cottage is old, which is part of the charm and of course part of the challenge. Given that the cabin is closed up for about seven months of the year, the smell can indeed get a bit cabin-y, but I have had good luck with simply opening the windows for an hour or two. The dryer sheets are to discourage mice from exploring the bureaus, as mice seem to be repelled by certain fragrances. The cottage is in the middle of a forest of trees, and so is probably darker than most houses and apartments in the city. We have spent about $5,000 over the last two years removing dead or dying trees around the cabin, which has resulted in additional light coming in, but the huge front porch acts as a giant awning to the living/dining room, which also has dark wood paneling (we prefer not to paint this mid-century feature, which we find attractive, plus which is very cozy with a fire going in the fireplace). For brightness, the expansive screened front porch is hard to beat. The lockbox that caused our guest problems is top-of-the-line, but anything mechanical can be a challenge for some first-time users even with step-by-step instructions. On a final note, we are planning to have our front stone steps re-built this fall with the same materials so that none of the three steps will be more than 7.5” high, and which will still have plenty of depth. Thank you for staying with us and we hope you'll give us another chance in the future!"
  
  Best, the Evolve Team