This lake house was just as advertised - it is right on Lake Hopatcong and you have your own private dock. There are even steps off the dock if you wanted to do some swimming, though it was too cold for us at this time of the year. Seating and outdoor living areas are available at the dock level, on the deck off of the main level, and up on the second level attached to the master bedroom. Unbelievable views of the lake, perfect sunrises, and just overall amazing location.
Pros:
- Location, lake views, lake access
- House amenities (jacuzzi, dock, deck, kayaks, etc.)
- Basement game room, but we did not use it
- House even had an ample supply of kids toys - new toys are always the best toys so the kids were endlessly entertained
- Beautiful TV and lots of streaming/connectivity options, sound bar sounded great
- WiFi worked great, no issues with connectivity or speed
- Off-street parking
- Quiet neighborhood, lots of quaint restaurants nearby
- Both heating and air conditioning worked great - we were comfortable the whole time even as the spring temperatures fluctuated from 40-F to 80-F.
Cons:
- Check-in was a little stressful having to coordinate with Bob and meet him in person. I'm more accustomed to the virtual check-ins. It seems like Bob has a tendency to get guests who can't read basic instructions, so I understand it is what it is.
- Some of the kitchen appliances need a little updating. As examples: the refrigerator works, but many shelves in the door had cracks, the drawers had cracks and the slides were broken, the drawer handle falls off, and the bottom drawer wasn't even attached to anything. The dishwasher works but sections of the shelves are broken and completely rusted out and starting to disintegrate away. The little dust-vac in the kitchen runs for about 20 seconds until the battery dies and could barely vacuum up the crumbs from my kids.
- The house could use a general cleaning. As examples: there was broken glass in the bottom of the dishwasher and in the silverware basket, there was an empty used water bottle under one of the beds, there was a sticky dust film over things that don't get used regularly, and my kid's pacifier always had dog hair on it even though there are supposedly no pets allowed in this property.
Overall summary: would highly recommend and would stay here again. A little cleaning and updating would make this place palatial.
