Great location for a relaxing family vacation.Only issue. Basement bedrooms were too warm with no AC in basement. Otherwise perfect.

We enjoyed the property. The house is down a half mile dirt road, missed the road first time. Spiral staircase going to downstairs two bedrooms kind of interesting. We had 12 people staying and we were able to spread out. The kayaks and paddle boat were a lot of fun.

We always travel to Michigan from Minnesota in a large group to visit extended family annually. We typically book a VRBO near the Frankfort area but also have family in Lake Ann so figured we would change it up this year. Maggie & Sam Hanes' property on Pearl Lake is perfect for those looking for large-group accomodations. The hosts promptly replied to all email communications and were reasonable in their property rules and expectations. It was awesome to have such a great view and a lot of privacy with no issues parking. The location is great for enjoying Sleeping Bear Dunes and Lake Michigan beaches. Also, the lake is beautiful but is more of a fishing lake or a lake to enjoy nature rather than a swimming lake. Be wary of swimmer's itch! Small cars may have difficulty getting down the road to the property, especially in the winter. Also, there is little to no cell phone coverage at the property, and we did not have access to wifi during our stay.

Overall, we were happy. It's on a beautiful lake and the listing was accurate. There were enough rooms that our party (8 adults + 1 infant) was comfortable. The boats were a nice touch and we took those out several time. The location is great, close to Sleeping Bear Dunes and Traverse City. I would only give 3.5 or 4 stars out of 5 reasons. First, the place could be cleaner. One of the beds is on the covered porch and it should have been nice to sleep there, but the windows were extremely dirty. The outdoors patio tables were grimy too, even on arrival. Second, while the property owner was extremely communicative upon arrival, I had a few questions in the months before our rental and they sometimes took ~1 week or more to respond. Third, there is a tight, spiral staircase that definitely would not have been approved if this house was built today to get to the two bedroom basement. We called it the "spiral staircase of death." My husband fell down it once and I hit my head on it another time. Fourth, we were only given 1 set of keys for the house. Since the house that advertises fitting 10+ people, you definitely need more than 1 set of keys for when different groups in your party come and go separately. Fifth, the owners wanted me to send a check for $500 for a deposit outside VRBO, which they said they'd destroy if all was well after check out. We worked it out, but I really didn't appreciate being asked to make a payment outside VRBO.