Barefoot Cottage

Great vacation! We enjoyed the Barefoot Cottage immensely and were so grateful it was the perfect home to accommodate our family of 9! Cottage has nice amenities and we could easily spread out. Grandkids loved the lower level bunkbed room and it was awesome to have the door to the pool with the mud room and bathroom adjacent- perfect! Interesting layout upstairs but worked fabulously for all the adults. We had some concerns upon check-in with the outdoor spaces, since Michigan received a lot of rain this spring and the outdoor spaces had accumulated debris from the lovely trees surrounding the property and needed attention. We brought it to the management team’s attention and they promptly responded! One of the team members was over power washing the pool deck and the upper deck right away. This is a lake cottage, and the marketing for it is well done. Communication with the team on top notch! Kitchen had everything we need and washer and dryer was a plus! Loved the large gas grill. The hot tub was absolutely wonderful- enjoyed it multiple times a day! We could not get over how nice the linens were- so great to have beach towels and bath towels and plenty of them! Beds were comfortable and everyone slept great! Golf carts were awesome to have to explore the village and the beaches! We also made our way to New Buffalo and enjoyed ice cream at Oink’s as well as tasty cocktails and meals with amazing service at the Stray Dog and the Beer Church Brewery. Also imbibed in a day trip to Warren Dunes State Park where we had beach time, tacos, and took some fabulous pics of the dunes! All in all it was a wonderful time making memories with family. Great place to meet since half of us live in Minnesota and the other half in Ohio. Highly recommend!

Jamie Tomlin - Posted: 6/29/2026

Jamie — Thank you for staying with Juniper Holiday + Home and for the wonderful review of Barefoot Cottage. We’re glad the cottage worked so well for your family of nine — the bunkroom, mudroom/pool access, kitchen, washer/dryer, large gas grill, and hot tub all getting good use. Thank you for flagging the outdoor debris; We're glad the team was able to respond quickly and power wash the decks. It’s great to hear the linens, beds, golf carts, and nearby spots (New Buffalo, Stray Dog, Beer Church, Warren Dunes) helped make your trip special. We’d love to host you again.

Juniper Holiday and Home staff

Positives--great beds/pillows/towels. Kitchen fully stocked, plenty of dishes for a big group. Nice extras (coffee, toiletries, firewood, laundry soap). Golf cart was a welcome benefit, too. Pool was excellent. Great communications, they brought a pool skimmer when I asked for one. Plenty of room for many people. Inside the house was pristinely clean.
Negatives--Outdoors was not well upkept (couldn't use hot tub 2/2 cleanliness, seat cushions mouldy or ripped, I had to sweep and skim pool). The rest of the negatives were structural--nothing to do with the management; 2 of 3 bathrooms access through a bedroom (can't get in if someone is sleeping), and one of the bathrooms had open walls to common spaces. Beach access across street was eroded to unusability, had to drive/golf cart 2mi to beach.
All in all, good for families or people who are very comfortable with each other. Would rent again with our family, but probably not at the price we paid.

Henry - Posted: 6/15/2026

Thank you for such a detailed and balanced review. We're so glad the beds, towels, kitchen setup, extras, golf cart, and pool were all a hit, and that the house felt spacious and pristinely clean for your group. We also really appreciate you mentioning the communication — happy we could get that skimmer to you quickly!
That said, we're sorry the outdoor areas didn't meet the same standard. The hot tub cleanliness and the condition of the seat cushions are not okay, and the fact that you had to sweep and skim the pool yourself tells us we dropped the ball on upkeep before your arrival. We're looking into our outdoor maintenance routine to make sure this is caught well before guests check in.
We also hear you on the layout concerns with bathroom access and the open wall — those are structural realities of the home, but we understand how that impacts privacy for larger groups, and we'll make sure that's clearly described in the listing so future guests know what to expect. The beach erosion is unfortunately outside of our control, but we appreciate you flagging it so we can set the right expectations as well.
Thank you for your honesty and for being willing to stay with us again. We want the outdoor experience to match the quality of everything else, and your feedback helps us get there.

Juniper Holiday and Home staff