Garden Island

"First time staying in the Willow boat house. Great cabin style accommodations. Fantastic view of the lake. We enjoyed hiking and kayaking around the island. The ferry was quick and made it easy to explore the rest of the area. Don't miss the Shelburne Museum nearby."

"Great island hiking trail! Wonderful old growth cedars that are hard to find elsewhere in Vermont. Cabins (houses) are under constant maintenance. A warning that there is no A/C in any cabins, nor a fleck of insulation so they are HOT in the summertime. This makes getting a good night’s sleep difficult. Nice, small beach. Super reactive ferry request process to get to the mainland. Overall, a memorable time, but possibly not worth the overall cost."

"My family recently spent a week here. We are already talking about going back next Summer. What made it so special was the simple, quiet, secluded & serine experience. The accommodations were great. Very spacious and clean. The house we stayed in was and old place built in the late 1800’s. No air conditioning or tv. We really did not need either. We were there during a warm spell but everything cooled down nicely at night. We kayaked and canoed around the island. The owner actually took my kids out tubing on his personal boat. The hospitality was exceptional. There is a hiking trail around the island. It was challenging at times but still family friendly. The kids, four total, fished everyday. Even though they lost that elusive pike to a weak fishing line on a couple different occasions, they still had a blast. We had concerns about being on an island. We were worried that we might feel isolated and we might not have the flexibility we wanted. The great thing is that Carl, Jake and the other staff were always available to run the pontoon boat across the bay to the other side at whatever time we needed. This place reminds me of the same kind of cottage my family would stay at during our Summers in the 70’s. We are hoping to make this place, the kind of experience we can revisit every Summer. We did have a small misunderstanding regarding the cottage when we first arrived. Peter and his family went above and beyond to make our experience one which we will never forget. I would recommend this place to anyone who has kids and wants to make some memories with them. There were also some empty nesters staying there as well. A great place for anyone to unwind and just have fun. I should mention, they have wi-fi for the kids so they were able to unwind a little bit at night."

"Very relaxing with old time standards of service and comfort. So unique as a vacation spot for families, couples and reunions."

"We used to summer there when my father's uncle and aunt used to own the island - Dr. David & Dorothy Bosworth. If we didn't stay in the main house, we would be in the smaller cabin down by the beach; they called it the "honeymoon cabin". Great sunrises and sunsets, singing, cooking and eating, swimming and fishing,... fond fond memories."