Birchwood Resort

"Pictures were/are an absolute lie. Update them. Front room of cabin #2 had zero furniture, And you couldn't even open the windows to let the amazing breeze off the lake thru the cabin. Hilarious to put lamps in bedrooms with no light bulb or a broken one, not to mention one bedroom has zero plugs. And the one plug is from 1970. Screens let tiny bugs in so lights on at night is pointless. Didn't have a swing and for the "personal light and faucet for cleaning fish" light and wires exposed while the faucet was nothing more than a spigot under the deck. Deck wasn't bad for the view. Also not having curtains on one of the bedroom windows is just comical. Definitely would not stay here again. Zero maintenance and it was near end of June. Wifi password didn't work, but luckily the maintenance wifi worked. Would have called the office, but it was an 800 number, another joke. Makes sense why they had plenty of openings"

"We rented a cottage at Birchwood in St. Germaine. The price for our 3 bedroom is twice what we have ever paid (we’ve stayed up north for many, many years) including a $300 cleaning fee, which they mention in the contract, but don’t list a price. When we got there, the floors were sandy and gritty. The cabin itself is ok, except for the fact that none of the bedrooms have walls that go to the ceiling, so it’s very noisy if you’re trying to sleep. There was a sheet and bedspread on each bed but no extra blankets. Although they provided sheets for the futon, there were no extra blankets or pillows provided (so much for sleeping 8 people). Two of the 3 bedrooms had no outlets. The kitchen had 1 outlet that had to be shared by the stove, so you couldn’t use the microwave, toaster and/or coffee pot at the same time. Although there was an old AC set high in the wall (out of reach), the note on the switch said it couldn’t be run for “too long” because it would ice up and stop working! No screen on the bathroom window so it couldn’t be opened. We would expect more at a cabin that is so expensive!"

"The beach and swimming areas are great, but our cabin does not at all match the high-end price we paid. We were told it would have central air, which it did not. The Lodge sleeps 14, but only has a table and chairs for 6. The master bath shower has no water pressure at all and makes a terribly loud noise when used. The kitchen update was started but not finished. There were no handles on the cabinets and the countertops don’t fit correctly. There was an unused bed frame just leaning against a wall in a bedroom. Some of the mattresses are very uncomfortable, and the bedding is cheap and doesn’t fit correctly. We didn’t even have a broom. The deck needs updating, but that space is nice. We called Hillers several times with issues, and got little to no response. We have been told that once the additions are completed on the cabin, the price is going up another $3000. Perhaps the resort will be much better after some updates, but it not there yet. We were very disappointed for what we paid."

"I understand this company is under management and many cabins on the property have been upgraded, but our cabin was not as advertised. Overpriced! Unclean! Not a "resort"! Not comfortable for a family! The best thing about it was Little St. Germain Lake! Bald eagles everywhere and lots of good fishing! However, there is no place to clean/filet fish near our cabin or the beach, or anywhere on the property. Our dock was not installed upon arrival to the property! check in is late in the day and check out is a ridiculous 8am on a Saturday! Their policy has strict consequences for early arrival or late check out, but they can't meet their own high expectations because the cabin was not ready when we got there! It took two days to get the dock in and took like 10 minutes to install. Then it began to collapse so they had to come back out to reinstall it. Spiral stairs in the cabin are a deathtrap! Not only can you fall between the steps, but also through the railing! We had small children with us. Don't let the fancy "cabiny" furniture deceive you. General lack of cabin amenities for when you are away from home - some rooms had no clothes storage, not enough outlets, broken box fans, extremely dim lighting, no place to put shoes or anything really (especially toiletries) unless it is on top of your bed or the kitchen table. There was a boxed up washer & dryer stored in the lower level which took up a ton of space. Giant branches, brush, fall leaves had not been cleared from the deck or property. Office girls (except Angela) were rude when I asked for a broom. I had to clear it myself just for the family to eat on the porch, exit the lower level door, and sit around the fire pit. Long cables hanging from the outside of the cabin just laying all over the yard. This was a strangulation hazard to my young children. Shower is a rusted metal box that can barely fit 1 normal size adult - there is a reason why the curtain is closed in the photos. Several screens in the house are broken so flying bugs were a problem. The property is in a general state of disrepair and for the price - is outrageous! Even the kitchen garbage can was cracked and broken! Water damage and lots of mold was present on the wall. Cobwebs, bugs, huge spiders, dirt inside everywhere (a vacuum solves most of these problems). Water damage visible on the ceiling. A chickadee lived in 1 of the many holes in the cabin exterior wall. This cabin did NOT comfortably fit the 12 people in our group, but it advertises that it sleeps 14. Only 1 set of sheets was provided and only 1 warm blanket, but the cabin has 3 sofa beds. They brought more sheets when asked, but I had to buy a sherpa blanket from the local bait shop. Also, they ask to save the bags that the sheets come in. If clean sheets are put into reusable bags are they really clean sheets?! The cabin advertises 5 queen beds, but 1 is a double - okay for 2 kids - uncomfortable for 2 grown ups. Only 1 patio table instead of two (as pictured). Couldn't seat the whole family outside for dinner or inside. We had to eat separate. TV only had 1 channel. The beach at the Birchwood resort was nice - did not have enough kayaks, canoes, or paddles for our family to go out."

"As of July 2020, Birchwood is under new ownership and management and you can see the difference. Beautiful charming resort right on the water. Great fishing from the docks and the grandkids had fun on the beach. Nightly campfires and star gazing...Our unit was clean, had a new queen mattress.... which wasn't soft and mushy so we slept all night, new queen futon couch with up-north pattern. Best of all, we had a new Weber BBQ. Heard from maintenance crew the new owners were going to remodel the cabins inside and out. Looked great now.... can't wait until next year to see what they look like."