Family Elegant Home sur le lac Michigan

Big Blu

We rented Big Blu for a three-generation, family vacation. We had 6 adults, and two kids, ages 1 - 64. There were more beds than we needed, but each child had their own room and each family had a private bath. We wanted to be close enough to extended family in the area so they could come visit us. Big Blu is well cared for and in excellent condition. This isn’t your standard cottage, it’s a lovely home. As such, there are some strict rules, but nothing we couldn’t live with. One must treat a rental as if it were your own.

Big Blu was clean and shiny upon check in with all beds made and a welcome bottle of wine! The amenities are above and beyond including some you would not expect to be provided for the whole week: toilet paper, paper towels, foil, plastic bags, trash bags, basic spices. There was nothing that we needed that wasn’t there. They even provide beach towels. The swing set and play house were fun for the kids. The basement game room was great for the adult kids. It was nice not having to bring beach chairs with us. They are provided as well.

The 75 stair walk down to the beach was good exercise. There is a landing half way for a rest stop. There are several locations to view sunset which was always different. The covered wrap around porch was the best “room” in the house - for coffee, cocktails, dinner, or watching the one storm roll in. The beach on this part of Lake Michigan varies depending on water levels. We lucked out with a nice roomy shore.

This is not a critique of the house, just helpful info to pass on. Cell service near the lake is spotty, but the house wifi worked great and there is a house phone with free long distance. Hint: beware picking up Wisconsin satellite and your phone adjusts to Central Time Zone.

Many thanks to Rhonda (property manager), who always responded to my questions promptly. In addition she provided lots of extra information - things to do, local calendar and activities, restaurants, grocery stores and fun places to visit nearby. We know the area well, but it is great to have all the information in one place.

We do not come to Lake Michigan every year, but we all agreed, we would rent Big Blu again.

Every year or two we have a family reunion of sorts that includes my family of 6 (4 kids ages 8, 6, 4, 2), my parents and my sister's family of 4 (2 kids ages 6 and 2). This house was perfect for this group! 3 master suites so each couple could have their own. There were three rooms for cousins to bunk and have sleepovers, including a crib for the littlest. Each room was well appointed and there was plenty for the kids to do. The ravine was initially a concern as another reviewer mentioned, but the kids never went near it. The landscaping makes it hard to get to the edge, and there are great pathways with railings and the stars to the beach are well built and easy to navigate. The water was very high this year so the beach space was tiny, but it was enough for our crew and we found more open beach by walking down a bit. We did the beach every day and the kids enjoyed the swing set and playhouse. This was an expensive rental, but you get what you pay for. We will definitely rent this house again for our next Michigan reunion!

The house was perfect for the three families that were spending the week together. Each couple had their own room and bathroom, the male children had a room, and the female children had a room, and there was still an extra room for their "kids club." The house was beautifully appointed and had everything we needed. It was very clean and well taken care of. We only left the property once. There was plenty to do on site with the game room, play house, swingset, beach, and of course the porch where we could sit and drink our coffee while listening to the birds or watching the sunset. The only think that was disappointing was that the beach was almost nonexistant. Due to high water levels the wide beach shown in the pictures of the property was all underwater. If we had known the beach would be so small we might have chosen a different property for our gathering. If the beach returns, however, we would definately go back another year.The kids want to make it an annual tradition!

We traveled from California to meet my family who still lives in Detroit for a week at Big Blu. The house is immaculate, and very well done. It has everything you could ever want or ask for. The kids (we had 5 in total) made a non-stop loop from the back porch to the awesome beach below.

House - Perfect. Out of a magazine.

Beach - Excellent. Nice and sandy (no rocks)!

View - Tremendous. Different amazing sunset each night.

You have to be prepared to make a trek into town if you want to go to dinner or the store. You are out a ways, but that really only makes the setting all the better. So beautiful. Make me proud to be from Michigan.

Lastly, I must mention the house manager, Rhonda. She is the sweetest and most professional person I have ever met in this business. She was ready and willing to help with any questions or smallest of problems. She and her daughter actually drove me back to the Muskegon airport on Saturday morning. That is service!

Thanks Rhonda!

From the moment of driving down the lane of Big Blue through the tall grasses and seeing the house, I knew I had chosen the perfect house for our family vacation. The home was well laid out with more than enough space for our family of 10. With the three master suites, bunk room and Cinderella Bed (a favorite hangout spot) we all had perfect choices. The home had all the amenities needed and more. The kitchen was great to fix large breakfasts each morning. Walking out back on the wrap around porch was priceless. The view of the lake was breathtaking. We so much enjoyed the hammock for reading, relaxing, and taking naps (although often interrupted by the little ones who wanted to join). The play set and play house was a place our children spent much of their time while not off seeing the sites. We enjoyed a ride on the dunes, visiting the petting farm, eating and drinking the unlimited chocolate milk at the dairy farm, jumping at Kangaroo Jump House and dining at Harborside Grill (which had fabulous food), playing golf, and touring historic homes. We also found road side stands to purchase fresh eggs. I don't believe we missed a single night of the unimaginable sun sets. Each one was more beautiful than the one before and right out the back door. On the deck or at the beach the view was great for our group pictures. The children swam everyday no matter the temperature of the water. We built sand castles, played Frisbee, football and flew kites. The steps to the lake were even well navigated by the little ones. We did feel however that the kids in our group were too young for the house (2,3,4&4) We weren't able to relax like we might have liked because we were worried that something might get damaged, stained or broken. The house was a little fancy for our rambunctious group of youngsters. Some items of value were worrisome to us. It was sometimes stressful to adhere to the rules of no eating outside of the kitchen and dining room. The only adult criticism would be that we were not able to have drinks in the basement game room. Overall, the house was amazing and the location was nice and quiet. We would highly recommend Big Blue for a luxury get away for families with kids ages six and up (or a baby who can't yet make messes). Rhonda met us at the time agreed upon and was very helpful in showing us around before leaving us to enjoy the week. Big Blue is a place we will always remember and would love to revisit.