It was exactly what listing and John (owner) descibed. My boys and myself really enjoyed our stay. The cabin and outdoor area were very clean. The kitchen was well stocked. Our favorite places were the back porch and dock area. It's located in a very quiet cove. Perfect place to stay.

It was a cute little place. Nice & relaxing. The owner John was very nice, we will definitely book this place again!!

This property was just as described by owner. Great value for the location right on the water. The dwelling itself was rustic and older than surrounding houses but clean and plenty of space for our needs. If you are looking for glitz and glam then this isnt for you but if you just want to enjoy the lake and nature and have a simple place to relax this place is fine.

Tidy home with a lot going on for it. Well equipped kitchen, comfy sofa and recliner, DirectTV for your viewing pleasure as well as a sea of movies on disc and blue/ray, views are stunning! Mr. Makay is so friendly and helpful. He did everything including take my panicked 930pm phone call on Friday night because I couldn’t figure out how to work the Dropbox(chalk that up to “I’m a blonde” lol) If you’re looking for a no frills home then I suggest this property.

House is dangerous owner is a liar

I was in for a fishing trip. Was a great place for a two night stay while I went fishing. It’s fine. If you are in a wheelchair, you may find the shower difficult to maneuver as well as the bathroom and bedrooms. You are literally 20 yards from the water and you have nice neighbors on either side they can be seen having bonfires late at night right next to the water. The sunset is really good, you can sit on the deck but it’s even better if you watch it from the side yard, good cooling and heating and good hot water. There appeared to be parking for at least four vehicles and there were three/four beds available and if you brought your own air mattress, there would be room for it. Overall, it is a rustic experience in a great location.

Enjoyed the stay. Right on the water with a good view. Great price and had lots or room to sleep us 3 comfortably.

This was an old camper turned into a cabin. It needs a lot of work. The wall in the bathroom was busted, the screen door was held close by a bungy cord. The owned did not disclose any of the problems with this place until the night before we were to arrive. He sent a list of what to do and what not to do from this list you would have thought this place was luxury. When you look outside you see a half sunk boat sticking out of the lake and you could not use the dock because it was unstable. I honestly couldn't recommend this place to anyone.

Arrived at the cabin around 5:30 Saturday evening. All descriptions of the property were accurate. Rental was clean and fully furnished. We enjoyed our time there and would definitely rent this cabin again.

Good location. Dock was horrible. House was a shack. Would not recommend this for any children. Within first 10 minutes my w Women fell into the kitchen brushing her knee really bad , starting the weekend off terrible, considering the boat and the pier is down hill. Should of been a warning about step up. Move the carpet to the not match the same design as the step up . Overall did not like the place. Owner wants you too do cleanup , that I paid for the service from am maid

It was very clean. It’s bigger than the pics show. The owner was nice and helpful. Still needs work outside, but inside is nice. The park is close by and we suggest to go there for swimming. Hubby did get some bites fishing. There’s plenty to do in the area and some nice restaurants including Jake’s Place which John had suggested. It was a pretty good place to get away!

I really wanted peace and quiet and rest and this home offers all of that .

We enjoyed all the nostalgic touches of the cabin, very clean and organized, the ability to rent kayaks from owner and fish from dock was a convenience. John responds promptly and provided excellent resource information for gas, food and shopping. We are looking for to another stay in the near future.

I was looking for a place to sleep and get cleaned up after house hunting. This fit my needs

Owner was unique and thoughtful amenities followed that, also well Communicated concerns about some aesthetics that ended up better than we anticipated. Rules for entrance and exiting were pretty intense. A friendlier tone would have been more welcoming since owner we found was conscientious.

This small cottage was cozy and comfortable for our family (husband, myself, and 2 adult daughters). The cottage was sparkling clean throughout. Its interesting structure (large travel trailer on permanent foundation w large addition of the great room and bath) works well as one cohesive cottage, and its location on a quiet cove of Smith Mountain Lake was so worth it! The water’s edge is a short walk down the wooded yard. The brick walk down to the water does need some love, and I wouldn’t recommend walking barefooted, but we are experienced kayak paddlers (we brought our own kayaks), and so always wore our water sandals in and around the water and yard. John mentioned his “to-do” list (refurbish dock and brick walk down to the water), but their condition did not prevent our enjoyment of hanging out in our camp hammocks or chilling in a bag chair at the water’s edge or on the dock. The lakefront cottage is on a quiet “no wake zone” cove, so we were able to not only safely paddle our kayaks up and down in the cove, but also safely go into more open water, staying closer to the shoreline. We spent most of our time outside swimming, paddling, fishing, or eating meals outside on the deck. The galley kitchen is small and adequately stocked. We kept our meals simple (I brought prepared food needing reheating). I found adequate pots and pans for this reheating and dishes for serving. The fridge was standard size, newer, and sparkling clean. There is no dishwasher, but I had ample space to wash dishes. The bathroom is small but adequate and clean. The house has 2 very small bedrooms…a decent queen size bed in one bedroom that slept fine, and 2 small bunks in the other. The bottom bunk slept great, but would be best for someone 5 feet tall or shorter. The top bunk is very narrow and short. There is a sleep sofa in the great room and John provides a nice single airbed to use in the great room. My family only used the sleep sofa (we brought our own camp cot). John also provides linens for all beds and towels for the bath, but we did not use as we brought our own. Overall, it was a relaxing, fun long weekend! The check-in/check-out was pretty easy. John provides a detailed email and phone call prior to arrival to guide you. I highly recommend this cottage for a small family or group who are willing to forgo the “bling” of more expensive cottages, but still enjoy a comfortable and adequate cottage and its pleasant lakefront on beautiful Smith Mt Lake.

We had left a day early was going to just get a hotel in Roanoke. We kindly ask when John McKray called us to confirm if we could check in early. He said he he would need to call me back. So we went on to our road trip. He calls while I am driving and ask what time will we be there. I told him we just left Waltons mountain an hour or two. He said can’t you look at your GPS, so I did it was 1:23 min. He said ok I just needed to know so I could be gone. We arrived he was still there. No problem but why call me. We asked to rent kayaks he didn’t have them out he forgot. He just had the septic pumped. Tarp on roof hole in roof from tree. The windows was boarded up. When I called him to cancel my stay because the house smelled musty! I was scared of black mold. He got very upset and angry! Insulted me called me a con artist and had reviewed my profile. Kept telling us he was a school teacher no money and the property he inherited and his bother was to blame for all the clutter and mess. He doesn’t take responsibility. I told him he could keep the money I didn’t want it back. I wasn’t going to right a review scared of what he would do. But I would not want someone else to feel this way. The doors would lock but you need a man to pick the door up. The steps was blocked off. A boat sunk in front of the cabin. If you rent this please do it with caution.

It was very clean.

My family and I rented this property as a last minute vacation. The description of the property was not clarified that the house was built around a pull behind camper. The bed in the "master" was slipping through the frame as there was no box frame, the twin bunks are so small that only children would be able to lay on part of the mattress. The house included washer and dryer (stackable) that had an out of order sign on it. the dishwasher did not fill with water on the wash or rinse cycle. There are extra charges to use kayaks and the gas grill. The owner has claimed that our family ruined a mattress and pad cover in the home. Money hungry for everything that could possibly be charged for. The steps for house and dock are falling apart. Parts are rooed off or blocked to avoid access.

The place is good for what you pay. It is fully disclosed what improvements are needed. It's clean, and comfortable for a small family or couple. The location on the lake is good. We enjoyed swimming and the owner left us big floats to use. The dock needs improvements but for how we used it, no complaints. Would stay again in the near future.

The property needs some repair work, but the cost is much lower than anything else in the area. Very nice location.

The stay was ok. It's was very clean. I'm a 300+lbs man so I was worried about the stability of the bed, toilet, and deck. Also I know nature happens and things get damaged however I was extremely disappointed about the dock situation. From the state of everything else that needs to be fixed I'm sure the dock won't be fixed anytime soon.

Had an amazing weekend at this cute lil cottage. The check in procedure worked perfect for us. Having a code to get the key allows you to keep from having to stick to an exact time which enable us to take our time and start our weekend with some sight seeing along the way. The owner called the day before our stay to go over a few things and have a sort of meet and great via the phone. The cottage is cute and and has everything you need. John informed me of a few hiccups that had occurred during the ice storms a couple of weeks before that didn't hinder our stay at all. The place is dated but that is exactly what gave it the charm that made the weekend relaxing and feeling like home. Looking forward to our next visit which will definitely be happening soon. Thanks John for the use of your lil piece of "heaven on the lake"!

No other words for this trip other than amazing, it was such a relaxing weekend and the house is so darn cute I couldn’t of asked for anything to be better, there is a newer couch than in the picture and the bed Is comfy, the kitchen is super clean and cuteeee and has a skylight which was a nice little surprise for us! We never even left the house once during our trip it was so peaceful! Neighbors are quiet, lots of TVs around the house, beautiful decor, beautiful view, and most of all just a very homey feeling the whole time! Everything was beyond perfect, the owner, John, was amazing and so so helpful I cannot wait to return in April! Thank you so so much again John ! See you soon!

Okay for budget conscious travelers. We enjoyed our stay, but would have appreciated updated pictures of the outside of the place. There was a description of the wear and tear of the cabin, but it was still hard to imagine without the correct images. Some outside windows were boarded up, cabin could use a fresh coat of paint, and there was an old wood smell when we entered. Check out process has a long list of things to do (when I paid a high cleaning fee).

Cozy cottage, everything you need for very relaxing stay. Views from the deck were amazing! Convenient to shopping and restaurants.

A nice small house for a great vacation experience. It has all you need to enjoy your stay at the lake. It doesn't have internet, which our family actually enjoyed. The location is perfect, with a great view of the lake both from the house and the deck. Great value for the money!

this property is cute and quiet, me and my kids had a great time.

This is a cozy little space on the lake. There was just enough room for my husband and I. A nice spot to get away from reality for a little bit. No frills, nothing fancy but everything you need is there. There's a little dock perfect for swimming and fishing.

Small house. Needs updates and info in online listing. No boat allowed...no wifi..not to use bbque pit without calling first...charge extra to clean.. No good air exchange in bedroom. Mattress not too comfortable for me. Do not reccomend for people with even small mobility issues. My.hubby had a stroke 4 yrs ago and limps. Not good walking down to dock. Bricks very uneven. New dock though!. Up and down from bedroom to bbathroom.. and lvg room to kitchen. He tripped a few times in house and on bricks even though we were going slow. We didn't even try.walking on gravel road... Critters in walls during nite..kept me.up..but all in all, we had relaxing vacation and Mr makay was very helpful..

Upgrading cottage is necessary for potential renters to enjoy their time there. View is lovely but landscaping is needed

Very nice place would stay again