We loved our stay in Empire. The house is very close (walking distance) to one good restaurant (Joe’s) and an ice cream shop. Driving distance to two more good restaurants (shipwreck cafe and pizza place). The house has adequate space to relax, good beds, a nice laundry room, and a great backyard with a fire pit. We were very comfortable and would stay here again. The beach is incredible, it’s 4 blocks away and the water and sand are beautiful. We enjoyed our daily trips to the beach very much. Make time to spend a day exploring Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Stop in the visitor center first and learn more about it all. Love our National Park Service so much. The ONLY complaint we have is there were a LOT of spiders in the house. We are fairly thick skinned people who are mostly pacifists when it comes to bugs in our house. This, however, tested our ability for tolerance. I’m not exaggerating when I say we “eliminated” at least 100 spiders in our week there. A few were very large and we found them within inches of where our heads were on our pillow just moments before. It was… a lot. They were under the beds, in every corner of every room, under the bathroom counter. I did let the management know via text when they checked in on how we were doing but I didn’t want any fumigation while we (and our dog) were there. That was our choice. I don’t know what they normally do to combat this issue but hopefully they will see this review and address it. A partial refund? :)

We loved staying at this cozy little cottage in Empire. It had everything we needed.

We are return guests and love this spot, although the house could use some maintenance since our visit last year. As someone noted in Aug 2023 the front door is very hard to open from inside when it’s locked. We are landlords ourselves and this is a major fire hazard. The loose cabinet door for the cupboard under the sink, which was noted in a review last fall, has simply been removed, leaving household chemicals open to small kids. The house inside was clean but the outside porch and deck were filthy and covered with leaves, dirt and spiders, which may explain the thriving indoor earwig population (not present last year). Aside from that, the house is cozy, the beds are comfortable and the location is perfect. Vacasa is based in Oregon and texts to mgmt are answered with sincerity and no action, as are these reviews.

Great location quiet neighborhood. Loved the fenced in backyard. I did a 4 out of 5 stars for cleanliness because i think the outside of the house should be cleaned a little better get the webs and bugs off the house especially since theres no AC and you have to rely on windows being opened for air flow. The inside of the house was clean no problems there. All in all great place to stay especially if you have a dog with you.

Great location, very quiet, well appointed, easy to access, comfortable beds and furnishings. Pet friendly with a fenced yard and dog bags!

My wife and I had an enjoyable trip. A few comments on our stay and the reason for not giving a 5 star rating. This is admittedly some of my fault. This is a pet friendly place, not being a pet owner, I should have considered that there would be remnants of pet hair. I had to vaccum the living room furniture prior to sitting on it. Also cleaned up the the throw rug. House could use some updates. Either way, not a horrible experience. I can say its in a perfect location for taking part in the area attractions and close enough to Traverse city if you want plenty of options for dinner

Spacious rooms, walking distance to Front Street. Quiet residential area. Close to beachfront at Lake Michigan. Dog friendly.

Perfect place for a little r&r during the fall foilage season. Easy walk to the beach, easy walk to the corner hamburger joint. Very comfortable and welcoming.