FAQ Category: NatalGraniteRetreat

Yes, yes, yes!!! We LOVE weddings! Natal Granite Retreat is suitable for a small, intimate wedding party. We have posted pictures of a wedding on the Back Deck page.

Glad you asked! You should pack:

• Tire chains (in case of snow/ice)
• Laundry detergent if you think you will want to do laundry
• Extra toilet paper if your family needs it (we provide 15-20 rolls)
• All the food and your essential spices and condiments (we provide many spices, but can’t be sure we will have what you want.) Bring cooking oil, coffee, mustard, rice, anything that you plan to cook with or eat.
• Your personal care products such as soaps, shampoo, lip balm, lotion, shaving cream, razors, bubble bath, etc.
• Paper goods you might like to use such as paper towels, napkins, tissue paper
• Snow sleds or other snow implements for winter, canteens and hiking poles and anything you need for the lake for the summer
• Chargers for your phones and laptops, DVDs if you want to play them, books to read, pencils/pens and paper if you want them
• Plastic bags for dog poop if you are bringing your dogs, bowls and dishes for pets, extra sheets for covering furniture if you have shedding dogs that are allowed on furniture or beds (there are approximately 14 couches and 16 beds, so pack enough for any room that your pet might be allowed to enter.)

Linen service (sheets, pillow cases, towels) is included in the cleaning/linen fee. Your beds will be made up before you arrive, with these exceptions: the queen futons in the Queen’s room, the top bunks in the bunk room, pull out and inflatable beds. Extra sheets are provided for these beds. We don’t make them because hardly anyone staying actually uses those beds, given the large number of other beds, so making them, stripping them and washing the sheets is not very environmental if they don’t get used.

There is a washer and dryer here if you want to wash any of the linens while you are staying or need to do a load of dirty towels. No need to wash the linens before you go, that cost was covered in the cleaning/linen fee. You can use the washer/dryer for your own clothing, too, please bring your own laundry detergent.

When leaving, please leave any bed you used “turned down” (pull the spreadsheet down.) If you want, you can strip the sheets and pillow cases and put them in the laundry room. Any unused bed can be left made up. Used towels can go into the laundry room, too.

Before you leave:

• Kitchen: empty out the fridge and cupboards of food you brought with you (DON’T leave it for the “next guests”)
• Wipe out the fridge
• Wash and put away all the dishes, pots and pans and silverware you used, leaving the kitchen clean. Empty the dishwasher.
• Trash: If you are checking out any day other than Sunday or Monday, please don’t fill all the trash cans as the next guests need room for their trash, too. On Monday morning, bring bins to street pickup (opposite side of street.) If you don’t want to do this, please let us know in advance so we can send someone to do it. Before you leave, make sure you have emptied all trash cans (kitchen, bathroom) into the cans in the garage.
• Bedrooms: If you used a bed, pull the bedspread down so we know it was slept in, but do not strip the bed
• If you did not use a bed, leave it made up
• Top bunks and extra beds such as futons and air beds–strip the sheets and place them in the laundry room
• Wet towels should be put in the laundry room or left in the bathroom
• Outside and Garage: If you brought it with you, take it home. Don’t leave cigarette butts, beer cans, etc. on the ground
• If you have a dog, do a dog doo-doo patrol before you leave and remove the poop (we don’t want kids stepping in it, please!)
• Other notes: If you accidentally broke something and you booked direct through us it will most likely be covered in our insurance we paid for just for your stay. PLEASE LET US KNOW about broken items, we can’t fix them or replace them if we don’t know and this is not fair for the next renters!!!! If you didn’t book through us, breakage will be covered by your security deposit.
• If you put things up using tape, please remove the tape from the walls, windows, counters or where ever you used it

Upstairs are two master bedrooms with King beds, so you can sleep two in each bed and one on a roll-away in each room, giving sleeping for 2 to 6, depending on how you do it (these are large bedrooms.) Downstairs there is a master bedroom with a queen bed and room for a queen futon or air bed (2 to 4 sleepers), a bunk room with three full-over-full beds and one twin-over-twin bunk (8 to 11 sleeper) and the meeting room/Queens bedroom (0 to 6 sleepers.)

In addition, we have twin air beds, a queen air bed, plus three twin size mattresses in the living room and den that are used as seating but also can be used as sleeping spaces. Ask if you need sheets for any of these as we don’t normally leave them out. There are also two couches which fold down for sleeping. The “man cave” isn’t appropriate for sleeping as there is no window for fire escape.

This cabin was designed to accommodate extended family groups and church groups. Typically, the bunk room is used to sleep all the “boys” and the Queen’s room the “girls”, with parents in the various master bedrooms.

Altogether there are:

• Two California King beds
• Three Queen Beds
• Two Queen futons
• Three Full beds plus three full top bunks
• Four Twin beds (plus one twin top bunk)
• Various fold out couches
• Six twin airbeds and one queen airbed

Please look at floorplans for more details on sleeping arrangements.

Book direct to save! Booking on websites such as Airbnb, Homeaway, VRBO, Booking.com, and TripAdvisor is possible, but each of these sites adds fees to the booking. Booking direct can save you 10%–30% compared to these VR marketing sites! Not only that, you can book direct with these guarantees:

• Book with confidence! We provide you, for free, accidental damage insurance covering $500 worth of damage! If you want, you can purchase additional damage protection of another $1000 for only $10!
  Trip protection insurance! For a nominal cost, you can protect your vacation from cancellation costs due to sickness, injury or death; weather causing delay of travel; auto accidents; job layoffs; trip delays and more! See Insurance for more details.
• 100% refund available! Book with confidence! If you change your mind, you can cancel for a full refund within 48 hours of booking, or 60 days before the rental date. A 50% refund is available within 30 days of the rental date. And, if we cancel for any reason, you will get a full refund. (Note: we’ve never cancelled in over 10 years, the only likely reason we would cancel is if there was damage making the property unrentable.)
• Direct access to the owner! Unlike on the VR marketing sites, booking direct allows you easy access to the property owner (that’s me, Dottie Natal!) You also have access to my email, phone number, and text message number. You also have direct access to my local property manager who can help you with any issues that arise while you are staying.

Here are some of the things you agreed to when booking:

• No smoking in the house.
• No parking on the street
• No invited guests without PRIOR written permission.
• Quiet hours are between 9PM and 8AM, and any activities need to be indoors only during the quiet times (even loud laughing and talking outside is not permitted.)
• Pets and teenagers must be supervised at all times.
• No loud music at any time!
• No trash or food left outside due to raccoons and bears.
• Clean up before you leave.
• Be ready to leave at 11AM unless you have prior permission for a late check out (cleaners need the time to prepare for the next renters, so please don’t make them wait!)
• No campfires without written permission from the Fire Marshall
• No tampering with the Video Surveillance system. We may record audiovisual footage from the front of the house (an area in which there is no reasonable expectation of privacy.) There are no cameras inside the home or in the back of the home.

The meeting room is downstairs: it about 28 feet by 19 feet. It holds up to 30 people in folding chairs with the tables. If you are planning to have a workshop involving people coming in for the day you must provide that information PRIOR to booking. We provide padded folding chairs and tables.

Some tables are individual and some are for two people. The room has a sink and storage and good electrical outlets and lights, so you can do any sort of workshop there, from art, to sewing, to computers. It has two queen beds and two queen futons which can be folded up for meetings.

Alternatively the beds can be left up and the tables and chairs set up in the remaining area, which would be sufficient for about 18 people (giving a space of about 20 feet by 19 feet for the group.) Honestly a lot of our groups that meet there also use the living room for meetings as it will seat about 11 on the seating in there and you can bring in chairs and tables for the remainder, or use the living room and den which are adjacent.

You’ll be happy to hear that the cabin features a “hot water on demand” system, so there is always hot water for everyone! There is a bathtub/shower combo in bathroom 1, a Jacuzzi bath in bathroom 2, a roll-in shower with hand shower head for full handicap access in bathroom 2, a generous size shower in the downstairs hall bathroom, a bathtub/shower unit in the downstairs Master and a 2-person Jacuzzi in that room. The hot water on demand system is configured to make it possible for multiple showers to happen at the same time. Enjoy!

Yes, at the suggestion of upcoming guests flying in we have just added several of the bulkier items that are needed so guests don’t have to carry a lot of stuff on the plane. We now have:

• Two folding strollers;
• Two folding Pack N Plays;
• Two infant/small child booster seats with food trays;
• Two booster seats (with seat belts) for toddlers;
• Three door gates (to be used at the top and bottom of the stairs and the front or back door, as needed.)

Please do let us know before your stay if there are additional items you would like to have at the cabin for your little ones. Please wash (disinfect all parts) and store the items before you leave.
Update June 4, 2015: we installed brackets for the gates at the top and bottom of the stairs (living room) and on the upstairs back deck. Gates could also be used in any doorway. Probably you understand how to use these better than I do, but they are a bit tricky. Essentially, do this: (1) make sure the lock mechanism is in the “unlock” (up) position, and slide the gate open to the size of the opening. (2) Place it into the brackets (or the doorway) so that it fits, but not too snug (we’ll tighten in the next step.) If you are placing at the top of the stairs, note that we cut a grove/bracket into the wood at the sides, so first line up the top brackets, slide the gate down, then press it forward towards the stairs into the groove. (3) Tighten and lock the gate by pulling the lock lever down into the hole and lock it in place. At this point it would be very difficult for a baby or toddler (or your smart puppy) to open the gate. It is also so tight that it cannot be accidentally knocked over. (The draw back is you have to remove it if you want to use the stairs yourself.) Of course, test the fit when you are done and use common sense; we’re not there so we don’t know if the gate has been damaged in any way that makes it unfit, so it’s on you to check it.

Please DO:

• report any problems with any of the baby gear so we can make sure it stays in good repair
• Clean everything when done with it
• Put it away in the closet in the handicap accessible master bedroom
• Report to us if you broke something so we know to replace it BEFORE the next guest with babies arrive (it may not be noticed for some time, so please, do report)