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Private waterfront minutes from downtown Traverse City.

Photo gallery for Private waterfront minutes from downtown Traverse City.

A lakeside setting with a sandy beach, a dock, and a tree providing shade.
A lakeside deck with Adirondack chairs, a fire pit, and a view of the lake and forest.
A backyard with a wooden deck, a fire pit, and a stone wall.
A loon swimming in water.
A calm body of water with reflections of trees and four birds standing on the surface.

Reviews

9.8 out of 10, Loved by Guests
Top 10% of guest reviews in this area

Highlights

  • Family fun awaits
    Top-rated for families.
  • On the beach
    A rare beachfront property in the area - enjoy direct access to the sand and sea.
  • Centrally-located
    You're never far from where you need to be with this convenient location.
  • Discover nearby landmarks
    Walk to Bass Lake
2 bedrooms1 bathroomSleeps 4

Popular amenities

  • On beach
  • Onsite parking available
  • Kitchen
  • Washing machine
  • Air-conditioning
  • Barbecue

Explore the area

View map
Traverse City, MI
  • Place, Bass Lake
    ‪1 min walk‬
  • Place, Front Street
    ‪15 min drive‬
  • Place, Traverse City Beach
    ‪21 min drive‬
  • Airport, Traverse City, MI (TVC-Cherry Capital)
    ‪19 min drive‬

Rooms & beds

2 bedrooms (sleeps 4)

Bedroom 1

1 Queen Bed

Bedroom 2

2 Single Beds

1 bathroom

Bathroom 1

Soap · Towels provided · Toilet · Shower only · Shampoo · Hair dryer

Spaces

Deck or patio
Kitchen
Outdoor play area

About this property

Private waterfront minutes from downtown Traverse City.

Wailing Loon cottage is located on Bass Lake just 10 minutes from Traverse City and about 30 minutes from the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Bass Lake is an all-sports lake but best suited for fishing and kayaking. The cottage is located on its own sandy beach frontage. A gas grill is available for you and there’s a private fire pit on the beach. Two kayaks, one paddle board, and a canoe are available for renters to use for free. The cottage has two bedrooms with a queen bed in the main bedroom and two twins in the other. The twin beds can be moved together to create a king-sized bed upon request. The one bathroom includes a toilet, vanity, and shower. There is a strict 4-person limit due to township rules and no pets. If you don't like dogs, this property is probably not for you. We have doodles and a couple of other pups that frequent the beach area and they love people. Our family also owns the following properties on the same shore of Bass Lake. VRBO # 1901939 and 1693207. If you have a larger group, we may be able to accommodate you all!

Traverse City is famous for many summer festivals and restaurants, but we can also offer easy access to a quiet lake and a beautiful trail system right out of your backyard. Our proximity to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore makes our location perfect for those seeking beauty, freshwater beaches, and gorgeous vistas. We have something for everyone!

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Property grounds
Bass lake waterfront! Cozy 1 bedroom cottage minutes from Traverse City!
Traverse city
  • Kitchen
  • Air-conditioning
  • Outdoor space
  • Parking available
9.4 out of 10, Exceptional, (16 reviews)
Bass lake waterfront! Cozy 1 bedroom cottage minutes from Traverse City!

House Rules

Check in after 4:00 PM
Check out before 11:00 AM
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Children

Children allowed: ages 0–17
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Events

No events allowed
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Pets

No pets allowed
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Smoking

Smoking is not permitted

Important information

You need to know

Property # 3728159vb
Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card, debit card or cash deposit may be required at check-in for incidental charges
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges; special requests cannot be guaranteed
On-site parties or group events are strictly prohibited
Host has indicated that there is a carbon monoxide detector on the property
Host has indicated that there is a smoke detector on the property
Safety features at this property include a fire extinguisher and a first aid kit

About the area

Traverse City

Located in Traverse City, this cottage is next to a golf course and on the beach. Shoppers can check out Front Street, while everyone can enjoy the natural beauty of Lake Michigan and Traverse City Beach. Travelling with kids? Consider Interlochen Center for the Arts and Great Wolf Lodge Water Park. Take in the nearby slopes with snowboarding and skiing, or try out other outdoor activities such as sledging and snowmobiling.
View more Cottages in Traverse CityOpens in a new window
Map
Traverse City, MI

What's nearby

  • Bass Lake - 1 min walk - 0.0 km
  • Front Street - 15 min drive - 16.2 km
  • Clinch Park Beach - 15 min drive - 16.6 km
  • Traverse City Beach - 21 min drive - 22.4 km
  • Traverse City State Park - 21 min drive - 22.4 km

Getting around

  • Traverse City, MI (TVC-Cherry Capital) - 20 min drive

Restaurants

  • ‪Chick-fil-A - ‬10 min drive
  • ‪Culver's - ‬11 min drive
  • ‪Burger King - ‬11 min drive
  • ‪Starbucks - ‬10 min drive
  • ‪Buffalo Wild Wings - ‬10 min drive

Frequently asked questions

Is Private waterfront minutes from downtown Traverse City. pet-friendly?

No, pets are not allowed at this property.

How much does it cost to stay at Private waterfront minutes from downtown Traverse City.?

As of 31 July 2026, prices found for a 1-night stay for 2 adults at Private waterfront minutes from downtown Traverse City. on 16 November 2026 start from NZ$1,627, including taxes and fees. This price is based on the lowest nightly price found in the last 24 hours for stays in the next 30 days. Prices are subject to change. Choose your dates for more accurate prices.

How much is parking at Private waterfront minutes from downtown Traverse City.?

On-site parking is available at the property.

What time is check-in at Private waterfront minutes from downtown Traverse City.?

Check-in begins at 4:00 PM.

What time is check-out at Private waterfront minutes from downtown Traverse City.?

Checkout is at 11:00 AM.

Where is Private waterfront minutes from downtown Traverse City. located?

Located in Traverse City, this beachfront cottage is next to a golf course, steps from Bass Lake and within 6 mi (10 km) of The Crown Golf Club and Grand Traverse Mall. Lake Michigan and West End Beach are also within 9 miles (15 km).

Reviews

9.8

Exceptional

Reviews are presented in chronological order, subject to a moderation process, and verified unless otherwise labelled.
Learn moreOpens in a new window
Rating 10 - Excellent. 27 out of 30 reviews
Rating 8 - Good. 1 out of 30 reviews
Rating 6 - Okay. 2 out of 30 reviews
Rating 4 - Poor. 0 out of 30 reviews
Rating 2 - Terrible. 0 out of 30 reviews

9.8/10

Cleanliness

10/10

Check-in

10/10

Communication

10/10

Location

9.6/10

Listing accuracy

Reviews

Verified review

10/10 Excellent

Theresa H.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy
Cabin was perfect for what we needed. My son enjoyed fishing off the dock. My daughter loved swimming in the lake. Great location and cabin had everything we needed for the week.
Stayed 7 nights in Jul 2026
Verified review

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy
Would definitely stay again.
Stayed 7 nights in Jul 2025
Verified review

10/10 Excellent

Collin V.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Great stay!

This was a perfect location, quiet and secluded yet close to town!
Stayed 4 nights in Aug 2024
Response from VrboOwner on 7 September 2024
Thank you for the kind review!
Verified review

10/10 Excellent

Jason R.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Weekend Stay in Traverse City

Nice and quiet, minutes from town, everything was exactly as advertised! Would definitely stay here again!
Stayed 4 nights in Sep 2024
Response from VrboOwner on 26 June 2025
Thank you for the kind review!
Verified review

10/10 Excellent

Aleisha F.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Beautiful lake view

We loved our stay at the Wailing Loon Cottage. It has a beautiful lake view, peaceful, and just perfect for our family.
Stayed 3 nights in Jul 2024
Verified review

10/10 Excellent

Andrew G.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

There were Lions!

We loved everything about the cabin! It was beautiful and just like the name says, we could hear loons the entire time!
Stayed 3 nights in Aug 2024
Response from VrboOwner on 10 August 2024
Aren’t the loons just magical? Love Bass Lake ❤️
Verified review

10/10 Excellent

Tara A.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Relax and Recharge

We had an amazing time on Bass Lake! The cottage was perfect and we all enjoyed kayaking, canoeing and paddle boarding. Truly one of our best family vacations!
Stayed 3 nights in Jul 2024
Response from VrboOwner on 8 July 2024
Thank you!
Verified review

10/10 Excellent

Brian P.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Great place to stay!

We had a great time staying here. Quiet, peaceful lake located 15 minutes from Traverse City. The fishing and kayaking was great. Plenty of things to do within short driving distances. The cottage was clean and well maintained. Will definitely be coming back.
Stayed 3 nights in Jun 2024
Verified review

10/10 Excellent

Leanne W.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Anniversary Trip

Very nice cottage right on Bass Lake. We took the provided kayaks out during the day and relaxed by the firepit at night. Close enough to downtown Traverse City to enjoy everything the city has to offer. Very quiet neighborhood. Would definitely stay here again.
Stayed 3 nights in Aug 2024
Response from VrboOwner on 29 August 2024
Thank you!
Verified review

10/10 Excellent

Matthew R.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Lovely little lake house

Super cute, very well supplied and a beautiful lakefront setting. Lots of nice & thoughtful little touches. My son was fishing from the beach and dock the whole time. Highly recommended.
Stayed 4 nights in Jun 2025
Response from VrboOwner on 30 June 2025
Thank you for the kind review! We’re so glad you enjoyed yourselves.
Verified review

10/10 Excellent

Ray S.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Amazingly pleasant cottage!!

We really enjoyed our stay at Wailing Loon Cottage. Everything inside the cottage was lovely, clean and easy to feel comfortable there. The deck and shady trees were great for early morning coffee and evening drinks. We really appreciated its proximity to the Interlochen!! We are looking forward to returning!!
Stayed 3 nights in Aug 2024
Verified review

10/10 Excellent

Rachelle W.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy
The house was adorable and the view was amazing. It was a great size for our girls trip. We didn’t get to use the fire pit or kayaks because we ran out of time but def next time! Our only complaint was that the water smelled metal-ish but I think that’s to be expected with a lake house. Would def stay again!
Stayed 3 nights in Sep 2025
Response from VrboOwner on 15 September 2025
Thank you for the kind review! We are so glad you enjoyed your stay. :)
Verified review

10/10 Excellent

Matt L.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Great Place to Stay

Our family loved our time here. The location was excellent. The house is on a very peaceful and quiet lake. Loons could be heard and seen quite frequently. Our kids loved the water and beach sand. We also had a fun time exploring the lake on the provided kayaks and paddle board.
Stayed 3 nights in Jul 2024
Verified review

10/10 Excellent

yvonne d.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Terrific weekend get-a-way

Everything we had hoped for… a small lake that we could kayak, listening to loons, beach fires, good friends, and close to all the places we visited I.e.The sand dunes, a sailboat ride on the West arm of the bay and great meals grilled at the cabin and area restaurants. The host was very pleasant and helpful to get the WiFi working.
Stayed 4 nights in Aug 2024
Response from VrboOwner on 27 June 2025
Thank you for the kind review!
Verified review

10/10 Excellent

Cheri P.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Golf & relaxing long weekend

This getaway was super easy to access. When we arrived was very clean on the inside and was well stocked. The host responded speedily whenever I reached out. Would definitely recommend.
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2024
Verified review

10/10 Excellent

krylkc

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

10/10

Great communication with nice hosts for a cute property. We really liked that it contained remnants of its old resort feel. Eerie but beautiful at night, the moon looked lovely scattered across the lake.
Stayed 3 nights in Jun 2024
Verified review

10/10 Excellent

Kristy P.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Cute and relaxing❤️

I loved the cabin! It was perfect and clean inside! The washer and dryer was very nice too. I loved the wildlife and the lake was just beautiful. I will recommend this place for sure! I missed the golden doodle! I looked for him when we came back to the cabin everyday 😊
Stayed 5 nights in Sep 2024
Response from VrboOwner on 8 November 2024
Next time I will introduce you to Ben!!
Verified review

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Perfect place for our Traverse City area visit

This cottage was perfect for our family of 4. The location was great for visiting Traverse City, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Fishtown and more. Our teens who love to fish spent hours in the kayaks on the lake bass fishing. We rented a pontoon on Long Lake one day too (so close). The kitchen had everything we needed for meals at house and we used the grill several times. The hosts were easy to reach if needed. Would highly recommend. One tip: bring your own drinking water.
Stayed 5 nights in Aug 2025
Response from VrboOwner on 10 August 2025
Thank you for the kind review! We’re so glad you enjoyed yourselves. :)
Verified review

10/10 Excellent

Leslie L.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Peacefull and Pretty

This lovely little cottage is peaceful and pretty. The view out the big picture window of the lake is gorgeous. We very much enjoyed our nightly capfires and smores. The beds are comfortable as well. The location is great. 20 minutes to downtown and also close to other fun activities like the Alpaca farm, Crystal Mountain, tubing, and Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore. I would defintately return.
Stayed 3 nights in Aug 2024
Response from VrboOwner on 27 June 2025
Thank you for the kind review!
Verified review

6/10 Okay

Ron L.

Liked: Check-in, communication, location
Disliked: Cleanliness

Propane

Smaller than expected. Issues on the first evening with no propane and dirty pans. Owners were very nice and fixed the issues.
Stayed 7 nights in Jun 2025
Response from VrboOwner on 27 June 2025
Thank you for the review! Yes, there was a dirty pan that a previous guest put away dirty and we missed it. Hopefully after we washed it and returned it, you found it clean and useful. The propane running out was a huge bummer for sure and you were all very patient about it. We got lucky to get the tank filled within a couple of hours and hopefully the pizza, wings, and wine helped make up for it a little. Thank you for being gracious with us. We hope you found your stay restorative after the snafu was remedied!
Verified review

10/10 Excellent

Doug C.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Quick getaway

Cottage was just as welcoming and inviting as the pictures showed! Thats even more impressive when you find out the host is a professional photographer! So close to all the attractions of traverse city and yet you feel like you're far away and secluded. The most noise you hear is from the loons on the lake. In some places this would refer to the old drunk people on their pontoon but here it's the actual birds! We'll be back for sure! Thank you so much to the hosts for caring about the little things.
Stayed 3 nights in Jun 2025
Response from VrboOwner on 30 June 2025
Thank you for the kind review! We’re so glad you had a relaxing time.
Verified review

10/10 Excellent

Margaret O.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Perfect quiet retreat, lakeside

Wailing Loon cottage was PERFECT, and we even heard the loon wailing! Quiet and plush, this cottage had all the amenities and an excellent selection of extras: kayaks, fishing gear, laundry facilities onsite. One enchanting thing that we discovered... the lake has beautiful pockets of water lilies. Just gorgeous. Jody couldn't be sweeter or more helpful to a couple of nerdy rock hounds who just wanted to chill. Thank you so much!
Stayed 3 nights in Jul 2024
Response from VrboOwner on 31 July 2024
Thank you! It was great meeting you!
Verified review

6/10 Okay

Mary J.

Liked: Check-in, communication, location
Our cottage was on the lake and we were delighted to see and hear the loons. The location is good. We found the house somewhat unequipped with suitable cookware.Many of the pans were damaged teflon. Oven and toaster needed cleaning, broiler didn't work, gas stove burners needed adjusting because the flames only run on high. We also desperately needed a dresser in one of the bedrooms which only had closet space. Nothing life shattering but disappointing and lots of little things added up to less than a relaxing stay. The owners were timely, accommodating and made it clear they were available.
Stayed 7 nights in Aug 2025
Response from VrboOwner on 28 August 2025
We are sorry to hear you had a less than ideal stay. We would have loved to accommodate your needs had you reached out to let us know you were unhappy. Thank you for choosing us for your stay and for helping us improve the experience for others coming to enjoy this truly special spot.
Verified review

8/10 Good

Susan P.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy
Clean place with pretty much all of the essentials. View of lake and nice fire pit. The weather wasn't good enough for lake activities so we didn't kayak. There isn't really any sandy shore though. This doesn't seem like a swimming lake.The place is older but solid. It needs room darkening shades in the back bedroom due to bright light pole and there is only one mirror in the entire cottage - in the bathroom. The twin bed wasn't very comfy nor was the living room furniture or kitchen stools. We enjoyed our ladies weekend there but getting ready to go out with a single mirror in The bath area was difficult. The host was very responsive to inquiries before the weekend.
Stayed 3 nights in Sep 2025
Verified review

10/10 Excellent

Ashley V.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Great Getaway on a Beautiful Lake

Awesome place for a family or couple getaway. Our friends rented the cabin next to us and it was the perfect set up for a multi-family vacation. The cabin is adorable and the lake is very pretty. It's a small lake in a quiet area and is perfect for kayaking (rental included kayaks). Updated and clean with more amenities than expected. We traveled with a 3 year old and 1 year old. Both bedrooms had enough space to put up our son's pack n' play. Beds were comfortable. There was a nice sandy area that my kids loved playing in. The area near the dock was also sandy and shallow - my children were able to easily walk into the water. My daughter really enjoyed trying to catch minnows in the water. Nice, big firepits were available to use. Host was friendly and we had an amazing time. We would return to this rental for sure.
Stayed 3 nights in Aug 2024
Response from VrboOwner on 27 June 2025
Thank you for the kind review!

About the host

Hosted by Halle Funk

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