At Boulders Edge Cabin and Tipi Retreat Hocking Hills — Hotel in Logan

A 3-day gift stay for my wife and me, late September 2021. Here's a long review, sorry. The particulars only cover the Dot Calm cabin. (What a name!)

Good: • Renee' and Frank (and Laurie) are great hosts; Laurie created an amusing and thoughtful welcome sign on the master bed. • The cabin and grounds were very clean and quiet. Good distance and trees between cabins. • The water tastes just fine, no chemicals or minerals. • The large rear deck looks out into a slight valley, trees nearby. Saw a deer once, if that's important. Two Adirondack-style chairs and four high-tops with a table. • The "rain-shower" head in the shower is amazing. It was hard not to just stand there, relaxing. I'm 6'4" and had about 1" to spare to the shower head. • We took two showers in a row and did not run out of hot water. • The cabin's living room is spacious. Wood everything. • Ample towels are fluffy and smell fresh. • King bed is very comfortable. (We brought our own pillows.) Linens also fresh. • Carpet in the bedroom. • Kitchen utensils are sufficient. Corel-ware for dishes. • Four-burner electric stove. (It's been a while for me, electric cooking.) • Standard fridge. • Most paper products supplied. Excluded Kleenex, bring some. (The TP was between hotel quality and Charmin.) • Soap, shampoo, conditioner, and dishwashing liquid provided. • A curious "treasure hunt" for various geegaws. Amuse yourself. • Large-screen TV. (I did not watch it, though my wife tried to. See below.) • 12-pot coffee maker, with ground Maxwell House provided. No decaf. • Pricing is in the general market for what's provided, but more than two people are $20 each. • The gas fireplace heats things up pretty quickly. • Flyswatter included. (The stink bugs were in season.) • Box-fan included. (I like white noise when sleeping.) • Important : the Rockbridge Preserve is within walking distance : no driving! We did two hikes over the two days, to the Natural Bridge and the Rock Ledge, each about 2.8 miles from our cabin. It was a very pretty woodland walk, if slightly challenging, over hilly terrain. • A telescope of sorts, which I used briefly, although not at stars. Bring some binoculars. • "Pet friendly" -- we don't have any -- but I could not smell anything.

Iffy (and here I am being picky): • The bathroom is accessed through the bedroom. So if people are sleeping on the futon they will have to come through to use it. • There is no closet nor chest-of-drawers to hang or store clothes. • There is no spare shelving to store food. • My wife used the hot tub and enjoyed it; I thought the chlorine smell was overwhelming and so declined. (I assume they have little choice in that matter.) And while sitting on the deck, the incessant 60 Hz hum from the hot tub was audible. • The light over the dining room table is perhaps 25 W. Personally, I like to see what I'm eating. • There are no table nor floor lamps in the main room. Illumination is from the fan lamps, three bulbs above, but that makes it a harsh light if one is reading on the comfortable recliner or futon. • The bathroom light is overhead, so I assume it might not be best for makeup? Not my province. But there is a nice small mirror that swings out and has a magnifier on the back side. • Apparently one must be an engineer to figure out the Direct TV. My wife struggled. I read a book and was unhelpful (as usual). • There is a 3-valve grill on the deck, but the innards are rather rusty. If you are a griller, bring some aluminum foil. • No wireless. Yeah, I know, I'm pathetic.

I think that about covers it. We'd certainly stay again if we're in the area. Maybe a different cabin, just to see. So I'd say 4.5 Stars. And give a...

This review is not intended to insult or criticize the owners—it is designed to help out travelers —especially in white out driving conditions… (there was a level 3 winter storm 4 days ago) They will call you around 2pm to get your estimated arrival time—you should arrive before dark (4:30 pm). There’s a rest stop like a 1/2 of a mile from the cabin—I would stop there to pee so, that it’s not too hard to listen to the welcome talk… (my puppy messed up their floor & Frank was really nice about it) In order to get to At Boulder’s Edge, there is in fact a steep and narrow hill—I would want 4WD. The side roads are not plowed and salted… (rev your engine to like 60 mph at the bottom of the hill so, you have enough power to make it over the top) Finding the cabin is not easy in white out conditions and there is a narrow bridge to cross… We are staying in the Tall Pines cabin—our front door doesn’t seem to lock from the inside… When we arrived the hot tub was ready to use at 102 degrees. However, the cabin was probably 20 degrees like outside… (maybe it was 40 degrees) we turned every floor heater on max (85 degrees) & the fire place on—we were lucky if it was even 70 degrees which took about 2 hours to achieve and it’s never increased… for the two freezing hours I was prepared since, I have “purple hands arthritis” —with 4 layers of clothes on, blankets, gloves, hats, ear muffs, etc… freezing bothered me since they called about or arrival time and I was just so sick… but, I was prepared by bringing lots of extra comforters, big towels, old sheets, robes, and snuggies… (a hassle to pack though)… if you have a medical condition—I would text them to ask for the cabin to be preheated—they are responsive and nice… I didn’t get any 3 star hotel vibes—there’s not really cable—it’s direct tv powering up antenna tv channels… there’s no TVs in the bedrooms… there’s no internet… there’s no washer and dryer… no dishwasher… the appliances are dated… I’m guessing the owner built the beds because he sounded really proud of them but, there’s nothing keeping the mattress in place… once again bring extra comforters… so, there’s a metal sound like a wind chime that’s driving my dog nuts… we normally sleep with the tv on… it’s just so much worse than being at home… (we left a day early) if you come in the winter—call to verify the utilities are working before you drive out… this is a great cabin for vegans because there are not any dead animals hanging on the walls… the decor is hearts… The cabin doesn’t have an address so, there’s no way to get DoorDash or pizza delivery without driving up to the gift shop… I heard there are 32 restaurants in the area but, only a few are national chains… So we wake up and our phone charger and pillows are wet—there isn’t a headboard so, I guess the wall sweat… Kitchen: there are really nice named brand dishes and no products… there’s a coffee maker with 4 packs of maxwell house coffee and filters… there’s dish liquid… No: Salt Pepper Sugar Coffee creamer Cooking spray Reynolds wrap Mop Pizza pan Kleenex The ice is homemade and the cabin has well water… Dollar Tree is 4 miles away… Dollar General is 2 miles away… The hot tub is refreshing even...

We reserved a couple of nights here and stayed in the Sky View Cabin. We desperately needed some time away from home during the Covid pandemic. When we arrived we met Frank at the office/store. What a personable individual. He gave us lots of information, told us how things worked, where we could hike, etc. To keep privacy for everyone staying there, you are only allowed to hike near your own cabin and up to the office/store. You are not allowed to intrude on other's cabin area. I really liked this. No one invades your privacy. ||||The Tipis were all empty and we were allowed to walk up to them and look inside. Not my cup of tea, but for those that like primitive, they are the bomb. Wooden floors and a wood stove inside, that's all. There is a porta potty and and outside enclosed shower for the Tipis.||||Now on to the cabin. It was spotlessly clean thanks to Laurie and the decor was really nice. Our bed was decorated with towel art and words that said welcome and our names including the dog's name. Robes are provided for your use while there. Good bath products are provided (they smell good) and there is a hair dryer (I brought mine because I didn't know). Kitchen is fully equipped with cooking supplies, tableware, glasses, eating utensils, etc. There is a microwave, toaster, and coffee pot. Coffee is provided and also popcorn. ||||The bed is very comfortable with lots of pillows. I slept very soundly. ||||In the living area, there is a TV with satellite service and a DVD player (there are DVDs in the office). There is NO WIFI however (we didn't miss it). There are some books to read if you just want to sit and relax. For seating there is a pretty comfortable futon and a recliner. There is also a table and chairs in the dining area. ||||The hot tub was really nice and relaxing, and very clean. There is a table & chairs, along with a BBQ grill. A nice hammock under the trees looked very enticing, but much too cold to use it. There is also a fire pit and picnic table. ||||I will 100% be back here in the future. Thank you so much Frank and Renee for such a lovely,...