Living in Chicago and with 20 years in the interior design business, I have tolerated many midwest inns, condos and cottages that don't appeal to my aesthetics. Blue Door is wonderfully unique as they combine a hip, cool, urban vibe to their cottages that is so refreshing. No silly knick knacks and pointless frills, the cottages are clean and tastefully designed in a warm, modern scandinavian vibe. We all had a blast: ages 4 to 46 yrs..
The place was spotless when we arrived, we had everything we needed and bugs stay out when you keep the doors closed (as with all places).

The kids ran around and around and around, playing games on the grass, hanging out at the pool and roasting marshmallows. We visited the nearby Railway Museum and rented a pontoon boat for lots of outdoors fun. The owners couldn't have been nicer nor more helpful. This is a genuine family owned business and you can feel the warmth, pride and hard work they put into it. We watched interrupt grilling their dinner to clean out a cottage Saturday night to accommodate a last minute rental.

Would we go back? Well, of course! There is no better place to stay near Monticello and Lake Shafer is directly across the street. We hope they start to do pontoon boat rentals at their docks right there for next year!

I stayed at Blue Door Cottages the weekend after Labor Day. It was a girl's family weekend away from Chicago, so 5 family members in total. We stayed in the Big Cabana. We brought enough food for the whole weekend, and had plenty of kitchen space to prepare our meals. The cottage was air conditioned, but we rarely had it on with all the open windows. There are two very pleasant sleeping alcoves- I was lucky to have one of them with a king size bed. It was such a wonderful relaxing weekend, we didn't leave the cottage except to go for a few lovely walks down the nearby quiet roads. We played games and had plenty of cozy space in the living room and had a huge kitchen table for meals and game playing. I also went for a long run in the area, which is a luxury coming from the congestion of Chicago. I would highly recommend staying at Blue Door cottages, and we plan on coming back again.

My husband and I brought our 5 mo.-old daughter here for our very first family vacation. We had a great stay. The staff was friendly and very helpful with directions and recommendations for restaurants/things to do. Our studio was very nice and pleasantly decorated. I did kill a couple of bugs in the bathroom, but nothing unusual for a lakeside cabin. The linens and kitchenette were completely clean. The kitchen was surprisingly well-appointed with: fridge, sink, microwave, toaster, coffee maker, plates - large and small, bowls, utensils, glasses, mugs, wine glasses, cutting board, strainer, large serving bowl, dish drying rack, dish towel, dish soap, scrubber, paper towels, etc. We brought a bunch of stuff that we didn't need b/c it was already provided.

The property is conveniently located to all Lake Shafer has to offer, and the restaurant across the street was the perfect place to relax by the lake with a beer or to have a meal. (Loved the fish sandwich.) There are grills and fire pits available outside the cottages, as well as games like horsehoes and cornhole that you can borrow. They also lend movies and board games for those rainy days. You can access the lake for relaxing/fishing or boat docking via the restaurant across the street, which is part of the resort property. We're already planning to come back next summer with extended family members to take advantage of those amenities.

We chose this property because it had been had been recently updated. The website it in fact is very lovely and the cabins are painted cute. The layout of the cabins were functionable as well, however, that's where anything positive can be said. The kitchens were dirty, all of the refridgerators froze everything, my refridgerator was filthy I had to ask the manager to have someone cleaned it, the floors were covered with bugs, there were bugs on the bedding. The pricing was reasonable but for that I had expected the rooms to be serviced each day. They were not. Not once in four (4) days. We were by a lake, we didn't bring our own towels, we were expected to wash our own towels, empty the trash, clean the room before our departure. I tried several times to call the owner prior to our arrival, (we live in Colorado) and could never get a return call. Not good business. If these people expect this business to stay open some major changes need to happen. I know our family won't be returning.