Just returned from a couple of days at Seven Oaks. I have been here a few times before and it is always perfect. Immaculate, perfectly appointed rooms and gracious attentiveness to any need one has. This is where I go when I just need to relax and shut the world out. Amanda and Leon are there when you need them and not when you don't. It is the perfect place to regain serenity. They have thought of everything to ensure a great stay for their guests. I will be back again and again. I love this place.

Hubby and I decided to spend our 28th anniversary (which is on New Year's Eve) in Lake Geneva. After looking around on TripAdvisor, and deciding that rather than a party-type New Year's Eve, we would have a quiet, hopefully romantic, anniversary weekend and took the very expensive (for us) plunge and reserved a cottage at Seven Oaks for the nights of Dec 31 and Jan 1.

First the good ... most all of these have been mentioned in other reviews but are worth mentioning again: immaculate condition, comfortable bed, spacious shower, tasty cheese, fruit and cracker plate upon arrival as well as a decent tasting bottle of wine (screw-top), lovely continental breakfast with some of the best croissants I've had outside of Paris, great selection of teas, real Half and Half in the fridge, heated bathroom floor, towel bar and even toilet seat! Also, attractive oak floor in the main room and comfortable sectional (more on this later). Breakfast could be delivered between 8 and 10 but when we let them know that we would have to depart by 7:45 as we had a two hour drive home, they brought breakfast the night before. I would have preferred to get it at 7 am but was glad they accommodated us at all.

Now the not so good ... but before I mention these things I'd like to say that I am typically not a very picky person. After reading TA reviews of this B&B, however, all absolutely glowing and nothing short of Excellent and paying over $500 for 2 nights, my expectations were very high. Some of my comments are a bit picky and I primarily include for the benefit of the proprietors. My husband went in to reception to check us in while I waited in the car as he had ordered roses for me as a surprise. When he came out, he briefly mentioned that he had been asked whether we would need fresh towels the next day but as we like to be pretty green (we drive a Prius after all!), he had said no, which was fine. When we stepped in the cottage, the first thing I noticed was the roses, so those arrived and were delivered and displayed nicely. The second thing I noticed was the fireplace. Then the nicely decorated large bed and nice shower stall. So overall a good first impression. As we sat down to have some of the cheese and crackers, however, and watch television, we were almost laughing at the "fireplace". The gas log flame was so low it was laughable. Not exactly romantic to be looking at a blue flame ... I might as well have been looking at my gas range. As we tried to get cozy on the small sectional, hubby on the chaise piece, me attempting to lie down with my head on his shoulder, each time I made any slight movement, the two pieces of the sectional would slide apart. At one point I actually slipped onto the floor! While the oak floors are beautiful, they're not very functional for this sofa which really needed carpet underneath it. A few other things that were a little surprising was that the shower - nice large tile shower with multiple shower heads - had a shower curtain rather than glass door that I would have expected. Also, while there were multiple shower heads, the water pressure was not strong enough to really make the "body height" ones worthwhile; the water came out of the bottom one in a limp stream. Most surprisingly, I expected some decent toiletries but was very disappointed to see built in shampoo and conditioner dispensers, similar to what one sees on entry level cruise ships. While the vessel sinks look good, in reality they're difficult to use. I'm only 5'3" and had to get on my tiptoes to rinse my face, while the sink poked me in the ribs. I think a filled ice bucket would have been nice. Or even an ice tray in the small freezer. It was frustrating to have to go out in the wintry cold to get a (tiny) bucket of ice.

All of this would have been more easily overlooked if not for the last two complaints. When someone (Amanda, the proprietor?) brought our breakfast at 9 New Year's morning, I commented to her that we were not quite ready yet for the room to be cleaned. She looked a bit stricken and said, "Oh, because it's New Year's, the cleaning staff has the day off." Really?! When I expressed surprise, she asked if we needed towels then offered to come in and clean it herself. We're pretty neat people so all I really was expecting was the bed to be made and maybe the mirror cleaned but I was so flabbergasted that they would be OPEN on New Year's and charge their "special rate of $499" which is $22 more than their regular winter weekend rate, but not provide cleaning that I just said no. Finally, while the proprietors seemed very nice, it was difficult to reach them. My husband, who tends to not like to leave messages, had to call them 4 times about the roses. I had to leave messages several times including the day we were there. I called to get the password for their wi-fi and waited several hours before they returned the call, which by then was almost worthless since we were leaving shortly for dinner. The final disappointment was discovering upon rising the morning we were leaving that because there was no cleaning staff, there was also no more coffee, as I used the only decaf packet the morning before. So while it was nice to get away for a few days, it definitely fell short of my expectations.

My fiance surprised me with this wonderful weekend stay at SevenOaks which began with the most amazing marriage proposal! The owners Leon and Amanda made everything he wanted for the weekend come to life...from the food to my favorite flowers. We stayed in a private lodge with a fireplace and a ton of amenities. The two person jacuzzi tub was amazing and I loved the heated bathroom floors! Breakfast is brought to the door every morning. It was a such a special weekend, we will definitely be back!

I would advise any couple wanting to get a away from the kids and busy schedules to relax at Seven Oaks. I've been several times and have enjoyed the heated floors, heated towel racks, jacuzzi whirlpool, romantic setting. The staff is very good. It was everything I expected.