Our stay turned out great. We caught the fall foliage at its peak when we arrived and made the most of the unseasonably warm late October weather.
The house's location was nice, just across the road (M22) that runs along Lake Michigan. It's up a long driveway from the road. Normally, I look for houses right on lakes. This house broke the tradition, but it worked out OK. Besides having to cross a somewhat busy M22 and step over a guardrail to get to the lake, the water level was low, making the shoreline thick mud. Consequently, we couldn't use the available kayaks. Bad luck.
The house was very nice and had everything we needed. We especially enjoyed the open and combined great room/dining area/kitchen. It allowed all 9 of us to hang out together, eat, play games, and watch football. The beds and pillows were comfy and having so many bathrooms and showers was great. Our daughter and son-in-law made good use of the hot tub, and we all gathered around the fire pit on the balcony looking toward Lake Michigan.
None of the sights we wanted to see were more than half an hour or so away. We went to the lighthouse; hiked at Sleeping Bear Dunes; biked the trail that parallels the lake; explored Fishtown/Leland, Suttons Bay, and Traverse City; sampled lots of cherry products; and enjoyed local microbreweries. Hop Lot for beer was great as was the Suttons Bay Ciders.
The host was great and resolved one minor issue quickly. All in all, we had a great time!