Northwind Lodge is a licensed, inspected resort - 99% of private vacation homes are not. Think about it and what this means to you as a vacationer...
Right now there's is a rash of private property owners who apparently can't actually afford the property they purchased in our region. To supplement their huge monthly cash outlay for the mortgage and the crushing, non-homestead tax rates they have to pay, these private vacation-home owners came up with the bright idea to try to rent their property for the 50 weeks of each year when they aren't staying here.
They simply find someone to manage the place and pay that individual a percentage, usually 30-40% for renting out their property. They offer no basic services and you are on your own entirely. Sounds like a good deal. The property owner gets some cash and the manager gets a share of the cash with no investment in the property with the exception of cleaning after the renters leave. Everybody wins - at least on the money receiving end of the deal. The vacationer who actually rented the place for a week may get more than he bargained for.
The losers in this matter could be the unknowing & unsuspecting vacationer, the state of MN, and the Minnesota resort industry. The vacationer may not care too much about those other organizations because they really appear to have nothing to do with end-result which is the vacation. Nevertheless, one might consider these other important ramifications before signing on the bottom line for a week's stay in Ely.
Good for Minnesota ? Think Again!
Unlike an actual Minnesota resort which is a licensed, inspected, commercial operation where the state and county come in periodically to test the water, walk through the facilities and look at the property, an unlicensed private vacation home owner submits to no one and may even pocket the sales tax collected they collect from vacationers. In Saint Louis County of Minnesota, one local commisioner said he didn't care about any of this. Doesn't matter - small potatoes. Funny, the state of MN doesn't seem to agree, but they don't impose sales tax audits on private individuals either. If a resort refuses to allow the county or state of Minnesota in for health and fire inspections, or collect sales and lodging taxes, the resort ulitmately loses it's operating license. At this point, the county or state sends in the law enforcement agency for that region. They more or less lock the place up and shut it down in one way or another. As a result, the resort owner loses his livelihood and/or is subjected to fines, penalties and deadlines for mandated improvements if he wants to continue operating. In order to continue to operate, a licensed, inspected resort must jump through the hoops of whatever state, county or federal agency that comes in to visit - and we do. Sometimes we jump through the hoops to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars installing new updated sewer systems, fire code upgrades (which appear to change without warning), water inspections, etc. In fact, many resorts in Minnesota actually upgrade on a regular basis to provide improvements for their guests. Some improvements are driven by competition while many other improvements are intrinsically motivated due to the sin of "pride". Many resort owners in Minnesota are very proud of their resorts and they should be. They put in long hard hours for a huge operational overhead and not a lot of pay. (There are many jobs out there that offer better wages, benefits, and vacation time.) And, unlike the nameless, faceless, private vacation-home owner who is renting out his place over the internet, the official state and county agencies have the legal ability to grab us resorters by the collar and make life difficult because they can actually find us. I suspect there are quite a few private vacation-home owners who just quietly sneek along the edges of the law, under the radar. And just like the state and counties, I don't have a clue who they are, but unlike the agencies, I DO care.
Drinking Water - What's in your coffee?
Meanwhile, the people who rent privately-owned vacation homes could be in trouble without even realizing it. Most of these people are drinking water that comes from unknown sources. The water could be coming straight out of the lake, untreated, as is the case for many of the privately-owned vacation cabins in all of northeastern Minnesota. The fun part in this whole thing is that the neighboring cabin owned by somebody else could have its sewer piped right into the lake along the property line. This is also the case that's very difficult to prove because Lake County doesn't have any enforcement agency to even begin to check all the private properties and what they're up to. Trust me, there are violaters all over the place. Even if you see it and complain about the sewage pipe in the lake, GOOD LUCK finding someone in these counties who'll take the time to pursue the private violaters. Counties and states go after the easiest targets they can grab, namely license holders of some sort. No, this is not to say that private violaters wouldn't get in some pretty major trouble if caught, but Lake County has declared publicly that it is not actively looking, and Saint Louis County just plain doesn't care. So guess what else might be in your morning coffee water at the vacation home?
What Do You Know About Drinking Water?
If the private vacation home owner says he has well water, how good are most vacationers at identifying what kind of water system it really is? Unless you know something about plumbing like a resorter like me does, chances are most vacationers who come from cities with city water systems couldn't tell the difference between a well or a lake-water system. For the vacationer it's: "No idea - don't really care 'cause I'm on vacation!"
People who rent a place to stay in the USA generally assume that the water is safe because it really should be safe, period. Afterall, you are paying for the service. Already in this region, I know one large family group who ended up in the hospital with a severe, water-borne illness because the uninspected, private vacation-home they rented for a week was supplied with substandard water system and nobody told them. Water-borne illness are not something to snicker at. A Giardia outbreak is a real problem but Cryptosporida is worse. Just ask Milwaukee, WI about crypto!
In either case, these two little bugs can be life-threatening to little kids and the elderly and everybody in between is not the best off, either. Top these two off with the biggest, nastiest, bruiser E. Coli and see how much trouble one could find themself experiencing from a bad water supply! E. Coli is not only found in bad hamburger - it can end up in a bad well. With the help of the county health department, this stuff can usually be cleaned up effectively and the source found and contained. But, if nobody knows it's there, somebody else might contract it. And just because the property has a well, there's no guarantee of safety simply because the property owner says it's safe. Samples must be submitted for inspections by an uninvolved agency, namely the state or county who also has the ability to act on behalf of the people affected by a problem. This is not a required practise for private homes and, as a result, vacationers staying at these properties could be in for a big, unwelcomed, and potentially lethal surprise.
Septic System Goes Where?
Also, where does the actual septic system go for that private cabin? It could be going straight into the lake as I mentioned above. Or, if it exists on land, has it been installed too close to the well? Was it moved closer to the well after the initial construction of the property due to expansion? Where's the neighbor's septic system relative to the vacationer's water supply? Who checks that out for the vacationer? After the initial building permit and final inspection, our counties don't care. They say they have no resources to check the property a few years down the road. So, who keeps track of the vacationers who get sick? Don't care! Who checks out the renter's past record and tells you about it. Don't care! A resort that isn't doing what it's supposed to do gets harassed by the county (and rightfully so), or at least the vacationer has a county or state health department to which complaints can be made and inevitably investigated. With a private vacation-home, what is the recourse by the county or state if the vacationer who is renting it has a related health issue? Is the private owner carrying the appropriate liablility insurance for operating? Aside from water issues, what if the vacationer experiences a physical injury on the vacation-home property? If a third, unrelated party is somehow involved in an accident on the property, will it be the property owners fault alone or will the vacationer get sucked in to the mess when the owner didn't have enough insurance? I suppose one could sue the owner and the manager of the vacation-home and the vacationer might even win after great expense, time, risk, and hard feelings. If you're like me, that just isn't right!
Yahoo's, Bad Dudes and Big Problems
I can also relate an actual experience where this happened (sort of) in reverse: Someone in our area was living in a private home and their neighbor's vacation-home next door was rented out (by a property manager) to a bunch of vacationers who turned out to be drunken yahoos. These idiots would get cranked up and fire shotguns at midnight into the air as they screamed, hollered and "let off steam" on their "vacation". They literally terrorized their neighbors next door who didn't know who to complain to simply because the property manager wasn't anywhere to be found. Trying not to invoke the forboding, armed idiots, the adjacent property owners kept quiet as the noise grew louder and more raucous for three days. Finally, the un-armed neighbors called the county Sheriff who sent in a deputy to sort it all out. They finally kicked the yahoos out but there was a lot of noise and threats shelled out to those neighbors who complained.
If anything even remotely close to the above scenario ever occured at Northwind Lodge, the resort owner here (that would be me) would have solved the problem in the first 3 minutes and those bad dudes would have been out on their butts, complete with a sheriff escort. So, what happens if the private vacation-home you are staying at is next to neighbors who are on another property and they're acting out like the actual event described above? Who tells them to straighten up when you're all by yourself? Do you just lay down and wait for the music of banjoes in the background to start playing? Is it your responsibility? Who calls the sheriff if you are staying in a remote, private cabin and someone comes pounding on your door at night? Who is in charge at your remote, private vacation-home way out in the woods? What if you have an accident or your place catches on fire? What if there's a huge storm and the road is blocked with downed trees? I've been in the resort business for my entire life. If you think I'm making these scenarios up for effect, think again!
Dumpy Businesses - Sure, They Do Exist
Granted, there are some resorts scattered around the state that are veritable dumps, plain and simple. They barely meet the minimum health requirements and they have what I consider to be rotten cabins, crumby equipment and too many people. Some of their owners are rude to their customers. In reality, the state and counties don't have license requirements for good customer service, so vacationers unfortunately need to weed through the barage of BS that I've seen on some websites put out by various places both in our area and elsewhere in the state. Ultimately, staying there will be the only way to finally determine if it's a place that matches your quality of living requirements, customer relations, budget, etc. But, staying at any licensed resort will at least confine your vacation risk to being in a really nice area without Montezuma's revenge or maybe worse. It will also minimize your exposure to illness and at least, if you do get sick you'll have a lot of recourse that simply doesn't exist with a private vacation-home no matter who manages it or what they toldl you.
Conclusion
I would say that you greatly reduce the risk to your well-being by staying in a licensed, inspected resort. At least there is the presumption of standards which is not required for privately owned, vacation-homes. If you don't like the place your are at this season but do like the area, you can scout around in person for a resort that better suits your vacation wishes for future trip.
As Minnesota resorts continue to disappear, so will the basic living standards for vacationers coming to the area. With no competition, everybody loses. Private vacation homes can rent you whatever they want and you'll be OK until you have a real problem. Then what are you going to do?
Find a nice resort and stay there. You'll be much better off in the long run.
No matter what - the choice is your's. Please choose wisely.
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218-365-4512