Its always a struggle to have a nice family vacation where everyone is happy, especially the dogs.
We just stayed at the' Village Hotspot' in Big Bear, with our 13 and 14 year old children, a couple of our friends with their 7 year old and our two dogs. It was a last minute booking, and was perfect for everyone, with a diverse choice of things to do for everyone. It is literally a minutes walk to the lake where we became fans of B's Backyard BBQ bar at the end of the day ; the kids could hang out and skim stones whilst we watched the sun set over the lake from the waterfront deck, the dogs tore it up with fellow canines on the dog beach conveniently located right there too. The teenagers took off to the village to watch movies, bowl, and just hang out, they loved their independence and it was so nice not to have to taxi them everywhere like we do in LA, and worry about their safety.
We all went hiking, the well sign- posted 2NO8 trail starts just up the hill from this cabin on the memorably named 'Knickerbocker Rd', which was so pretty and the dogs loved it.
The 3 bedroomed cabin itself was basic, warm and cosy, with shaggy carpets ,rustic-style furnishings and everything you could possibly need in the kitchen. The large entrance room had both washer and drier, which is exactly where you want it with all the wet snowboarding gear, and wipe clean floor for muddy boots and dogs leashes.
The rental agency, Big Bear Lakefront Cabins, had extremely helpful and friendly staff , coincidentally both called Judi, they were upfront and honest when helping me select a cabin to suit our needs. This one does not have great curb appeal but we wanted somewhere very central so we wouldn't have to get in our car at all, and we didn't!
The cabin has great use of space, a large lounge with fireplace and sofa bed for an extra overnight guest, hot tub and huge carpeted games room with pool table and foosball. It was like having an on-site clubhouse for the kids, which gave us a break to watch a dvd in the evening on the large flat screen TV in the lounge. Loading and unloading was easy, we could drive our car right up to front door, and parking was plentiful in the lot . It was great value for money, and we got a third night for free.
This cabin is the perfect base to entertain yourselves, Big Bear is truly charming, we are going back in the summer to tackle more hiking trails, the dogs can't wait!
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