Terms & Conditions

Heritage Lodge: Guest Booking Terms

These terms apply when you book Heritage Lodge directly with us rather than through Airbnb. Please read them before you book.

1. Who this agreement is between

This agreement is between you, the person who makes the booking (the "lead guest"), and the owner of the lodge, who does business as Heritage Lodge ("we" or "us"). The lodge is in Chocolay Township, near Marquette, Michigan.
Heritage Lodge is also the owner's business name. If you ever need the owner's full name and address, for example for an insurance claim, ask us and we'll give it to you.
Duri and Alycia are the lodge's managers. They run the lodge for us day to day, and you can deal with them on anything in these terms.
You accept these terms for everyone in your group, and you're responsible for making sure they follow them.
If you booked through Airbnb, Airbnb's terms apply instead.
Our website and booking system are provided by Lettiva. Lettiva is not part of this agreement and never holds your money.
The full agreement is these terms and your booking confirmation.

2. Booking and payment

Prices are in US dollars. Nightly prices change with the season, and Friday and Saturday nights can cost more.
Before you pay, you'll see the price of your nights, the cleaning fee, any pet fee, any taxes that apply, and the total.
You pay the full amount by card, either on our website when you book, or through a secure payment link we email you once we've agreed your dates.
Your booking is confirmed once your payment has gone through and we've emailed you a confirmation.
You pay us directly. Card payments are processed by Stripe and go straight into our own Stripe account.
If a charge ever looks wrong, please contact us first and we'll put any mistake right quickly. This doesn't affect your rights with your card company.
The minimum stay depends on the season. When you pick your dates, you'll see the minimum stay for them.
Our cleaning fee, pet fee and minimum stays can change from time to time. The figures shown when you book are the ones that apply to your booking.

3. Security deposit

We don't take a security deposit for the lodge. If something is damaged or missing during your stay, section 11 explains what happens.

4. If you cancel

If you cancel at least 30 days before arrival, you get a full refund. If you cancel at least 7 days before arrival, everything is refunded except half the price of the nights. After that, everything is refunded except the price of the nights. The cleaning fee counts as part of the nightly price.

Any pet fee or other extra is always refunded in full. Any tax you paid is refunded in full if you cancel before your arrival day.
To cancel, open your booking from the link in your confirmation email and sign in, or send us a message. The day you cancel, or send us the message, is the day we count from.
We count whole days by the calendar date at the lodge (Eastern Time). For example, for an arrival on March 31, cancelling on or before March 1 gets a full refund, and cancelling on or before March 24 gets the partial refund.
Refunds go back to the card you paid with. Your bank may take 5 to 10 business days to show it.
Arriving late or leaving early doesn't bring a refund for the unused nights.

5. If we have to cancel

Our calendar is linked to Airbnb, where the lodge is also listed. Very rarely, 2 bookings can land on the same dates before the calendars catch up.
If we have to cancel your booking, because of a double booking or for any other reason (for example, damage that makes the lodge unsafe), we will:
- tell you as soon as we know;
- refund everything you've paid for the booking, in full, to the card you paid with, within 7 days (your bank may take 5 to 10 business days more to show it); and
- help you look for somewhere else to stay nearby.
Beyond that full refund and our help, we aren't responsible for other costs, such as travel you've already booked.

6. Guests and occupancy

The lodge sleeps up to 10 people overnight, in 5 bedrooms.
Only the people in your booking may stay overnight, and no one beyond your group may visit unless we've said OK first.

7. Minimum age and ID

The lead guest must be 21 or older and must stay at the lodge for the whole booking. Children and teenagers are welcome when an adult from the booking is staying with them.
We may ask to see the lead guest's photo ID, before arrival or when you arrive, to check their name and age.
If the lead guest can't show ID when we ask, we may cancel the booking, and section 4 applies as if you had cancelled that day.

8. Dogs

Dogs are welcome, up to 2 dogs per stay. For any other kind of pet, please ask us before you book. Please keep dogs off the beds and furniture, don't leave them alone in the lodge, keep them out of the sauna and away from the wood stove and the fire pit, and pick up after them.

The pet fee is currently US$75 per stay (not per dog). The pet fee shown when you book is the one that applies. Please add your dogs when you book.

Service animals are not pets. They're welcome, and there's no pet fee for them. They don't count toward the 2-dog limit.

If you bring a dog you didn't tell us about, or more than 2, we may charge the pet fee and any extra cleaning.

9. House rules

No more than 10 overnight guests, and only the people in your booking (section 6).
Smoking and vaping, including e-cigarettes, are allowed outdoors only, never inside. The lodge is built of logs and stands in the woods, so please put everything out completely.
No parties or events.
Quiet hours are 10:00 PM to 8:00 AM.
No commercial photography or filming.
Keep trash indoors or in a bin with its lid shut, so animals can't get at it.
No fireworks and no candles.
Please lock up whenever you go out, and when you leave.
If the rules are broken in a serious way (for example a party, more guests than allowed, smoking indoors, or anything that puts people or the lodge at risk), we may ask you to leave. We'll talk to you first unless there's immediate danger. If we end a stay for this reason, the unused nights aren't refunded.

10. Safety at the lodge and on the land

Heritage Lodge is an old hand-built log home on wooded land, with its own pond. You and your group use the sauna, the fire pit, the pond and the land at your own risk, except where something goes wrong because we were careless (section 16). Please make sure everyone in your group follows these rules.

The lodge itself

Like many old log homes, the lodge has uneven floors, low ceilings in places, and low or slanted doorways into most of the bedrooms. Please watch your head and mind the changes in floor level, especially at night.

Sauna

An adult must stay with children in and around the sauna at all times.
Don't use it after drinking alcohol or taking anything that makes you drowsy. Come out straight away if you feel dizzy or unwell, and drink plenty of water.
If you're pregnant, or have a heart condition or another health concern, check with your doctor before using a sauna.
Pour nothing but water on the sauna stones, and never dry towels or clothes on or near the heater.
Never leave the sauna heating with nobody around, and make sure it's off when you've finished.

Fire pit

Outdoor fires are allowed in the fire pit only. Never light a fire anywhere else on the land.
An adult must stay with the fire the whole time it's burning. Keep water close by, and before you go inside or to bed, drown the fire with water, stir it, and drown it again.
No fires when a burn ban or fire restriction is in place, or in strong wind. If you're not sure, ask us.

Stoves inside the lodge

Never light a fire in any of the wood-burning stoves inside the lodge. It's a fire hazard in a log home, and the stoves are not for guest use.
If anyone in your group lights a fire in one of them, that's a serious breach of the house rules (section 9). You're responsible for the damage it causes, as section 11 explains, and for any injury or loss it causes to anyone in your group or to anyone else. Our own responsibility stays as section 16 says.

Firewood and ashes

Burn only dry firewood. Never burn trash, cardboard, painted or treated wood, or branches cut from living trees on the land.
Please don't bring firewood from home. Michigan asks everyone not to move firewood more than about 10 miles, because it can carry pests and diseases that kill trees. If you bring firewood, buy it locally.
Leave ashes to cool in the fire pit. Never put ashes in the trash or in a paper or plastic bag.

The pond

The pond is natural water with no lifeguard. An adult must watch children near it at all times.
No swimming in the pond, and no walking or skating on its ice, unless we've said OK first. Never assume the ice is safe.

Wildlife and ticks

Black bears, deer and other wild animals live around the lodge. Never feed them, and keep food, pet food and trash indoors or in a bin with its lid shut. Don't leave food outside.
Keep dogs close and under control when they're outside.
Ticks live in the woods and long grass. Check everyone, and your dogs, after a walk.
Watch for deer on M-28, especially around dawn and dusk.

Snowmobiles, trailers and bikes

Park trucks, trailers and snowmobiles where we show you.
On our land, ride only where we show you, to get to and from the trail.
Ride sober and follow Michigan's snowmobile rules, with your own registration and trail permit.
Store bikes where we show you.

If there's smoke where there shouldn't be, or a smoke or carbon monoxide alarm sounds, get everyone out, call 911, then call us. Never cover or disable a smoke or carbon monoxide alarm.

11. Damage and missing items

Accidents happen. Please tell us about any damage or breakage as soon as you can.
Normal wear and tear is never charged.
You're responsible for damage, missing items and extra cleaning caused during your stay by you, your group, your visitors or your pets. We charge only the reasonable cost of repair, replacement or cleaning, and we'll send you details of what happened and what it costs.

12. Cleaning

The cleaning fee covers normal cleaning after you leave.
Before you leave, please empty the trash, leave the kitchen tidy, make sure the sauna is off and the fire pit is out, and lock the doors.
If the lodge needs much more than normal cleaning (for example stains, a smoke smell, or a lot of pet hair on furniture), we may charge the extra cost, as section 11 explains.

13. Check-in and check-out

Check-in is from 4:00 PM and check-out is by 10:00 AM, Eastern Time.
We'll send your check-in details before you arrive.
Early check-in or late check-out is possible only if you ask ahead and we agree in writing (a text or email is fine).
Please don't stay past 10:00 AM without agreement. Our cleaners need that time to get the lodge ready for the next guests.

14. Our access to the lodge

The lodge is yours during your stay. We'll only come in:

in an emergency, or to prevent damage (for example a leak, or a stove left burning);
to make urgent repairs, with as much notice as we can give;
if we reasonably believe a serious rule in section 9 is being broken; or
at a time you agree to.

15. Security camera

There is 1 camera at the lodge: a doorbell camera at the entry door. It faces outside, covers the area in front of the door, and can record video and sound.
There are no cameras or other recording devices inside the lodge.
We use the footage only to keep the lodge and our guests safe, keep it no longer than we need to, and share it only if needed with the police or our insurer.
Please don't cover, move or unplug the camera.

16. Our responsibility and your belongings

We look after the lodge and keep it safe. If something goes wrong because we were careless, we take responsibility for that.
Otherwise, we aren't responsible for injury, or for loss, theft or damage to your belongings, vehicles, trailers or snowmobiles. Please lock the doors and keep valuables safe.
If something like the sauna, heating, hot water or wifi stops working, tell us and we'll fix it as quickly as we can. If a major feature stops working, we'll look at it case by case. There's no automatic refund. If the lodge can't be safely stayed in, section 17 applies.
If you leave something behind, we'll keep it for 30 days and mail it back if you ask, at your cost.
Nothing in these terms takes away a right the law says you can't give up, or limits our responsibility where the law doesn't allow that.

17. Weather, roads and things outside our control

This is the Upper Peninsula. Lake-effect snow and storms off Lake Superior can make M-28 and our driveway slow going, or close them for a time, and can cut the power or internet. After heavy snow, it can take a while for the roads and the driveway to be cleared.
In winter, come in a vehicle with good winter tires. All-wheel or four-wheel drive helps.
Park roads at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and some county roads close in winter or for repairs. Before you travel, check MDOT's Mi Drive map for M-28 and the park's current conditions page.
Weather, road conditions and travel problems don't change the cancellation terms in section 4. Travel insurance can help with these.
If something outside anyone's control, such as a fire, a flood, storm damage, a long power outage or an order from the authorities, means the lodge can't be safely stayed in, we'll refund the nights you can't stay, or everything if you can't stay at all. Beyond that refund, we aren't responsible for other costs, such as travel you've already booked.

18. Problems, complaints and reaching us

In an emergency, call 911 first.
During your stay, call or text Duri at 231-881-0549 or Alycia at 210-313-0121.
If something isn't right, please tell us while you're still at the lodge, so we have the chance to put it right.
After your stay, you can raise a complaint by replying to any of our booking emails or by calling us. We'll reply within 2 days.

19. Your information

We use your details only to manage your booking and your stay, and to meet our legal duties. We share them only with the services that help us do that, such as Lettiva for our booking system and Stripe for payments, and we never sell them. Our calendar link with Airbnb shares only that the dates are taken, never your details.

20. The law that applies

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Michigan.
If we can't settle a disagreement between us, it will be decided in the courts of Marquette County, Michigan.
If any part of these terms can't be enforced, the rest still applies.