This is the question we get more than almost any other, usually in a message that starts “quick one —”. People searching for a lakefront cabin near Eagle River want to know whether there is a hot tub, whether there is a sauna, and whether they are actually on the water or a short drive from it. So here is the straight answer about both of our places, with nothing dressed up.
The short answer
Which cabin has the sauna?
The Grandy Dandy is the one with both. It sits on the boatable Sugar Camp Chain of Lakes with a private dock out back, and on the lower-level walkout there is an authentic cedar barrel sauna that fits up to six and a year-round hot tub that seats five. You can go from one to the other barefoot, which is the entire point of putting them side by side.
The O.G. is the hot-tub-only one, and it is not a consolation prize. The tub is year-round, it lives on a wrap-around deck strung with lights, and it looks out over a private 58-acre spring-fed lake with no public launch on it. If what you want is quiet rather than a steam cycle, that is the one.
Side by side
How do the two compare?
The Grandy Dandy
Sugar Camp Chain, about fifteen minutes from downtown. Sleeps 10 across 3 bedrooms, 5 beds and 2 baths, plus a basement futon. Cedar barrel sauna, hot tub, private dock, two kayaks and two paddleboards.
The O.G.
Private Lake Arbutus, about ten minutes from downtown. Sleeps 8 across 4 bedrooms, 6 beds and 2 baths. Year-round hot tub, a little sandy beach and swim platform, two kayaks, a paddle boat and a rowboat.
Bringing a boat
The Grandy Dandy, every time. The chain is a real five-lake run and there is a public launch nearby off County Highway D. Lake Arbutus has no launch at all, which is exactly why it stays so still.
Bringing a crowd
Also The Grandy Dandy. The basement has a pool table, a Pac-Man arcade and a bar, and the butcher-block table seats the whole group at once. It is where the night tends to end up.
Right now
Is October a good time for this?
It is the best time, and we will argue about it. A sauna in July is a novelty. A sauna in October, after a cold morning on the water, is the reason you came. The hardwoods are turning against the pines, the lake is quiet, and the evenings get dark early enough that the hot tub and the firepit start doing real work by about six o'clock.
The fishing cooperates too. Cooling water pushes fish shallow and gets them feeding, which is why our musky guide and the fall fishing notes for the Sugar Camp Chain both point at these weeks. Fish until your hands ache, then fire the sauna. That is the whole trip.
If you are weighing the chain against the quiet lake, the Sugar Camp Chain cabin rental guide goes deeper on what it is like to stay on a boatable chain versus a no-wake lake.
Worth knowing
What else comes with either one?
Both cabins are open year-round, both are dog-friendly for up to two dogs with prior approval, and both have keyless entry so you are not coordinating a handoff after a long drive. Both have a wrap-around deck, a grill and a firepit with firewood, fast Wi-Fi and smart TVs, and a Marshall Bluetooth speaker because somebody always wants the music on.
The Grandy Dandy leans a little more lodge: oak cabinets, a marble island, a stained-glass window and a wood stove to cozy the great room up on a cold night. The O.G. leans a little more cabin: hand-hewn log walls, a whole-house water filter, and the kind of hammock-and-Adirondack-chair afternoon that does not require a plan. Neither one is trying to be a hotel.
Where to stay
Sauna and hot tub together, boat on the chain, room for ten — that is The Grandy Dandy. Hot tub, private no-wake water and a sandy beach for the kids — that is The O.G.. Cool-weather weekends go quietly, but they do go, so book ahead.
Good to know