Angelique's Lakefront Tiny Haven - Nice, California

Robert H.

You can look at my other reviews. I am generally a positive person. But renter beware on this property. We ended up leaving within a few hours of arrival. If you know what you are getting and are ok with it, then fine. But do not go off the pictures or descriptions that they have listed prior. False advertising.

The dock pictures that they have listed are of their own dock that is actually full of their own watercraft. If you have a nice boat, I think you will cringe at the dock that they ask you to use as a guest by default. Pictures attached. The pylons are too close together for many boats and are outside mounted so a longer boat won't fit between them. The tire bumpers have huge metal hooks/claws inside that will just wreck havoc on a boat. They then tell you that you can hook up to a hanging metal wire between two pylons which doesn't work well if your boat has a tower. It can maybe work ok if you have a low height fishing boat or a jet ski. Be aware that you would be swimming to and from the vessel each time if you go with that option. The swim step to the dock uses raw rebar as the steps and there are spiderwebs all over the hand holds.

Be aware that the dock is hit at a 40-65 degree angle by the prevailing wind and waves. These waves can get up to white caps during the day. They of course show only pictures of the flat water timeframe instead of this reality of how exposed the dock would be to the battery of waves.

There are no cleats on the dock to try and attach fenders to help the situation. Tying off to the pylons are your only available spot.

The dock is old and even has a foot sized hole in it. Picture attached of that as well.

The houses themselves are most simply described as somewhat refurbished mobile homes. Do not expect well maintained items. More on the spectrum of nice camping than renting a home. The exterior is poorly manicured. We found no fewer than 15 spiders on the inside of the home upon entering. When we asked for some spray, the answer we got was "no, we don't have any. It is just that season."

Air conditioning in the living room/kitchen and one of the two bedrooms. The one in the kitchen is much nicer than the one in the bedroom. I did not see AC in the other bedroom.

The host didn't really seem to care about being a host.

I would not recommend this location.

Jason '. M.

We stayed at Angelique's Lakefront Tiny Haven to attend my grandma's 87th in Lakeport. It started with a lovely note on the front door greeting our stay. Neighbors were exceptional friendly, and Angelique was full of great energy. This tiny haven is walking distance from a couple of great eating establishments and a fantastic Asian spice store. It sits across the road from the lake featuring a dock for beautiful views while sipping on coffee. I didn't have a need for the water sports this go around, but the equipment looked new and well maintained. We will definitely take advantage during our next visit.
Our unit had what we needed to make our stay comfortable, including wifi capable of allowing us to perform our daily work tasks. We will definitely be booking here the next time we're in town. The you Angelique for the accomodations and conversations.

Nicholas R.

I love getting out on the water and there were plenty of options with jetskiis, paddle boards, and the plantoon boat. I love the jetskiis! The houses are nice, and I really enjoyed the pac man machine.

It's in a smaller town but there's plenty of things to do on the property so you don't need to go out as much. I did stop by the Old Faithful of California on the way in and enjoyed it, and there's a casino not far, which was also fun.

Overall had a blast and definitely would come again

Samantha M.

This was a beautiful getaway with the family, to celebrate my bday. We stayed in the front unit with the beautiful view of the lake and it was the perfect place to be during the height of the pandemic. It was such a comfortable, quiet and relaxing place- I almost forgot there was a pandemic. I got the best sleep in a long time and got to spend quality time with the family. We went on a boat, kayaked at night under the star filled sky, and rode the bikes around the block. It was just what we all needed.

Mubeen Q.

Spent time at Tiny Haven on Labour day weekend. It's a nice place away from city life and in front of oldest and largest natural lake in the CA.

Apart from lake activities, we enjoyed playing ping Pong with kids, axe throw board, etc. During the weekend Angelique arranged latest Top Gun movie outdoors.

Angelique was very kind and accommodating to all out request. We had good time. Can't recommend enough.

Francis C.

Fantastic getaway for the big group! Angelique was very friendly and accommodating throughout our stay, and we had tremendous fun riding the boats and jetskis. It was very convenient that the dock was right in front of the house so we could go out and enjoy the water anytime we wanted. Would definitely come back again!

Scott W.

My family spent the long Labor Day weekend at one of the newest Tiny Houses at the Haven. For two adults and two kids, 6 & 4 years old, the smaller Tiny House (the brown one) was just enough room with two separate lofts. While it is tight on space, this was actually a benefit to our vacation because it prevented anyone from spending too much time inside rather than enjoying the lake & outdoor activities. Even at the kids' bedtime, my wife & I sat outside while they fell asleep, which was very pleasant in the evenings even after 95deg+ daytime temperatures.

The staff overall was just fantastic. Angelique lives onsite and was immediately available to take care of anything we needed, or just to stop & chat while passing by. She has the common areas well-stocked with games, activities, and some fun equipment for kids (like a trampoline & tree swings). She also had a good knowledge of nearby restaurants, because they are pretty sparce in Nice proper. Randy was also super-helpful with the equipment rentals. We used the pontoon boat one day and two jet skis the next day. The weeds in shallow water can be troublesome for the boat motors, but Randy took the time to walk us through everything and literally got in the water to show us how to clear them out for optimum performance. And he is also standing at the ready in case there is trouble - he told us a story of towing some other guests back to shore when they had trouble on the lake. Finally, even the three "workers" who are onsite maintaining & bringing up even more cabins were super-friendly and let our kids play on the equipment at the cabin they were staying in. They even clued us into the fact that the Lake Country Fair was going on that weekend, which ended up being a great time for the kids.

There was another reviewer that gave a 1-star review and complained about a number of things. It seems to me that person had some unrealistic expectations of where he & guests were vacationing. Nice is a small lakeside village...there is nothing "fancy" here and that's not what you should expect from this area. If you're looking for spa treatments, chain restaurants, and big-box stores, you won't find them here. And with any little town in a rural area, you will find some folks who don't look as clean-cut as city slickers like me. But we felt completely safe the entire time. Angelique used the word "glamping" in a conversation with me, and that is pretty accurate. You will be in a semi-wooded area right by the lakeside...bugs, flies, and therefore spiders who eat them are to be expected. But if you go into your stay at Angelique's with the right set of expectations, you will have a great time. Oh, and the price is definitely right as compared to other spots within a 3-4hr drive of the Bay Area!

If you've made it this far, you can tell I had a lot to say. But the bottom line is that I would return with my family and even encourage another family or two to join us next time and get a couple cabins/tiny houses at The Haven.

Fred G. (.

Although I would not recommend this property to anyone, I will say the owner was very friendly (at first). I booked this property multiple months in advance and live about 4-5 hours away from this property. I communicated with the owner multiple times over a month prior to booking. I relied heavily on those communications with the property owner prior to booking to make the decision on whether to book the property or not. My main concern and priority which was made clear from day one was the quality of the lake conditions for boating, the availability of the boat ramp at the location, space for the boat at the dock. I informed the owner of the type of boat I have and the length of the boat. No information was provided as how to check in to the property. Upon check in time I was left trying to locate the owner so I could gain access to the property. The owner lives right next door and came over and provided a key code to the door (electronic lock). The door has no other keys or locks. This means there are no other ways to prevent the owner or anybody else from entering the property.

Upon entering the home, the place was not cleaned very well and was definitely not clean to any COVID standard. The windows, glass doors, and various other surfaces were covered in fingerprints and grime. Along with the dirt, there was massive amount of ants in the bathroom. To boot, there was no hand soap in the house. My wife had to clean the entire house prior to the rest of our friends arriving while I ran to the store to purchase hand soap, sponges for the kitchen, and bug spray. The property was clearly being worked on by on-site construction workers. The entire stay there were construction workers walking past the windows with their shirts off and hanging out in the spaces (ping pong table, picnic table, etc) which was sold to be available to guests.

- Air Conditioner was broken.
- The refrigerator was broken
- surrounding neighborhood dilapidated and there are numerous vagrants
- Not a separate house, it’s a shared space.
- No boat parking
- Lots of bugs and spiders inside and out
- Misleading advertising