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PrideGay Hotels
Lotties Lodge at The Shackteau
Lotties Lodge at The Shackteau
Laura and Steve
Response rate: 37% • Response time: a few days

Lotties Lodge at The Shackteau

Waterboro, ME, United StatesMap
Entire place
2 guests
1 Bedroom
1 Bathroom
2 beds
Wi-FiBreakfast includedDedicated workspaceGymParkingPets allowed

The Reveal

Family-focused lakeside retreat with 4 lodging options: Lottie's Lodge (sleeps 2), Glamping tent (sleeps 2 + room for 2 air mattresses), Tiny Pepe (sleeps 2), and The Shackteau Main House (sleeps 6 + room for air mattresses). Each has its own listing on misterb&b - but if you book the Main House, you automatically get the Glamping Tent and Tiny Pepe as part of the package. **When the Main House is rented, your hosts will reside in Lottie's Lodge to take care of the animals.

Lottie's Lodge is our only dog-friendly lodging option. It is surrounded by a picket fence where furry guests must stay at all times unless on a leash. Dogs may not be left outside of visual sight of owners inside or outside the cabin, unless crated. If it's hot, owners may permit a crated dog inside the cooler main house, for it's comfort.

Lottie's Lodge overlooks the lake and fire-circle. It has its own sitting porch with padded rocking chairs. Includes rock solid wi-fi, pellet stove w/ thermostat for chilly Maine nights, Keurig, microwave, mini fridge, fold-down table, shelving, cookware, eating utensils, and hot & cold potable water tanks. Private bathroom & shower with private entrance in Shackteau Main House a few steps from cabin (under construction now, as you can see in the last photo.) Other lodging residents share the second bath with a separate entrance.

Lodge beds are cot-style bunk beds. You can tell your friends you're "roughing it" while in fact the cots are as comfortable as our own Therapedic mattress in our bedroom. (Laura lived in this cabin during all of covid and never slept better!) Cots are constructed with trampoline material, covered by ergonomic camping pad + memory foam pad zipped into a cover. BEDDING is cozy flannel-lined LLBEAN sleeping bags.

- OTHER AMENITIES: - Unlimited firewood for the fire pit and pellets for the pellet stove. - Sauna + robes for your stay - Unlimited towels - Basic toiletries in bathrooms - Lawn games: Connect 4, Yahtzee, Cornhole - Outdoor ping pong table - 4 kayaks - 2 paddleboards - Row boat - Swim raft off main dock - Music room in Main House (Yamaha baby grand piano) - Karaoke machine - Home gym w/ Peloton, treadmill & Bowflex weights - Board games

FOR EXTRA $$: Meals served by your hosts in The Shackteau Main House dining room. You're on vacation! Why worry about cooking? Specialties include traditional Maine lobster dinner, French cooking, vegan and vegetarian dishes. Picky kids? We gotchya covered. Cost based on menu. Wine collection on premises. We cannot sell alcohol. But we can ask for donations.

FOR EXTRA $$: Hosts will pack lunch tiffins for your daytime adventures, be it hiking, paddling, or lounging on the lake.

FOR EXTRA $$: Hosts will lead kayak trip up a creek that connects our lake to a neighboring lake, or lead you on a hiking trip. $50 for half-day trip.

FOR EXTRA $$: Hosts will transport you to/from Amtrak or Portland JetPort. $100 RT for either.

How the beds work

Bedroom2 Single Bed

Little Luxuries

Wi-Fi
Breakfast included
Dedicated workspace
Parking
Pets allowed
Kitchen
Heating
Pet owner
Family friendly
The Classics
Wi-Fi
Dedicated workspace
Kitchen
Breakfast included
Heating
Parking
LGBTQ+ Favorites
Gym
Welcome
Pets allowed
Pet owner
Family friendly

Meet Your Proud Host

Laura and Steve
E-mail verifiedPhone verified
Member sinceJan. 2022
Response rate37%
Response timea few days
The Shackteau is named for the concept of a grand gathering space with fabulous food and wine, nestled into rustic Maine charm. We are your hosts, Laura & Steve Bowden. We are a straight couple with many friends and family in the LGBTQ+BIPOC community. As with so many of us, the pandemic inspired us to transform "things we want to do someday" into "things we will do right now." Because life is short. We both spent over 20 years in corporate America before semi-retiring. With The Shackteau, we are laying the foundation for a post-retirement career more aligned with our values and interests - and hopefully putting some good into the world while we’re at it! In 2017 we purchased 6 acres on a lake in Maine with the idea of turning it into a family camp. We thought “someday” we might run a hospitality business which would allow us to retire with a different kind of lifestyle: Hosting in the warm months and traveling in the cold months. It’s been a rollercoaster getting to this point. Two kids graduated from college. A daughter got married and moved to Freeport area in Maine; we were nearly scammed out of our house budget by an an unscrupulous builder; couldn’t get a new builder for over a year; our pre-covid request to adopt 2 miniature horses came through in the middle of covid and we didn’t have a barn; and of course the Pandemic was a challenge all around. But then an early retirement buy-out from Laura's job in financial services was the icing on the cake. And in the fall of 2021 we sold our historic South Boston home and started our next chapter! We are two people who have loved traveling abroad. Steve was born in France and Laura in Wisconsin, but we have lived in Boston for the majority of our lives. We love food, wine and cycling; animals, nature and holidays (especially Halloween). We love providing hospitality in the form of cooking for the multitudes. Steve makes Cake-Boss-style cakes. We host an annual holiday party where Steve constructs an enormous gingerbread house modeled after famous architecture and everyone we know comes to decorate it. We host an annual 20+ person outdoor sit-down dinner over Indigenous People’s Day weekend. We ran successful 2-unit lodging in Boston (you know the name of that one, but it gets deleted from profiles) and are addicted to sharing stories over wine with complete strangers. We participated in a local non-profit that matches Boston medical patients to free lodging when they could not afford to stay in the Boston area, and a similar non-profit for cross-country cyclists. We like to have fun! The Shackteau is a labor of love. We are here to serve. So hope you're hungry.
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September 2026
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October 2026
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Where It's All Happening

Waterboro, ME, United StatesExact location disclosed after booking only.

Nearby Attractions

Lovely ocean towns nearby: - Kennebunk - Kennebunkport - Ogunquit - Portland - Freeport is an hour away, but features outlet shopping and the charming llbean main campus. The campus has entertainment programming on the lawn and is open to the public 24/7 (COVID altered this at times, but it's back to its original operating hours as of winter 2022.)

House Rules & Conditions

Check-infrom 12pm to 7pm
Checkoutto 11am
Host recommendations

Now the heavy stuff. It seems like a lot, but it's a large property with a lot going on. None of this should adversely affect your stay. - BYO SLEEPING BAGS & PILLOWS - No swimming after dark - No public nudity. No nudity in the sauna. No nudity on the dock or in the lake. - Unlimited towels are provided - We are a family-friendly camp for all flavors of families. This is not a hookup site. We LOVE having kids as guests and welcome their participation on the farm! - Use caution with the horses. If you assume every horse may kick you and keep your distance from their backside, you will never be kicked. Same goes for biting. MadEye the mini (who is blind in one eye) is fascinated by fabrics that make scratchy noises such as nylon and Gortex. Minis are like toddlers and explore with their mouths, so it is common for him to nibble your coat or pants, misjudge, and get your arm or leg by accident. It's not aggression, but it still hurts! - Never feed the horses unless the host gives you an approved snack. (Yes, we provide approved snacks.) Not apples, carrots, grass or plants. Miniature horses are a whole 'nuther kind of horse that is highly sensitive to natural sugars which can cause a fatal condition within a few short hours. (Nobody wants pony-murder as part of their vacation memories right?) - Quiet hours start at 11pm. Particularly if you are playing music by the firepit. - That said: We love it when people bring instruments to play music at the firepit! - No smoking. Not cigarettes, not marijuana, not vaping. Not outdoors, not indoors. Not on the swim raft, not on a boat. Not in your parked car if your car is parked on our property. Smoke pot as a medical necessity? Then don't stay here. Because there is no smoking. See a host smoking pot? Doesn't matter. You still can't. Evidence of any form of smoking will result in immediate eviction of your stay, a bad review, and no refund of your payment or ********. We ran an ******** in Boston and we are incredibly serious about this rule. (Note: There are tons of cannabis stores that sell gummies within a reasonable radius from The Shackteau. Go crazy!) - Feel free to drink alcohol anywhere and everywhere, but please use our recycling bins. Proceeds go to The Trevor Project. - No taking the gravel road South of The Shackteau. (e.g. no going left out the driveway on foot or in a car. The Shackteau is part of a tiny dead-end rural enclave. The neighbors are highly sensitive to meandering strangers. - It's fine to walk North up the road (e.g. going right out the driveway) but DO NOT ENTER THE GOAT FARM UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. Baby goats are criminally adorable, we totally get it. But the farm has a store that is only accessible via the main paved road around the corner, when the "Open" flag is flying. Entering the goat farm driveway from the gravel road may result in a call to the police, and will surely result in neighbor resentment and confrontation. Not fun for you. The Shackteau wants to be respectful of its neighbors at all times. We highly recommend visiting the farm from the main road, during their operating hours, the place is fantastic.

Minimum stay (nights)2 nights

2 nights

Deposit$500 USD

$500 USD

Licence / registration numberS26399295

S26399295

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The hosts took the time to best showcase their accommodation. Their home is now ready for your stay and they look forward to welcoming you as their first misterb&b guest!