Name: Galena Log Cabin Getaway
Address: US Freeport - IL Galena, Galena, Galena, Galena, 61036, United States of America
Rating: 7

Smoke-free property

Ticket assistance

General

Non-smoking rooms

Fridge

Indoor Fireplace

Shower

Rooms

Breakfast

Restaurant

Kitchen

Microwave oven

Meals

Tour assistance

Tourist services

Parking

Location

At the hotel

Room amenities

Casper Bluff Land and Water Reserve

Dubuque Municipal Airport

Galena Log Cabin Getaway

Galena

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

12-beds

13-beds

14-beds

15-beds

16-beds

17-beds

18-beds

19-beds

2-beds

20-beds

21-beds

22-beds

23-beds

24-beds

25-beds

26-beds

27-beds

28-beds

29-beds

3-beds

30-beds

31-beds

32-beds

33-beds

34-beds

35-beds

36-beds

37-beds

38-beds

39-beds

4-beds

40-beds

5-beds

6-beds

7-beds

8-beds

9-beds

king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

2-bedrooms

3-bedrooms

4-bedrooms

5-bedrooms

6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

Let me start with, before I stayed, there were some good reviews and a few not so good. At the end of my stay, I can honestly say that the good don't do it full justice and I'm shaking my head where the bad came from (maybe a very negative person or just a bad day?) Ruth is the host and and very young at heart. I made a last minute booking due to a birthday weekend breakup with my girlfriend. Myself and a 2 yr old beagle made the trip and tried to salvage my birthday and sanity. Ruth was the Angel in disguise to make that happen. She will and did go above and beyond to make my stay very memorable. She even brought me a birthday cupcake! From the outside, the cabin looks authentic like a page from Lincoln's biography. there is a main floor bedroom as well as a loft. A gas fireplace and a jetted tub as well as a fridge and micro.  Since it's well water, the host provides bottled water. There were a few items in the fridge and she also provided kind of a welcome basket with breakfast items and fruit.  As a sports fan, it was nice to know I could catch my favorite games on their satellite tv. They even had the Cubs Marque Network. Ruth was very helpful getting my bonfire started and to get my fireplace going for the season. The country surroundings and sometimes wandering alpacas made for a very peaceful and tranquil stay. A huge stress breaker! While you feel isolated, the farm is a short 10 minute drive to beautiful downtown Galena. There's not enough space or time to describe every act of kindness from the host or every great attribute of the property or surroundings. God willing, I be back again and I hope you have the opportunity to experience this little piece of heaven on earth as well!

A delightful fresh breathe of air in every sense of the word!

The Galena Log Cabin Getaway is a fun little place to escape the city, but it's definitely NOT a resort.  I went with my 74 year old mom and my 2 daughters (tween and teen). The cabin is more spacious than a typical hotel room with a queen bed on the main level as well as a bathroom, mini-fridge and microwave, and then a full size bed in the loft. The main level also has  a TV and fireplace (which I didn't use, but there was firewood available).  The location is about 4 miles from Galena and we drove into town for lunches and dinner--there were great restaurants in town. Another perk was the breakfast basket dropped off the night before with fresh fruit, coffee, and muffins (and there was yogurt in the fridge). The stars at night were UNBELIEVEABLE--even my 11 year old child was WOWED by the night sky. 
There are nearby hikes, but you have to drive to them--we went to Casper Bluff where you can see the Mississippi River--about 2-3 miles away. Another nearby hike, Horsehoe Mound, is only about 1 mile away but it was closed (for hunting) and we didn't get opportunity to do that hike. The alpaca herd of 6 females graze right in front of the cabins, and Ruth, the owner, involved the kids in feeding them carrots, which was fun.  Ruth was incredibly friendly and will remain a part of the memorable experience.  I will say that the first night we were there, with warm weather, there was an active colony of wasps flying around (including some that got inside the cabin) but as the weather cooled off, then we weren't bothered by the wasps.  (Ruth told me that she has a pest control company scheduled to come out soon for the wasp problem.) There's no "staff" at the hotel--it's really just the owners--but easy to reach them by text if you have questions. The place is definitely no frills so if you want someplace fancy or just equal to what your home is, then this isn't for you. However, if you want a true getaway from the city, and think that "rustic" = adventure, then you'll have a lot of fun staying here.

It's an adventure!

Lincoln life cabin;
This is a no- frills getaway. The caretakers are very nice. The cabin only has well water. They did provide a gallon of drinking water for us. The electric fireplace kept going out. The chairs were “broken in”, one was rather broken. The queen bed was comfortable. There is a small dorm sized fridge, microwave, coffee maker and plastic/paper cups/spoons. The bananas they offered for breakfast were black in some spots. 

No frills lodging 

I don’t know if the owner can’t afford to maintain or what. I paid with tax and fees $231 for a night in the Abraham Lincoln cabin. Overgrown weeds waking up to the cabin, everything is dated from the 70’s-80’s ? Can of insect spray in the bathroom , later used to kill a wasp. A gallon of water in a welcome basket cause the well water is yellow. Lumpy bed, 19 inch tube TV. Front door was falling apart, looks like it was made up of many patches. Maybe for $80-90 but not what I paid . 

Galena Log Cabins getaway

We arrived and we're greeted by the friendly alpacas. The owner, Ruth, was very friendly and knowledgeable about the area. We stayed in the Jackson Cabin. It was very clean! We had a mini fridge, microwave and coffee maker. Drinking water was provided. The bed was comfortable. The loft had an additional bed. We enjoyed sitting outside at night gazing up at the star filled sky. Location close to trails. Bring mosquito spray as you are in the heart of nature. I was impressed that being in a wooded area, I didn't see one bug inside the cabin!! Be aware, if you are not used to well water, you will notice the mineral smell. But after showering, it dissipates quickly.
We had fantastic experience and highly recommend this adventure in nature.

Great Experience

Me and my mom just wanted to visit the Alpaca's and walk the grounds like it had stated on the website. We visited this "farm" last summer. The word weird doesn't even describe it. The address was to some back country, out of the way road which led to rundown cabins and weeded fields with only two alpacas. There was nobody around and it was so creepy we turned around and drove from that backwoods disaster like someone was actually trying to kill us. Such a bizarre place. Although we still get a good laugh that this is supposed to be such a lavish "alpaca and goldendoodle farm". Good one.

Weirdest experience ever!

I called here to ask about visiting their alpacas. The person who answered the phone said, “I’m busy shopping and don’t really have time to talk to you. What is it you want?”. I said I was interested in visiting with a group of knitters. Her response was that most of the alpacas were off limits unless you were a guest on the property. I said we were looking to visit on Sunday of the next weekend and I asked about taking an alpaca for a walk, which is an activity promoted on the website. She sharply replied, “Well, you know that’s not free.” I wasn’t aware of that because there is no mention of a fee on the website.  I was told, “I’m very busy with guests and I probably won’t have time for you. You can call me a half hour before you are going to arrive and I can let you know then if I have time. It’s a lot of work.”.  Needless to say, we did not visit because clearly we would be imposing and putting them out. It’s not that we were looking to get something for nothing, but this person was so rude I didn’t inquire further about their fees because I decided I would never spend a dime at this business.

Rude and not as advertised.

This is a difficult review to write.  I must first state that our encounters with Ruth, the owner, could not have been more positive.  Ruth was very, very nice and she provided us so much information about local attractions that she felt may have been of interest to our family, as well as discounts we could find on Groupon.  She also insisted on providing extra bedding for our comfort even when we did not ask.  With that being said, I feel that Ruth and her family may not be able to care for the property and provide needed repair and upkeep.

Please note that our family tents camps and have stayed in cabins before.  This is a cabin and we expected a rustic setting. However, when you are paying the rates charged, and when you read the description and look at the pictures, I was expecting more of a B&B experience.  On the contrary, what we experienced was a cabin that was dusty, the floors were also dusty and grimy, there were piles of dead bugs in corners, there were cob webs hanging from the ceiling everywhere, several spindles on the rocking chairs held together with electrical tape, and the bathtub was dirty with very poor upkeep.  The toilet and sink were old but clean.  You are provided with a gallon of water to make coffee and brush your teeth as the well water smells very, very strongly of metal which lingers in the air and on your skin for about 10-15 minutes after washing.  The continental breakfast is delivered to your cabin and consists of packaged yogurt, packaged fruit cups, and pre-packaged cinnamon rolls.  The landscaping was overgrown with weeds and there were several wasp nests on our cabin.  The Alpaca's were there but the owners no longer breed goldendoodles.

I hope the owners are able to find away to turn this property around.  The cabins are very cute and the property is beautiful.  My feeling is the owners have come on hard times and have not been able to put money into the place, not that they do not care.  I just wanted people to be aware of what the property was like for the money you are paying.

May have been a wonderful place at one time and hopefully will be again

Similar to others, I was aware of the mixed reviews but decided to give the cabin a go. The cabin itself is OK but the price is astronomical for what you get.

We spent a little over two weeks touring Wisconsin and Illinois staying in fancy hotels, budget motels and camping. This was the most expensive accommodation of the entire trip and, sadly the most disappointing.

Positives:
It is close to Galena
It is rustic
The owner Ruth, is very friendly and helpful.
The cabin was air-conditioned

Negatives:
For the price I would expect a better standard, for example the TV is ancient and the sound was distorted making it uncomfortable to watch
The cabin was quite fly ridden (which I realise can happen in the countryside) but old fly paper next to the window was full of dead flies and appeared to have been there for some time. Iris also quite difficult to sleep with flies buzzing around and landing on you as you're trying to drop off
The cabin is very dark and the lighting isn't great. Just felt a bit depressing returning to a dark room with no view. There are odd touches like an old Christmas tree, dusty teddy and frilly over the top shower curtain across a stained bath adding to a feeling that things are more run down than shabby chic
We were given a breakfast basket and water when we arrived. I didn't realise this would be the only coffee, water and plastic disposable spoons we would be given as we were there for 2 nights. We had to ration drinking water on morning 2 and recover spoons from bin to wash.
Breakfast was very sugary - highly processed muffins/buns - no choice which again at the price was more of a cheap motel breakfast. (Don't get me wrong I like a cheap motel, you get what you pay for) not here!
The grounds are not landscaped in any way. We were provided with two camping chairs to use outside the cabin. There was no where obvious to sit, we looked out on the alpaca enclosure which was really a muddy bit of ground with a large murky puddle. 

Had I paid half the price I think I would still have been disappointed, but it was the cost which really made it difficult for me. I don't think it would take much to make the experience much more pleasant - better lighting, a bit of TLC around the site and some home comforts like a TV which works and free access to drinking water and food that isn't going to turn you diabetic in a mouthful. I just feel I was ripped off, especially as we went on to a 5 star Chicago hotel for which we paid less and checking prices around Galena whilst we were there I think we would have had a much more positive experience. As it was we avoided the cabin as it wasn't a pleasant place to spend any time in or around.

Sorry - I try to be balanced in my reviews. Some people may love this, but I think for the money there are much better choices out there.

Rustic doesn't need to be basic

Before staying at the Log Cabin Getaways, we read quite a lot of reviews. It seemed like this place was either lover (5 stars) or hated (1 star), with really no  reviews covering the middle. 

Well, we decided to give them a shot and booked for a weekend. I'm glad we did, the cabins were lovely and the hospitality of the owners is amazing. Now to be fair, these cabins are basic and very much the rustic charm you can expect from a cabin in the woods. The one we stayed in had a bed on the main floor, rocking chairs, tv, mini fridge and microwave, second bed in the upstairs loft area, fireplace, and bathroom. 4 adults or a small family can fit comfortably in the cabin. There is no wifi (none was promised or advertised). So if you need to be connected online, keep that in mind. 

The view of the stars at night is amazing. You will really be able to see you shadow by the light of the moon. This is a great place to stay for star gazing.

Alpacas were onsite an out our entire stay. We were able to get them to come over to us with some grass. They were really neat to see.

The location is also a plus, just being a short drive (maybe 10 minutes) to Galena.

The only real let down was that the bathroom could use some repair or updating (everything did work and was functional). We were caught off guard by the sulfur (best guess) smell in the water, I'm pretty sure it's from well water. We knew it would hurt anything or the scent doesn't stay after showering, but it might catch you off guard. There was a gallon of drinking water supplied when we arrived, so no worries about what to drink.  

Overall the stay at the cabin was a pleasant experience and wonderful for star gazing. It is a very rustic and basic set up as I mentioned. If you are looking for internet access and more amenities, you may want to keep looking. If you just want to get away and relax away from it all, this place may just be for you.

Galena Log Cabin Getaway

Main amenities of the hostel

Location

Available rooms

Location

Description of the hostel

What other amenities are there?

Policies

Check-in terms and conditions

Additional information

Payment