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The Gathering Place: Big Lakehouse w/ Covered Dock and Fiber Internet

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Photo gallery for The Gathering Place: Big Lakehouse w/ Covered Dock and Fiber Internet

Fridge, microwave, oven, stovetop
Property grounds
Outdoor dining
Smart TV
Smart TV

Reviews

10 out of 10
Exceptional

Entire home

5 bedrooms4 bathroomsSleeps 14362 sq m

Popular amenities

  • Kitchen
  • Washing machine
  • Dryer
  • Pet-friendly
  • Free Wi-Fi
  • Air-conditioning

Explore the area

View in a map
Cullman, AL
  • Place, Lewis Smith Lake
    ‪2 min walk‬
  • Place, Smith Lake Park
    ‪11 min drive‬
  • Place, Stone Bridge Farms
    ‪27 min drive‬

Room options

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About this property

Entire place

You'll have the entire home to yourself and will only share it with other guests in your party.

The Gathering Place: Big Lakehouse w/ Covered Dock and Fiber Internet

Bring the whole family to this great place with lots of room for fun. Relax and enjoy the view of the lake, swim off the boat dock, and even keep your personal boat there. The house is within 10 minutes of Smith Lake Park, so a boat ramp is easily accessible. You will have everything to enjoy a peaceful time on the lake from fully appointed kitchen to fiber internet. Enjoy fishing from the floating dock, sit by the fire pit, or relax and watch the sunset. Tankless water heater for big groups!
Also Game Room with Pool Table and Air Hockey Table!


THE SPACE
The house is really big (3900sqft including the finished basement)
Every room has a smart TV and 4 of the bedrooms have king beds with the other one having 6 twin beds. The master bedroom and the basement both have views of the water from the rooms. There are patios on the basement and the main level that overlook the water.
There is also a set of washer / dryers on the main level as well as another set in the basement allowing you to keep up with the laundry on big trips.


GUEST ACCESS:
Guests have access to everything aside from the cleaning / owner closet.
Check in / check out is keyless locks with door codes The guests are able to do everything on their own.
We added 4 kayaks that the guest can rent for the duration of their stay for $100 flat fee for all 4.


OTHER THINGS TO NOTE:
As with some lake houses, the driveway is steep. However, we have added a parking lot at street level that is perfectly level and can accommodate multiple trucks and boats as well as other vehicles. The upper parking lot has stairs down to the house that allow easy access. There is also a two car garage that is accessible if needed.

We have installed a Level 2 EV Charger. It is a J1772 connector (non Tesla) and charges at 50A.
If you have an adapter, you can charge a Tesla.

We are premier hosts and have 3 lake properties (Two on Smith Lake and one on Guntersville Lake). The other property IDs are 2473402 and 1600060.
During your stay at this holiday home, you're just a quick walk from Lewis Smith Lake. You'll find features such as a water park, laundry facilities and an arcade/games room. Free WiFi and a kitchen are available in the holiday home.
  • Air-conditioned home with kitchen, washing machine and 4 bathrooms
  • Free WiFi
  • Splash around at the water park
  • Amenities include laundry facilities and a car charging station
  • 0.1 miles (0.1 km) from Lewis Smith Lake and 4.9 miles (7.8 km) from Smith Lake Park
The Gathering Place: Big Lakehouse w/ Covered Dock and Fiber Internet offers its guests a water park. Barbecue grills, an arcade/games room, and a garden are also featured at the family-friendly The Gathering Place: Big Lakehouse w/ Covered Dock and Fiber Internet.

Property amenities

Beach

  • Beach loungers
  • Beach towels

Internet

  • Available in the house: Free WiFi

Parking and transport

  • Electric car charging station on site
  • Onsite parking options include a garage

Kitchen

  • Blender
  • Coffee/tea maker
  • Cookware, dishware, and utensils
  • Dishwasher
  • Hob
  • Ice maker
  • Kitchen island
  • Lobster/crab pot
  • Microwave
  • Oven
  • Paper towels
  • Refrigerator
  • Spices
  • Toaster

Dining

  • Dining table

Bedrooms

  • 5 bedrooms
  • Bedsheets provided

Bathroom

  • 4 bathrooms
  • Bathtub
  • Bathtub or shower
  • Hair dryer
  • Shampoo
  • Shower
  • Soap
  • Toilet paper
  • Towels provided

Living spaces

  • Dining table
  • Living room

Entertainment

  • Games
  • Smart TV

Outdoor areas

  • Balcony
  • Barbecue grill
  • Dock
  • Firepit
  • Garden
  • Outdoor furniture

Laundry

  • Laundry facilities
  • Washing machine

Work spaces

  • Desk
  • Desk chair

Comfort

  • Air conditioning
  • Heating

Pets

  • Pet friendly
  • Up to 9 kg per pet

Suitability/Accessibility

  • Smoke-free property

Services and conveniences

  • Iron/ironing board

Location highlights

  • In a rural location
  • On a lake
  • On the waterfront

Things to do

  • Arcade/game room
  • Billiards/pool table
  • Water park
  • Birdwatching nearby
  • Fishing nearby
  • Hiking/biking trails nearby
  • Jet skiing nearby
  • Kayaking nearby
  • Motor boating nearby
  • Swimming nearby
  • Water skiing nearby
  • Water tubing nearby

Safety features

  • Carbon monoxide detector not reported (host has not indicated whether there is a carbon monoxide detector on the property; consider bringing a portable detector)
  • Smoke detector not reported (host has not indicated whether there is a smoke detector on the property)

General

  • Electric car charging station
  • Garden
  • Unit size: 3,898 square feet

Policies

Check-in

Check-in time starts at 4:00 PM
Contactless check-in and check-out are available
Minimum check-in age - 23

Check-out

Check-out before 10:00 AM
Contactless check-out

Special check-in instructions

You will receive an email from the host with check-in and check-out instructions
Information provided by the property may be translated using automated translation tools

Rules

Max of 14 guests at the property at any time.
Contact us if you have a pet larger than 20lbs or are requesting bringing more than one pet. We make exceptions depending on breed and circumstances.

Pets

  • Pets are welcome
  • Maximum 1 (weight limit: 20 lb per pet)
    • Service animals are exempt from fees.

Children and extra beds

  • Children are welcome.

Events

No events allowed

Smoking

Smoking is not permitted

Important information

You need to know

This property is managed by a private host (a party not acting within their trade, business or profession). EU consumer law, including the right of withdrawal, will not apply to your booking. The cancellation policy set by the private host will cover your booking.
Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card, debit card or cash deposit may be required at check-in for incidental charges
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges; special requests cannot be guaranteed
On-site parties or group events are strictly prohibited
Host has not indicated whether there is a carbon monoxide detector on the property; consider bringing a portable detector with you on the trip
Host has not indicated whether there is a smoke detector on the property
This property is managed through our partner, Vrbo. You will receive an email from Vrbo with a link to a Vrbo account, where you can change or cancel your reservation
You will receive an email from the host with check-in and check-out instructions. You will also receive an email from Vrbo with a link to a Vrbo account, which will enable you to manage your booking.

The Gathering Place: Big Lakehouse w/ Covered Dock and Fiber Internet Reviews

Reviews

10

Exceptional

Rating 10 - Excellent. 26 out of 26 reviews
Rating 8 - Good. 0 out of 26 reviews
Rating 6 - Okay. 0 out of 26 reviews
Rating 4 - Poor. 0 out of 26 reviews
Rating 2 - Terrible. 0 out of 26 reviews

10/10

Cleanliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Jennifer C.

Liked: Cleanliness
The house was spotless. The kitchen was well stocked and there tons of small touches like hand soap and extra throw blankets. The furniture was very comfortable as well as very spacious rooms. A wonderful experience! I would highly recommend A Gathering Place.
Stayed 3 nights in Dec 2025

10/10 Excellent

Velvet B., Wilmington, OH

Liked: Cleanliness
Wonderful stay over Thanksgiving with our 3 boys (22, 20, 17) and my mom and dad. Plenty of space for everyone to have time together and separate. Daily games of Scrabble and puzzles were enjoyed by my mom and boys. House was well stocked with everything we needed - even for our Thanksgiving meal. My husband used the smoker for his first time smoking our turkey and it was delicious! My mom was able to navigate the first floor easily with her walker and the main bedroom had a walk-in shower for her use as well. It was about a 90-minute drive for our University of Alabama students and then less than 30 minutes to Cullman for groceries and we went to the movies once.The driveway is crazy steep, but my parents parked right by the front door with no issue. There was no way my mom could have made it to the water but we knew that due to all the steps and it wasn’t a priority for us this time of year. We all enjoyed the water views on the back deck with our morning coffee.Highly recommend this home and location!
Sunset view from deck
Thanksgiving dinner
Stayed 8 nights in Nov 2025

10/10 Excellent

nita w.

Liked: Cleanliness
Stayed 4 nights in Jul 2025

10/10 Excellent

Heather M., Petal, Mississippi

Liked: Cleanliness
This is a great home for the lake. The furnishings were nice. The kitchen was well stocked and there was an abundance of towels for all guests.
Stayed 6 nights in Aug 2025

10/10 Excellent

Paige L.

Liked: Cleanliness
3 levels of open space, room for everyone! The house is beautifully decorated & the kitchen is fully stocked. There’s a huge porch off the back overlooking the lake with two large tables & plenty of seating for 16. Great gas grill with smoker for grilling up dinner while taking in the view. There’s a huge game room / tv room downstairs along with extra beds & a private bathroom. This home is absolutely Beautiful. No detail left untouched - a definite 10 outta 10!
Stayed 5 nights in Aug 2025

10/10 Excellent

Cindy H.

Liked: Cleanliness

Family Fun

Easy location from 65 and plenty of room to spread out with six adults and six children. The downstairs was a great hang out for the youth. This was by far the best stocked rental we have ever experienced.
Stayed 3 nights in Jun 2025

10/10 Excellent

Phillip W.

Liked: Cleanliness

Bass Nation youth and high school tournament

This house was perfect for 4 to possibly 5 fishing teams . We had 3 boats and had room for more. We left tackle on the boats every night without worry and had less than a ten min drive to Smith Lake Park.The house was perfect for ten of us with 6 beds downstairs for the kids.
Stayed 4 nights in Feb 2025

10/10 Excellent

eric f.

Liked: Cleanliness

Fishing trip

Very nice house!
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2025

10/10 Excellent

Jason J.

Liked: Cleanliness

Great house for a family getaway!

We had a great time at the home. It was very spacious and had all the requirements. We all had a very nice time and would definitely come back to this rental. Owner was very accommodating. We all enjoyed it and will be back!
Stayed 4 nights in Oct 2024

10/10 Excellent

chip g.

Liked: Cleanliness

Gathering Place

Great property. Excellent for 10 or more.
Stayed 7 nights in Sep 2024

10/10 Excellent

Amy N.

Liked: Cleanliness

Beautiful place! Great get away

The house was beautiful and had everything you need. Very clean. Beautiful lake! Very nice host. I definitely would book again!
Stayed 4 nights in Aug 2024

10/10 Excellent

Kyle G., Dallas

Liked: Cleanliness

Beautiful Lake House

We enjoyed our time at the Gathering Place. It was in the mid 90’s during our stay and the house mantained a cool temperature throughout. The house has been updated and is nicely decorated. They have kayaks available for rent that we used everyday. We would highly recommend.
Stayed 4 nights in Jun 2024

10/10 Excellent

Tracy H., Gordo

Liked: Cleanliness

The Gathering Place

The house and location were great. The best stocked rental we have ever stayed in. The owners were great and immediately answered any questions we had. We will go back in the future.
Stayed 5 nights in Jun 2024

10/10 Excellent

Lea Ann H.

Liked: Cleanliness

Family Celebration

Comfortable clean cabin! We enjoyed Everything about it. Plenty of room and has everything you need ! Definitely a must book !
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2023

10/10 Excellent

Robin W.

Liked: Cleanliness

Thanksgiving gathering

Was perfect location and setup for our crew. Property owners were a blessing and terrific to interact with.
Stayed 3 nights in Nov 2023

10/10 Excellent

Lori H.

Liked: Cleanliness

Reunion

Needed a place to stay that was big enough to accommodate cousins for a family reunion. This house was amazing.
Stayed 3 nights in Aug 2023

10/10 Excellent

Dave K., Birmingham, AL

Liked: Cleanliness

Fantastic Family Getaway

This home was wonderful. It was one of the cleanest places we have ever stayed, which we appreciated so very much! The kitchen had everything we needed including emergency flashlights that came in handy after a storm took out the power one evening! We also appreciated how each drawer was labeled and everything was easy to find! They even had sippy cups for kids, we were impressed! There was lots of room for us to unpack our food in their large fridge and open cabinet space. The bedrooms were very large and the beds were so comfy! Ben and Lela have thought of everything guests would need and enjoy on a vacation. We loved the games downstairs, and the large seating areas on the back porch and the kitchen! The dock was lovely, and we enjoyed being able to get on the water in kayaks, it was worth the extra fee! Over all, wonderful stay, great communication with the hosts and we appreciated their kindness and understanding! Would book this again and again!
Stayed 4 nights in Aug 2023

10/10 Excellent

Josh D.

Liked: Cleanliness

Family Lake Trip

We enjoyed our stay! The house was very clean and well organized. Everything was labeled which was a great idea. The host was very nice and reached out to us to make sure our stay was going well, which it was! We rented a pontoon and had a bass boat that we brought and were able to dock them both at the house. We spent almost every minute on the lake as the lake is absolutely beautiful! We had two families stay and it was more than enough room. Loved everything about the trip. I hope that we can go back again soon, thanks!
Stayed 4 nights in Jul 2023

10/10 Excellent

Kathy G.

Liked: Cleanliness

Great choice for our vacation!

Our four families had a great experience at The Gathering Place! It was enough space for everyone (total 13 people) but not so big that we lost each other. The "kids" (who are now all age 18-23) enjoyed the lower level and the dock, lake and kayaks. We rented a boat from Cappy's and had a great day tubing and exploring Smith Lake. We've stayed at many different rentals - this was one of the best organized and well-stocked kitchens! Bedding was great, and bedrooms are good-sized. Having enough seating in the main area for everyone to be at a table for meals was a huge plus. Ben and Lela could not have been more responsive. They welcomed our many questions and always replied very quickly. They were GREAT hosts!
Stayed 7 nights in Jul 2023

10/10 Excellent

Linda W.

Liked: Cleanliness

Family Vacation

This home was perfect for our large family. Plenty of things to do for the variety of the ages. The kitchen was well equipped with cooking utensils made for a large group. The 2 washer/dryers made it so much easier keeping up with the laundry. The large living room/dining room area made having meals together and playing a murder mystery game great fun since everyone could participate at the same time comfortably. All together this home really helped make our annual family vacation to Smith Lake a real success!!!!!
Stayed 5 nights in Jul 2023

10/10 Excellent

Gene P.

Liked: Cleanliness

Fathers Day Weekend

Had a great stay with all of my girls and spouses and grandkids. House was perfect for us. Would love to stay there again. We rented a boat and utilized the dock. Perfect set up.
Stayed 3 nights in Jun 2023

10/10 Excellent

John F.

Liked: Cleanliness

Great house for a relaxing family lake vacation

Our three families from Texas and Louisiana gathered at The Gathering Place at Smith Lake for a relaxing lake vacation. The house was more than large enough for our six adults and three children with plenty of room to spare. We especially enjoyed the great variety and quality of cookware enabling us to cook meals each night. We also made use of the grill, grilling on the patio several times. The dock was perfect to tie up our boat and swim in the water. Smith Lake Park was nearby where we relaxed at the beach area. The house was very clean. I wouldn’t hesitate staying here again!
Stayed 5 nights in Jun 2023

10/10 Excellent

Tyra W.

Liked: Cleanliness

Girls trip with babies!

We loved this house! So spacious and beautiful! We do trips often and this is one of the best houses we have stayed at. Things we absolutely loved… ORGANIZATION! We couldn't get over the cabinets labels and all cooking utensils. We loved how much y'all supplied ALL the things-10/10 on the best house with supplies. The shampoo, conditioner, body wash and hair dryers. So amazing! You know with kids we forget stuff. We loved the instructions for everything. All The details are just perfection! We never had to pull up VRBO and look for anything, it was always right in front of us. The guest book and binder-Cork board is seriously amazing! This house was one of our favorite homes we've all stayed at. We've done this trip for 13 years and this year we brought our kids, skipped the beach and chose the lake, and this house was just perfect for that. We always love owners that communicate with us and we try to give feedback when we can. We are going to mail you guys some koozies from all of our weddings YEARS ago 😂 Thank you guys for a beautiful home and stay. We all live in different places now and we couldn't have enjoyed this more.
Stayed 3 nights in Jun 2023

10/10 Excellent

Chad M.

Liked: Cleanliness

Great Experience

Amazing place and beautiful location! House was clean and had everything we needed for a great stay. We would come back and highly recommend it!
Stayed 8 nights in Apr 2023

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness

Great for larger groups

This property was a great lakefront house with good size bedrooms to accommodate a larger group. The kitchen was very well equipment and you can tell the owners placed a lot of attention in the details.
Stayed 3 nights in Dec 2022