Sault Ste. Marie KOA Holiday — Hotel in Sault Ste. Marie

The care staff and amenities at this campground are decent. They deserve recognition for their friendliness and upkeep of the grounds. That said, this was our 2nd stay here this summer- we would have loved to keep returning but unfortunately will not be back and will never recommend due to the unprofessional, combative and angry demeanor of the owner Bill.

There were 4 of us adults who rented a cabin, we arrived around 6pm and started sharing a few drinks around the fire. We had 1 truck in the parking lot, and 1 small manual shift car (registered) parked on our lot, entirely off the road. Bill came by around 8 or 8:30pm to ask us to move the car to the parking lot and we said not a problem, and that we would after we ate. The owner of the manual car realized after eating he still didn't feel sober enough to get behind the wheel, so we decided to leave it parked and just apologize on checkout. (None of the other adults were sober or could drive manual, either.) Around 9:30pm we also had 2 other adults stop by to join us for a bonfire and card game, they stayed for around 2 hours total. We had some drinks and some laughs, but nothing over the top- I would assume a normal amount of fun for a group of responsible adults to have on a Saturday night at camp.

Fast forward to the next morning, and we were woken by someone aggressively pounding on the cabin door at around 9:30am. The second we opened the door, Bill started raising his voice at us and hurling all kinds of accusations. He said that we had quote "3 or 4 extra vehicles over" which there was only the 2 we arrived in, that were both paid for, and the 1 belonging to the couple who visited for only 2 hours. He was mad that our 2 guests didn't check in, but they arrived past when the office is open... He said they received "several noise complaints from multiple campers", which horrified us because not once did any camp staff let us know or call us. We didn't feel we were being too loud, but we would have went inside sooner had we known. When we asked Bill why nobody came to let us know, He said "well nobody is going to feel comfortable coming up to tell you that", which is very weird... I would assume that is why most camps have your phone on file, and have someone on a night shift. He said we were "slamming doors all night" which the cabin doors ARE loud because they have magnetized latches that make them bang, but it's not as if we were up all night or doing it intentionally.... Lastly, I guess there was a miscommunication when we booked where instead of 4 adults, it was input as 2 adults 2 kids, so he accused us of trying to basically fraud him (for $24?). We were happy to pay the difference and had no idea there was even a mixup. He seemed the most angry about the car, but when we tried to tell him the owner of the manual car decided not to get behind the wheel because he was too intoxicated, he just yelled "oh give me a break". We just decided right there to pack up and leave. Stopped by the office to pay what was owed, and the owner just berated us the whole interaction. He escalated things WAY beyond what should have been a simple calm discussion. He started saying he was going to "kick us out" even though we were literally checking out, saying he was going to call the police on us... for what, I don't even know! We did defend ourselves, but we were not using any profanity, being otherwise disruptive or refusing to pay. He just seemed angry about everything.

All in all, we paid $200 to camp from 6pm to 9:30am... to be scolded for staying up past 10pm... penalized for not drunk driving... and woken up early by a very angry old man spewing false accusations and threats. After reading other 1 star reviews I see a re-occurring theme. Can't wait to see the angry response to this review lol.

Cool campground like I said- but I do feel like maybe Bill should treat himself to a vacation or consider retirement- he is NOT a happy camper.

5 stars for the rest of the staff 3 stars for facilities -5 stars for how we...

I would like to echo what Craig Colby had posted a month ago with regard to being treated like a criminal at the KOA Campground Sault Ste. Marie!!!

We too were YELLED at by the owner lady walking her three dogs in a similar manner in front of the whole neighbourhood just last week (During the Canada Day weekend). We spent 3 nights at a Cabin at the KOA Campground and were very happy until the last minute. We had checked out by 11:00 AM and handed over the cabin keys to Bill and I even used sanitized wet wipes, cleaned the whole place, took photos of each area of the cleaned cabin and left only to realize on the way to Toronto that I had forgotten my wrist watch at the bedside as my wristwatch is something I wear last.

As soon as I was out of the gates of the campground, I realized I had forgotten the wristwatch and did a U-turn and went back towards the cabin hoping to request Bill to let me in to pick up the wristwatch. While we re-entered the campground the owner lady who was walking her dogs (surrounded by about 5 of her staff members) waived both her hands at me (driving!) and YELLED saying.. HEY YOU!!! THE SPEED HERE IS ONLY 5, WHY ARE YOU GOING SO FAST (I was doing around a 15!!!). I rolled my window down when she yelled, listened to her yelling and a 3-4 minute solo-rant, nodded my head in agreement and rolled my window up and tried to proceed again in a slower pace only to be YELLED BACK saying "HEY YOU!!! I TOLD YOU TO SLOW DOWN, NOWWWWW!!!" It was the most humiliating and embarrassing tone that someone had ever called me out and I was wondering if she wanted to show her authority to her staff members or if she was still drunk from last night or if it was because we were the only coloured campers (Brown) on the campgrounds that weekend and were of no use to them anymore as we had already checked out 10 minutes ago.

Then my daughter got out of the car and approached Bill to ask him for the favour of re-entering the cabin to fetch the wristwatch as I did not want to face the woman again (who was standing with Bill and infuriate her further). He said "Go and stay there and I will come there in a SECOND" and called out my daughter too asking "were you guys the ones who drove past here now (again only 15 was my speed as I was obviously aware that children and small pets were around the camp site as we had lived there for 3 nights/4 days!!!). I may add to this that the roads in the campsite were rough and gravel so anyone who loves their vehicle's tires would not think of speeding in the campgrounds. The owner woman had another go at it and ranted to my daughter too.

We then parked near the cabin for 15 minutes (in the blazing sun!) waiting for Bill to return with the key. He ignored us. He finally walked in the direction of the cabin after about 15 minutes after my daughter made the request (while they were all chatting a mere 20 feet away ignoring us) and then he did the unthinkable!!! He purposely stalled at the camp lot just next to our cabin and started attending to an underground cable unit there with a fellow worker ignoring us further. We waited 5 more minutes and left EMPTY HANDED as being YELLED AT three times prevented us from approaching Bill just in case. We were treated like absolute criminals for 25 minutes of our lives for no reason!!!

I work for a very large organization with really lovely people and have been in Canada for 9+ years but have never felt so discriminated and felt that racism might have had a huge role to play. When my colleagues asked me about the trip, I told all of them what happened and they of course believed me as I have never gotten into any kind of conflict before and we are a peaceful family... NEVER AGAIN TO KOA, SAULT STE. MARIE or SAULT STE. MARIE at all!!! Very disappointed and yes I paid $660.20 plus another $11.30 (for cleaning, billed after we left) and that was the worst experience...

We stayed here Canada day weekend of 2021 doing a Lake Superior circle tour with another young family of 4, in cabins K7 & K8. We got settled in and set up our pop-up canopy over the picnic table. We ran to Canadian Tire for some supplies. The supplies included a string of LED patio lights to put around our canopy for extra night-light but realized there were no outside receptacles on the cabin, so we ran a small cord through the window. Our other party arrived a couple hours later and got settled in, including a small tent which was strictly for keeping the kids pool floaties and toys together and tidy. Around 7pm, a small car rolls up and parks in #71. He said he's just traveling through and sleeping in his car after chatting for a bit. Around 9:00pm, the owners (both of them) come around in their golf cart; "What have you got these lights plugged into, you're going to burn this cabin down, unplug them right now" (Okay? 2/3 of an ampere on a 15 amp circuit) We complied and unplugged them. Then the man focuses on the small tent that's no bigger than a dogs' house; "And what's this for, who else is staying here?" Explained it's for the kids toys; "Well, you better hide it behind the cabin, it will upset other guests if they see it" Okay, we complied. Still, his suspicion continuing that there are others staying that aren't registered, he can't help himself but to go over to spot #71 where the lone traveler was sleeping to shine his flashlight in the car and invade the poor fellows privacy- the owner jumps back when he sees the guy in there. They get back into the golf cart and leave. 9:40pm, they come back to our campfire and she says in an interested tone of voice; "Oh, did someone get married?" Yes, we were talking about our wedding. "Well, keep it down, we can hear you clearly from our balcony and the ramblings are disturbing other guests, we will be enforcing this again at 10pm which is quiet time". Only to be woken up at 5:00am by a camper using his cordless impact to retract his 4 camper jacks and diesel truck idling across from us. Check out day, we lost the key for the cabin. We let the owner know at the office at checkout. "Well I hope you didn't lock the door" (Yes, because that's exactly what we would do not knowing where the key was) "You better go back through all your stuff and find it because we're going to have to charge you $65-$70 for a new lockset". (Who runs a business without spare keys???) I offered to run to the home store and pick up a replacement. "No, you won't know what one to get, its special". I didn't think a basic round-knob Schlage was something "special". This just reinforced that this man likely has spare keys and is trying to take monetary advantage of the situation. After pulling out, feeling insulted and disturbed taking a much needed vacation and being treated like we're 12yr old kids, my 3yr old pulls the key out of his pocket. So, I turn around before he charges the credit card and walk in and tell him I found the key; "Oh, good man". I threw it at him because that's the least of what this man deserved after a nerve rattling, walking on pins & needles weekend. We get home 700kms west, to find the cabins TV remote in the kids toy bag which he only charged $17 for in the final invoice. We will not be back to these over controlling, nosy psychopaths; 4 years later, I still return to read the entertaining, dismissive & defensive reviews left by the owners. Get over...