The Courthouse Hotel Thunder Bay — Hotel in Thunder Bay

The Thunder Bay Courthouse Hotel is a wonderful property. Built in 1924 and used as a major courthouse until its closure in 2014, it stands majestically above Court St. in Thunder Bay, overlooking Lake Superior. We stayed there for 10 days in Dec. 2024. Originally from Thunder Bay, we were visiting family over Christmas and thought this would be a great place, given its location and heritage. I will say that the hotel itself looks amazing and the rooms are well appointed and comfortable. The old oak woodwork, high ceilings and brass trim (that needs polishing) are wonderful. The bed in our room was comfortable, temperature was perfect. The towels were large and fluffy, so rare for a hotel. This hotel was so close to being an incredible 4-star experience. HOWEVER! They miss the mark by just missing attention to detail. The housekeeping staff were intermittent at best. Sometimes replacing towels and taking out garbage. Less occasionally making the bed. We had requested and extra bath towel, but the staff could never figure out that we should be able to keep that towel during our stay. 3 days into our 10 day stay, we received a call asking why we had left out stuff when we had checked out. Obviously, we had not checked out, but when I tried to call the number back, it wouldn't ring, just had a message saying 'all lines are busy'. I had to go back to the hotel and explain to the front desk staff (who was the one who checked us in) that we were not checked out and had 7 days left in our stay. He remembered this, but could not figure out why the system showed us a checked out. It was resolved, but only after several charges and credits to our credit card, causing much confusion. The parking lot is always full, especially during the daytime. This is not due to guests however. It is filled with staff from the adjacent St Joseph's Care Group facility who park there because the hospital has very limited staff parking. While I feel for the staff there, spots should be available for guests. The hotel does nothing to police this. While the hotel is lovely, sloppy maintenance is apparent. The very nice glass shower enclosure and door is poorly installed and the caulking looks like it was done by my 3 year old granddaughter. Security cameras in the hallways and public areas are attached by a mess of wires hanging out of the wall. The once lovely brass fittings and elevator control panels are tarnished and looking sad. The breakfast room is quite nice and airy, but the breakfast pickings are slim and only fair in quality. The building has a long and key history which could (and should) be reflected with historical artwork in hallways, the lobby and rooms. However, the decor is abstract and unrelated, really missing a golden opportunity. Like I say, this could be a top notch establishment. However it falls short because of inattentive and poorly trained staff, and a lack of attention to detail. I'd stay there again, but it would be so nice if the owners could step in before it falls...

We had planned 2 nights at this hotel in order to explore the area around Thunder Bay. We regularly stay with Choice Hotels and we were excited to try out this hotel. Unfortunately our experience was not good.||This first thing we noticed upon arrival was that the hotel wasn’t handicap accessible. We later were told that their entrance is arounnd the back and through the basement. The main entrance is a bit odd at the side of the building and not very grand. Reception is down the hall and there is some signage to direct you.||We checked in at 5pm after 10 hours of driving and were told our room wasn’t ready. They let us check in and we arrived at the room as it was being completed. We unpacked and had some dinner which we had brought with us and then found out the toilet didn’t work. I called the front desk to let them know and she told me she would send someone up. The fellow who came up was the room attendant who had “cleaned” the room. He went to the toilet and tried to flush it and told me that the toilet was not working. I asked him how he was able to clean the toilet without it being able to flush. He did not have an answer.||I went to the front dest to ask for another room. She told me the only other room available was in the basement. I asked to speak to a manager and was told there was none on site. The was also no maintenance staff available. I asked her to call the manager and have them call me.||The manager did not call but did come to the hotel around 7:30. She first offered me a ground floor room and then a third floor room facing the parking lot (despite having been told that there were no other king rooms available). We advised her that we would not be staying the second night as we were not happy with our situation.||By the time we packed up all our things and moved to the new room it was just after 8:00 pm . We noticed the room was quite cool… 67 degrees so we turned on the heat and turned in for the night as we had an early morning planned. When we woke in the morning the room was 64 degrees and it was obvious the heat was not working. When I mentioned it to the morning reception he told me that there had been other complaints and that he had been trying to get the management to turn on the heat for days.||After breakfast we checked out. They had applied a 30% discount to our stay as per our request. ||I would not stay at this hotel again and I would advise anyone considering it to look elsewhere. There are lots of other options in Thunder Bay.||I do hope that Choice Hotels pulls up their socks on this one. It really not typical of our...

I don't even want to give this place a 1 star. Stayed in this hotel for a wedding so there were many of the guest here. Upon arrival some of us had no soap to wash your hands in the bathroom, some didn't have enough towels and some didn't even have toilet paper. There was a coffee machine in the room but no coffee. When asked why they said because of Covid. (but there was communal coffee and tea in the breakfast that everyone was touching). My son had a room that smelled like a dirty ash tray. One family member had a room where the air conditioning did not work, they complained and were moved to the basement rooms where the air conditioning still did not work. When they complained again the girl behind the desk said she would go home and bring back a fan for them. We were told upon check in that the room would be cleaned every other day. We checked in on Thursday afternoon, on Saturday they asked if we wouldn't mind leaving the room so it could get cleaned. We vacated the room for over 2 hours to return in the afternoon without the room being touched. The stove was broken when we arrived so the first morning consisted of cold breakfast (cereal, toast, bagel, muffin, yogurt) the bananas were black. When the stove was fixed hot breakfast was precooked bacon they just warm up and the eggs are from a box. We were checking out on Sunday but on Saturday the front desk kicked my mom out of her room saying she didn't pay enough for her stay. We booked the rooms for 3 nights online so how they messed that up I'm not sure. We checked out Sunday morning at 5 am for our flight left at 7am. No one was at the front desk (in fact the morning before someone found the front desk guy sleeping and snoring with his head down on the desk). so because my son was leaving a little later we asked him to hand in the keys and pick up the bill for us. When he did that they told him we didn't pay enough for the room, there was still a balance owing. So because we were already on the plane and couldn't get a hold of us someone else had to pay for our room. What doesn't make sense is when we checked in they took our credit card number, even put a hold on the card but yet didn't have the information to charge the stay at the end. What kind of place does that? Also the place is dirty, the breakfast room is full of dead bugs and cob webs. The price we paid to stay here was not worth it at all. I have more things to complain about but I will just say. Don't stay here. It's dirty, unorganized, most of the staff is rude and they can't even charge your stay to the right...