Paddler's Village — Hotel in Au Train Township

Where to even start... We booked the Grand Island Vacation Package. The only part of this trip that was Grand was the actual booking and confirmation. The website and email response was very professional. When we went to Uncle Ducky’s to check in they told us if we were staying at Au Train campground (which we didn’t pick, there wasn’t an option for which campground on the site) that we should go there to check in. We could have saved time if we knew to go right there. Upon check in, our campsites were not next to each other as requested and NOT the sites that we were told we would be at. Instead of pulling up to the site, you have to load all your stuff on a cart and pull it back to the site on a bumpy trail. I’ve gone backpacking and am used to carrying gear. I thought “glamping” as they put it, would be a lot easier. The site we got was only solar powered so there were lights and USB ports for charging but if you had any other equipment you wouldn’t be able to get power. I hope no one brought a CPAP. There were 2 pit toilets, 2 flush toilets and 3 showers for the whole campground near the entrance. Night 1 we turned in early for our long kayaking trip the next night. Despite the signs indicating quiet hours, our neighbors were up until 0330 talking/yelling. 0800 we show up for kayaking. The included breakfast was a Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwich you would grab out of the fridge and stand in line with 40+ other people waiting to warm it, in the 1 microwave. Then you grab a box lunch out of the fridge and take it with you. The staff would then ask for your phone, drop a pin on the map and tell you to drive to that spot and wait for a bus to take you to the beach for kayaking. Night 2 were turning in for the night after a long day on the water. Campers in a tent maybe 12 feet away from us started having really loud and vocal sex. I really hope that there weren't any kids on site. The things they were saying were incredibly inappropriate for a public campground with tents right next to each other. We shouted over asking them to keep it down and got no response. I called the after hours number and someone told me that they would send staff over to talk to them. No one ever came and the lovely couple proceeded to fight and play loud music into the night. Day 3 we went canoeing on the Au Train River. This was by far our favorite part of the trip. You hop in a van and they take you to the starting point, 3 hours later you get out about 1/2 mile from your vehicle and walk back to it. The water was warm and the trip was relaxing. Remember to bring a cooler with some brewskis. Night 3 we show up at the requested time of 1630 at The Duck Pond restaurant to eat dinner before our dinner cruise. They had a board of local beers and I kid you not the waitress had no idea what any of them were. She came back to take our food order 30 minutes later. Our dinner finally arrived at 1755 and we are supposed to be on the cruise boat at 1800. We asked our waitress to talk to the boat captain about us being late for the cruise because of the late dinner. She said, "you can talk to the manager over there but I can't because she is mad at me right now, I don't know why they have all you people come at the same time to eat here." Does no-one coordinate anything here? Eating dinner at The Duck Pond was a part of the package (and paid for). Beware the menu is quite limited and there was at least one major dinner choice not available each night. Our meals were wrong when they finally arrived but we had to leave to catch the boat. Overall I can understand what Uncle Ducky's is trying to achieve. Unfortunately, they have no idea what they are doing. Nothing was as they said it would be. None of the separate entities of the package deal actually communicated. This trip was not worth the cost at $823 per couple. Go camping at a state park or rent a cabin if you want a...

There is absolutely NOTHING glamorous about this place, except for the location (right on the lake). We stayed in a yurt for two nights and I could not get out of there fast enough. First of all, the tents and yurts are a LOT closer together than they seem on the website. We arrived late at night and finally found the place, after getting ZERO help from the answering service. They could not even provide basic directions. When we entered the yurt, the floor was covered in sand and we had to first sweep before putting our things down. The following morning I got up early to go to the bathroom and was confronted with the absolutely MOST disgusting, stomach churning situation that I have ever encountered in my life. The first set of toilets are pit toilets and it appeared that at least a dozen people had had explosive diarrhea in both of the stalls. I still gag at the thought of it. I finally found the main bathroom, which was somewhat better. However, it was NOT what I would call clean AT ALL. The stalls were dirty and the showers were disgusting. There were pieces of melted soap and globs of body wash on the floors. Some nasty person left a dirty sanitary pad unfurled in one of the trash cans in a shower stall. There were legions of bugs and gnats EVERYWHERE. For the rest of our stay, I opted to drive a mile down the road and use the bathroom at the convenience store. Some people might say that all this is to be expected when you’re camping. I disagree….when you’re staying ANYWHERE (campsite or not) for $250 per night, it is not unreasonable to expect a certain level of cleanliness and service. Speaking of the customer service, it is non-existent. I called about the toilets several times and the staff was very nonchalant about the situation. When I called the first day, I was told that they already knew about the problem with the pit toilets and that someone would be there to clean them the following day. Yes, the following day…not right away. As we were checking out the following day, I ran into the cleaning crew and they apologized profusely while admitting that they only came through once per day and that even they thought that they should have crews rotating throughout the day to keep the place decent. I called the office AGAIN as I was leaving and several times after check out and left messages for the manager to call me back. To this day, almost 2 months later, I have NOT received a call back. I have a simple recommendation for this company: they should either increase the level of service and improve the conditions OR...

My husband and I recently stayed here and we loved it!! We stayed in Whitetail #33. It’s close to the bathrooms and also closer to the road just fyi. If you want a yurt or tent closer to the water, I would disclose that at the time of booking. We weren’t picky about where we were at especially since the beach it a short walk away. Traffic can be heard from where we were but honestly it didn’t bother us one bit. We slept amazing. I would pay attention to weather and colder nights though. We brought extra blankets and we were happy we did! Check in was a breeze. At check in she went over our itinerary ( we did the package deal with kayaking, boat cruise, etc) and gave us directions to everything we needed. Unfortunately we didn’t get to kayak due to high waves. We opted for a rain check good for five years. The boat cruise was great! We only got to do half of it due to high waves again but Captain Dave and Nate made it a great trip! Very knowledgeable and funny. The Duck Pond eatery has some delicious food and tons of Michigan craft beers to choose from. The bathrooms and showers were very clean! The water does take a while to warm up in the showers closest to #33 but I’m not complaining. Just worth a mention for others I think. All in all it was a fabulous trip and we enjoyed our stay here...