AJ's Lodge — Hotel in Bergland Township

On August 12th 2019, we booked this place for the 23-25 and Marybeth offered us the eagle nest for our first visit up there. She offered it even though they normally only rent it for a 3 night minimum. On August 21 we received notification from Marybeth that they could not honor the original reservation and that we had to move to a standard or the room the northern. We couldn’t not reach them the evening of the 21st so I contact the resort on August 22 to confirm the room. I spoke with the gentleman who owns the place by accident because he though I was a excavator. I explained to him that our original appointment was changed and that I wanted to confirm the room that was offered. He stated “ this is no fly by the seat operation” if Marybeth said you could have the northern then it’s in stone. I explained that things weren’t set in stone with the original reservation because it was changed two days with us leaving. His response was that it happens all the time we can change things. So to my confusion I said well you just got done explaining that things are set in stone but now your saying things like this happen all the time. This was just the beginning next phone call approximately 30 minutes later was Marybeth. I politely asked about our reservation again and she continued to get upset because she allowed us to stay there originally and broke her own policy. I tried to explain that this was not our fault and that I just wanted to make sure we got the northern Room because we wanted the kitchen because we are traveling with our 2 year old and she became more upset making me feel like this was our fault. She abruptly said you got the northern and hung up on me. This didn’t settle well and made me feel uncomfortable so I called back to make sure things were ok. Marybeth answered again and I tried to explain that we were fine with the northern we just wanted the kitchen and not a standard room Marybeth’s response was “NORMALLY WE ASK THAT PEOPE STAYING TWO NIGHTS IN THE NORTHERN ROOM NOT USE THE KITCHEN BECAUSE WE DONT LIKE CLEANING KITCHEN BECAUSE IT TAKES LONG”! Get this....then Marybeth starts taking to the gentleman I spoke to earlier and ignores me for 63 seconds and then states “ARE WE DONE HERE”! I could not believe it and knew that there was something not right about this place and those two people. I cancelled the reservation and searched around the area. Everyone we talked to said the same thing about Ajs that they have horrible customer service and that people book other places because their REPUTATION IS ARGUING WITH CUSTOMERS. If your thinking of staying here search around first. They are nice once you book but after that if something they want to change they flip attitudes. ANY RESPONSE FROM THEM IS JUST TO COVER FACE AND IF YOU DO HAVE ISSUES COVER YOURSELF AND HAVE THEM EMAIL YOU. It was one of the most shadiest dealings I have had with a place. They do not care about the...

I called on 9/15/23 to ask about a discrepancy regarding charges for a room I’d booked. (Expedia quoted $294.30 total and I’d be charged half up front and half upon check-out. Yet, AJ’s Lodge charged me $158.90 for the first ½, which would be a total of $317.80, or a difference of $23.50).||||I spoke with “Mary Beth” who rudely said, “I’m not in the office right now. I’ll call you back.” and she hung up.||||By 9/18/23, I’d not heard back from her, so called again:||||“AJs Lodge” ||“Hi. Who am I speaking with?” (me)||Long pause. “Mary Beth. Who am I speaking with?”||“This is P--- D---. I called last week about a discrepancy in fees and you said you’d call back and I haven’t received a return call.”||“What’s the problem?” (M.B.)||I explained the issue of being charged $158.90 and if that is half of the total, the total is $317.80, or $23.50 more than Expedia quoted.||Long pause. “Expedia doesn’t always include tax. You’re worrying over an $8 charge! My time is worth more than that!” (M.B.)||“Am I inconveniencing you?” (me)||Long pause. Big sigh. “This is a f---ing pain in my ass!” (M.B.)||I said nothing but was astounded||“Just let me figure this out!” (Huffing and puffing) “Okay, you paid $158.90 for one night. You’re getting a 2 bedroom cabin!” (M.B.)||I said, “Yes. I don’t need a 2 bedroom, but that’s all that was available. Can you tell me what my final payment will be?”||Total silence for 30 seconds.||Me: “Hello?”||“Just a minute! I’m trying to figure this out!! All this over $8!” (M.B.)||(Again, the difference is $23.50. And it’s a matter of principle)||“Your last payment will be $135.40” (M.B.)||“Thank you so much” (me)||Click (she hung up)||||When I received the final bill, it was for $147.55, which is still $12.15 more than she (and Expedia) quoted.||||As far as the room, it was NOT a “2 bedroom cabin“, but a small room with 2 beds. The shade did not close all the way, letting in ambient light all night long. I killed 27 flies and 2 spiders inside the room during my 2 night stay, and there were at least 30 more flies - dead and alive - trapped between the screen and the window to the room. ||||When I entered the restaurant to ask for some catsup for the pasty I was eating in my room, Mary Beth told me, “This is a catsup free zone” and turned and walked away! She is beyond rude!||||Bottom line, I would never return to this fly infested motel or the...

(This is the same property and owners as another listing called AJ’s Lodge and Oven.) We reserved a lake side room with a balcony. We had no balcony, and if you leaned real hard and pressed your face to a window, you could see the lake through the trees. Sadly that was the good part. When we asked about the change to the reservation the manager told us she did us a favor. She also said things like “the door doesn’t have a locking mechanism, don’t get excited, you can lock it with a board.” “You booked through Expedia, don’t ever do that again”.

We let ourselves into the room via an unlocked patio door that was accessed through a dark hallway. The patio door had no locking mechanism or latch (video), a stick was provided. The “suite” was dark, barely any lamps and those that worked at 25w bulbs. In the light of day we found out why. The place was absolutely disgusting, and smelled like dirty socks. (Video) Stains all over the carpet and in front of the fire place, stains and cobwebs on the drop down ceiling panels, the oven’s door fell completely apart when we opened it, only three of the four burners on the stove actually had a burner. (Video) The bathroom had about 8sq in of counter space, the toilet was tiny and the shower pan was stained and smelled. (Video) I did attempt to take a shower and there was absolutely NO water pressure. The hand soap in the kitchen and bathroom looked like a scary science experiment (photo). There was a sock and tissue on the bedroom floor and the place had mice. While sleeping it felt like something was crawling all over me. It was not a good stay however we had no other option but to make due. The reviews on yelp are accurate regardless of their argument.

The food we had next door was good, the drinks were completely over priced. The l property is in a great location, it’s sad it’s so very run...