The Homestead — Hotel in Glen Arbor Township

Review: Homestead Resort – Glen Arbor, Michigan||We recently stayed at the Homestead Resort in Glen Arbor, Michigan. We had a large group—12 family members in all—so we rented two of the condos or houses on the property. I didn’t book the lodging, so I’m not exactly sure how to find them on their website, but they were 3-story buildings that felt like small homes.||Lodging||The top floor featured the kitchen, living room, a bathroom, and a sunroom. The décor was clean and pleasant, the kitchen fully functional with dishes and utensils supplied. There was ample seating and a balcony to enjoy the weather. The sunroom was my personal favorite: bright, open, and a perfect spot to get lost in a book.||The second floor (also the entrance floor) had a master bedroom with a queen bed and attached bath—including a huge tub. There were two other bedrooms and another bathroom on this level—one with a queen bed, and one with two twins.||The lowest level had a bedroom with a double and a twin bed, another bathroom, and a cozy little den. I think the couches may have been pull-outs—someone mentioned that, though I didn’t check personally.||Surroundings||Nature lovers will adore this place. Outside our bedroom window were pine trees and playful grey and black squirrels. The cabins are built into hillsides, connected by elevated wooden walkways with views of trees and the occasional wild deer. Birdsong filled the air. On a rainy Friday, the entire forest glistened and smelled of earth and pine, leading to one of the best naps I’ve ever had. At night, make sure you look up—you’ll thank me.||The Property||The resort is large and a bit winding, with various buildings scattered throughout: what looked like walk-up hotels or apartments, event buildings, a small shop, an activity center, and even a small ski course with a lift. It took some time to orient myself. The signage wasn’t bad, but I got turned around often. Maybe that’s normal for ski resorts—this was my first.||The Wedding||The ceremony was held at the top of a ski lift-accessed hill or mountain (depending on your definition), with a spectacular view of Lake Michigan. It was chilly, but breathtaking.||The Reception: A Customer Service Breakdown||After the ceremony, the reception was held in a club at the bottom of the hill. Here’s where things took a turn.||Bathroom Incident:|Upon entering, I urgently needed to use the restroom. As I approached the men’s room, a woman—seated between the men’s and women’s rooms—stood, blocked my way, and said, “nuh-uh.” Confused, I assumed there must be a reason, like a plumbing issue or a bride-specific setup. Then she added, “Unless it’s an emergency.” I had to actually weigh my bladder’s urgency aloud.||Turns out, the plumbing had backed up (apparently a yearly issue after winter shutdown), but this wasn’t explained. Instead of treating me like a guest needing information, I felt like I was being corrected like a child. It soured my mood, and could’ve been avoided with a single sentence: “I’m sorry, the restroom is out of order—there’s another one to the left.” That’s it.||Bar Incident:|During a cocktail hour, the same woman denied my wife a glass of wine, saying the bar was backed up and closed until after the toast. Again—why tell a guest your internal staffing issues? That’s not their burden. Guests are there to relax. My wife explained she just needed it for the toast, and the woman replied, “Did you already get one earlier?” As if it were rationed wine. Eventually, she got the glass—but not without unnecessary stress.||Door Incident:|The reception hall was hot. The groom’s mother opened one door for airflow. My wife opened another to create a cross-breeze. This same woman barked that the doors must remain closed because the AC was on. Sure, fine—but again, it was delivered like a scolding, not an explanation. And if your guests are solving the heat problem for themselves, your customer service has already failed.||This woman may be excellent at operations, spreadsheets, and logistics. But guest relations? Absolutely not. Her default response seemed to be “no.” If I were her supervisor, I’d schedule her for retraining—or at least a few days off to cool down.||Front Desk Trouble||Another family member called the front desk for help with WiFi. The first staff member was rude and practically hung up on him. On calling back, another (much nicer) staff member took over and helped graciously. But the bad interaction was already in the books. I chose to skip using WiFi altogether rather than deal with grumpiness.||Town Vibe||Maybe it’s a local culture thing? In the town of Glen Arbor, we went to a place called Art’s Bar—cash only. They lost our $100 tab because we don’t carry cash. We ended up at Blu—fine dining and absolutely delicious.||⸻||TL;DR||The Homestead Resort in Glen Arbor, Michigan is scenic, nature-filled, and cost-effective with spacious lodging and truly gorgeous views. But the customer service—particularly at the wedding venue and front desk—was dismal. Poor communication, bad attitudes, and a failure to treat guests with basic warmth really dampened the mood.||Would I go back? Maybe—but I’ll ask whether the summer staff is on duty...

This was maybe my 10th stay at The Homestead, staying in room #1 at The Inn this time (first time there for me) down by the beach. It wasn’t cheap by any means but off-season in the winter it’s much more affordable. I will say that, as always at The Homestead, I go for the property and the memories. If you go, and especially if you are paying full price in the summer, please know that it’s a wonderful place but they are not running 5-star property.

My check-in process was very smooth and they’re doing a great job with COVID protocol. The staff were extremely helpful and kind, both when I called to book the room and when I showed up to check in.

The Inn is a beautiful facility and room #1 (1-br suite with kitchenette) has the advantage of having an exterior walk-out door where there are two nice chairs in which you can sit and look out at the lakefront, which I don’t believe any other rooms have at the Inn. The room itself was nice enough but I did have some minor grumbling which I didn’t raise with the staff because I know The Homestead and I’ve come to (unfortunately) expect things like this and they didn’t materially affect my visit since I was outdoors much of the time. This included several broken vertical blind elements and a lack of the part which would rotate the blinds. As a result I couldn’t cut off the view into my living room and anyone walking by or in/out of the hotel could see anything I was doing at any time. Not a huge bother but for $280-$500 a night I think people deserve better. There was one broken blind on the ground just lying there on the floor in front of the windows/door. If you look around you’ll notice other minor things worthy of any eye-roll but not that serious... really shoddy trim work, sloppy painting in some places, etc. You’ll commonly see references to things like that in other reviews but again, I know what I’m getting into at The Homestead and I’m here for Glen Arbor/Sleeping Bear/regional fun and memories, none of which were affected by the site issues (although I’m happy to grumble a bit here and roll my eyes at the facility manager). I will also add that I was solo this time but if you wanted to... be romantic in the bed - every single time I moved

Other than the in-room kitchenette was fairly well equipped and had a 2-burner range where I was able to make breakfast each morning. I will add one thing - I’M NOT A FAN OF KEURIG COFFEE MACHINES SO I BROUGHT MY OWN! THIS IS SUPER IMPORTANT IF YOU FEEL THE SAME! The shower was step-in and fantastic but please note that at least in this room there is no tub, if you want one for whatever reason - soaking, kids, etc. The gas fireplace was wonderful and thee room temperature controls were very responsive. It was nice to get nice and tropical in there for a bit after coming in from the cold!

As far as other facilities, the only think I could take or leave about the Inn is being farther from the restaurants/bars in the “main” area, which is about a 10-15 min walk away (granted, you get the beach in exchange). I did visit Whiskers (formerly Beppi’s) to grab a few beers for outdoor consumption and that was fine. They had a really nice, spread-out outdoor patio which I hope they keep after COVID simmers down a bit. I also visited Cavanaugh’s “groceraunt” (lol) and ordered a pizza to go. The pizza wasn’t the best I’ve ever had but was far better than Beppi’s used to sell, which was lucky for me because they only had a 17” (I think 17”) option and I ended up eating it for 2 days after that! I’d definitely get one again, for convenience if not also for the fact that popping it in the oven to crisp it up a bit before eating would have made it perfect were it not for my hunger! NOTE: Bear Paw in Glen Arbor is a bit better (closed for the season this winter).

As always, I grumble at the lack of attention to upkeep and details by facility management, especially for the cost of a visit, but otherwise I had a good visit and really enjoyed my trip to the area - it is SO beautiful in that part...

I’m not usually a negative person, I work with people and have worked in the hospitality industry for years but I don’t even know where to begin with our issues. My husband and I just got married and as a gift my mom got us a 2 night stay at the Homestead that was suppose to include breakfast both days and dinner at their nice restaurant Cafe Manitou. When we checked in the gentleman seemed quite confused but was pleasant and we got our key. The lighting on the premises could’ve been a little brighter as it was not the easiest to find our room. The best thing going for this place was that the room was beautiful and the people were very nice. I was told to make reservations for dinner. This is where the fun begins! I talked to a total of 3 ppl 5 times and was told that the restaurant was open. I was still told that the restaurant was open even after I called back and told them that the voicemail said that they were closed until the 2020 season. I was even told specific hours that they are suppose to be open and when to call and make reservations. We were then told to park at the depot and a bus would pick us up to take us to the restaurant. We got all dressed up for our first nice dinner out as a married couple. We went down to the depot where the bus never showed up, surprise surprise. The restaurant wasn’t to far so we just decided to walk and when we got there discovered what we thought to be true all along, they were CLOSED. The weird thing is is it’s like everyone had to leave in a hurry. The taps were still on and the outside bar was open, cushions on the chairs and not to mention the swarm of fruit flies everywhere. I don’t know how things work but usually when you close up for the season I would assume things should get cleaned up a little. I then called the front desk one last time and spoke to someone that actually knew what was going on, well kind of. I explained the whole situation and she confirmed that the restaurant was in fact closed for the season. They took the restaurant fee off of our room package but we were really looking forward to a nice fancy dinner. We were then told that we could go have dinner at the little market and get a pizza or go to Whiskers, which is a bar the premises but she wasn’t sure if Whiskers was open. We were starving so we went down to Whisker’s and was greeted by a really nice waitress and cook. Instead of a nice fancy dinner we ended up eating a cheese burger and grilled cheese all topped off with an insane amount of fruit flies and regular flies. The flies were everywhere. None got in our food, that we noticed but I was afraid to talk just Incase one flew in my mouth. The next morning we went to get breakfast and was told that we needed vouchers that should’ve been given to us at check in but wasn’t, I said screw it I just want to leave and off we went. When checking someone in you would think they would look to see what kind of package the person has and make sure they are all taken care of from the beginning. Had the resultant been open we wouldn’t have had the voucher needed for the free meal and it wouldn’t be something as simple as running to check in to get it as u take a bus to the restaurant. All of the vouchers should’ve been given to us upon check in. We were definitely frustrated with the whole situation and I understand that it’s between busy seasons right now but advice from one business person to another.....you still have to have communication and employees that know what they are doing. If this is how the business is run during off season, I’d be afraid to see how it runs during the busy season. Getting one star because the room was nice and although most people didn’t know what was going on they were very friendly. I’m pinning this issue on lack of communication and poor management. our room was booked and paid for back in November so there was plenty of time to inform us that the restaurant was closed and the package that was sold to us was actually...