The Lakeview Hotel at Shanty Creek Resort — Hotel in Kearney Township

I learned to ski at Shanty Creek when I was 3 years old. I have been coming here to ski several times a year for most of my adult life. When the weather is cooperating, the skiing is still very good. The rest of the resort has some shortfalls and it's not getting better. ||The Schuss base area and what used to be the main lodge is in disrepair. The building and rooms are no longer rented out by Shanty Creek and haven't been in years. They have turned what used to be a private restaurant and bar for a members only club into a kitchen for staff. This season they also locked everyone out of the lobby to this building. This is also staff only at this point. The furniture in the lobby is basically knew and getting no use. There is no reason both the staff and individuals can't use this area for sitting and an entrance to the pool. Without it you have to walk around the building to get into the pool area. The pool area itself is in disrepair. The hot tub has a leak underground and does not heat properly. It was 1.5' low on water and cold for days in a row. The sauna heats up but is not in good shape. Several of the condos at the base that are privately owned have pool passes they pay for. At this point that pool is almost useless. ||As far as the food, that has consistently been going downhill for a few years. I honestly had a decent buffet dinner in Lakeview a few days ago (Christmas Eve) and all the staff was great. Unfortunately, it is very hit or miss. The female that appeared to be in change in the Lakeview dining room did a great job. Maybe they should put here in charge of the other food services as well. ||The restaurant at Cedar River has been grab and go since Covid. You used to be able to get a decent dinner in that restaurant. This year the menu was simplified so much a 12 year old could probably make it. There are no dinner items at all. That said, we tried it for lunch and the food was terrible. It took over 50 min to get a chicken wrap and it was so bad my wife didn't eat it. My food was not done well either. No one is training the staff in that kitchen. You pay and tip up front as well which is tough when it takes over 50 min to get sandwiches. ||I have talked to several people that head into Bellaire vs. eat on the resort. Me included most times. There is a restaurant on the property that is not part of Shanty's operation. This place is good. Why Shanty is allowing people to leave the property to go elsewhere for food is beyond me. They basically have a captive audience. It's lost revenue for no reason. ||I really want to see this place succeed but with the current management I'm a little worried about the future of this operation. I have heard many property owners being very vocal about the current management situation. Some of the people they are telling are brand new to Shanty Creek. They have no issue calling out the manager by name in front of random people. We had our own issue with the manager last year and he completely avoided a situation that was very solvable. This is not a good situation. Lots of employees rely on this place to make a living. Something needs to change. ||After over 30 years coming here I am considering changing to...

Wish I would have stayed elsewhere for my Brothers wedding that was held at the resort. (Long, but honest review)

When I first tried to book a room nobody answered the phone. I called on 4 separate occasions. I left two messages with no return calls. On my four and finally attempt I was able to speak with someone and book a "condo". This should have been my first clue.

I arrived a night early, the front desk attendant was very friendly, accommodating and she was able to get me into my "condo" that night.

My "condo" was nothing more than a poorly maintained apartment. The bed, bedding and pillows were old/broken down. The bathroom door would not open fully as it hit the towel bar. Speaking of towels, they were also old and very poor quality. Now I understand hotel towels are designed to hold up to a lot of washing and abuse, but these were like 80 grit sand paper.

The outlets in the bathroom (along with others throughout the "condo") were so worn out anything plugged in could be moved side to side as much as a half inch. It was so bad I refused to let my girlfriend use them in fear they might arc and cause a fire. We had to search the "condo" for outlets that weren't worn out just to charge our phones, use the hair dryer.

I needed to use the ironing board at one point, the ironing board had no cover, I had to use a sheet (towels were too rough) to cover the metal just so I could touch up a shirt.

The final thing that pushed me to write this review was when house keeping, I assume by accident picked up a pair of my jeans when they cleaned our room at some point. I suspected they were missing as we packed to go home, but I didn't unpack my luggage to check since my girlfriend said she might have packed them. After getting home and unpacking I realized they were gone.

I called the following day and was told house keeping would be the dept. to speak to, but it normally took a couple days to find missing items? I called back the next day and was transferred to house keeping, no answer so I left a message. No return call. Waiting another day I called left another message, finally I received a return call. They had found my jeans and needed to know if they should ship them to the address they had on file. They also wanted to know if they should use the credit card on file for the shipping charges?!?!

Other guests had similar issues with their rooms. There is a big difference between "rustic" and "run down/shabby". I'm sure at some point the resort may have been "rustic", but now it's just run down and shabby.

To be fair front desk attendant @ check in was very friendly and accommodating, the wedding itself was great and Nikki in the main lodge bar was extremely friendly to the wedding party and guests. Those were the only redeeming aspects of my 3 day stay. 2 stars is a bit of a stretch, but those three things pushed it from a 1...

Our stay at the Lakeview Resort within Shanty Creek was fine. Their friendly staff is their greatest asset, and while it seems they are updating their facilities, there are some pretty major drawbacks to staying here for the value.

The staff we interacted with were very friendly. Front desk staff were very helpful when we had questions. The restaurant hostess was friendly and I appreciate how she made mask expectations clear. Our waitress at the restaurant was also great. We put our Do Not Disturb sign up on day 2 since we were only staying for two nights and didn’t need anything. We happened to be leaving our room for the day as housekeeping went by, and she asked if we needed anything like towels or soap. Just a nice proactive gesture.

The rooms themselves are fine. It’s listed as a 4-star hotel, but much of the in-room amenities could be found at a Holiday Inn Express these days, with of course the exception of the balcony. They are dated a bit, but you can see they’ve been renovating. The walls must be totally void of insulation because you can hear everything your neighbor says. I don’t think the guests next to us were being particularly loud, they were just chatting conversationally, and I couldn’t help but eavesdrop. Their TV wasn’t even turned up too loud, and I could tell they were watching Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.

The in-room coffee maker is that Hamilton Beech Keurig-knockoff that is found in every major hotel chain across the country. I’ve never been able to make a decent cup of coffee out of one of those, so it’s good to know that there is no complementary coffee in the lobby or at breakfast. Breakfast is not included! It’s not advertised as such, but I feel like this takes many by surprise. The breakfast buffet is fine, but they charge $15 a plate. We ordered bloody Marys, which were really good, but were they $9 good? Not quite. There is a coffee bar with lattes and little breakfast bites and pastries.

The fitness center is pretty run down. Half the cardio equipment I tried to use didn’t work. The weight room had a cool vintage feel to it, though things are starting to look ratty. There are plenty of weight machines, free weights and other strength equipment to use.

I wouldn’t go out of my way to stay here again in the near future, but if I’m in the area and I see they have made even more updates, especially to the rooms, I’d give it...