Eagle Ridge Resort at Lutsen Mountains — Hotel in Lutsen Township

This is a copy of a letter my mom wrote to Eagle Ridge Management after our recent stay with them in June 2020. My comments are added in parenthesis. Eagle Ridge never responded.

Eagle Ridge Management:

On June 10 I called to make reservations for a few days of vacation at Eagle Ridge. My family and I have been spending vacation days there many times over the years. Because I was going to be with my adult son this time and he had some specific plans for his days off, we had a three-way conference call to book the reservation and get what he specifically wanted. We were planning to stay two nights, Sunday, June 21 and Monday, June 22, and then departing the morning of Wednesday, June 23. We were assured that there was a one bedroom unit that we could reserve on the top floor with a balcony and a great view of Moose Mountain. We loaded up and traveled several hours to arrive there at 6:30 PM on Sunday, June 21. We went to the registration desk to get our room keys and were surprised and disappointed to discover that the registration person said that there was no reservation for us for Sunday night, but for Monday and Tuesday. I proceeded to produce for her a copy of the registration confirmation notice that I had received via e-mail minutes after we registered on June 10. It was very difficult to even hear what was being discussed to resolve our dilemma because the registration person was very quiet, was wearing a COVID face mask, and spoke with a heavy accent. (My mom handed the Jamacian lady working at the front desk a paper copy of the reservation and she questioned it, saying “Where did you get this?”)

Long story short, we arrived to register at approximately 6:30 PM and stood around waiting for a room until 7:40 PM. I have severe issues with my back and am scheduled for spine surgery in October. I finally said that I needed to sit down someplace because extended periods of standing very much aggravate my back issues. (But she couldn’t sit down anywhere in the registration building because they had removed all the furniture so she had to go sit outside on the deck and go back and forth to the registration desk.) We were finally given the keys to a lower unit that did not have the view we had been promised. (They said that that room was not guaranteed after specifically telling us on the phone that it was guaranteed.) I asked if there might be any discount in having to wait so long and not ending up with what we had been promised and was told that there would not be any compensation. The registration person was in text communication with her manager, she said, and they finally offered us the opportunity to move to the promised room our second night. We reluctantly agreed and spent at least an hour of our vacation packing up all of our belongings and food in the refrigerator to move to a much better room with the view we had been promised. On top of that, we said that we had wanted to spend time in the pool and hot tub relaxing from our long drive and were sad to discover that the rec center closed at 8:00 PM and by the time we finally got our room and were moved in, we barely made it for 15 minutes of pool time.

(They told us there was only one room available. After they corrected the reservations in the computer system, the clerks just sat there instant messaging back and forth with someone, dawdling, giving us the impression that they were buying time to clean the room. Inexcusable given the fact that we arrived 2 hours after check in and made our reservations 11 days in advance. After checking the reviews it appears that others experienced this exact same problem.)

The rest of the review has been attached in picture form as the character limit has...

HONEST Review** If you are looking for a comfortable, spacious room with an at-home feel and full kitchenette options with a beautiful mountain view, this is your spot ! I provide honest reviews as someone from the middle-class (black heterosexual couple) who generally only stays at 4- star hotels. ||SERVICE: We were served quickly by a friendly staff member at both check-in and check-out. We never needed to contact service outside of this, so we thought they had efficient||ROOM: We booked Executive Condo, 1 Bedroom, Mountain View. The room was not clean to my standards, not that it was dirty but the bathroom in particular had hair on the tile, dusty shelves. Sink and toilet were clean and it appeared the kitchen was a well. The floor looks as though it would use a good carpet wash, even though it is a color that hides dirt. The bath towels were great quality. The TV's are VERY outdated and the one in our room was incredibly small, although they did work. The space was very spacious. It had a full kitchenette with cutlery, pots/pans, utensils, drink ware and dinnerware and dish soap, dishwasher soap, trash bags, etc. It also had an island with a bar stool. The fridge was clean. The deck was clean and spacious and provided beautiful views, although the trees in the surrounding area needed serious trimming. The mattress was a true King size and was somewhat comfortable. One of the things I disliked most is that you could clearly hear noise upstairs (we had a lower unit) every time someone walked. If it was a full house or busy I could imagine that being very frustrating.||AMENITIES/GROUNDS: Complimentary Caribou Coffee in the check-in area. Wonderful pool/hot tub area. Maintenance is really lacking and everything could use a paint/stain throughout the exterior and some of the interiors. Landscaping could use a serious refresh, plants, shrubs, wood chips, railings all need help. Lots of weeds everywhere. Small fire pit. Very dark area at night, hard to see. There is no restaurant here anymore since Papa Charlies burned down, so expect a wait for dinner at the nearby Moguls. You can take the beautiful Gondola over to the Summit, it is very expensive to get there for food. We do recommend the Gondola ride for a beautiful mountain view. It functions well, spacious and offers great views. At the time we went, it was $33 per person w/tax. ||LOCATION: Prime and beautiful. It is a great central location and if you are here to enjoy snow activities, this would be prime. It offers a very rustic view and close to the main road but far enough to be quieter.||Do I recommend? Yes, just expect some sub-par cleanliness issues, some noise if others are in the units above or next and that it needs some TLC just about everywhere. However, we had a comfortable, at-home/cabin feel, beautiful mountain views and is reasonably price, especially...

The skiing at Lutsen is above average for Midwest skiing, however, do yourself a favor and stay somewhere else.

The walls are paper thin. If you are unfortunate enough to stay in a lower level it sounds as if the people above you are going to fall through the ceiling. You can hear their footsteps, laughter, conversations, TV, etc. It isn't a minor inconvenience, it sounds like they are sharing your room with you.

We called the front desk around midnight to complain of partiers in the room above us. We left a voicemail. By 1:00am we were so exhausted we actually left the property and went into Tofte and spent $130 to rent a hotel room there.

Upon returning to the resort around 9:30am the next day they seemed like they had no idea we had an issue the night before. We were told the desk closes at 11:00pm. We were also told we weren't the only ones who complained. However, no one ever called us to acknowledge they received our complaint. The front desk person said she couldn't do anything for us, but she would talk to management and get back to us by 4:00pm.

At 4:30pm we finally went back to the desk as we hadn't heard anything. We were told "it was only 1 night. If it happens again, let us know." We said, absolutely not. We paid $130 to another hotel, on top of what we paid Eagle Resort and if we had to stay in our room we were going to leave the resort. We waited for at least 20 minutes and were told they would upgrade us to a suite. We honestly didn't need an upgrade, all we wanted was a quiet room. They told us it was all they had, and it was again a bottom floor. The staff seemed like they were being inconvenienced by our problem and they had to keep calling management to get answers.

At first the room seemed ok. We could hear the children in the room next to us, but we figured they wouldn't be up late. However, once the evening was upon us a loud buzzing noise could be heard from the bedroom. It lasted all night and we think it was an electrical box outside the bedroom. Imagine those old bug zappers that buzz loudly sharing your bed. It was still better than the partiers from the night before.

The next day the people above us checked in. After a few minutes we decided to end our stay early and just leave. If sleep isn't your thing, this may be the place for you.

This is not ski in/ski out as advertised. We walked around the building quite a bit but never found the ski in/ski out. We ended up driving to the gondola and renting lockers. Bring cash - the credit card swipe for the lockers wouldn't work for us.

Also, do yourself a favor and go into Tofte to eat breakfast and dinner if you do decide to stay here.

We were extremely disappointed in the stay and the lack of customer service. We take at least one ski trip a year and while the skiing at Lutsen is luring for the Midwest, the stay at the resort really...