Pontiac Lodge — Hotel in Mackinac Island

My husband and I get so little quality time with our work schedules so we finally had a couple days off together and decided to take a trip north to Mackinac Island, my very first trip ever. We checked into Pontiac Lodge in the afternoon, unloaded our luggage and set out for a beautiful day walking the island.

Throughout the day we could come back and drop things off in our room, all was good. We decided to go along the lake front hoping to capture a beautiful sunset but the clouds were too thick. Next was the Pink Pony for a cocktail and live music. It was 11:30 p.m. and both of us were ready for bed. We get back to our room and our key won't work. First try, 2nd, a 3rd and each one shows RED. Ok, no biggie this happens all the time. So, we walk to the next hall over where the office was thinking there would be night staff, knocked on the door no one answered. We called the Office # that was posted on the wall and heard the phone ringing behind the door...no answer. My husband then called the "Emergency #"..no answer. It was 11:38 p.m. He called a few more times eventually leaving a voicemail for Alan, assuming this is the manager. I also dialed the number in hopes that the someone would pick up the phone...no answer.

My husband and I decided to walk next door to the Village Inn, have a drink while we waited for a return phone call so we could get into our room. We explained to the bartender our situation and she happened to have the phone #'s of two people for the lodge. First number, Alan, no answer. Second number, the woman on the other end of the phone, employee or manager, gave the bartender a four digit code to get into a lockbox in the hotel that provided a back up key for our room. We sat and chatted with the bartender for a bit, finished our drinks and walked back to the lodge. We get to the lock box, punch in our code and grab our key. Get to our room...key doesn't work. At this point frustration has overwhelmed us both. It is now roughly 1:30 am. We're tired and want to go to bed. My husband took his hip to the door and broke the wooden jam (not at all the choice we wanted to make but what else were we suppose to do). Just after we got into our room Alan called, "you couldn't wait until I called you back". Really!? Two hours after our initial phone call??

We finally get to sleep and are woken up to banging on our door at roughly 8:00 a.m. Alan, the manager, is now threatening to call the police and told my husband that we are responsible for the damage that was caused and he stormed off.

We finally checked out a couple hours later handing the female manager our key and the back up key that didn't work. At this time we were informed that both managers live very close to the lodge. If we couldn't get into our room we should have called. We did. Several times. Oh, she also informed us that the Village Inn has a master key to let any guest into there room. This information was not provided to us when we checked in. This manager then stated that if you couldn't get in with the back up key why didn't you call me. I'm sorry but if you know that a guest is trying to get into their room and the key isn't working shouldn't you the manager, providing quality customer service to your guest come back to lodge (since both managers live so close) to make sure your guests have made it into their room. When did it become the responsibility of the paying guest to make sure management and staff are doing their job.

We never had a single intention of causing any damage to the property but what do we do when our luggage is being held hostage and we've paid for a room and bed we can't get too. If management would have put their guest experience first none of this ever would have happened. 26 years working in customer, client and member services I have never experienced such an awful hotel experience.

Unfortunately, this is not how I wanted to experience my first visit to the island. We will definitely be staying clear of any Mackinac Resort properties on our...

I stayed at this property in early May 2014 with my wife and my elderly parents. I ended up booking my room over the phone for $110 per night along with a reservation fee of $10 plus additional taxes. Compared to the other options available on Mackinac Island, this was the most economical option and one which did not charge us extra for having four persons to a room. Also about half of the places that I called turned out to be closed that early in May (many were opening on the 8th or the 9th) and so Pontiac Lodge deserves a shout-out for having stayed open during the first week of May when we were making our trip. Its location right next to the Shepler's Ferry was also a big plus.

Although I would characterize our stay at the hotel as pleasant and the hotel room as very clean, I did not find anything to wow us. As our stay at Mackinac Island came smack in the middle of a sojourn through northern and western Michigan, I can easily compare the size of our room at Pontiac Lodge with the other hotel rooms we stayed in and this was easily one of the smallest rooms we stayed in. Besides the two queen beds and the coffee table, there was not much open space left. The bathroom also was among the smallest I have come across in a really long while and a rare instance in which a bathtub was absent.

Among the other downsides, the hotel does not provide any breakfast. I also found the people at the service desk to be less than perfectly helpful. Given that Mackinac Island is a tourist haven and we were clearly tourists spending the night there, the two ladies at the front desk did not offer us any suggestions of what to see, where to eat, etc. The hotel also has a very strict 11:00 a.m. check out policy. Given that we would not be leaving the island by ferry until later in the day and were planning on touring the island, we were wondering where to store our luggage for the day. The check-in area was quite small but we ended up leaving our four pieces of luggage in that area.

Would I stay at Pontiac Lodge again? Well, I would certainly consider it but that would depend very much on how its prices stack up against the other options available...

Decided to stay on the island for just one night. Previous stays have included 10 different stays multi night stays including at the Grand Hotel, at the Metivier Inn and the Bayview Bed and Breakfast. The Pontiac was the least expensive option for a Wednesday night towards the end of September, when we reserved it in March! $220 for the 3 of us--could have slept 4 as the single had a trundle. Bathroom was super clean and shower nice and hot. Room a bit small for 3, but 2 chairs (no cushions) and other furnishings were in good condition and updated. It was the only room at the Pontiac still available when we made the reservation. I kept checking for a special at the Grand, with no luck this trip. After reading reviews of the Pontiac, we had some hesitation due to reports of noise on Main Street, where it is located. But due to the time of year, not the typical noisy, college age crowds, after day trippers leave rowdy-ness typical on main street at night. But figured that the big minus of our room--no windows!! --just a skylight-- might be an advantage for sleeping. For whichever reason, we had a quiet, peaceful sleep in a room directly across from Shepler's ferry, and the bike rental shops. Note that checkin is at an office which is open til 6 pm and after that, no one available. Rooms accessible after 4pm or when they call you. That could be inconvenient unless you plan to be back downtown during that time frame. Due to less busy time of year, they did keep our suitcase in the office (just for this night we shared one case with stuff for one night, leaving our suitcases in the car at the ferry lot), so that was helpful. Might stay again if I was again on a...