Bridge Vista Beach Hotel & Convention Center — Hotel in Mackinaw Township

We had used this hotel several times for previous visits to Mackinac Island, and were always happy with our stay. Or recent stay, however, showed that the last few years had not been kind to the Bridge Vista.

The moment we walked into the hotel lobby we noticed a strong odor of mold or mildew. The staff were overwhelmed trying to check in guests and the lobby was dirty and unkempt. There were bags of trash strewn throughout the halls and a sign warned that the hotel was understaffed and would not be cleaning rooms during a guest's stay. The sign indicated that the staff would only empty trash and replenish towels. That was the first indication that things were not well. When we got to our room, things worsened. The bathroom was not clean. The ceiling fan was broken or simply so clogged with filth that it was unable to vent the bathroom. There were broken tiles in the bathroom that had been haphazardly glued back onto the wall. The door's security bar had also been plainly forced at some point in the past and had not been replaced--it was just left on the door, broken and hanging. The room looked like it had not been vacuumed in weeks. An item fell behind a night stand, and I moved it to retrieve the item. I was shocked to see filth, including candy wrappers and tissues behind the night stand. Also, contrary to advertising, there was no functional wi-fi for our room.

One highlight of the hotel in past visits was the water park. So rather than muse about the dirty room and missing wi-fi, we decided to take the kids to the water park and relax after the long drive. The water park was even worse than our room. There was standing water in the hall leading into the park and the water park itself was poorly lit. I asked the staff to turn on the lights that were out and it turns out that the flood lights were not working. The poor lighting left the center pool so darkened that one could not see the bottom of the pool--and it was only 4 feet deep at the deep end. The water slides were closed as well. As we sat near the lazy river, I noticed that the ceiling was sagging in numerous places and had been hastily shored up. There were also missing windows, rotted wood, and pieces of facia just hanging. The water park should probably have been completely closed given the safety hazards.

While walking back to the room we noticed that the halls too had not been cleaned or vacuumed in what looked like months. There were fingernail clippings in one area, cigarette butts in a stairwell, and other signs that the hotel staff had simply given up on maintaining the building. When I went out the back door to take in the view of the beach, I fell into a pit that had been dug by falling rain---a pit that must have taken months for the rain to carve out. While on the lakeside of the hotel, I noticed that the exterior of the hotel also showed signs of poor maintenance. Siding had pulled away from numerous spots and I could see decaying wood underneath. The hotel's service was also poor. The staff did not even replace our towels during the day. I had to ask for new towels at the front desk, as did a line of other guests. I thought about complaining to someone about the hotel's condition, but I would have had to have waited in line to do so. I watched two other patrons complain to a staff person who clearly had been enduring the same thing over and over again. We also did not even bother with the continental breakfast. The continental breakfast amounted to poorly brewed coffee and a granola bar--but only if you requested one from the front desk! What a contrast to past visits. Again, it was clear to me that the staff had given up on the hotel.

My wife wanted to check out and find another hotel, but our visit was short so we endured the conditions even though it made our trip worse. We will, however, not be returning to the Bridge Vista for any future visits, which is a shame because it was once...

I know this is long, but I wanted to be as thorough as possible.

Although clearly older, the hotel was fairly clean and in a convenient location. Checking in, staff was neither friendly nor rude.

As soon as I opened the side door located closer to the elevator to bring our luggage to our 3rd floor room, the smell of cannabis was evident and off-putting. As we reached the 3rd floor, I was relieved that the smell was gone for the most part.

Our room was clean and spacious and offered a pleasant view of Lake Huron, the Mackinaw Bridge and Mackinac Island. In researching hotels, I was fairly certain this boasted balconies in each room and was disappointed to find that not to be the case. I concluded I must have confused that detail with a different hotel.

After the children played in the pool (the water park was closed due to Covid-19), we went in search of a dinner. Upon our return nearly 2 hours later, we discovered the door to our room wide open and the light turned on. Normally I would have thought perhaps we didn't close it; however, I was the last to leave as my family waited downstairs at the car. After turning off the light, I stepped out of the room and closed the door, making a loud "slam". It was then that I remembered I had forgotten my jacket and turned to retrieve it from the room. Unfortunately, my husband had the key and I was not able to re-enter. This is how I know the room had been locked. I immediately contacted the front desk and reported what had happened, noting that nothing appeared to be missing. The clerk informed me she would notify the manager. The manager never contacted us with more questions, nor apologies.

We slept with the window ajar to listen to the calming waves of the lake and spent a very peaceful night sleeping...until early morning when the nauseating smell of cannabis came pouring into our room.

We readied ourselves for the trip to the Island which included use of the "facilities". Wouldn't you know it...it backed up. We went downstairs to purchase discounted ferry tickets and informed the front desk of our predicament. We spoke with an extremely nice woman (the only friendly staff we encountered our entire stay) and she said she would arrange for maintenance to handle the "situation".

Again, the smell of cannabis was noticeable throughout the hotel.

While waiting in line at the ferry dock, my grand kids and I tried to identify our hotel from a distance. We figured out that the back side is designed differently than the front because it was the only 3 story hotel on the strip. That's when I discovered the hotel DID have balconies/patios - on the first TWO floors! I. Was. Not. Happy. To be fair, I did not request that feature when booking.

We spent a wonderful day on the island, got thoroughly soaking wet on the ferry ride home and returned to the hotel to find the essence of pot still clinging and the toilet in perfect working order once again.

Our evening was disturbed by several loud explosions in the near distance. Upon opening the curtains, we discovered a full fireworks show over the lake! It was beautiful and a real treat for the kids. However, we had to close the window due to the pungent smell of cannabis wafting in. I now suspected that a guest below us was enjoying the show and a blunt from the balcony below us. They must be really chill because the smell was strong the next morning, as well.

Did I mention that "breakfast" was a bite size apply, a tiny chewy granola bar and a bottle of water? This was also due to Covid-19, but I seriously believe a "bit" more effort could have been provided. I should note that I was informed about the water park closure and "breakfast" bag offering prior to booking the room.

Although there were no "major" issues, overall I was disappointed in the stay for the amount charged. I would not recommend it to a friend and will not stay again...

The exterior of the hotel is quite nice, has a log cabin feel to it. The rear of the hotel is also nice, I read some comments about the beach being dirty, this is true and I believe its from the people that have the fires in the fire pit at night and do not pick up their garage, granted there should be someone assigned to cleaning it. You'll notice around the hotel that this is quite common, the hallways and stairways are fairly dirty, the shower curtain rod in our room was completely pulled out of the wall, the rooms are on their last leg, the "general manager" Scott randomly walks into the waterpark yelling at little kids, etc. I've stayed at a dozen or so waterparks of all sizes, this one isn't the worst, but its close. One night I was standing outside and a pizza delivery truck pulled up, he wasn't delivering pizza, he had a roll away bed hanging out the back of the truck (no joke). I think the problem lies with the upper management of the hotel and the problems trickle down from there. They probably do not staff enough people to properly care for the hotel and as a result things do not get cleaned or fixed. If things were cleaned and fixed as they should be it would make the stay much more pleasant. I heard at least 5 separate people commenting on how dirty certain areas of the hotel are and these people were not in my party nor did I know them.

One more thing, if you book through the Mackinaw Chamber website it will state that the rooms have queen beds, they are in fact double beds. Check on Hotels dot com and it will state double beds and the correct year that the hotel was built, if they listed incorrect information on their site they wouldn't be allowed to list their property. I'm disappointed that the Mackinaw Chamber lets them incorrectly list bed sizes, this doesn't seem like a big deal but when you have 6 people in a room and expect 2 queen beds and a sofa bed it does become a big deal.

Pros: Location is great For the price, its not a bad place to stay for the most part The ferry to the island is very close, .3 miles Discounted ferry tickets that let you skip the long line to purchase them at the dock

Cons: The sign outside states "new in 2016", the hotel was built in 2001. The place is dirty Terrible wifi Most of the staff attitudes are poor The waterpark doesn't open until noon, they do this on purpose because checkout is 11 Same breakfast everyday with one woman in charge of doing all of it Run down rooms, nothing gets fixed The GM seems like a meatball, yelling at kids, I actually heard him talking to another guy in the lobby about how he could "take" (fight" another employee that I assume quit (again, no joke) Employees of the hotel literally park all over the place when there are spaces IN the parking lot open The waterpark area is also dirty, understandable with kids running all over, what's not understandable is the large puddles of water that you have to walk through to get into the waterpark that collects in the entryway. They don't allow reviews on their Facebook page, that should be your first red flag Fairly certain the linens weren't changed If you complain to management they will say they'll fix it but it won't be done.

In summary, I've paid more for less but if their are other properties available I would stay somewhere else. Instead of lying on the sign "new in 2016" they should say "closing in 2018" because at this rate, that's what they'll be doing. Such a shame to waste a lakefront bridge view property on a hotel that refuses to maintain...