Clearwater Lakeshore Motel — Hotel in Mackinaw Township

I wanted to love this stay as my wife and I celebrated our 30 year anniversary. It's a beautiful location, with a nice view of the bridge and close to the lake. The beachfront fires in the evening are a nice touch (more on this soon). The room was clean and the cleaning staff were friendly and welcoming. That's the good. Now I have a negative experience to share.

On the evening of our anniversary (our final evening), we headed out to the beach for the fires. It was busy with all the firepits occupied. They were full of wood for the 7:30 lighting. 7:30 came and went with no fire lighting. The air was getting a little chilly so seeing a fuzzy piece of bark on wood in our pit, I peeled it off and lit it with a lighter and dropped it into the center of the pit, where it smoked a bit. So I tried blowing on it as one does to try to get it burning. Meanwhile I heard another guest call the front desk asking about the fire lighting being late.

Five or so minutes later, the guy (I'll call him Mr. H. for "Handyman" as he seemed to be responsible for maintenance, fire lighting and other things around the motel) arrived to begin lighting the fires. Mr. H. obviously noticed the smoke in our pit, and scolded me from across the beach so everyone could hear, "Hey! You're not supposed to light the fire!". I'm 53 years old and a paying guest. I've started more campfires with zero issues than I can count. The right way to address this would have been to mention it to me when he came to light our fire instead of calling it out across the beach. BTW, back in the room I checked the motel rules, and this was not on the list. I would not have done it if Mr. H. had been somewhere near on-time.

I really had no other issues with Mr. H. but I did notice from the first day of our stay that he didn't really have a hospitality demeanor. He was highly visible because of his jobs around the motel including keeping breakfast stocked. He never greeted me or even made eye contact with me. I greeted him with "good morning" and he did reciprocate, but never was welcoming at all. This would not be an issue if he were not in such a visible hospitality position, and I would not have mentioned any of this if not for the public scolding.

We stayed in the jacuzzi suite. It was clean, but we were surprised there was no place to hang clothing on hangers. the only hooks were for the towels on the inside of the bathroom door, and the only hanging rod was directly above the toilet tank. Not really a place I want to hang my clothing. Believe me, we searched for anything that would work in a pinch, but ended up keeping our hanger clothes in our car.

While the location was peaceful and calm, I could hear the upstairs guests walking around and every time they opened and closed their sliding door to the balcony. Bring earplugs if you...

I always look for this hotel when I'm staying in Mackinaw. My dad discovered it when I was younger and it was so wonderful I use it every year when I go to visit with my family now that I'm older. If you're looking for a nice quiet clean place go here! The owners are really accommodating and friendly. The pool is good size for the hotel. One of my favorite parts is that the hotel rooms are split into smaller buildings so there's less noise than those giant hotels. I wish that this hotel was on Mackinaw's official website so it was easier to find since it's an amazing place!

They also have free firewood for the fire pits on the beach (though beware if you go during the Spring when it's been rainy the pile usually has a lot of bugs and it's been outside so starting a fire with it isn't as hopeful as a day later in the summer). While there are hotel rooms that the view is of the parking lot, you also get a view of the beautifully kept lawn, playground and forest beyond the small and well kept lot. The hotels facing the water are amazing. The bridge view is wonderful, especially at sunset and you can even see the various islands, including Mackinac Island. Some of the rooms on the shoreline have balconies that you can simply jump off onto the beach and climb back on and if you want something a little higher there's a second floor.

The continental breakfast is quality vs. quantity. Everything is clean and fresh. One time I went for a mother daughter get-away and my mom mentioned that the coffee was a bit cold (my mom like things to burn her tongue for some reason) and the manager made her a fresh pot right then and there. I really wish they had a bit more than just cereal, bread, and bagels as I'm lactose intolerant but again, quality vs. quantity.

One time my (at the time, now husband) boyfriend and I splurged for our two year anniversary and got a hotel suit with a jacuzzi in out room. The jacuzzi was HUGE! Not just wide like you might get with a corner unit or a regular bathtub but it was also deep. So many times I sit in one and it only goes up to just above my waist, this went all the way to my shoulders! It was so worth the extra money and the view was amazing.

I've stayed in many other hotels and I have to say this is the best hotel for my money that I've found so far. Especially for someone on a budget...

I’m not really sure how this hotel has all of these amazing reviews or who’s paying off the trip advisor people to get voted #1. Mabye the reviews are just old and the place went down hill? Mabye they are trying to keep it nice just can’t it’s to much work? The girl at the front desk was nice. We did not go to the pool or hot tub so I have nothing to say about that. We were told that they would call the shuttle for the ferry for us in the morning but did not know the office didn’t open until 8 as we would have liked the shuttle at 7 to catch the first ferry out. As soon as you walk in your room your hit with an overpowering smell of mildew that does not go away even with keeping the doors open. The bathrooms are terribly small. The rooms are dingy need some updating and slight maintained as scraped paint on the walls. It’s a cheap hotel that really overcharges everyone. The camp fire on the beach with s’mores is a nice touch, but they light the fires with some mystery liquid that burns black smoke, so idk if I’d want to be cooking and eating s'more's over that smoke. It advertises as a beach front, it’s by far that the pictures of everything online are very mid leading for this hotel overall. The beach front is very rocky or must I say it’s all rocks except a couple dump truck loads of sand that’s “the beach”. The breakfast was just plain scary. Biscuits and gravy tasted like chemicals. The cream for the coffee came out a weird color. The breakfast was not good. I don’t want to sound like a Karen but we were very mid leading by what was advertised and what we got just trying to look out for everyone else. The plus was the view of the bridge that...