Crown Choice Inn & Suites Lakeview Waterpark — Hotel in Mackinaw Township

I was shocked by the lack of respect for me as a customer. I can't even call that customer service---definitely customer mistreatment.

I was SHOCKED when I arrived, that even though the sign OUT FRONT said "Free hot breakfast"---that they did not offer breakfast AT the hotel---but made you walk or drive 0.2 mile to the Hamilton (Inn?). So after the water park experience, and getting settled that night, I went to the front desk (since my phone in the room was broken with no dial tone) to ask for a late check out. I said to the staff/front desk "since they only serve breakfast over there til 10, it's going to be hard to get back and pack car up/check OUT by 11am, could I get a late check out?"....The lady (night shift) replied, you could ask in the morning, it shouldn't be an issue, 12p would be the latest probably. I said no problem, I think that's great. She reminded me to tell the morning person that I already spoke with someone from night staff.

So next morning. I called down at about 10:20 (we found 1 suite- room had a working phone after all, 1 still broken/no dial tone), asked for a late check out of 12p. She quickly told me no, that I was already LATE checking out, that check out was 10am! I said no, I spoke with 2 other people and they both said 11am, and late would be 12p. She said "NO---you signed paperwork that stated 10am check out". Well, touche. Apparently I did sign that, unknowingly (read every word and number of what you sign---because likely it won't match what they tell you). So according to the paper I signed, she was right. But the 2 other staff I spoke with (1 there at hotel, and 1 I called prior to booking), both said 11am. So, I expected a little common courtesy, that they miscommunicated, and I misread---but I was instead treated rudely to say the least. I asked for paper and a pen to write a formal complaint, she said "go find your own paper!". I asked for her her 1st name, she refused. She told me "YOU CAN EXIT NOW". I have no idea if this woman just works there, manages, or owns that hotel, but she did a terrible job with just simple communication 101, and customer service 101. I brought my family for a good time. All she had to do was be a little understanding that we needed more time to check out, since they had inconvenienced us by serving our FREE breakfast at a DIFFERENT hotel. About that free breakfast....

My husband went to the other hotel to get breakfast, waited for a while in a long line (because they are serving 2 hotels!), and was told he was NOT allowed to bring our kids food to the room (any hotel, anywhere, allows you to bring breakfast to your room). Another inconvenience. My kids and I did NOT get our "free hot breakfast".

Other issues I wasn't going to mention, but as a full review:

water park was a BLAST, but the chemicals are waaay off. Our eyes were burning beyond a chlorine/pool/normal burn. My kids were crying and rubbing their eyes after about an hour there. I could barely keep my eyes open from the burning. I have been to many water parks and pools---something is very wrong with the chemicals they have going on there.

broken phone in room; broken lock on balcony (3rd floor)--we have 3 little kids, unsafe and not a secure feeling; older/not well maintained furnishings--but very spacious suite; No soap at all, no shampoo/conditioner; No extra sheets or blankets (usually kept in closet).

Side note, I met a lady in the game room, asked her about what time her check out was---she also said 11am! I asked her if she was told that or read that on paperwork, she said she was TOLD 11am (like me). She said the lady working day shift the day prior (when we checked in), didn't usually work at this hotel---explains our misinformation of 11am.

Bottom line, this hotel has potential to be very nice. But with staff like that woman at front desk (day shift), and some of the other issues, I guess we'll head to Great Wolf Lodge next time--amazing customer service, amazing place---not that much more expensive. Sadly, you get what you pay...

Navigating to the site was easy! It is well located on the main strip in Mackinaw City. Within walking distance to nearby attractions, dining and shopping. That is where the benefits ended though. This felt like the knock off version of a water park vacation. This hotel is NOT handicap accessible! Starting from check in at the lobby. Where you have no direct access to elevators/rooms. You must exit the lobby, navigate to the end of the building (between hotel and water park) to enter one of two unmarked doors. The attendant instructed to enter thru the glass doors. All the doors are glass doors and this is very confusing. The parking lot is so faded and is shared with the Mackinaw Cabins hotel. It was difficult to figure out where to park and how to enter the building. There are no signs. I had to go back to the lobby after circling the entire parking area to ask directions again. Once we found the entrance it was up a cobble stone (unkept) path to an unmarked side entrance (Glass door) with a double 2inch step up to enter the building. Or you could walk past there around what appeared to be a court yard to the neighboring hotel to find another glass door at the rear of the building. This had less of a step up instead a large metal plate/lip on the threshold. Both doors opened to the same area ( from different sides) into a tiny waiting area for an elevator or a walk past there to a stairwell. The hallway smelled stale when we entered. My husband asked three times on the way to our room why it smelled like earth worms in there. The rooms were large and separated into three areas. You walked into a sitting room with a pull out couch. We tried sitting on the couch. It was so broken in we sank. There was also a TV and coffee table in that area. If you continue to walk thru the room you come to a bathroom on the right on countertop with sink, coffee pot, fridge and microwave on the left. Continue to walk thru to the bedroom with 1 queen/full bed and 1 King bed, a TV 2 chairs and a table. There was also a balcony which was blocked by two over grown trees. I didn’t mind the privacy the trees provided though as the view from the balcony over looked the awful parking lot, commercial log cabins and outdoor pool/ front entrance from the road way. The sheets on the king bed had a weird stain, God I hope it was rust, on them that we did not even see till after we slept in the bed. I had only pulled up the corners to check for bedbugs (as I do in every hotel room). We never fully unmade the bed in the light of day till the next morning. One of the towels in our room had what appeared to be rust 🤞stains on it. The air conditioner barely pushed air out. When I looked at it closer it appeared the filters had not been cleaned in years. That’s when I started to notice that routine maintenance and cleaning that goes unnoticed on a small scale, was definitely not being done here. The water park was super exciting for my six year old. I however felt anxiety the entire time we were there. It was old, not well maintained, seemed not really clean. The water was cloudy and the chlorine was strong in the air when we walked in our eyes were burning. There is a giant domes grate in the bottom of the hot tub that you can not see. It was rough cement around the edges. I scaled my toes and almost trip over it. I assume it’s a drain but it’s dangerous. The entire place could use a good scrub down and maybe even some new paint. The rooms are so out of date it was probably 1989 the last time they seen an update or good cleaning. We stayed exactly one night. There was no breakfast. I was given coupons for 10% off at a few restaurants. It just felt like a knock off version of a real water park stay. But hey the water park is free with your room, or so they say. We won’t stay here or the two adjacent properties which are all physically connected to each other despite having different names, again. We go up north to Mackinaw City almost every year. This place will not be on our list of approved places to stay...

Let me begin by writing that i cannot stop mentioning all of the horrible things about this place. Please, if you are thinking about staying here, read this review in it's entirety and everything listed is in fact what happened to us.

We had a large group of us staying this weekend, who visit every year same time in mack city. Some of us also have had prior stays at this specific hotel. This hotel has gone so far beyond repair, it honestly should be condemned. The only saving grace is that there weren't a ton of bugs chasing us out of the room and the perk of it being across the road from the ferry.

I would hope the picture of mold the size of a watermelon eating through the carpet on my floor would speak for itself, which was only discovered after the "cleaning lady" came day 2 and moved the trash can and dehumidifier. Yes, I had the only room out of 5 with a dehumidifier and it should've been a red flag, but we were late to arrive and just wanted to settle in. And by "cleaning lady" i mean, she never provided us the correct bedding/towels, only really took the trash out, out of the 3 beds in our rooms only 1 was made, she never identified herself and would just walk in and out. After ALL of that, the rooms I promise you were never wiped down or cleaned. And good luck with finding a vacuum anywhere.

Our rooms at initial check-in consisted of chocolate bars smeared across the floors, disgusting used bedding that was never changed out, broken refrigerators, mold literally everywhere, kids waterpark was closed for repairs the first full day (never listed on website and only reason we chose this place in mack), broken door hinges, broken tvs, clogged toilets, just to name A FEW.

You would think we would run for the hills at this point, but understand we have children who are familiar with this hotel, who have their hearts set on the Waterpark and the memories they have from previous visits. We have also traveled easily over 4 hrs, some of us with screaming, tired toddlers. What are we supposed to do as parents? Also visiting at a time when most of mackinac city has not opened for the season yet, so good luck finding a decent place.

If I could list a .0000001 positive star for this place, I would say the staff did their best to remedy the situation. Their body language, response time, and overall demeanor towards our concerns confirmed the fact that they are used to this level of disgust, the constant criticism, and everything we brought to their attention. Someone did carpet clean the chocolate area, a handyman did come fix the toilet, a new refrigerator was placed in the middle of the room (while the broken one was left to stay), and they did try to switch out sheets and towels with ones that weren't stained with blood or makeup. The staff deserve to work somewhere better and people ultimately should never be given an option to stay in such filth, ESPECIALLY when it's a hotel geared towards children.

To top it all off, a few in our party were double charged for things on their card. Front desk staff said they would need to call the number to dispute. After seeing what has happened to others online, this looks like it's going to be a long process just to be reimbursed. When politely asking what the managers name was, the response was I'm not sure, we aren't from here, just started working, etc. Nonsense.

I promise I can't make this stuff up. If you have read up to this point, book at the new Holiday Inn or an airbnb. Some locals at a restaurant said to stay far away from these hotels in town, as they are all owned by the same couple and it's a losing battle. They own a huge majority in mack city and at least you will get a new room/experience at the Holiday Inn across 75 or can really see what you are working with at an...