Lighthouse View Motel — Hotel in Mackinaw Township

The staff was very friendly and pandemic safe! The rooms were nice and clean and aired out. No bugs or mold. We had adjoining rooms with the kids. We usually had the pool to ourselves too, and it's very nice, and so is the hot tub. The TV is large, and the channel selection is better than some hotels. The linen and beds were fine.

The rooms come with tiny fridges and microwaves. I didn't see that in the room details on the booking sites. I booked with them directly. I suggest avoiding booking sites, except for reviews. This was the highest reviewed place on all of them, and I think it lived up to the reviews (And I STRONGLY suggest that you read the reviews before booking in Mackinaw. The other hotels have some pretty nightmarish reviews. I mean, they're bad!).

The only down sides here were the somewhat noisy air conditioners (but they worked great), and that you can hear your neighbors pretty well when they are making noise in certain parts of the room. Nothing lewd, I could just hear walking around upstairs sometimes, and I could hear my neighbor's microwave, and some very muffled talking.

We stayed two days, and on the second day the cleaning service came by to collect our trash and replace or towels.

We were really excited about the pool and hot tub. They had told us that their pool had just been renovated, and that people mostly weren't using it right now. We wanted the pool area to ourselves if we could, because my kids aren't vaccinated yet. And we had several hours to ourselves both days. It's pretty roomy too. You could probably have 6 people in there and still be able to stay safely and comfortably apart.

I would easily stay there again if I was...

Its a nice small motel. 2 floors, 3 sides with courtyard at centre, courtyard doubles up as parking lot. All rooms face towards courtyard, but the centre ones have the view of Bridge, Lake and old Lighthouse (although most of it is blocked by trees inside the Lighthouse campus, but still nice). This motel is not far from the main market, just 10 min stroll. The manager at desk was of very good nature and well behaved, he also did helped us by switching the room to the 2 bed one as it was available now for some reason (but was not when I initially made the booking). We stayed 2 nights and still housekeeping did a great job (although it was not required and even most of the hotels avoid it). Beds are decently firm (I use a cotton mattress on hard-ply bed, so for me they were soft.... but for someone used to Walmart style mattress-in-a-bag, they were very firm). Soundproofing of the rooms is not top notch, but enough to sleep during night. There is free wi-fi with decent speed. In case motel staff is reading their reviews, I would suggest to go a notch up and provide at least a microwave to the guests (either in each room or couple of them in a common area). Also their is a decent enclosed pool in the building. I would suggest this motel to my colleagues, its cheap and has...

I stayed here one night while out of town. The motel has a nice waterfront, Older motel style charm, but still quality condition. Clean room. The front desk/ staff was really nice and helpful explaining the room details in full upon arrival. We were on the second floor right past the stairs and weren't bothered by any noise. Base board heat, very warm during the cold fall season. The bathroom amenities were a bit high up, such us a step into the shower, but my family didn't mind at all. We did use the pool and hot tub and were pretty much the only ones for the last hour of the night, which I certainly didn't mind.. The pool room itself was super clean and also had a cool layout, with peaked wooden ceilings and walls. Overall enjoyed my stay but did struggle with the bed mattress. Kids didn't mind but it was too stiff for me. On a side note I will add that many places (hotels, restaurants, etc) close down around here for the fall/ winter months, so plan your trip...