Ramada by Wyndham Mackinaw City Waterfront — Hotel in Mackinaw Township

My fiancé and I were nearing the end of a trip he had thoughtfully planned, as we had just gotten engaged the day before!! We were on cloud nine, excited to close out our trip in style—but unfortunately, our stay at this hotel was nothing short of a disaster. Photos included

Let’s start with security—or the utter lack of it. Upon arriving, we immediately noticed that none of the exterior access doors had any locking system. Not a single one. These are doors that typically lead to side exits or stairwells and are meant to restrict access after hours. But at this hotel? There was nothing stopping anyone from just walking in at any time. It's a glaring safety issue, especially for a first-floor room. We’ve stayed at many hotels, and never once have we encountered this kind of security lapse.

We were assigned Room 102, which offered a beach view—great in theory. The room was conveniently located right across from one of those unsecured exterior doors and had a sliding glass door inside that led directly to the beach. While we didn’t feel outright unsafe, it certainly raised some red flags.

Once inside, the situation didn’t improve. We were greeted by a musty, stale odor mixed with an overwhelming scent of marijuana. The door itself didn’t align properly with the frame, and we had to force it shut. Not exactly the experience we were expecting from a hotel of any caliber.

The real problem came when I tried to take a shower. The bathtub was completely unstable. The front half creaked and cracked with every step, almost as if it might collapse at any moment. I called my fiancé in, and he heard the same unsettling noises. We called the front desk for assistance, and a staff member came up to “inspect.” However, instead of addressing our concerns, she insinuated that we were exaggerating and that she did not see anything wrong with the tub. She promised maintenance would inspect, but no one ever arrived, and there was never a follow-up. We were left feeling uncertain and anxious about using the tub for the rest of our stay.

To make matters worse, the bathroom had visible black mold on the walls and ceiling. The lamp in the room was stained. And the soundproofing? Absolutely non-existent. We could hear every footstep, every conversation, and even every shower from the rooms around us. It was extremely disruptive and uncomfortable.

When we thought things couldn’t get worse, we decided to step outside for some fresh air. While walking along the beach, we were shocked to see a man standing completely naked in his room with the blinds wide open, exposing himself to the entire beach. Not exactly the kind of “scenic view” we had in mind.

To top it all off, the lobby closed at 9 PM, and there was no staff on-site overnight. In 2025, this is not only inconvenient but downright unsafe. As for the nice hot tub that they feature in photos? Drained and unusable.

In summary, this hotel was outdated, poorly maintained, and a safety concern from start to finish. It wasn’t even close to worth what we paid, and we would have gladly driven the remaining 6.5 hours back home if we weren't already extremely exhausted.

The most frustrating part was how unwilling the staff was to acknowledge or address our concerns. Despite the numerous issues, the staff showed zero effort to resolve the situation or offer any assistance. Our engagement trip, which should have been a joyous occasion, was tainted by this experience.

If you value your safety, comfort, and the basics of customer service, I strongly recommend you look elsewhere. Would I recommend this hotel? Absolutely not. This was a 2-star experience at best. Save your time, money, and most importantly, your...

I traveled with a group of 25 to this hotel for a one-night stay on 5/13/2017. The actual rooms were clean and some of the fixtures and decorations looked new. The beds were comfortable. The hotels rooms had lakefront views with patio doors that provided a wonderful view of the sunrise. We loved that! However, most of us did not venture to open the patio doors because of the abundance of mosquitos or some type of small bug that clung to the screen doors. I wished there had been a way to spray for those bugs. This review is mostly a warning to those booking for groups. My group was made up of middle and high school aged students with adult chaperones. It was important for us to know what activities were available to us and any necessary paperwork that would be required ahead of time. I must have called the Ramada and Bridge Vista Beach Hotel five times each prior to our arrival, beginning with the initial reservation at the Ramada that was made on March 17, 2017. There was a misunderstanding about the waivers for the waterpark we wanted to attend, despite the fact that I called numerous times trying to get this scenario ironed out. At the end of the day, after speaking to hotel desk representatives, the manager Scott at Bridge Vista Beach Hotel admitted that the wrong waivers had been sent to us. He offered for us to sign another waiver and move our group over to the waterpark that we really wanted to attend. By that time we decided it wasn’t worth the time because our group was headed to dinner and other places. P.S. I now have copies of both waivers. The only difference in the waivers is the name of the companies being indemnified. There is no way I would have known I had the wrong waiver mailed to me. I thought there was only one waiver since we had been told that both waterparks were open to guests who stayed at hotels in Mackinaw City. My suggestion: There should be only one waiver that names all related facilities. We requested no rooms on the first floor but ended up with first floor rooms. We are not really sure why though. We also requested lakefront rooms. Maybe that had something to do with it. Although, the hotel did not appear to be full as evidenced by the vacancy sign that was lit. Breakfast was served across the street on the third floor of the Crown Choice Inn. They said the kitchen at the Ramada was under construction. We saw the kitchen area. It did not appear that any work was being done at all while we were there. It looked more like they planned to not staff it for now. Just as one other reviewer wrote, the lobby did close. Both the lobby entrance doors from the outside and inside of the hotel were locked at midnight. No one could access the lobby at night. I am not sure who was to be contacted if there had been an emergency in the hotel. Many of these items were not communicated to us before we checked in. Also, in Mackinaw City many of the hotels do not open until May 1st. The reservations that I made were as a result of calling a number that takes reservations, but the people answering the phones are not located on the hotel property and do not necessarily know the properties well. It is part of the reason I kept calling back trying to verify and clarify things. Fortunately, we had other things planned so this didn’t completely ruin our trip. However I write this to share that there is room for improvement in Ramada’s, collaborating hotels and Mackinaw City Tourism Chamber of...

Yes, I am raising my voice. DO NOT STAY HERE. I have giving the hotel a one star only because there is no minus 5 stats. Actually, the health department needs to be called on this dump. It is disgustingly filthy dirty. Pictures say a thousand words, see mine. DO NOT believe the pictures posted on the hotel website, they must have been taken 15 years ago. For the price, they charge for one night is a rip-off. Yes, I chose to stay here because it was a bit cheaper than other hotels in the area. We stayed here only because the hotel (American Boutique Inn) which I booked weeks in advance and paid for, informed me when we arrived, my reservation had been canceled, even though I had confirmed 5 days prior and they charged my credit card they would not let us stay. So we had to find a place at 5:00 PM on the day of the stay on a Saturday night in August. Do yourself a favor and pay more, or sleep in your car, I wish I would have. The creeping little hallway to room 218 was so gross I've never seen anything like it, not to mention it was filthy and dark. I knew we were in trouble when I saw the hallway. The room was so dirty I demanded the room be vacuumed before I would even bring our belongings in the room. The floor lamp or furniture has not been moved for vacuuming in years the dust on the carpet was visible. The pictures I posted are after the vacuuming was done. The dust and dirt on top of the baseboard heater next to the bed is sickening. The bed was so hard and they offer a mere two little crappy pillows for two in a King size bed. I had bites on my legs the next day, I did not see bed bugs but apparently, they were there. I was afraid to wear my slippers I wore my shoes. We didn't put our suitcases on the floor. The room felt very damp and moist. The towel bar was missing, wallpaper peeling off the walls, the linoleum floor was peeling up in the bathroom. They do offer a plunger next to the toilet for your convenience. Hum, luckily we didn't need it. The little balcony off the room is a joke, it is also disgustingly dirty, no way we were sitting there to get out of the room. We walked out to the beach area, just to get out of the room, it is so overgrown with weeds and needs a good cleaning also. We didn't stay there. The breakfast area is so old and dingy, I sure was not eating there, we couldn't get out of there fast enough. After contacting management at the hotel I have not gotten a call back in 13 days. I called Wyndham to inform them of these deplorable place and all they will do is offer free points not even enough for a one nights stay. Wyndham should be ashamed to be affiliated with this hotel. So again, do yourself a favor DO NOT STAY HERE. The hotel and the one that canceled us, certainly ruined our stay in Mackinaw City coming all the way from AZ. We...