Gogebic Lodge — Hotel in Marenisco Township

First of all, I've been coming up here for over 35 yrs. I've seen all sorts of changes thru out the years. Some were good, some bad but the biggest change I've seen is neglect and keeping the place something special. I come up here to fish, to relax and have a safe stay. This trip changed my outlook of the place and next time will look for another place to stay.

When I first made the reservations for the 2 bedroom chalet back in July using their web site for pricing, apparently it was out dated as it ended up costing us more. What they don't tell you is that the taxes are 9% instead of 6% and if you want to use your credit card, they impose another 3% for each time you use it. So take plenty of cash instead or you will be penalized. Gas was $4.99 a gallon for premium when everywhere else $3.99. I would suggest filling up somewhere else if you can. If you have a 4 stroke on your boat and want to fill your tank on site, premium will be a waste of money. Fill it up somewhere else if possible.

The rooms were ok but find them overpriced for what you get. The bedrooms were tight especially with two large beds crammed into a small area. The kitchen area was supplied with plenty of utensils and plates but trying to get to the plates and cups was a bit tricky since the cabinet was over the counter tops positioned making it almost impossible to reach into. The doors and the cabinet were coming apart from people trying to inside. If you are short bring a ladder with you because there's no way you're going to reach anything in those cabs. I see an accident happening with the cabinet in this kitchen in the near future if this doesn't get replaced.

The water is scalding hot so be careful when using it or get burned. The whirlpool in the room worked but the inlet and jets looked as if they had never been sanitized. I did not use it but my fishing buddy did. The toilet seat kept coming off. The deck on the chalet had a filled garbage can which had never been emptied and smelled. There were dirty plates, cups and utensils left on the grill and table from previous users. Obviously housekeeping never bothered to check. The grill was in deplorable condition and needed some serious cleaning.

As a retired home inspector, I also find plenty of health and safety concerns all around the resort which I wasn't even looking for. I'm on vacation and the last thing I want to see are infractions everywhere, but in this case they were so many and so obvious that I couldn't help but see them. The sauna was a pig sty and even tho I wanted to use it, there was no way I was going to and end up with some disease. It looked like it hadn't been cleaned for weeks and I'm sure it's never been sanitized. The hot tub had been emptied for some reason and unusable during our stay. Of course there was no way I'd use it anyway as the last time we did, everyone ended up getting a strange boil in the same area under the armpits the next day.

My concerns are the unsafe dock area especially with loose exposed electrical wiring probably with no GFCI's (ground fault interrupters) in sight. Many of the posts that held the outlets are on the ground powered. I see a potential accident happening here. The deck area of the dock is very uneven and slippery and my friend had fallen as he tripped on one of the boards. Be careful especially you older ones needing to use the dock.

There was a strong odor of sewage for several days as I walked near the lodge and discovered that one of the septic tanks to one of the cabins had overflown and raw sewage was all over the ground and perhaps seeping into the lake. It was still leaking the morning we had left.

I have to say that for the money they want for the stay is definitely not worth it unless you don't care about safety and comfort. Honestly, I'm surprised that the county inspectors have not shut the place down with all the obvious safety code violations. Perhaps they don't have any. I say use it at your own risk...

Honestly I wish I could rate it higher since the ?? I think manager was really nice, but she even made our experience not great in the end. To start we checked in to the hotel and our room wasn't cleaned, no big deal we are all human and mistakes happen. She was able to accommodate us immediately to a new cabin. I'm not a fan of moving places after 1 day and to another place but we were trying to be nice about the situation. Packed up our things in the AM and went hiking for the day, came back and our room was still not cleaned. Due to us having dogs we had to sit outside in 40 degree weather for over an hour while she cleaned our room at 6-730pm. We thought we'd make our night better by going to their "lobster boil" at night. Unfortunately didn't reserve it in time for the lobster, which I understand but I wish someone would've told us we needed to make reservations the day before. We got prime rib instead. We were able to make 8pm reservations while I was checking back in. Then they didn't have a table available for us when we got there. We had a rude couple try to tell us my dog was too loud, while we waited outside for our room. They gave us a free drink every night which the first night I was very happy about since they were able to accommodate us to a new room immediately. But this happened 2 nights in a row and when I first tried to tell someone about it the second night the waitress was incredibly rude to me saying she didn't have time for this nonsense and doesn't know what to do with me . Uhm, so were am I supposed to stay for the night? We didn't want to leave the lodge for the night so we could just chill and relax. We decided to get the prime rib. I've lived around the country and I'd say this was probably the worst and most expensive prime rib I've ever paid for. It was overcooked and not very tasteful. The au jus was very good which made it taste better but I have no idea why mushrooms on a prime rib would ever cost $4 more. Thankfully we got just some beers but it still took over 20 minutes from the time we asked for the check to the time it took us to check out. Honestly I only write reviews if I've had an absolutely terrible experience and it really seemed to just get worse and worse here. Was a fairly inexpensive place for a hotel and I see why. I still cant believe I spent $90 on prime rib with 1 $3.5 beer each. Not worth it. I'd highly suggest not coming back. I feel like there would be much more homely places here in town that would be a...

I have been taking my family up to Gogebic Lodge for over 10 years, my wife and we did (past tense) have some concern (especially with 3 small children) about the "lack of upkeep" of the grounds, playground, etc, but we saw when we pulled in the this year left us both pleasantly surprised.

Our cabin (one of the Chalet's) was the cleanest we had ever seen it, the grounds, while still a work in progress were the nicest we had seen them in a long time. The housekeeper (Brittney, I believe) was polite, nice and extremely courteous. The onsite beach and swimming area were kept up (hard to keep up with some of the lake debris on this lake as winds shift pretty dramatically all the time).

The food in the main lodge was very good, mind you we enjoy the pizza fries, pizza, burgers, wings, my wife enjoyed the fish, and their Mexican Night (Tuesday) was excellent as usual.

The staff was all completely new, minus Don, Brian (owners) and Tina (general manager) who have always been attentive and more than accomidating. The bar tenders (Charlie., Emy, and Liz) were nice and friendly, and lets face it when a bar is crowded, sometimes you actually have to wait a few minutes to get a refill on your drink.

All in all, we are not "high maintenance" people, our family enjoys the outdoors and we continue to enjoy our summer vacation at Gogebic Lodge. Change does not happen overnight, but they are taking some large steps to improve the entire facility.

I have always been a big believer in taking a few minutes to get to know the people who are serving you when you are on a trip or vacation, they are the ones who really make or break your trip. (hence why I called the staff whom I took a few minutes to talk with are mentioned by name). When there is a problem, they are the ones who will resolve it.

All in all, Goegebic Lodge is a great place in the UP to relax and get back to nature and enjoy time outside and unplugged. Thanks again to the ENTIRE Gogebic Lodge Staff for another...