Maumee Bay Lodge & Conference Center — Hotel in Oregon

We booked a two night stay with a weekend wedding party. We arrived at 3:30 for a 4:00 check-in. We paid and were told we would get a phone call when our room was ready. We also discussed the roll-a-way bed we had requested with our booking several months ago. An hour and a half later we still hadn't received a call. I checked at the desk and our room was still not available. We were given the suggestion of getting some dinner at the in house restaurant and our room would likely be available by the time we were done.

We went to dinner and arrived at 5:45 just in time to order half off appetizers and a couple of drinks. We were seated immediately. Several servers waited tables around us but no one even came to get our drink orders. We have 3 children with us and they began to get restless and hungry. By 6:30 we still had no one provide table service. I approached the next employee available and explained we have been sitting for 45 minutes with no service. The person I spoke with was a hostess who said she would look into the situation and get a waitress to our table. After 15 more minutes she returned and explained there were no servers to wait on us but she would try though she had never done it before. She was under age so we could not order adult beverages but we did order an appetizer and our food. It was now 6:45. We waited another 15 minutes for our cheese sticks to arrive at our table. They were consumed quickly and we waited for our main courses to arrive. We waited another 30 minutes. At 7:35 the meals arrived. This was now nearly 2 hours after arriving at the restaurant. While eating the meals I realized we still hadn't been contacted about our rooms. I was planning to charge the meal to our room but without a room number this would not be possible. So cash it would be. At 8pm we were done eating and the bill was paid including a nice tip for the underage hostess who had never been a server before.

We still hadn't received a phone call about our room but we couldn't wait anymore. I checked back in at the front desk and we were told our room was ready. No apologies for not calling. I confirmed the roll-a-way bed was indeed provided and we headed off to our room with our bags on a cart.

When we got to the room neither of the swipe cards provided were working so I headed back down to the desk for new keys. I was told that I had demagnetized them and I needed to be more careful. I explained I kept the keys in a back pocket by themselves and nowhere near a phone.

I returned to the room and the keys worked. Upon entering I discovered no roll-a-way bed in the room. So back to the front desk to request the bed again. I returned to my family in the room and discovered the room had not been properly cleaned. The floor had not been vacuumed, there were old fruit snacks on the floor and raisins on a chair. We didn't have enough towels for my family and I'm pretty sure the fridge was left empty. I hope we will not be charged for any supplies that were supposed to be present and weren't.

Later we all changed for swimming and had a great time. We returned to our room and were happy to see the roll-a-way bed.

The next day we were going to try the Café for lunch as we had such a bad experience the night before. However, the computer system crashed which somehow made the Café unable to open. So we returned to the restaurant for lunch. This time the service was good.

During our 2 night stay I spent nearly $600 between room charges, fees, taxes, and of course I'm still expecting mini-bar charges. I also spent another $200 on food, snacks, ice cream and on games in the arcade.

I don't think the accommodations were worth even half that. We had a magnificently horrible experience. We were made to think our problems were somehow self inflicted or that unemployed people refusing to work was to blame. No one accepted accountability for the way the complex was being run and no one even offered apologies. We will never return and will do all we can to make sure none of our friends or family ever give this resort...

We have stayed twice in the same cottage: once in the dead of winter, and once in the heat of summer.

TLDR: You'll probably have a nice time any time of year. Great place for a family reunion. But for heaven's sake, bring your bug spray in summer! Use it liberally every time you go outside, even if you don't see or feel bugs biting you.

More details below...

Pros:

The staff was very welcoming, kind, professional, and helpful both times. Whenever we had a minor concern or request they addressed it promptly.

We found the natural surroundings beautiful for walking both times of year. We did a ton of walking, especially in summer. The boardwalk and many miles of trails were beautiful for walking.

We enjoyed the indoor recreational facilities year round. Racquetball was a huge hit with our family, with ping pong a close second. In summer, the outdoor pool and other recreational equipment and facilities (shuffleboard, playground, golf course, private fire pit & BBQ grill & picnic table) were well appreciated. We enjoyed the cozy gas fireplaces -- both in the cottage and also in the common areas of the main lodge -- in the winter.

We loved that there were recycling bins provided in the cottages and in the main lodge. We strongly support recycling.

The kitchen has a nice variety of utensils, pots, and pans for cooking. We ate in nearly every meal for a week. Plenty of plates and cups, and storage space for our groceries. Coffee pot and filters were well appreciated.

Cons:

However, I will note that there were not nearly enough eating utensils in the private kitchen. For a cabin that sleeps 12, there should be more than seven forks and eight spoons. (We had 10 people, so had to improvise on eating utensils for every meal.)

Both times the temperature control in the cottage was problematic. The cottage was drafty, so some areas were uncomfortably cold in winter. One bedroom was so cold it was unusable. In summer, the upstairs rooms were roasting while the downstairs rooms were freezing, despite having the ceiling fan on in the high-ceilinged common room 24/7. In both cases the climate control was laboring constantly to keep the cabin at a comfortable temperature, and we lamented the enormous energy waste due to the drafts.

A bit more upkeep in the cottage would be nice: One of the blinds in the dining area was falling down in early February, and still in late July when we returned. The shower head in the downstairs bathroom was spraying in every direction, and promptly came off the first time we used it.

The biggest drag of our trip was not the hotel's fault, but in summer we all came home covered in chiggers bites. I've never been so intensely itchy in my life. So uncomfortable. I even went to the doctor for it to find out what it was; I wasn't aware of chiggers as a pest until now. The trouble was that the bites didn't really start appearing until after we'd been there for a few days, so we weren't clued in to start using the bug spray that we bought. We knew to check for ticks each day (none found) and how to avoid mosquitos in the evening. But we had no way to know about the chiggers. Sadly, the bites continued to appear and get worse for several days after we left. My sister was worried that her son had chicken pox, and we all initially worried that it might be bed bugs (no it was not) so we unnecessarily laundered and treated every scrap of clothing upon returning home. An unfortunate inconvenience and pretty miserable souvenir to bring home from vacation. My uncle emailed me today and said "I'll probably have scars. Both physical and psychological."

So be sure to bring your bug spray in summer! Use it liberally every time you go outside, even if you don't see or feel...

My family just had our family reunion at Maumee Bay State Park. Coming into this, I wasn’t sure what exactly to expect. Let me first start off by saying there was plenty to do and that was a plus. For the prices, the rooms could have been a little nicer. The furniture was a bit worn to say the least. I did like the shower setup though. I didn’t get much of a “lodge vibe”. The breakfast buffet was ok. Apparently the food from the bar was exceptional. I can’t speak on it personally, but some other family members discovered the bar had a breakfast menu. Some people ordered from the snack bar as well & mentioned that it was decent food. The ice cream there was great, especially for the price. The portions were large. In order to access the pool areas, guests are required to wear an wristband. Here’s my issue with that. The wristband is disposable, but if it breaks, you’re supposed to bring the pieces back & exchange it for a new one. If you lose it, you pay $6 for a replacement. Why??? These aren’t reusable, they aren’t expensive digitally coded items, so what is the purpose? From a business standpoint, how much money are you actually losing by replacing a paper wristband that goes in the trash anyway? That brings me to my main & biggest complaint regarding the polices of this “Resort”. The saying goes “You get what you pay for.” We had a catered dinner with plenty to eat. By the standards of events/large gatherings/etc. in which there is a mass production of food, the quality & taste were above average. I liked it, as did many others. I asked one of the employees about to-go boxes & was told they aren’t allowed to have food taken out. Wait…what??? You mean to tell me we can’t take food we have already paid for, not cheaply either by the way, back to our rooms??? My main concern was for the children, who mostly hadn’t touched their food. We started dinner service around 6:30pm, so most people would probably be hungry again later…especially the younger ones. The food can’t be served again, so rather than allowing people to take what was already paid for, your policy is to waste “OUR” leftovers??? Those type of to-go boxes are inexpensive, especially considering the lodge would be purchasing in bulk. When we paid for my wedding reception, it was based off of the number of people to prepare for. I assume most catering uses this standard price point. In saying that, adding a quarter (25¢), to your per person cost, would cover the cost of the supplies . A quick search on Amazon shows me 150 ct @ $0.26/box…I’m sure a more extensive search would show that you could probably get them cheaper, especially buying in large quantities, or with a contract agreement. Needless to say, I was most disappointed with that policy. That policy practically forces you to spend more money to eat again. Take what you will from my review. I did have a good time & I’m not saying that you shouldn’t go. Just be aware of the costs associated with staying there & the policies. I hope my review was informative. Have a...