Waterfront Hotel — Hotel in Prairie du Chien

DO NOT RECOMMEND - $250 for "excessive cleaning"...reference photo sent by hotel management.

I can imagine with hosting weddings, this happens often. This was not an adult who made bad choices, it was a child. I am very disappointed and do not recommend you place your friends and family in the same situation we were in.

My family of four stayed at the Waterfront for two nights due to being involved in a wedding that was taking place at the venue. My 8 year old son ate 2 cupcakes & danced at the reception. This resulted in him having a stomach ache after the dance. (I was not aware he ate two cupcakes until after the fact...but kids will be kids.)

In the middle of the night on our last night there, he threw up on the side of the bed, once.

When we arrived home I noticed we were charged an additional $400!

Thing to keep in mind... It cost $200 a night to stay & we stayed two nights. We opted to not have housekeeping on our first night there because there was no need to put additional work on the housekeeping staff. Although we were reminded this is a service included in the cost of the room. I asked for an itemized receipt for what the charges were for & I was told $250 for "excessive cleaning" and $150 for the linens that were thrown away. When I asked for a picture of what justified $250 cleaning fee when housekeeping is included, reminder we opted to save the first night's service, and we were not adults who trashed the room but rather an 8 year old with a tummy ache localized to one area. The attached picture is what I received.

What I tried to do... I reached out via phone & email to work with them prior to this review. I am not denying that my son did this but life happens. I agree that I should pay for the items that I was told would be thrown away but why $250 cleaning fee when everything was thrown away anyways? I agree with a policy that states that if the room needs additional cleaning, there should be a fee. But what happened & the "proof" I was sent does not justify $250. When I asked for the cost of items that were to be replaced, I was charged for items that were not damaged. I knew they were not but additionally they had no pictures. I inquired about this with them as well with no response.

I received an email back after asking for the receipts, therefore I know they received my communications. However, no response when asking about a more fair charge for what was required of the hotel. I waited three days before this review to be fair & provide them time to respond.

This venue hosts many weddings. People choose this venue & ask their families to stay here. The event/kitchen staff at the reception was great! But I have nothing good to say about management. After spending $400 to sleep there and patrons of their restaurant for multiple meals, agreeing to pay for what truly needed to be replaced & a reasonable additional cleaning fee, I would expect some respect. But ignoring my emails and charging $250 for excessive cleaning is out of line.

I can imagine with hosting weddings, this happens often. This was not an adult who made bad choices, it was a child. I am very disappointed and do not recommend you place your friends and family in the same...

The negatives outweighed the positives for us at this hotel especially for the price. It was raining and there was no overhang at the front door to load/unload in the rain. Other patrons were not happy about this either. Lobby is nice, staff was very friendly and accomodating. Different story in the room. We got a 2 room king suite with a fireplace for our honeymoon. The bedroom was nicely decorated but the carpet was horribly worn and looked dirty. The living room and kitchenette was not decorated at all and was cold and uninviting. Fireplace was in the living room and was of terrible quality. Wasn't even close to imitating real. The only light in the living room was an obnoxious, recessed, white light "spotlight" in the middle of the ceiling. No side lamps for softer lighting. Same for the kitchenette area. It had a nice apartment sized fridge and had a sink. No dishes and only 1 fork and 1 knife. There was no table where we could sit and eat. Bathroom floor looked dirty, but I think/hope it was the tile design (weird). Bathroom door would not stay open. Kept slamming shut with spring hinges. After a day of sightseeing, we decided to unwind with a drink and a TV program. To avoid the spotlight overhead, we turned on the kitchenette light. Pretty soon the light turned off, so we turned on the bedroom light instead, thinking something was wrong with it. Pretty soon that turned off as well, leaving the rooms in total darkness once again. Glad we were watching TV so there was some light in the otherwise pitch dark room. Aside from being extremely annoying, these motion sensor lights in the whole room are dangerous. The only light that would stay on was a wall mounted reading lamp by the bed. We left that on at all times (not while sleeping) so we wouldn't be in pitch dark when the motion lights shut off. This room was extremely overpriced for what it was and we did not enjoy it at all. We go to this town quite often, but we won't be...

I ask upon check in to have a room that would be in a quiet area of hotel. The manager put us in room 113. It was the worse hotel room I've ever stayed in. Outside my window was a huge exhaust fan that was so loud it vibrated the bed. Bedsides that it was just below a noisy bar restaurant at the hotel. After a horrible night we asked to cancel our second night as we were not happy with the hotel or the accommodations. The hotel was advertised as a boutique hotel with river views! It was on a pond and pictures on the website are way nicer than it actually is! Rooms have old dingy towels, crappy pillows and scratchy sheets! The manager said that was their policy to charge for both nights even though we were unhappy with the hotel but she would talk to the owner and see what she could do! We checked out at 8am on Saturday morning and I'm sure they could refilled the room which I am sure they did and just doubled dipped As They charged us for Saturday night! They said it's their policy to charge customers for the entire stay if they check out early! Well my policy is that if a hotel treats its customers that way I will tell everyone that you may want to book a room across the street at another hotel when visiting Praire du Chien! Throughout the entire hotel industry only 15% of all hotels have this type of policy! I've been in the hospitality industry for 20 years and I've never had a hotel charge me for a nights stay after I checked out! They charged me 500.00 for a one night stay! Shame on you...