BayShore Resort — Hotel in Put-in-Bay Township

Daylight Robbery. Booked an overnight Fri/Sat. This hotel declined to tell us that they did not have running water at the time. I found out through a friend that lives on the island while I was on my way up. When I called and explained that I would be requesting a refund due to them not having running water, the front desk woman seemed shocked that I did not want to pay $450 for a night at a hotel with no running water. After some debate, the hotel clerk explained they would be giving us a full refund within 24-48 hours and to check booking.com for our money back. I called booking.com and confirmed this. 9 days later I had still not received my refund. I called booking.com. Advised that the hotel approved the refund, they just needed a manager confirmation in writing. The Booking agent placed me on hold, called the hotel and requested a manager. The booking agent explained to me that he was told the manager was not available at the time, and encouraged me to expedite the process by calling the hotel myself. I called the hotel again - explained my situation to the same desk clerk who assured me that the manager was just busy. The clerk assured me the manager was VERY good at his job and advised me to call later that day. I called 4 hours later & was told that the manager had not returned her texts. She advised to call the following day. Following day came & I called at opening time. Same clerk stated that the manager was busy in meetings & assured she would send him a text and he would get right back to me, again stating he is VERY good at his job. 6 hours later I called again and was advised that the manager is a very busy man who owns lots of property. I advised that it was going on 14 days missing $450 to a hotel I couldn't use due to no fault of my own. Once again I was informed on how good the manager was at his job & was told to call back the next day. This time, I provided my cellphone # before behind hung up on. Following day I call at 8AM and left a message requesting a call back. I did not receive a call, so I called at 11AM where the same clerk answered the phone. I asked for the manager directly. I was then transferred to the after hours work order phone. Called again, got the same clerk who told me she's still waiting to hear back from the manager and that I should call again tomorrow. This prompted me to call booking.com back to see if there was a workaround due to the manager apparently never answering his phone, returning calls, or having a phone that makes outbound calls. I repeated the process of being put on hold for 30 min with booking.com just to be told by someone clearly reading a script that they would call over to the hotel, and every time they would call the hotel they would come back on the line after holding for another 30 min to tell me that I would not be receiving a refund without written approval from the manager, and that when they called over to the hotel, the manager was not in. I was then advised by them to contact the hotel myself directly to "expedite the process" I would then call the hotel and get the same desk clerk would once again assure me how good the manager was at his job. I explained that this was now going on almost 14 days with no return phone call, no refund, and no response to any of my calls or messages she would tell me to call back the following day because he is so busy owning so much property. I repeated the process of calling booking.com, to be told to call the hotel, and then calling the hotel to get the same desk clerk that would tell me one of the following lines: Insist she would pass a message and the manager is really busy but REALLY good at his job Hang up on me Tell me to call at 7pm (they close at 7pm) Transfer me to after hours support I have done this every day for 5 straight days. I have not received a text, call, or e mail from anyone from the hotel. The hotel is now "Out of season" and will only be answering calls on the weekends. Still no refund, text, e mail or return call to this day going on almost...

I am not posting this as to bash the "resort" but more to hopefully help others to avoid the disappointment we had staying here. First off the hotel is in a great location and has nice views of the lake. Only reason I gave an extra star. We were on the first floor so we could easily walk out to the Tiki bar or pool and get closer to the lake. We had a building right in front of our porch area blocking majority of our lake view though. Upon entering our room the first day there, there was a strong musty smell to the room. Definitely not pleasant. The bathroom had an awful odor in the shower and made taking showers very unpleasant. Had to leave the fan on in the bathroom the entire time with door closed to keep that odor from going into our room. Also, just looked and felt dirty...the room had no coffee maker, fridge or microwave. We both drink coffee every morning and there is no place on the island that opens before 7 am. So if you are an early riser and want your coffee first thing in the morning, you have to wait. Don't love that there was no complimentary coffee offered either. They have a coffee shop in the lobby but you have to pay for it. 😒 We also had issues with our room key working. We had to go to the desk every day, sometimes a couple times a day to get it reprogrammed. The lady at the desk was very apologetic and said they are aware of the issues with the keys and working to getting it fixed. I also didn't love that one of the mornings someone was vacuuming outside of our room rather early in the morning while we were trying to sleep. For the price we paid I expected a little more. Tiki Bar closes at 9:00 as well...We also tried to rent a golf cart the first day and they didn't have any available. This was on a Sunday and we were staying through Thursday and wanted to have a cart rental the entire time. Which it ended up working out in our favor because we walked a minute down the road to AB Cart Rental, and they were half the price for their overnight cart rental...We plan on making this a yearly trip and this will not be our go to spot. Definitely not a resort and nicer places to stay on the island for a cheaper rate as well. Wish I would have done more research. Honestly shocked by some of the 5 star reviews for this place. Maybe we just got a bad room and the rest were in better...

Not worth the money!

Let’s start with the positive. The view and location are great (close to downtown, but not in the heart of it). It is a waterfront hotel and the view does not disappoint. However, the view does not compensate for the other issues.

The negatives.

This hotel is 300 bucks a night. However, there is no daily housekeeping- no changing bed linens, emptying trash, replenishing toilet paper etc. We had to ask for clean towels and washcloths cloths every day. I’ve had daily housekeeping in hotels that were half the price.

The shower is a stand up shower- no bathtub or handrails. This was very problematic for my disabled family members.

Amenities were poor for a “resort”- no continental breakfast, no gym, the room did not have a mini fridge or coffee maker. The rooms are also rundown and could use an upgrade ASAP.

The tv was small and the remote did not work. The front desk clerk told me that “we have problems with the remotes”. The front desk clerk came to my room with three remotes until one finally worked. When I tried changing the channels the remote still wasn’t working and the hotel clerk told me it would “go slow”.

There were many times that no one was at the front desk. However, when there was someone at the front desk they often did not have answers to questions. Especially when our cards had to be reprogrammed multiple times.

The parking lot does not have enough spaces for golf carts and cars. This made for an extremely frustrating point of contention that should not exist at a resort.

Lastly, both a family member and I left with bites. I don’t think they were bed bugs, as I found ants in our room- in the counter and in my bed (I have pictures). Perhaps they are spider bites. All I know is that we were both bitten by something at Bayshore Resort.

I believe you get what you pay for. I don’t mind spending a bit more money to have an experience . However, I wanted my family to have a “resort” experience while at Put in Bay and the Bayshore Resort was anything but.

Do not be enamored by the view as the services, and lack of resources, leaves a lot...