Bavarian Haus Lakefront Inn — Hotel in Saint Ignace

🏰🏰🏰🏰🏰 (5 out of 5 castles)

Take a journey with me to the magical land of St. Ignace, Michigan, where once a year, classic and contemporary car enthusiasts unite in a grand parade of polished chrome and roaring engines. But this review isn't about the motor-mania that seizes the town; no, it's about the authentic Bavarian sanctuary that welcomed our group of eight roadsters with open arms and endless laughs - The Bavarian Haus Lake Front Inn.

As we rolled into the property, a view of Lake Huron spread out before us like a dreamy landscape painting, complete with swans for that extra Bob Ross flair. However, the real stars of the show were waiting for us indoors. As we stepped into the front office, we were greeted by a couple of jocular gals whose personalities were as warm as their Michigan accents. If the hotel gave out gold stars for staff, these two would be carrying around enough weight to resemble medieval knights!

They checked us in with the kind of hospitality that makes you feel like you've accidentally stumbled into a family reunion. Their humor was as sharp as a well-aged cheddar and twice as satisfying. If you were working that Friday & Saturday, ladies, let me tell you, you didn't just rock - you rocked, rolled, and absolutely owned it! If you cannot recall me, just think "Long Island" lady :)

The accommodations at the Bavarian Haus Lake Front Inn were like a stein of frothy German beer - wonderfully satisfying and leaving you wanting more. Each room was as meticulously prepared as a Bavarian pretzel, every tiny detail carefully thought out and crafted with love. So much so, that we decided to book our rooms for next year before we'd even unpacked our luggage!

The staff, whether they were from the front office or housekeeping, were engaging and fun. They treated us not as just guests, but as long-lost friends they were thrilled to see again. Their conversations were as refreshing as a dive into Lake Huron, their jokes had us laughing harder than a comedy night at the local tavern, and their service was more seamless than a German autobahn.

Overall, our stay at The Bavarian Haus Lake Front Inn was more satisfying than finding a pristine '69 Mustang at a garage sale. The staff, the rooms, the view, and the atmosphere created an experience more unforgettable than a weekend at Oktoberfest. If you're heading to St. Ignace for the car show, or any other occasion, make sure you secure a spot at this gem of an inn. Because if you don't, we just might...

My family and I have stayed here previously when visiting my parents in nearby Trout Lake, and were always happy with the service and accommodations. Unfortunately, that customer service ended rather abruptly tonight when I had to cancel our reservation for tomorrow (March 31) due to the winter storm warning issued, specifically warning against hazardous travel conditions. I'm simply not risking my family's safety, and instead was planning on rescheduling to possibly next weekend.

I called Bavarian Haus to talk about options, as I had noticed on the Expedia page that we made our reservations through that we would be charged the full night's stay for canceling or changing our reservation this late. As this winter storm was totally out of our control, and it would simply not be safe to drive into, I thought I could work something out with the hotel. Sadly, I was wrong.

The woman working the front desk who answered the phone the first time I called (at about 8:43pm) flatly stated since the reservation was made on the website that I had to deal with that. So I canceled the reservation and was charged the full price, per the typical hotel policy. Fair enough. I was hoping due to the extenuating circumstances, in addition to our now-regular visits, that perhaps we could simply reschedule and not be charged for a night we would not be staying.

I called the front desk again (8:52pm) and stated who I was and that I had called a few minutes ago. I got a very annoyed "Yeah" in response from the same woman I spoke with earlier and realized that she was not interested in helping me in any way, shape or form, and that I must have been inconveniencing her in some way. I apologized for bothering her and explained that I could tell she was not interested in helping me. I further stated that my family would not be staying at Bavarian Haus Lakefront Inn ever again and that I hoped the $105 I was being charged was worth it, as they were now losing any future revenue from what will be numerous visits my family will be making to the area.

This is some of the worst customer service I have ever dealt with, and my family and I look forward to staying at a competitor's hotel in the St. Ignace area in the hopes of having a more positive experience if I ever find myself in a similar situation.

I recommend avoiding...

I wish I could leave no stars. I stayed here years ago and remembered quite liking it, but apparently it’s fallen down hill since then. This was honestly the worst hotel experience I’ve ever had. We paid $509 for 2 nights, which now feels like an extortionate price. When we first arrived, the staff seemed friendly enough while checking in, and they handed us the keys to our room. Arriving to the room that was written on the envelope, the key didn’t fit in the lock; and that’s when we noticed the key was for a room on the floor above. Figuring it was a mistake, we went to that room and let ourselves in. It was very clear that people had just recently checked out from this room as it had not been cleaned by housekeeping. We went back to the lobby to tell the staff about the error, and the lady working the desk went on a long rant about how another woman working keeps messing up the keys and can’t do her job, while the man working actually SLAMMED his hands down against desk while YELLING “god dammit!”, making both my girlfriend and I extremely uncomfortable. They gave us new keys to a room, and we went in. The room had been “cleaned” but clearly not very well. Right away we noticed the entryway mirror had several smudges on it, and I wish we would say that was the worst of the issues. The first thing we noticed in the bathroom was the mold. Then, leftover pee on the back of the toilet that hadn’t been cleaned up. The blankets had suspicious crusted spots, maybe burned from the dryer or maybe due to not being washed.. for our sanity, we chose to give the benefit of the doubt (and not use that blanket..) Aside from the general uncleanliness, the room itself had several unsavory “quirks.” The latch for locking our door was busted and barely hanging on by its screws. The light in the bathroom emitted a strange amount of heat, so we immediately turned it off and didn’t use for the remainder of the stay. However, we did notice that the “heat lamp” had actually previously BURNED the top of the door. Aside from the room, the beach itself was okay. Trash littered all across, but otherwise fine.. The highlight of our stay was the surprisingly decent breakfast with an array of options (and of course.. the company of my beautiful girlfriend.) All to say, for better or for worse, it was definitely...