Ship & Shore Motel Boatel — Hotel in Saugatuck

So let me start by saying, I very rarely write negative reviews because most of the time I think the people are just complaining unnecessarily, but the story goes like this. I called last night and asked whether or not the hot tub was going to be open and the young lady on the phone said, “ call back in the morning and talk to the manager. I know that she’s been putting chemicals in, but I’m not sure”, she was very friendly and just asked me to call in the morning. So I did call in the morning and I asked if the manager was there. The young lady said, “ what can I help you with? I might be able to help you”. I said, “ last night I called about the hot tub being open, and the young lady on the phone said that the manager was putting chemicals in that day, but that she was not sure if it was going to be open” . She replied to me, “that’s not how hot tubs work ma’am!” I replied,” I know how hot tubs work. I have one, but I’m not sure if that’s was what I am asking…. I’m just asking whether or not it will be open. I’m hoping it will be.” Then she said, “ma’am we can’t just open the hot tub for one person!” I was taken back…in my head I thought, I didn’t remember saying that and good lord why did she just treat me like I was a bratty 8 year old”. Strange. Am I dreaming.

Please train this young lady on a better choice of words when she answers the phone. I don’t need to be coddled, but just being polite and not accusing somebody of wanting a hot tub open just for them, goes a long way.

I wonder now if maybe my guest is the only one staying in the hotel this weekend, ( hence the one person comment) ..since it hasn’t opened quite yet for the season, and since really Saugutuck “opens” until late May due to it being a tourist town and perhaps she thought I was a tourist and didn’t know better. I am not. I am local and a friend is staying here. Not very nice to be talked AT…this why. Super unfriendly.

Next time just say, “I am so sorry ma’am it won’t be ready…we are doing our best to get everything open and ready for the season now”.

We only get words to communicate, and tone, choose...

We arrived the first weekend in November, the 2nd. It was pretty chilly. We go to our room around 5pm. The lady at the desk said she forgot to turn on the heat in our room so we could turn it on and it would heat up pretty quick. We go to our room and it was freezing. We could not take our coats off. We turned on the heat which was luke warm and we left and went to dinner while it was heating up. We told the lady at the front desk that the heater was not working great and if we came back and it was still cold, we would need to be moved. She told us she would go turn the heat on in another room just incase ours didn't warm up. We were out until about 11:30pm. When we got to our room, it was still cold. We go down to the front desk and there was only a security guard there. He tried to find another room for us, but apparently this place does not leave the heat on in the rooms so they were all cold! We found one where the heat kicked on and it was alot warmer then our room heater. We ended up moving to that room and it did get warmer after about 45 min. We didn't get the room with the good view that we booked originally though since we had to move. They have free breakfast in the morning, so we go down for breakfast, the cream cheese was not cold like its supposed to be and the milk was spoiled that was sitting out. I didn't even say anything at that point because I just wanted to shower and leave. I get down to the front desk and they did end up refunding me my $40 deposit, but the room was like $225 for 1 night. They could've refunded a little more than that. I will not go back...

I believe TripAdvisor does recommendations and star ratings based on the overall experience. |I think we’ve all had experiences where we stayed at five star hotels and were disappointed by the service or the location, or other things. The Ship ‘n Shore is in a five star location, which includes being directly on the Saugatuck (aka Kalamazoo River) channel out to Lake Michigan with beautiful views of Kalamazoo lake, and a constant parade of lovely boats to enjoy. |It also boasts the BARge, which is a really fun on-site restaurant/bar, including a rooftop setting, which is a lot of fun. From the Ship ‘n Shore you can walk anywhere in Saugatuck. There are a dozen good restaurants located within a five minute walk. The people who work here and run this place are absolutely wonderful and will take very good care of you. The pool|area alone is worth the stay. Not many things are better than sitting by the pool looking over Kalamazoo Lake and watching the boats go by. Another thing I can say is that the people who stay at Ship ‘n Shore are generally very fun and friendly. It goes with the territory. This may sound a little bit hard to believe, but my favorite hotels are the Ritz Carlton, South Beach, The Perry Hotel on Stock Island (Key West), the Kimpton Rowan in Palm Springs, and the Ship ‘n Shore in Saugatuck. The first three hotels have much fancier rooms and a lot of other five-star features, but for some reason, everyone falls in love with the Ship ‘n Shore....