Scandinavian Lodge — Hotel in Sister Bay

This was our 12th consecutive year traveling to Door County for the July 4 holiday. The first six years we rented lodging at a smaller resort in Egg Harbor and moved to the Scandinavian Lodge in 2014 looking for more space.

The outdoor pool is nice. The water temperature is warm so that regardless of sun or outdoor air temperature, the pool remains enjoyable. The past two years, however, the pool has been soured by obnoxious large groups of people. Last week's group had a family of 16 people all in the pool at the same time. The balance of the pool guests were pushed to outside corners as the 16 had their merry way with whatever it was they wanted to do regardless of others in the pool; NOT FUN.

Three complaints and the one-star rating. First, in 30 years of travel and vacation rentals, it has ALWAYS been our experience the vacation property providing the opportunity to rent the same unit for the next year's stay. Many of the reviews of the Scandinavian Lodge speak of feeling at home while on vacation. For the past five years, we have rented the same unit for the same week each year. This year when attempting to make a reservation for the same room next year 2020, not available as somebody requested the room. WTF Scandinavian Lodge? You are a vacation rental property selling vacation memories. What must be understood about the Scandinavian Lodge, all rooms ARE NOT THE SAME. Each are furnished by individual owners. Furnishings are different, some good, some bad. My parents quit staying at the lodge because their furnishings were so uncomfortable. This is not a Marriott and you are not guaranteed comfort regardless of what room you are assigned; thus the anger at not getting the same unit for next year 2020.

Then there is the air conditioning. Simply put, the air conditioning does not work. Our unit had two bedrooms separated by a living space between. The master bedroom has an ac unit. The living room has an ac unit. The guest bedroom has a ceiling fan and is intended to be cooled by the living space ac unit. The guest bedroom was miserably hot and humid. As the ac units really don't work, they not only fail to provide cool air, they do not remove any of the humidity out of the room. The lodge's solution, a temporary ac unit was installed in our room. It provided some cool air but nothing like having an actual ac unit that cools and takes water out of the air. You have been forewarned! If it is hot outside, you will be miserable in your room. Keep in mind, we let the lodge know in 2017 the ac was not working, let the lodge know in 2018 the ac was not working, and well 2019...

Finally there is the wifi or lack there of. We had two high school Seniors along on this trip both studying for ACT and SAT exams. Preparing college entrance applications. Almost impossible without a solid wifi connection. Finally in frustration, I took a speed test of the internet connection speeds. The first six test attempts, three failed as the speed was too slow to start the test. The seventh test failed with wifi dropping out completely and the phone calculating the current LTE connection speed. If you are thinking wifi will be available for tablets, laptops or streaming, you are dreaming. The wifi is absolutely horrible! Actually no excuse for poor wifi in 2019.

So in closing, if air conditioning is not a concern during summer months, not an issue. If you don't mind being assigned a room regardless of your past stays, not an issue. If you enjoy AOL and your dial-up connection, Scandinavian Lodge has a deal for you. We are disappointed in having to find a new location for our July 4...

Have stayed here a couple times. They are decent accomodations, but not as good as the previous visit. Maybe some issues are due to the pandemic and labor shortages, not sure. The building is starting to show its age. This is not intended to be critical but just my observations and opinion on things I saw while staying at the Scandinavian Lodge. I'm sure the owners and workers are doing the best they came despite current circumstances. Some of the issues we noticed during our stay, if fixed would have made it at least a 4 or if not a 5 star rating. Elevator wasn't working when we arrived instead of just giving us to a unit on the main level they asked if we were ok carrying our luggage downstairs, which we were fine with. Looking back we probably should have requested being moved, it was kind of a hassle and seeing that it wasn't very crowded, they had plenty units available. Some of the luggage carts need attention, had flat tires. The front door thresholds are very inconvenient for pushing luggage carts through. Driveway was very icy making it slippery to walk to the car. The cold weather and blowing snow didn't help but they could put some sand and salt down for better traction. Hopefully nobody falls and gets seriously hurt. Housekeeping or maintenance should check rooms for any issues, especially during the slower times of the year. Here are some things I noticed with the unit which for the most part, could be easily fixed a) The outside door needs new or better weatherstripping, cold air leaks in constantly, making it hard to keep room at a steady temperature. Maybe there's nothing that can be done with the door. It was super hot under the pillows on the bed as the register is right under the headboard and chilly in the rest of the room. Although the bathroom did have its own thermostat which was nice and could keep it warm. b) Light above table was either burnt out or not working. c) Bathroom sink needed to be unclogged, it drained very slowly. d) Tile on whirlpool tub coming loose with sharp edges popping up. e) It would be nice if the fireplace had a blower motor to push the hot air out, this would help keep the room warmer.

To wrap things up- I realize we could have requested a different unit instead of hauling our luggage downstairs, that's our fault. Although, a more customer friendly host should have never told us our room was downstairs and just put us on the main level, especially since they seemed to have plenty rooms available. We also could have asked them fix some of the things in our unit while we were staying there. It's more of a inconvenience for me to have someone come in our room during our vacation to fix things. These things can be easily checked by housekeeping and fixed between stays without disrupting someone's vacation. Forward thinking and having checklists/procedures for regular maintenance would make for better upkeep and more satisfied customers. Hopefully some of these things can be fixed for next person who stays in the...

The staff was very friendly, but the whole place smelled bad. The bedding in our room was outdated by at least 35 years (fake suede-cloth). Worst of all, THEY DO NOT CLEAN THE TOILET, SINKS, SHOWER, OR TUB on a daily basis!!!! Only once every THREE days!!! All they do is make the bed, and replace any towels you leave on the floor. There was NO BLANKET on the bed--just a sheet and a rather grimy bedspread (the fake suede). The bedspread as though it had NEVER been washed. The hot tub in the pool area was disgusting! It had a gray/black ring around the entire thing. It smelled awful, despite the overwhelming smell of chemicals it exuded. The whirlpool bathtub in our room didn't look much better. We couldn't use it because there were no grab bars anywhere near it. (We will be reporting this fact to the proper authorities.)The tv had 4 remotes for some odd reason, and a hand-written note that read "please use Charter remote." (Why don't they throw the other 3 away???) Oh--a maid knocked the remote off the nightstand when she remade the bed with the dirty sheets, and she just left it there for us to dig around behind the headboard and find. The room had an intercom that led to nowhere, and a remote control for a fan that did not exist. The heat control was not marked--we had to guess where it was (and what the odd white knob was forfor after trying to figure out how to turn down the heat in the smelly, stifling-hot room. The fireplace (gas) had a timer. Shortly after the flame shut off, we heard a loud BANG as a piece of the fireplace trim launched itself into the air. The towels (you only get 2 bath towels, 2 hand towels, and two washcloths, although the towel holder was made for more), were a sickening shade of tan. They obviously never saw bleach. There was no grab bar in the shower, either--another reportable fact. The lamps and blinds were old, cracked, and dingy. The two upholstered chairs in our room were grimy--disgustingly filthy. Also obviously from 1980. The door to the back patio area had broken blinds on it. There were only TWO hangers in the closet. We stayed during some cold days in early April, so once we hung up our coats there were no hangers for robes, sport jackets, dress, etc. There were 2 towels that were to be used for the pool--JUST TWO. If you want to swim more than once a day, you either have to use wet towels or dry them at your own expense in the laundry room. The door to the room had to be locked with a key every time we left. Not very safe, as there was no chain on the door or any extra security to keep the maids out if we didn't want them to come in while we were sleeping. There was no "Do Not Disturb" sign, either. There is NO breakfast or food of any kind served in the morning. (I'm sure the restaurants in the area like that.) Coffee is out in the morning, but disappears before afternoon. The place needs extensive cleaning--lobby, carpets, rooms, pool, hot tub, EVERYTHING-- and a serious refurbishing of linens, chairs,...