Michillinda Lodge

If I could give it 0 stars I would! Where to start....I booked over 3 months in advance based off false info on their website about a beach and amenities and a photo which shows a cute individual "bungalow." Everything on the site reads as if this is an exclusive luxury resort and I believed it based on the price. Location was of utmost importance to me so I specifically asked in writing for a quiet bungalow with water view. When you get an email back that says "You got it!" silly me, I expected a quiet, stand alone bungalow like the picture, water view accommodation.

So we get there, it's "rustic" and not in a good way. ALL cabins are attached except the ONE they photographed (dishonest) and they basically sit in the middle of a gravel parking lot. I have stayed in some low-rent places in my day and this place takes the cake. Literally not even paper thin walls, it's as if your neighbor is in your space with no walls at all. If I had known it was a shared wall situation I would have booked elsewhere. If I had known the "water view" is outside the cabin, down a path, around a house, up a hill, and then out to some dangerously rickety, weatherbeaten platform missing lumber in places, I would have booked elsewhere.

A cabin behind the dance floor area for weddings (thank God no reception was taking place) tucked back in a tick infested woods, next to a rusty playground I would not let my children play on because it looked like one big safety issue, by a green swimming pool (real quiet location, huh) is NOT by any stretch of the imagination the "water view" I was promised.

The 400' beach mentioned on the website? Um, no beach. A place to eat within walking distance? Only if you mean spending $50 on a box of donuts, case of water, and three lukewarm hot dogs at the camp store down the road a "convenient place to eat" come on. Wifi didn't work. There was black mold all over the shower curtain and we killed 3 HUGE spiders before even unpacking and 2 more in the middle of the night, thanks to the daylight you can see under the door leading outside.

We were up since 3am traveling cross country so we had to make the best of it. Checked out first thing next day with the rudest, most condescending, pitiful excuse of a manager I've ever had the misfortune to come across. She asked why were we leaving early, and I told her-this place is horribly misrepresented. Literally it's glorified camping and that was NOT the experience I was promised. If the website told the truth about the accommodations I would have never booked here.

She then threatened to rescind the refund she was processing because I honestly answered her question. She tells me "Oh is it going to ruin your day, whatever! It's just one weekend of your life!" I stopped her right there and said-look-some of us have limited weekends left. This is the first vacation I have been able to take since BEATING CANCER. We had no reason to come to MI on this part of our trip *except* for this property. When I am shown a beautiful website and get an experience totally opposite of how you present yourself, on top of being promised something 3 months ago and not receive it, yes, it tends to ruin your weekend!

I held off on sharing my opinion for several weeks because my daughter left behind her pink pony in that hellhole of a room. I thought the manager who said "she personally cleans our cabin herself, it was fine, a little mold never killed anyone" would do the right thing and mail it back. No such luck.

So THANKS FOR NOTHING! You broke the heart of a child, profoundly disappointed a cancer survivor who looked forward to staying with you for MONTHS, and not only do you do a horrible job with customer service you do a horrible job with cleaning because my husband picked up poison ivy from your sheets! Maybe people would manage their expectations better if you didn't have FALSE ADVERTISING to begin with!

I am conflicted on how to rate this place. I went here for a wedding last weekend. It was one of the nicest weddings I have ever been too, however it was one of the worst rooms I've ever had.

The Good: The wedding was well organized. It was outside on a cliff overlooking Lake Michigan. Everything was well marked. The reception was also outside under big white tents and it was gorgeous. The food was incredible and I assume it was made here. It was buffet service with large white plates and great food. The service was friendly and speedy. The bartenders were nice. After the wedding the resort set up a bonfire with catered food and snacks and it was really nice and fun also. Lake Michigan is only 20 steps or so down from the resort. The resort has a nice pool, basketball, tennis, shuffleboard, and mini golf.

The Bad: The room was bad. It was a small, older room which was fine. It had a bed, chest of drawers, sink and bathroom. This was all it had. I'm serious. This place was missing amenities such as wall art, a clock radio, a screen without holes in it. There was no bar or hook in the closet area to hang up my suit for the wedding. There was no iron, no microwave, no mini-fridge, no TV. There is a lobby area but it's not used. We checked in at this old room in the basement covered in panelling and a complete mess. It was not professional at all.

The Ugly: I paid about $180 total for the room. I could get a four star hotel room in a major city on Hotels.com for that amount. There is no reason the room should have cost that much. It was stupid.

I'll give three stars for a great wedding, but that's the best I could do for getting bad motel room for the price of a four-star hotel.

We stayed two nights in the Hillside cabin.
Hillside 1 which is the entire upstairs is the way to go with a nice view of the lake from the balcony. This is a remodeled, very comfortable stay with great room, separate bedroom with king bed and full bathroom.
Though you're within 100 yards from Lake Michigan, there is no beach because you're on a cliff but there's a public beach just down the road.
Lea and company were great to work with.
Attached photo is a panorama from our Hillside 1 deck.
Hillside has unit 1 upstairs with units 2 and 3 downstairs. Renting all 3 units would be great for our entire family someday soon.
There are also two golf courses nearby.
Buzz's Lakeside, just up the road, is a nice place for perch, whitefish or a good salad.
There's outside seating and takeout available.

This is for the restaurant only! I didn't stay the night

But the food is great and servers are very helpful and kind prices are kinda high on every thing except for sandwiches prices are really good! Now they dont seem to have ac so I would suggest sitting outside in the shade.

The only reason I gave them 2 stars is because of the view of Lake Michigan. Technically they can't take credit for it but I'll give it to them anyway. If you are looking for a run down room, with little to no amenities, then this is the place for you. Our room was older, not very clean, water pressure was so low it was hard to brush your teeth, the a/c was an overly loud window unit the never shut off. Plus to top it off, I had bugs crawl on me while I slept. This room cost $200 for the night and I'm shocked how they they think they provided that level of service. I have stayed in 4 star hotels for the same rate if not even lower and the experience was worth it. This was not. You are better off booking at the Days Inn down the road.

Michillinda is a great place. I had prom here in 2010 before the fire and it was amazing and now I've booked them for my wedding next September. Most everything is great; rooms are clean, prices are reasonable and the location is beautiful. The reason I didn't give it a 5 star because I've been having trouble getting information from them. I will email them One day but not hear back for awhile and then I'll have to call. The woman I've been talking to is very nice, but I'm hoping once it's off-season, then I will be able to get more info!
Overall a great place! (just needs more staff)

BEWARE! THESE PEOPLE ARE COOPERATE CROOKS. We planned to have our wedding there so we put down a 500 dollar deposit. I'm in the navy and unfortunately I found I was getting deployed on our wedding date. So when they told this Lena (fake bitch secretary) she said the contract says since it's 5months and 10 days til our date, you have to pay a fee after 6 months! Its only a couple of days!!! So on top of our deposit she charges us 625 more. Whatever, Im military and could have shown paper work stating it's military mission essential and got out of the fee. Stupidly I didn't and thought I'd take the high road and just pay it. We made an agreement to pay 200 a month on the 15th. Our last payment she doesn't charge, today she said it was because she was "too busy". Earlier today on the 8th, when all military is broke before our pay check lol, she randomly charges me the last 225, and of course it bounced, so thats 30 tacked on thanks.. anythings she then calls my wife threatening collections and small claims court over this 225 that's due now, because they are closing for the season so she needs it now.... because she was "too busy", what a very organized and professional places. Not!

Owned by a couple of rich idiot croods, who only care about the quick Buck not you.

If you plan to have an event or just stay the night be certain cause they'll get there money regardless!

Sadly, pictures and descriptions of this property are inaccurate and deceptive. The resort suffered a devastating fire years ago and management has failed to maintain the property. When I booked my room this fall, I was led to believe that it was the last of two rooms available. In reality, only two rooms were inhabitable. Although the room was clean, the second story exterior entrance was dilapidated, the room was bare and unheated, and the water was brown and smelt. I immediately notified the management that the room was unsatisfactory and requested a refund. She assured me that she would issue a refund the next day, and I agreed to leave the keys in the room and left.
Instead of issuing a refund the host forged my signature on American Express documents and testified that she never received a complaint. Although I have witnesses to the contrary, it is not worth the aggravation. Please spare yourself a lot of grief, do not stay at this resort. I had a wonderful experience at this Lodge before it deteriorated under the new management.

Spent a long weekend for a wedding, and PRIOR to the event I knew things wouldn't go well. I had to call 3x in one day trying to get a question answered. Granted Lea (the SHADY manager) did finally answer about 5:00 p.m. responding that they are only open till 4:00 (times NOT stated on answering machine) and that she didn't return my call due to her going to a funeral. Ok I get it things come up but NO ONE else can return calls? I AGAIN called the day of to clarify instructions for late check in and AGAIN NO RETURN CALL
INSIDE are a TREMENDOUS amount of bugs!!! There is a mini fridge and a microwave, so I brought along a griddle to make breakfast as that can't be done on a community grill. At some point power goes out in our unit as well as adjoining unit, we contact (SHADY LEAH) who proceeded to tell me that I have too many things plugged in (no lights were on, no tv in our room, no radio ONLY the microwave and the mini fridge. When I told her she responds I am NOT TRYING TO BE NEGATIVE. She would only speak to my boyfriend from that point on. FINALLY as for the wedding we used the main kitchen to prepare the rehearsal dinner and decorate and AGAIN SHADY LEA walks up to a guest and states THEY SURE HAVE ALOT TO CLEAN UP, like the party hadn't even started! She also WITHOUT talking to anyone in the wedding party removed the decorations from the walls. We would have GLADLY done that in way more delicate manner!!!
The view was amazing but SHADY LEA and her UGLY attitude ruined much of the festivities!
*HOWEVER VIOLET FROM THE CLEANING CREW WAS SWEET, KIND, WARM AND WELCOMING*

SHAME ON THE LODGE FOR EMPLOYING PEOPLE LIKE LEA!!!

I recently organized a family reunion here for 42 people. Thanks to the staff at Michillinda and only minimal interference from the unpredictable weather, it went off without a hitch. The food is excellent, activities top-notch (and free!) and the location simply cannot be beat. I will echo other's notes that the staff went out of their way to help out at the drop of a hat.

Beware the poor reviews here. First, they're mostly all old reviews. Second, they are correct that some of the rooms are very outdated. That, however, is in the process of being changed and the rooms that have been updated look great. My room was one of those they had not yet hit, but really, If you're spending so much time in the hotel room that you notice or care about the outdated decor, you're missing the point of Michillinda Lodge. Get outside, enjoy the lake, the area and all the other stuff (swimming - pool or lake, basketball, volleyball, mini-golf, shuffleboard, etc) they have to offer!