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Glen Arbor, MI

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The Homestead

2.5 (121 reviews)
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Worn out ancient decor.
Colin K.

This very high priced resort ruined our long-planned attempt at a luxury vacation. We desperately needed the break, and got only pain. Had to leave after one awful day-- they knew the blinds didn't work in a premium beach front unit, but they sold the room anyway, leaving us with an unusable unit with the bed exposed to view of everyone walking by. Maintenance guy left an insulting note and in person was like the note. Had to move to a much lesser room just to have a place to sleep at 10pm... front desk was great, undermanned but trying, making me feel embarrassed for them. And the entire area is booked, so we had to just go home. I would love to love the place. Been there before and it was overpriced but nice. Now it looks like the interiors haven't had a dime put into them for a couple decades... the exteriors were not painted in the spring, and even the amazing grounds are showing wear. Way understaffed. Seriously, the nearly $500 premium room was furnished with stuff I wouldn't have in my basement.

Hotel room 2 queen beds

We visited Glen Arbor this fall and had a great time staying in the Fiddlers Pond hotel! Our room was cozy and looked exactly like the photos online. We also had a great view from our balcony. The night we got there they had live music outside, bonfires, and an outdoor bar area. There are 2 restaurants and a market shop on the property where we ordered a veggie pizza which was very good! We overall enjoyed our stay and would like to come back again in the future!

A few years since I've been there but very disappointed in the property. Stayed at the resort last weekend in July, 2022. Facilities were dated, in various states of disrepair, and worn down. Until the facilities are updated across the board I would not recommend staying there. I was not alone in expressing my disappointment as the woman who checked out before me was similarly unimpressed. Photos of the state of disrepair attached (though limited, evidence such as this is everywhere, from buildings to shops closed to weeds and poor landscaping). For close to $500 a night this was a mess. Location is great. Staff was very friendly. Food at the beach was very good.

Broken doors
Amber J.

First off, I want to preface this off by saying, MY HUSBAND AND I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND LOW STAFFING DUE TO COVID AND THE TIMES. We are beyond understanding of those circumstances. This was beyond that... We arrived on a Friday and stayed at the Stony Brook Lodge. The room was whatever, nothing to ride home about. The doors all needed repairs and were difficult to open/shut. We decided to check out the gym on the lower level and it was absolutely disgustingly dirty, with only 3 machines. I'll just let the pictures do the speaking ... The next morning, my husband went to cavanaugh's to get breakfast . He said the staff was unfriendly and cold. The breakfast sandwiches we had were laughable. Cold and soggy. PLEASE GO INTO TOWN FOR BREAKFAST and don't waste your time here... Saturday around 3:40, we showed up to Whiskers(the outdoor bar/restaurant on the property)... we sat at the outdoor bar for about 15 minutes with no one around . Didn't think anything of it... thought maybe they were still getting things going... until the bar tender came into the bar area and literally didn't even acknowledge us. For probably another 10 + minutes he sat there and cut fruit and went about his business, without even looking in our direction. My husband and I were SO confused; we weren't even sure if he was the bartender or not and checked google again to make sure the place was open. I then walked inside and asked the cooks that were standing there if they were in fact even open and if the man outside was the bartender(because he kept walking away and returning)... They said "yes, that's him, he's a little reserved , so you just have to start talking to him"... Ru kidding me? ...Ok? The rest of that whole experience was odd and off putting to say the least. This cozy "outdoor bar" experience , was literally what I had most looked forward to after looking at pictures of this place. Complete bust. As for the actual door picture I posted... As I said earlier, all of the doors in the hotel room needed repair. Well the last night of our stay, my husband left to meet up with an old friend and I noticed that the balcony door lock was completely nonfunctional. The lock came out only a tiny bit and would not latch completely . Albeit unlikely that anyone would break into a room from a balcony door , I was here alone with my 4 month old baby through the evening and into the night... so I was uncomfortable . At the end of the day, THE $692 DOLLARS WE PAID for two nights at this place ... was just a complete waste of time and money. For that kind of money, there are SO many other incredible places in Michigan and this was TRULY not at all "the hidden gem" it was made out to be on the internet.

Small fridge but decent tub

For the price of this "resort" we will not be returning. We went for our anniversary. You'd be better off in Traverse City. Pros: -Welcome center staff are nice -Beach is not busy and the water was great (some rocks in the water to walk through though) -Decent size tub in our Little Belle room Cons: -Trash was never emptied in common areas -Staff in at restaurant bar seemed annoyed doing their job. -Many sprinklers were broken (see pic for the one at the entry to the beach parking lot) -Room carpet was damaged and hurt when you stepped on it (edge was turned up) -coffee maker was dirty in room -room deemed damp even though AC was on -TVs were small in room -refrigerator was small in room -Towels ran out at pool, no ETA when they would have more -parking for beach was not close as a bridge was out. -The restaurant was booked for 3 weeks, so we went to Traverse City to eat. No callback when leaving a message for restaurant. -

Carpet Frayed

For a resort this place needs work. The restaurants are all poor service and mediocre food at best. Room had carpet that was frayed and stained curtains. The gutter outside my entrance was plugged and dumping water over the edge drenching anyone who had to go to our room. The room service was good and pleasant.

Cute Welcome Center, inside is decorated beautifully!

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LeBear Resort Luxury Residential Club

LeBear Resort Luxury Residential Club

(4 reviews)

A friend found this resort when we were looking for somewhere to go for a girl's weekend. We stayed…read morein a third floor penthouse. I can sum up Lebear with one word: WOW. Absolutely amazing. A beautiful spacious apartment, with three bedrooms and two full bathrooms. It easily slept the six of us and we did not feel the least bit over crowded. As there was a group of us the price really was pretty reasonable for the weekend. While family friendly, it could be a bit pricey. The kitchen comes with everything you need from dinner ware to dish soap. There is a large grill on the private porch besides the stove top and oven. Two fireplaces (one is gas and the other you have to light for which they provide all needed materials). There are two flat screen TVs in the main rooms, another in the master bedroom and a small one in the bunk room. The shower in the master bath is huge and there is also a separate large tub. The best part is the large porch that overlooks the beach and Lake Michigan. It wraps around the side around to the back. the view of the lake and Sleeping Bear Dunes is beautiful. The resort also has a gym, outdoor pool and hot tub. Blu, a restaurant I highly recommend, is attached. There is also free wifi (they provide a password). The staff was also amazing, expect to be treated like an honored guest. They take care if anything you might need, even marsh mellows. The only slightly negative thing is that Lebear is a bit off on its own in Glen Arbor. The wineries are about a half hour away which was reasonable. Glen Arbor is small but charming. There are several shops, a couple bars (try Art's Tavern) and a grocery store. The resort is a very short walk from the town.

This review is really more of a 4.5. Absolutely beautiful location and accommodations; very…read morefamily-friendly, great amenities. There are all sorts of tiny details that make Lebear a special place, such as cucumber-ice water by the pool, cookies in the kitchen, and free and easy kayak use on site. The location is excellent. We have stayed at the Homestead in years past, but the Lebear location really sets it apart as it is a quick walk to the grocery stores, restaurants and shops in Glen Arbor. My only complaint is a minor one, and it's just that the bedroom situation is a little funky. In all three of the units I saw, the master bedroom was perfect, but the two smaller guest rooms left much to be desired. One of the bedrooms has a nice queen bed and bunk beds and the other has a double or queen-sized trundle bed. I would think to put the trundle bed in the room with the bunk beds (making it more of a "kids" room) and leave the nice queen-sized bed in its own room. Also, the hallway lighting outside of the two smaller guest rooms was extremely bright at night and made it very difficult to sleep.

Northland Vacation Rentals

Northland Vacation Rentals

(3 reviews)

After I booked on Airbnb for the very first time and paid over $1000, half the total cost as a…read moredeposit, Northland Vacation Rentals texted to say the rate I had booked was now DOUBLE and I could either pay the difference or cancel. By the way, if I cancel, they are entitled to keep half my total fee. How is this not a crime? Do not book with Northland Vacation Rentals. If you want to throw away your money, give it to a good cause, not these crooks.

My family and I had the unfortunate experience of dealing with Connie Kroll, who was "managing" the…read moreproperty we rented. We drove 7 hours to arrive at a rental house on Lake Michigan. Upon arrival we noticed 10 or so sewer bugs. They placed a couple fruit fly traps above the kitchen sink that didn't seem to be helping. Each day that passed the bugs got worse and worse. They were in both the bathroom and kitchen. A sulfur smell coming from the drains, accompanied the bugs. We notified Connie about the unsanitary conditions of the house and she told us to go buy drain gel. We were frustrated with her lazy response but desperate to enjoy our vacation as we were spending $270/night. The bugs were swarming at this point and we weren't comfortable spending time in the kitchen. After pouring 2 bottles of drain cleaner in each of the drains there was no change in the condition of the pipes or bugs. We notified Connie and she said there was nothing more she could do. Since the situation was just getting worse we decided to leave the unsanitary house a go home early. Connie refused to refund us for the days we did not stay at the house. She was completely unprofessional. We contacted her several times during our stay for various reasons and she was unresponsive. Additionally, one of the reasons we rented the house was because it had internet which my husband and I needed to stay connected to work. We were promised internet and didn't have it until the last day of our stay. We reached out to Connie 4 or 5 times before she did anything. Additionally there was no sponge in the house to clean dishes and no fitted sheets on the bunk beds. RENTERS BEWARE!

Snug Harbor - No safety bar for the top bunk - we improvised

Snug Harbor

(1 review)

We just finished a week at the Snug Harbor rental house on the east side of Big Glen Lake. We've…read morebeen coming to the Leelanau peninsula for over 30 years, most of them on Big Glen or the big lake nearby. We stayed at Snug Harbor 7 years ago, when it had different owners. While the new owners have replaced the dark green carpet on the main floor with vinyl plank, and replaced kitchen appliances, this rental is nowhere near worth the weekly fee of nearly $8,000. The memory foam beds in the three adult bedrooms are well past their prime, and extremely uncomfortable. EXTREMELY. UNCOMFORTABLE. I took pictures but it's difficult to show how compressed the mattresses are. Trust me. They're bad. The pier system 7 years ago was expansive, and is still pictured on the rental website. But the new owners skimped and only installed about half of what was there, leaving the rest of it unassembled on the shore (pictures show existing pier and unused sections on the shore). Rather limited in size, when the house boasts being able to accommodate 10 to 12 or people. The shower in the shared upstairs bathroom, which we'd allocated to the three young ones, was unusable. It leaks into the downstairs bathroom. There's also a leak from the master bath to the ceiling fan in the garage that is converted to a workout room (with carpet) below. The toilet seat in the girls bathroom was broken and we had to have someone come replace it. The propane tank on the grill was empty. After we told the rental company we didn't want to drive back to town to make our own exchange they brought us a full one. But the grill likely needs burner replacements as the ignition wouldn't work and my husband had to go buy a scripto lighter to get it going, and then it didn't stay on because apparently the burner holes are clogged. This kept us from using the grill again for a dinner or two, which we'd planned. The power went out for two days due to a storm, which is no ones fault. The house has a generator, but it only has selective circuits which don't include the oven/range so you can't cook. It would have been nice to be able to use that darn unreliable grill! And two of the bedroom ac units were not connected. This prompted one family to leave early. There are kayaks but no paddles. They are probably locked in the boat house which was available to us 7 years ago, so obviously the new owners don't want to allow renters to use them. The top bunk bed in the kids room doesn't have a safety rail. We had to bring up the ladder from the downstairs bunk bed to make sure the little one on the top bunk didn't fall. We took the ladder from a tiny bunk room on the main floor (too small to call a bedroom). Not one nonstick fry pan, no sharp knives, not enough plates for a group, and the Ac unit in first floor bedroom wouldn't shut off and cooled to 60s without turning off - had to control temp manually. Finally, swimmers itch is always a concern. But being on the east side of Big Glen this year also did in several of us it was so bad.

The True North Property Management

The True North Property Management

(14 reviews)

Booked 539 Bay * Walk-Out Garden Residence | Bay Views 104E for a weekend in August in Traverse…read moreCity. Good location. Unfortunately, there were ants all over one bedroom and bathroom and kitchen areas. When we contacted management, they apologized for the inconvenience, and said they would find a solution. They contacted their maintenance team and were getting it scheduled. No updates and no solution. No maintenance came. We'd also had an emergency communication elevator alert beeping outside our door. We reported as well as others in the building had. They noted to us that they addressed with maintenance. No one came to fix it. There was also a rubber strip missing from the bottom of the shower door, which led to water pouring onto the bathroom floor. There were light bulbs out. There was trash not cleaned up on the floor around the bed. On the last day, prior to check out time and prior to my checking out on the portal, the cleaning service arrived to clean. Disappointing.

We booked a home in Grand Haven in March. About 30 days before our trip, they called and asked us…read moreto move our dates a week later. They said the owners wanted to use the property for their daughter. I explained that we are flying from Arizona to Michigan for this vacation so we have airfare, time off work, time off school etc for 7 people. A few days later I received a very generic email stating the property we booked was no longer available. They suggested another property (same town but very different walkability, different bathroom count, different setup). Had I cancelled this late in the game I would have been responsible for 50% payment (mind you I had already paid in full). There was zero concession offered, zero apology, zero kindness. To add insult to the situation, I still receive automated texts regarding my upcoming arrival. So I had to scramble to find another place (with less than 30 days) and pay that in full while awaiting a refund on my first booking. Epic failure in customer service.

Nature - A Michigan Retreat - This is the adventure Glamping tent

Nature - A Michigan Retreat

(13 reviews)

We had our wedding at Nature beginning of July this year (2023).From our first engagement with…read moreBryan (owner) when we discovered the venue a year prior, we knew that Nature was a special place and was going to be a perfect backdrop for our wedding. Bryan is extremely thoughtful in his caretaking of the property: it's a beautiful building and the grounds are spectacular. He also genuinely takes pride in his ability to help curate an atmosphere that is unique to you as a couple, which is something that is not found in many property owners. We took full advantage of all of Nature's offerings, including having 70 of our friends on site with us in the glamping tents Friday and Saturday night. The glamping experience truly made our wedding so unique and magical: there is a huge fire pit in the middle of the woods that added countless hours for creating memories. The glamping accommodations were bougie enough for even the most high maintenance of our friends: everyone was comfortable and raved about their experience! When our original plan for hosting a Sunday brunch fell through at the 11th hour, Bryan graciously let us host the brunch at Nature, once again showing his accommodating nature (no pun intended). One thing I will say is that this venue is not for those who are looking for full service planning and coordination. We did hire a weekend coordinator (who did a great job) but even despite having her onboard, we had an incredible amount of help from family and friends to pull this off. There's no way we could've had the wedding of our dreams without the support from everyone including Bryan, but just fair warning that this venue is very much a DIY blank canvas and requires you as the hosts to be flexible, so make sure you're up for it! We would change not a single thing and would recommend Nature to anyone looking to host a unique and memorable gathering.

Nice setting! Stop there! There aren't any cabins aside from the one that the two workers stay…read morein! The rest are tents purchased at Walmart. We had spiders the size of frogs in our tent all over! The owner made the wedding party put sheets on the tents, take the garbage out, sweep the floor of the tented banquet area, we had to set up table and chairs for reception, we had to set up chairs for the ceremony, again all while he and his two workers are sitting and watching us. He literally had the audacity to sit and watch all of us work! It's a shame they are willing to run this type of operation for such special occasions. My hunch is it won't last long!

The Homestead - skiresorts - Updated October 2026

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