Harbor Inn Self Check-in Hotel

Perfect spot to stay in Grand Marais! We were able to walk everywhere. Would definitely stay again.The room was clean and comfortable and a nice size for our family of four. Enjoyed the table and chairs outside the door. You can tell the owners are updating the space and outside. Doing a nice job.

Simple straight forward motel. Very comfortable beds. Our first floor room had two beds, table and chairs and a table and chair outside. Easy walking to everything in town. The lakeshore is right across the street. We would stay here again.

My wife and I vacationed along lake superior and heard Grand Marais was a quaint harbor town. I booked in early February for a one night stay in June. You are required to pay up front with no cancelation. We were told it was self check-in and I would receive details just prior to arriving on specifics. We were informed the room (#21) was on the second floor with the door facing the town. They did warn of limited parking. When we arrived the evening of our stay, besides the room information I previously stated, I was told the key would be in the door and to keep the key with me till we left as the door is self locking. The exterior of the building was needing some serious renovation and when we parked in the rear there was plywood sheeting blocking entry into a hallway where you could see a room in the process of renovation. I found a dimly lit concrete block hallway with steps up to the second level. About two thirds of the lights were out. I walked out onto a walkway that faced the bay looking for room numbers. I found doors going from 15 to 17. I then went down perpendicular hallway besides the steps and turned right where I found another walkway with rooms #18 to #20....but no #21. (There are no signs directing you to specific rooms) Frustrated, and only having a phone number to contact, I called only to get a leave a message greeting. By this time my wife was ready to leave; but I reminded her we had to pay upfront, and it was non-refundable. I went back up to try and see if there was another hallway. There was someone sitting outside room 15 and told her I was trying to find room 21. While talking with her I noticed adjacent to room 15 a white door up a couple steps that had room #21 and a key in the door. All the other doors were painted a faded red color and were sequentially numbered. I unlocked the door and then went to tell my wife that I found the room and to get the luggage. I must have manually turned the inside door lock, as I later assumed the door was not self locking (can't be locked from outside with the key if unlocked inside). I was wrong, it is if the inside knob is left in the locked position. On a positive note the room has a nice view of the harbor; but no balcony. Upon opening a vanity drawer to look for towel, as there no towel out or even a towel bar, the top left drawer immediately came off its right slide. I took a picture and sent a text to the phone number I had. I informed them I had found the room and suggested they advised future guests that room 21 is adjacent to room 15, and that the one drawer had come off the slide upon opening the drawer. Now one would expect a apologetic response for the inconvenience; but instead what I received was a text saying " he'd been there earlier and the drawer was fine and no one else had been in the room till I got there". Not sure how one could even suggest that since the key is in the door? The fixtures, tile work, flooring were obviously new and upgraded, all

The place was moldy smelling. The bathroom features were very inferior. But worst of all, the hot water did not work. This should never happen. I had a phone number to call, but when I was ready to shower, I was not about to call someone to come to fix it.

Don't be fooled this is a dump. i've seen old motel 6's better than this. I felt dirty just being there. The only good thing about it is the view and thats free.The pictures they show must be a room set up for that purpose the furnishings are worn out, the bathroom was from the 50's, rusty soap dish, a ie.ice of wood was on wall acting as a vent.Our friends were in the nxt room and it was the same condition. Self check in means they leave the key in the door and you never see anyone with the company. you leave the key in the door as you leave. Crazy setup.

I am shocked that this motel is even listed in Tripadvisor. It's horrible!! There is no restaurant as listed. The outside view of the Motel is anything but inviting. There is no staff on site at the front desk for checking in: All hotel check in/out is done remotely via text. We received a text the morning of our stay with check-in instructions, " Your room number is ground floor. The key is in the door. Be certain to take the key when leaving the room as the door locks automatically. When you check out just leave the key in the door." I have never felt so unwelcomed. The Motel room was just that, a room. The bathroom sink drain was plugged and unusable. The toilet/shower room was so small that I barely had enough room to turn around and definitely no space to dry myself and dress. The Wifi is free, but unusable due to its lack of speed. My tablet timed out before I could get to any app. To top off our stay, we paid $239.00 (USD) per night. ***A note to Tripadvisor, posting this motel is definitely not your best customer service move. I do want to end this review on a positive note. Across the street is a beautiful pebble beach with picnic tables perfect for watching the moon/sun rise and for the littles to collect rocks. Just down the street is a wonderful restaurant called the Angry Trout. All the food is as locally sourced as possible and beautifully served. Also, the restaurant is decorated by local artisans. The best part is it sits on the beach. There are other hotels near the lake in Grand Marais which is a beautiful beach town.

This is a very basic motel without any services on-site - no lobby, no nothing. You check yourself in by just going into the room with the key in the door. It is right on the water, but if you are on the ground floor, the parked cars will block your view, so the picture is a bit deceiving. That said, the location is great and they were willing to take one night stays on a holiday weekend with a reasonable price and nothing else was available. They have parking in back that is free. We had two rooms on the front ground floor. There are little tables and chairs in a patio area out front. The rooms looked freshly painted and both had mini-fridges. They were good sized. It looks like some repairs done without expertise, so plywood cover over a vent in the tub, wood trim that doesn't quite fit etc.

We stayed during the Moose Festival and had a blast- and the cozy room put the trip over the top. Our room, second floor, had an unobstructed harbor view that was great for water and watching people. We had a living and bedroom, and the appliances and cabinets were updated and the king size bed was comfortable for a good rest and some late night TV. Close to everything in town. We'll stay again.

I stayed here on Aug. 2, for part of the night. I was in room #13 and only slept there for 4 hours because of the awful oily/stinky smell from the utility room next to my room. There was no way to deal with the situation, other than leave, since nobody is on-site. I would urge caution for anybody who has asthma problems. It was not a good situation.