Burr Oak Lodge and Conference Center

This Lodge is simply a fantastic venue if you just want to chillax, and get away from it all. From the moment I arrived I was warmly welcomed (Kathy I think), and she gave me a great rundown of the premises and what to expect. The hotel is just stunning with its decor and views of the lake. The room was exceptionally clean and tidy, with a magnificently comfortable bed and pillows. My room had a lovely view of the lake. The hotel staff (mostly locals) were warming and very friendly, and what a great bar down on the lower level, which is also the restaurant. The menu is varied so I am glad that I stayed for a few nights to try different things on it - it sure beats the longish drive to find any other restaurants. The bar has some great choices of beers, wines and spirits. The bar which is in the center of the room is ideally set up if you want to chat with other patrons, and I did meet some lovely couples, who wanted to char after detecting my accent. Worthy of mention: If you are unfamiliar with the area (as I was) and your GPS tries to take you on any "run-road" - Don't! because they are horrible, and it was lucky I had a 4WD drive pick-up because you needed it literally. Ignore the GPS suggestions until it recalculates and takes you back to sealed roads. Now back to the staff - it was simply too hard to pick a star - as they were all stars. On the first day (Maddie & Skeye) were a great pairing - both full of charm and humor. (Tip: ask Skeye her middle name). On the 2nd day Haley and Ethan provided the charm & entertainment in the bar & restaurant. (Tip: Try and guess Haley's height). On day 3 at breakfast Braydee was simply superb. So, to summarise - what a great few days in an idyllic part of the world. Top rating from this Australian visitor. I will be back.

I was looking for a place to unwind after a long three or four months. With my wife being away, I decided to try Burr Oak Lodge. Utilizing the “Savvy Senior” discount, I was able to enjoy three quiet and quite lovely days. While the lodge is dated, the staff and the setting can’t be beat. I had a standard King overlooking the lake. While the room is a bit small, it was perfect for my needs. The presence of a microwave and refrigerator was great. The bed was comfortable and the bed linens were great. The towels could have been a tad bit better. I was able to go on two very long and beautiful hikes as the weather was ok for two of the days. While one trail was a bit muddy, it was doable and delightful. The restaurant has a ,I tied number of options for a vegetarian, but once again the servers were accommodating and helpful. I was planning to use the pool, but I didn’t actually find the pool to be so inviting. I am sure for families it would have been fine. All in all-given the rates I paid and the scenery was able to take in—the Lodge gets a 5 star. I am not sure that normal room rates would neccesarily get a 5 star rating.

We ate at the Cardinal lounge. The food was good and so was the service. The lava cake was freshly made hot out of the oven with ice cream is amazing. The view of the lake was great. You are able to eat outside on the deck or inside. We went twice. The first time we had burgers. They were good. Second time we had pizza which was decent.

Management is over their head. Front desk- just get past it. The girl at the front desk began our conversation by letting me know I still owed MONEY! How would I like to take care of it. Could it be that I still have a BALANCE because you only took a deposit to begin with? Choice of words! Don’t expect to drink water while your at this place. They refuse to keep the one ridiculously small fridge in the lobby stalked with more than 4 waters at a time for the entire lodge. When you ask for water in the Cardinal restaurant, it will come to you in a dirty glass. Management must have forgotten to actually train their staff at the restaurant. Menu- leaves you wanting fresh food. Food- awful, service- even worse. The poor kids running the place seem nice enough, they just don’t know what they are doing. I asked for a gin and tonic and the waitress told me she didn’t think they had any gin. They did of course, but the tonic was flat and the lemon was slimy. EVERY window in the place is filthy which skews your view of the scenery. I’m quite sure the pool filters were never on. The pool was loaded with flies in February. Someone should really put some bulbs in the lights in there- too dark. Maybe they just don’t want you to see the flies. There is no game room- only board games at the desk. The fireplace grid looks like it broke 20 years ago. Extra vending machine- broke. I gave a two instead of a one because the rooms are comfortable and clean. But I paid almost twice as much for this lodge as I did for Deer Creek. So comfortable and clean should be a given. We really wanted to like this place. But when you’re in the middle of nowhere, they’ve got you by the horns.

Disappointing. The lodge itself is the smallest of all the State Park Resort properties I've been to, which include 4 others. There is NOTHING to do inside other than the very crowded indoor pool. No game room, no table tennis, no board games, no movies (Maumee Bay does family movies nightly), no video games, not even a gym. The lodge views are pretty and the seating in the general area is comfortable but there is absolutely nowhere to plug a phone or computer in, not even on the walls - they should consider installing charging ports into chairs or through the floor. The fireplace was never going any of the 3 days I was there and only staff are allowed to tend to it. We stayed in a cabin. Perhaps in the summer if you are out boating or partying all day and only want a room with 4 walls and a bed, it would be fine, but we were looking for a cozy, "cabin in the woods" getaway to relax with family and this wasn't great. The cabins are nearly completely bare other than bed linens and a couple dishtowels. Not even a sponge to wash dishes (required, and there is no dishwasher FYI), no salt and pepper, and bowls weren't even big enough to hold a can of soup. The furniture in the living room is probably the most uncomfortable furniture I've ever sat in. Impossible to relax even though we balled the bed blankets up and tried to make pillows out of them. The shower doesn't even have a single shelf on which to set soap or shampoo, you have to put everything on the shower floor. Shower head not adjustable and sprays right in your face if you are short. Also the hot water quit working a couple days into our stay. When I say stripped down I mean stripped down - you would need to bring everything in your whole house/kitchen to be able to make it habitable for more than crashing for sleep. Pluses: it was very quiet as it's extremely remote (roads there are very winding and hilly - my kid got car sick). The heat was very responsive, and the roads were kept clear even during a bad storm. Sorry, but I won't be back to this property.

Came for a one night stay to enjoy the lodge and outdoors. We were delighted to know we we’re basically the only guests that night aside from those in the cabins. We felt like the whole place was ours. The pool is very big and we got to swim twice with it to ourselves. Booked the King Executive room, which was nice having extra space. Ate dinner in the restaurant with only two other tables and a few at the bar. Hiking trails were nice and so was the new walkway to the lake with seating/fire pit areas. The lodge is over 50 years old now and seems like there are still some original parts. Our room although overall clean has old school HVAC and windows that crank open. Cold air and wood burning smoke from the cabins got in and we could smell it all night…worse when the floor unit ****** in air from the outside whenever the heat came on. The bathroom was freezing cold because heat never got into to it. The ceiling air vent needs a good cleaning as does some black around the shower. The pool room was out of towels and housekeeping never picked up the used towels our entire stay. The clock on the wall didn’t work and neither did some ceiling lights. The roof leaks. The management is clearly not working to their full potential. The pool was advertised to open at 7am everyday. We got up early walked all the way to the pool and the door was locked. The guy at the front said he couldn’t help and we need to wait for the real front desk staff at 8am. Returned after 8am to be told they don’t open the pool until 9am, but was unaware the maintenance guy already opened it. We were also not told at check in that their restaurant had a VERY limited menu due to an electric mishap. We found out from the waitress. It was already late and nowhere nearby to go so we got food we wouldn’t have ordered normally. They offer free coffee in the lobby until 11am. But it’s easier to drink with cups. No cups…and staff who seem content sitting around oblivious to what they could be doing to make the stay better. We even heard a maintenance guy complaining about his job saying “I really need to quit.” The place is really cool but it needs better staff and some attention to upkeep.