Holiday Inn Alpena

I've stayed at a lot of hotels and can be pretty particular, but this has quickly become my favorite in northern Michigan. The service was amazing, breakfast was wonderful, the gym was great, and the rooms were clean. The hot tub is huge, too. I don't know why it isn't rated five stars. I've been to several five-star places that weren't nearly as impressive. Definitely worth a visit.

The front desk man was fantastic and did everything he could to accommodate us. We couldn't relax much with kids running around and doing cannonballs in the pool and hot tub, and we couldn't get the sauna to heat up. Breakfast was just mediocre, and it was disappointing to find sneakers closed on a Saturday because of staffing. Still, I'll come back.

The rooms are clean and have a microwave and fridge, and the pool is nice. They also keep frozen food at the desk if you need it. The elevator's a bit old, but it worked, so I can't really complain. Not sure whether they serve breakfast, though I probably wouldn't have eaten at the hotel anyway.

The pool area is awesome and totally kid friendly, and the place was clean with very friendly staff. For $66, the stay felt like 4+ star treatment, and I'd still give it four stars. But when I got up to work out, the gym was closed at 6am even though it was supposed to open at 530, and nobody was at the desk. Later I found myself locked out of my room and had to get my key reactivated. There were signs for vending machines everywhere, but no machines. Water sat on a shelf beside a cooler with obvious empty space. The lobby coffee and the portable room machine were both god awful, and I'm not getting into breakfast. The rooms also stayed very warm with the heat off.