Birch Glen Hotel

The staff were friendly, and they responded quickly. The mattress was comfortable, and the shower and restrooms were nice. They seem to be working on updates, because the place needs some improvements. I'd compare it to a Motel 8. It's okay if you're after an inexpensive place to rest, but I didn't want to spend much time in my room and wouldn't stay here with children.

The suite's bathroom had a sliding barn door that didn't give much privacy, and its sofa was stained and torn enough to need replacing. Snow at the stairs hadn't been cleared and had turned icy. The parking lot was carelessly plowed, with snow left at the walkway entrances. The suite is directly above the game room, so noise can be an issue. The game room felt run down and needed a lot of care, and the sauna room seemed not to exist. In the standard room, things were dated but fairly clean, and the heater was already cranked to 80 degrees when we arrived. The walls are extremely thin, so don't count on a good night's sleep if there are neighbors. This place is really only suitable as a one-night stop.

I've stayed here three times over the last couple of months while in town to ice fish on Lake Cascade. It's the lowest-priced motel I've found in the area, and it gets too cold to camp in a tent or sleep in my pickup. The rooms have been clean each time, and they're perfectly fine if you need somewhere to rest after a long day on the ice or water and charge your battery-powered fishing electronics. Nothing fancy, but that works for me. I like getting the room number and 4 didget entry code by text and email instead of having to check in in person. The main drawback is that noise from outside or a nearby room often carries easily. Since it's usually the cheapest option I find in town, I wish it cost a little less so I could stay more often and add a day or two.

The only offer I got after all this was a one-night voucher. This was my first time in cascade, and I probably won't be back in the next 6 months. The room itself was bad: one bed looked caved in and broken, crooked and flat. There were hairs of different lengths and colors all over the shower walls and tub. When I lay down, a long black hair came off the pillow and went into my nose. I'm blonde with a buzz...😑 I travel for work and sometimes stay a week, sometimes just a couple days. This time I booked four nights because I was supposed to work there for four days, but we finished in a day and a half. We got back to the hotel after checkout time. Usually I only ask for one day because my things had stayed in the room into the next cycle. When I booked online, I checked the box for a refund if I had to shorten the stay, and paid $24 for that security. At checkout I learned the hotel doesn't allow early checkout or refunds. They said that was in their policy and that I'd booked the stay, so I had to stay for all of it. When I mentioned the security I paid for, they said it wasn't part of the hotel and was from a separate insurance company. That company doesn't answer its phone, and it feels like a complete scam for more money. I'd book by the day here. If you leave early, they still treat it as if you're there and can keep charging you. I checked out yesterday and got a "don't forget to check out tomorrow" email today. They advertise that you can meet staff anytime, but the office always said it was open and was always locked with nobody there. The barcodes they gave us to scan didn't work or exist. The only other person we ever saw was another tenant.