Voyageur Lakewalk Inn

For one night, this humble motel was just what I needed. The rooms are small, but clean, and the bathroom is functional and clean too. The staff were polite, and the price is great, so I’d stay again and recommend it. We were on the first floor and heard parking-lot noise, which was expected. My brother paid $30 more for a second-floor room with a king bed and a huge tub. It was nicely decorated and had a very comfortable bed. He didn’t hear the parking lot the way we did, though we had our window open for the crisp breeze. Something to consider. I knew from the photos and research that it was a simple motel, not a fancy one.

We were glad the manager had one pet-friendly room left after our RV broke down in Cloquet, and the price and location were good. But what a mess of a motel. Parking spaces were very narrow, and there weren’t enough for all the rooms. Every non-smoking room was beside a smoking room, and smoke came through the walls. When I opened the window to air things out, the night staff were chain-smoking right outside our room. The air conditioner wasn’t charged and never cooled the room. The bathroom sink wouldn’t drain, and when I told the night manager on the first evening, she basically asked what she was supposed to do about it. I suggested calling maintenance in the morning while we were out all day, but nothing had been done when we got back. The sink took four hours to drain. We also saw lots of insects in the shower and crawling on the floor. I gave it two stars because we got a room when we needed one, and it was reasonably priced and in a great location.

The office staff were friendly and the motel is centrally located, but we won’t be back. We were there several days, and the room smelled bad even though the main area seemed clean. The bathroom had obvious mold. I tried disinfectant on the tiles because they were so gross, but it didn’t help much. The tub, sink, and toilet were pink, badly scratched, and looked like they hadn’t been updated since the 1960s. The windows had been painted shut, so we couldn’t air the room out. One of us had trouble breathing overnight. We plan to report the mold to the city because it’s a serious health hazard. There were other problems, too. The TV was hard to figure out, the curtains barely stayed on the rod and had to be rehung a couple of times, and then they wouldn’t close all the way. The AC cooled the room a little but did nothing for the humidity. Judging by the reviews, some rooms seem updated, or perhaps the owner or manager is writing positive reviews to keep the ratings up. They reply to nearly every review and seem to spend a lot of time online. This place really should be torn down and rebuilt.

We mostly spent our time out in town and just used the room to sleep. It’s close enough to walk to the Canal Park tourist area and old downtown. The big shower was great, and the bed was somewhat comfortable. There weren’t any spare outlets, so we had to unplug some lamps to charge our things. We also found a dirty bra hanging in the bathroom. I’d still recommend it for the price and location.