Empire Lakeshore Inn

Easy parking, and the rooms were clean and quiet. It’s about a five-minute drive to empire bluff trail and maybe ten to sleeping bear dunes. I’d stay here again when I’m in the area.

The one thing going for this place is its location near the dunes. The room was small, with a tiny bathroom and barely any toiletries. I was told by phone there was a pool and hot tub, but there wasn’t either one. We paid $232 for no amenities and no customer service. I called the front desk twice, left two messages, and got no call back. I’d rather drive half an hour than stay somewhere like this just to sleep at that price. In the morning I finally reached someone who said she was the owner. She was very rude and made excuses for not taking our calls. Update: I was very disappointed.

The hotel owner told me directly that they don’t follow Priceline’s price-match or best-price-guarantee policies, and refused to approve my price-match request through Priceline. It seems misleading to list the hotel there if it won’t honor those policies. Why does Priceline keep a hotel on the platform when it doesn’t follow its guarantees? This feels like a failure on both sides and raises a serious question for consumers. The hotel sent me a text message about this; I’ve omitted all personal identifiers to protect privacy.

The room was exceptionally clean, and the king bed was comfortable. The shower got piping hot and had a rain-style head. There was also a single-serve Keurig in the room. Five stars, strongly recommend.