Parkwood Lodge - Door County

The green field outside our window had bunnies and all kinds of birds, and I liked being able to open the window to it. The room itself was pleasant and clean, everything worked, and the refrigerator was surprisingly big. The vintage arcade games in the game room were a fun surprise. Skip the billiards, though, the pool table is badly tilted and the balls all roll to one side. We lost a dollar on it. Otherwise, a great stay.

Being just three minutes from the entrance to Peninsula State Park was a great location. The family run motel had clean, quiet, modern rooms and lots for kids and teens to do, including an indoor pool, hot tub, pool table, tennis, and piclkeball. Our queen room was $199 with all taxes. The only drawback was having a second floor room with outside door access and no elevator. I rarely give a business five stars on Google, but Parkwood Lodge earned it.

The grounds are green and nice in places, but around the residence buildings it was mostly dirt and gravel with little grass, which wasn’t very inviting. In the second room we moved to, the furniture was worn, the carpet stained, and the woodwork scratched and marked. One wall fixture didn’t work, and the two switches by the bed were wired backwards, so each controlled the light on the other side. At checkout I was told there was a small leak under the sink and maintenance would fix it. That seemed much less serious than what we experienced in room 122. Our first room was humid enough that water seemed close to dripping on the walls, and it smelled strongly of a musty, damp basement. The sheets were damp, too. There was a dehumidifier, but its bucket was bone dry, its compressor apparently wasn’t working, and the display read 85%. I don’t know the cause, though foundation moisture that wasn’t addressed seemed possible. I told the front desk it was dead as we left for a theater show. When we came back late, the unit had been replaced with a tiny 8-inch desk fan on the floor. There was a note offering a room change and keys, so we moved to the other side of the property. The first room was awful and felt unsafe, and I’m pretty certain there was mold. We got a 15% discount, though I felt the refund should have been closer to 50%. We had arrived in the evening hoping for a quick check-in before the show. Check-in itself was easy. This should never have been a room for guests, and it points to a failure across the entire staff. I’d have thought at least one maid, owner, or maintenance person would have said the room was gross and needed fixing before anyone else stayed there. Nope. I’m not sure how this place gets glowing reviews. This should be one star, but I added a star because they did offer a fix.

The staff were so friendly I felt like family, and there’s a tennis court and pool. The room was neat and clean, with hardwood floors, a full size mini fridge, microwave, and full size coffee pot. It’s perfectly located for site seeing day trips. Highly recommend, we’ll definitely be back.