Thumb Heritage Inn

We've stayed here several times. It's a clean, simple place to sleep, right in Sandusky and close to Walmart, fast food and a Pizza Hut that still has dine-in service. Port Sanilac Beach and the boat launch are 15 minutes away or less. It works well if you want to be near the beach or you're a parent traveling for sports. The continental breakfast is the one weak spot. There was stale cereal and a few pastries, not much else. Even my 13-year-old son wouldn't eat it, and teenage boys eat everything! Plan to get breakfast somewhere else.

We booked four rooms while in town for a funeral, but left as soon as we saw and smelled them. They were old, unpleasant, and nothing like the photos, especially for the prices. The clerk refunded us in full right away, which made it seem like this may not have been a new problem.

The bed was comfortable, though I was glad I’d brought my own sheets since the ones provided felt rough. A few spiders kept me company, but at least I didn’t see bed bugs. The smell was odd and unpleasant; an air freshener helped for a while. It could also get noisy: one woman was having what sounded like an existential crisis, and everyone could hear it. The place needs a lot of care, but it wasn’t all bad.

We spotted what were plainly bed bugs in room 11 after pulling back the covers and checking beneath the bed when my boyfriend noticed small brown marks on the sheets. Thankfully, our belongings hadn’t been brought inside. The staff, who were just doing their jobs, gave us our money back after we showed them. We stayed across the street at Bench Warmers (West Park Inn) instead. It was friendlier, cheaper, and bug-free.