Wilderness Gateway Inn

I got exactly what I hoped for: a clean, comfortable room and friendly people. Both owners were incredibly nice and helpful. It’s a small-town place, not a fancy big-city hotel, but I had a great stay and didn’t expect anything more. I don’t understand the bad reviews. Five stars from me.

We wouldn’t stay here again because of how badly the situation was handled. From what I understood, the woman was the owner’s wife, and the way she dealt with us made for one of the worst service experiences I’ve had. I manage a hotel myself, so giving one star isn’t something I do lightly. We’d heard from family who’d stayed here several times and brought their dog, but when we confirmed our reservation, we weren’t told that pets were no longer allowed. I understand that a hotel can change its pet policy, but the lack of notice was a problem. There aren’t many places to stay in the area, so we took what we could get for the night. The room was very small and hard to move around in, though the bed wasn’t bad, which surprised me.

We ended up sleeping in our truck after all this. Buyer beware, and save yourself some money. The owners of Seeley Lake Motor Lodge own both places, and it felt like they knew there wasn’t much competition in town. Their customer service was some of the worst I’ve experienced. Last winter, my wife and I stayed there. I got up during the night, flushed the toilet, and went back to bed. A few minutes later it was overflowing, so I shut it off and used the towels to mop up most of the water. At 7:30 the next morning I called the front desk, but nobody answered. We couldn’t shower or use the room facilities, so we packed up and left. When I called around 9 to explain, the owner’s wife said, “Oh yes, that will happen sometimes.” I asked for half credit toward a future stay since we’d paid $80 and couldn’t use the room. She said she’d talk to her husband and call me back. She never did. This winter, I called to ask about bringing a pet and was told they didn’t allow them. Since we had our dog, I asked if I could park my 22' Arctic Fox in the Wilderness lot for a fee. It was usually fairly vacant, and the man said $10 a night would be fine. We hauled the camper three hours through a blizzard. When I went into Seeley Lake Motor Lodge for directions, he told me he’d decided he didn’t want to deal with RVs during winter. I asked where he suggested we park after he’d said we could use the lot. After a brief argument, he said he wasn’t sure where we’d park, and I walked away furious. We had to leave the camper in the snowmobile lot north of town. After dinner, we came back to find the plow driver had built a huge berm around it. The lot probably wasn’t meant for camping, but we spent three and a half hours digging the camper out from 11:30 p.m. to 3 a.m. because we didn’t want a four-foot drift to set up around it and leave it stuck there. A fair response would have been to offer half the room rate as credit after the flood, or comp the room. And after telling us we could park the camper, they could have let us do it for $10 that night, then said they wouldn’t take RVs in winter in the future. Caring folks, I tell you.

I wouldn’t recommend this motel. The maid service was deplorable, there were no amenities, and I had to make up my own bed before sleeping in it, despite paying $129 a night. It doesn’t even rate two stars. I stayed here years ago and can’t believe how much it’s changed.