North Star Motel

We could park both boats in a good spot and see them from our room, which was a plus. For the price, there weren't any major problems. The rooms seemed recently renovated, and the beds were springy, but I had no other complaints. I didn't get to try breakfast. A good option if you need an inexpensive, clean, and comfortable motel.

I need to update what I wrote after our first night. On the second morning, the motel clerk brought us a five-pound fruit tray with two paper plates and forks. He said, “I noticed you didn't care much for the pastries that I serve for breakfast so I got you this fruit tray.” My daughter and I are both sensitive to gluten, so fruit was the only breakfast item we could eat. I thought it was very kind of him to notice and go out of his way for us, and I've added a star for the hospitality. The staff were extremely friendly, and breakfast included pastries, bagels, cereal, and microwaveable breakfast sandwiches. The room was okay, but at $123 a night I expected a bit more. Plaster was peeling in the bathroom, the ceiling fan didn't work, so it steamed up quickly, and the towels were extremely small for an average-sized person.

I needed somewhere to stay after returning from a trip while my car was being repaired. It had to be towed, so I had no car and stayed overnight. The owners were friendly and helped right away when I checked in after 2 a.m. on a Vermont winter night at -4 degrees. The room is spartan, with repurposed furniture, but it covers the basic needs for an urgent stay at a low price. This room cost $48.99, while nearby places run from $90 to $200 for a normal night's stay. The heat could be better. When it runs, the room is fine, but on a night that cold, it cycles between warm and cool about every 90 minutes. If you're sensitive to temperature while sleeping, waking up and burrowing under the covers until the room warms again can leave you drained. It served its purpose: useful for an immediate need, a tight budget, or spartan-style travel.

There was visible mold and a moldy smell in the lower rooms, and some in the upper ones too. The rooms had only the bare minimum. We first went by to look and said we'd call back if we decided to book. Half an hour later we called, reserved rooms, and gave the credit card information they requested. Five minutes after that, we returned to confirm and provided another card and ID, wanting to make sure we had rooms for the three-day Columbus Day weekend during leaf season. The next day we attended a wedding until nighttime, confident we had the last hotel rooms for hundreds of miles. But when we returned to check in, staff said we had never booked and had said we didn't want the rooms because we'd supposedly found another hotel. How could we have found another hotel? They lied to us, called us liars, and kicked us out into the cold rain at night. We drove for hours to Canada and barely found a free hotel. They turned a wonderful life event, a wedding, into a motel nightmare.