We stayed at the Lakeview Sep 29 & 30, 2011 with two other couples from Virginia. No complaints about anything from any of us. Best location on the Island. Clean, comfortable, very pretty rooms. All employees and staff were pleasant and helpful. The people factor is always the selling point for us. That's why we will return to the Lakeview with a group in 2012.

Although I have made many day trips to Mackinac Island over the past 40 years, I have stayed overnight on the Island on just a few ocassions: a 2-night stay at the Chippewa Hotel in 1986 with my husband, a 2 night stay at the Bogan Lane Inn in 1992 with my husband and son (who was 4 years old at the time), a one week stay at Mission Point Resort in 2008 for a work related conference, a 2-night stay at the Main Street Inn & Suites in 2009 with Danish relatives and my last two stays on the Island were at the Lake View Hotel - a 3 night stay with my husband in August 2009 and a 2 night stay with my senior citizen parents and younger brother in August 2010. I have found the Lake View Hotel to be the perfect Mackinac Island hotel for me - a historic, 19th century building with a Victorian atmosphere combined with all the comforts of modern day living including air conditioning, indoor heated pool and hot tub, elevator, internet access, lobby computer, and flat screen tv's. I love the location at the western end of downtown, directly across from the Staline Ferry Dock (my favorite ferry service). The entire staff, from reception to housekeeping to the dock porters were always polite and very helpful. The rooms were clean and beds were quite comfortable. During my first visit with my husband, we stayed in a standard single queen room on the third floor off the pool atrium, a corner room at the rear of the hotel with a view of a side walking street and a service alley (probably one of the least expensive rooms in the hotel). The room was somewhat small, but met our needs. The only drawback was the ocassional noise from the pool and the sound of children running the halls. During my second stay with my parents, we had only planned to stay one night and reserved a 4th floor Turret Room Suite, with two queen beds and a sofa bed. It was an absolutely beautiful room that came with a view of Main Street and the lake. My mom loved the staying the one night so much, we decided to stay a second night, but alas the Turret Room was already booked. We were fortunate to get a small two queen bed room with a rollaway and a portable air conditioning unit off the side walking street. A drawback to the portable air conditioning unit was that water pan filled up every hour or so and had to be emptied, which did not make for a very good night sleep. The rooms without the views were not a real drawback either because we were able to sit on the main porch or one of the two smaller porches extending from the second and third floors. And sitting on the porches, relaxing and people watching, was one of the favorite parts of both trips. I am sure I will make future overnight trips to Mackinac Island, and when I do, it will most likely be at the Lake View Hotel.

When you read reviews and see both valid criticisms and positive comments, you know the stay may have ups and downs. That's exactly what we got with the Lake View Hotel. Earlier in our MI vacation we spent one night at the Main Street and thoroughly enjoyed both the island and the Inn. Our plan was to spend out last night at St. Ignace as we returned to the UP; we expected it would be too expensive to stay on Mackinac again.

When we ate at Goodfellows, the restaurant at the Lake View, on our initial night, our water suggested we stay there when we drove back. Hmm, a night in the Budget Host at St. Ignace or another night on Mackinac Island in a nice hotel.The desk clerk allowed us to see two rooms, the older room was small, but the larger room had a whirlpool and wasn't much more. This was a no-brainer. Add to that the terrific price we got as it was now at the end of the season, we booked the room for that last night.

When we checked in three days later, we were impressed with the size and decor of the spa room. However, it was now a much warmer day and the room was quite warm. My husband thought he turned on the A/C, As people mentioned it was a retro-fit job, but when I came back to the room I noticed it was still warm. I pointed out to him that the tubing wasn't attached to the unit, in fact it was up on the coat rack. No cool air was coming in. Luckily we could open the windows to cool off the room and it was fine in a short time (but it did make for some interesting "conversation" wafting up from three stories below at bar-closing).

The room was beautiful and very large, the whirlpool spa was also very large and there was a separate shower. There wasn't any micro/fridge, but we didn't need one. After exploring the island and enjoying watching both football and baseball with other fans in the bar/restaurant area I took a swim. The indoor pool is in the center of the hotel, sort of like the old Holidome's. It was a bit odd being in such an old hotel with a central pool, I kept trying to imagine what it was like 100 years ago. The pool was warm and clean, very enjoyable.

Now again, the flip side, when I took a shower, I noticed very, very thick mold in the corners of the shower. I'm not talking a little bit of discoloration, I mean about 1/2 to 3/4" thick! I think no-one ever looked behind the inner shower door when they cleaned. I mentioned this to the desk clerk, also the problem with the A/C. He said the remote should have turned on the A/C (we found in in a drawer) and that someone had incorrectly disconnected the hosing. He apologized for the mold.

As others mentioned, the continental breakfast was adequate, but a bit at odds with the atmosphere. It was like having a Super 8 breakfast in a higher end restaurant. But for someone with a family, it would be truly appreciated.

So was the price outstanding for our stay? Definitely. Were the rooms large and well-appointed? Yes. The location was terrific, right across from Shepler's and I enjoyed having a swimming pool. So to me, they're a hotel trying hard to be equal to the top choices, but miss the mark on some details. I don't think I'd stay again, I can't get that mold out of my mind. Others have similar prices which I would probably stay at in the future.

One of the best places to stay on the island if your last name is not Rockefeller, Buffett, or Gates. You can sleep a family of 4 (or 5 with a rollaway bed) in an interior room for about $200 in the off season, and the hotel even has a good sized interior pool for the kids. The staff is very friendly and helpful, especially Sarah at the desk and the bellman whose name escapes me at the moment..

The rooms are clean, the beds are pillow tops, and the second and third floor have patios overlooking the main street for your relaxation after dinner.

Luggage service both to and from the docks is hassle free. We have found it easiest to give our main bags to the bellman on checkout around 11:00 AM and he will deliver it to the proper boat for shipment back to the mainland. This leaves us free for bike riding, exploring the island, and shopping to fudge and T shirts for the kids after we visit the fort and whatever else catches our fancy. We will store our day packs in coin lockers at one of the boat docks, and then we are free to access them during the daytime as necessary.

The breakfast is a little on the light size, but you can supplement it with a custom omelette for $5.

There are fancier places on the island, but we have repeatedly chosen the Lakeview because of the value that it offers to our families.