We were "upgraded" to a whirlpool room which was a big disappointment. The room had definitely seen its better days. The wood around the whirlpool was worn, there was a big spider in the bathroom, green stuff stuck on the blanket/quilt on the bed and a cold shower in the morning. When my husband went to get breakfast, they didn't have everything out. For someone coming in to assess the area for a possible relocation...this created a bad first impression.

We just returned from spending one night at the Stoney Creek Inn in Onalaska. Although the hotel is in a great location (in town, but next to a wilderness area) and the inn beautifully decorated (north woods/bear theme), we did hit a few snags.

First, the good. The location is perfect. Right off the highway and close to the interstate, yet bordered on one side of the inn by a wilderness reserve. The reserve has a hiking trail through it you can take; I walked a little ways on it and it was very nice albeit bleak considering it was winter;-). I bet in the spring, summer, and fall it's very pretty. Also near the inn are a few chain restaurants, Target, Chuck E Cheese, a gas station. So just an all-around great location for either walking and solitude or shopping and eating out.

Also good: the theming and decorating of the inn. It's so cute and cozy. A large moose statue when you pull up to check in, and two bear statues next to the wooden doors. A nice lobby with roaring fireplace, comfy couches, pictures and statues of bears everywhere. The breakfast room is right off the lobby; nice and big. All through out the hotel are cozy little areas with fireplaces, couches, or tables where you can relax. A nice touch. The pool area is aweseome. HUGE whirlpool tub, fireplace with chairs in front of it, big screen TV. The pool has "trees" surrounding it, and murals of wildlife and forests on the walls and ceiling. The pool itself is an indoor/outdoor pool with a plastic flap that you swim/walk through to get outside. The outside pool was still open when we stayed there (late Dec.), but my SIL has stayed here other times before during the winter when it's been closed (just the outside pool). I think since this winter has been so mild with no snow they've been able to leave it open. The outside pool was so neat: fairly warm (at least warm enough you don't freeze) with steam coming off the water. It was pretty swimming out there at night.

Our room: we had the bunk bed room (I think there's just one). It was nice and big, very clean and the kids loved the bunk beds. The only bad thing about it was the location (see below).

The inn also has a nice bar, meeting rooms, and like I posted above a lot of cozy public areas where you can sit and read or visit or whatever. As far as theming, cleanliness, location, and general atmosphere goes, this places gets 5 stars.

Now, the bad, and why I ranked it 4 instead of 5 stars. First, the location of the bunk bed room. Right across from the elevators and the stairs. It was kind of loud. We could not hear the elevators at all, but could hear people going up and down the steps until around midnight. Probably didn't help that a bunch of high school kids were staying there the same night we did for some type of wrestling tournament. I'm pretty sure that was them we heard running up and down the steps so late. Okay, that's bad enough but also near the bunk bed room is the vending area (pop machine and snack machine) and a public balconey area where people seemed to like to sit. So, yeah, the room was in a very busy area:-). I would imagine other parts of the hotel are much, much quieter.

Second bad thing: the chemicals in the whirlpool in the pool area. They made our eyes burn. I woke up the next morning with an eye so red I thought at first I had pink eye. We all noticed it though. I didn't think it smelled like chlorine, so maybe some other type of chemical? Maybe it was just an off day or two (noticed it when we swam the next morning as well)?

Third thing: there was a mouse swimming in the pool. We went swimming the next morning at 7:00, and suddenly noticed something dark floating in the pool. I'm sure you can imagine what we first thought it was. We noticed it moving though and quickly realized it was a mouse. Poor thing must've fallen in the outside pool and then swam inside. Dh called the front desk, and they immediately sent someone down to pull it out of the water with a net. We kept right on swimming, but I do know how this could freak some people out.

All in all, we had a great stay minus the issues mentioned above. I would still recommend this hotel, provided you aren't too picky and noises while trying to sleep don't bother you.

First the good, the hotel has cute decor and a nice pool.

Now the rest. First, the building is poorly constructed, so you hear kids running the halls all night and early in the morning. The beds are poor compared to what is offered in most hotesl today. The room are very spartian, with no closest, just a coat rack and little else.

The free breakfast is limited, and even worse you fight with two dozen kids for the couple of hot items they serve.

Avoid unless you have little kids and want to make use of an indoor pool.

We have stayed at this hotel before, for stay at home weekends and thought it was nice for our family. The rooms are very nice, the pool is kid friendly, and the staff bends over backwards for any reasonable request.
However, when it came to booking rooms for our Wedding next year, the staff far exceeded our expectations. Ashley, and everyone else who we worked with was AMAZING and the rooms were perfect for our event. Our local business has done many events at this location before, and for those events the staff, again, FAR exceeded our expectations.
I would HIGHLY recommend staying at this hotel. I wouldn't dream of sending my out of town friends and family any where else.
Thank you so much to all the staff at Stoney Creek in La Crosse. You are AMAZING! :D