The Bear Lake Motor Lodge

Kenneth Koehn

2024-01

The room was nice, the shower was hot, everything was clean, the bed was great! My only problem was it was Christmas and I couldn't get the room warm enough even with the heater on high. My feet were so cold the first night I couldn't sleep. Finally got warmed up in the shower and put all my snow clothes on including my snow boots. Second night was better. Room still a little chilly but my feet were okay with two pair of socks. No stores open on Christmas Eve in town to buy a heater. I did not comprehend at the time how to get a hold of any live person in case they could have gotten me a space heater. Later I realized there was a number in the unattended "lobby" that might have gotten me someone. I was pretty distraught at the time but looking back I think it's really a pretty nice place just come when it's a little warmer outside. I was literally the only one staying in this entire facility these two nights so I'm pretty sure it's set up for the summer.Rooms: My room was very clean and decorated nicely it felt like being home.Noteworthy details: Needs better heating.

T Hollis

2024-01

To summarize my forthcoming lengthy review: This place is not worth half of what they charge. Do yourself a favor and drive a little further to go anywhere else. This place is way overcharging for what they offer.First the good:1. This was basically the only place open during the off season and able to accept a same-day reservation so I definitely give credit for being accommodating to travelers.2. Very clean room. Like, spotlessly clean. Plenty of clean towels and the room was nice and warm when we arrived.3. After about 10 minutes the shower got nice and hot.4. Had a small kitchenette with fridge and microwave.The bad:1. Let's start with the curtains. They were too small for the window.Which means, when I got out of the shower and walked in to the room area, anyone outside could easily see in to the room. Mind you, I showered at night, in a lit room, which means it is especially easy for any passerby to see directly in to the room. And the room we were given was along the main road, next to a restaurant, so opportunities for people to be passing by were aplenty.2. The faucet in the bathroom literally spit out water. Not flowed. Not restricted flowed, spit out.3. Yes the room was clean and they used plenty of cleaning solution. Like...lots of it! It smelled like a hospital.4. The bed felt like it was about 30 years old and was a cheap spring mattress.5. Weird seeping patches from a towel bar in the bathroom.6. Missing flooring in the closet.7. Fire alarm was removed and on the closet shelf.8. Coffee maker, unwrapped coffee pods...no creamer, no regular sugar.This was a $60-70/night room. $120/night in the off season for a room that doesn't even have adequate window covers is ridiculous. That was the tipping point for me. $120 was a rip off.

J J

2024-01

It is so great to have this place in the mountains, especially for a snowy night. Property management team is extremely helpful to remove snows and helped with everything you requested. Excellent team and professional. Highly recommended. Location is excellent too.Walkability: Right in town, restaurants, convenient stores and gas station are all in walking distance.Food & drinks: Good to have snacks and bottle water in the room.

Nancy Preston

2023-09

We were immediately disappointed when we walked into Room #5 after obtaining our key. It was not the same as the pictures online. The bedspread looked as though it had not been washed. The bed pillows did not smell fresh. There was no mattress cover. We felt as though we were in a very unclean room.We were grateful to receive a full refund. We will not be able to recommend this Lodge to anyone.

Shalee Bateman

2023-09

The location of this lodge is perfect. It's right downtown Garden City and close to all the fun shake shops and other restaurants. Another plus is the open grassy courtyard with the playground. A great place for gathering. The rooms leave a lot to be desired. They're very old. The carpet is worn and dirty. There's no AC, so they can get pretty hot and stuffy in the summer. There weren't enough outlets in our room. Very bare bones.

Gabe Archuleta

2023-09

The prices aren’t cheap, but the rooms are. Feels like a motel you would find downtown in a large city from the 90’s. The room was clean, no a/c, small fridge, and had a fan. $200 for Friday night. We were desperate. Wouldn’t stay there again, but it gave us a place to sleep for the night. Not sure which rooms the pictures were taken, but ours had a lime green wall. Did not look like the pictures. Last update, the heater was on during the summer. No way to turn it off.

Amanda Miller

2023-07

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Ana J

2023-09

This place is gross carpet is dirty and coming up the room smelled disgusting nothing was clean hair on the pillow and sheets and a hole in the blanket wallpaper falling off the wall bathroom smelled musty bath tub was not clean and had brown stuff leaking out of the jets and the walls in the bathroom has stuff on them and the Floors were dirty y nothing smelled clean or fresh had to go get cleaning supplies to clean it ourselves and even told management that it stunk and said they would spray and never did, the window have no screens so we couldn’t open the windows didn’t even sleep under the covers cause it’s was gross and did t use the pillow that had hair and some small stains on it and metal shelves and window were dusty and no a/c so very stuffy the only good part about this place is the outside area. Not worth your money too stay in filth:/ does not look like the picture

Katie Mitchell

2023-08

My family has stayed here quite a few times. It's conveniently located. The beds are fairly comfortable. The room could use a little updating. I thought it had been updated based on photos uploaded, however, the room has not. Flooring is super old. No AC in the rooms. We used the fan provided in order to help cool the room down. It was a little restless of a night due to the heat. Price was a little high for the condition of the room but it was cheaper than other places around. We will stay here again just because of the location and availability of rooms they always have.

Catherine Love

2023-11

I like retro places so we gave this place a try. It’s not retro - it’s old and not well maintained. The wall board is coming a part and we worried about mold in the walls. The sinks and tub are chipped and stained. I will say that it was clean despite the building being decrepit There’s a big sign saying they are going to tear the place down and build fancy condos.

El Vineis

2023-08

The rooms were large and the kitchenette was stocked and quaint. I loved the green accent wall and old-fashioned kitchen appliances (the actual fridge was updated and the original equipment was used for a countertop). But the bathroom was not updated, and the closet behind the bathroom had had a leak some time ago. The mold was awful and everything smelled musty, despite the cleaning crew being thorough. We did see that there is a new resort being built right next to it, and once it is ready the Lodge will be torn down. The grassy area in the middle had a playground that the kids enjoyed, and there were chairs and firepits as well.

José E

2024-02

The only place to stay in town.Cold room the heating barely warmed up.Stinky beds. (From been so old.)Tiny shower.If you have a choice Do not stay here.

Linda Grimmett

2023-08

Great location in Garden City close to beach, restaurants and shops. Room smelled heavy with smoke. No air conditioning could easily be upgraded with window unit. Best part was the nice towels in the bathroom, actually luxury quality. Family friendly.Rooms: There is a difference between retro, vintage and “old”. We stayed in this motel 46 years ago and not much had changed. Very basic room.Nearby activities: Center of activity for the Bear Lake Area. Close to entertainment, good restaurants, water activities, church and marina.

Ryan Martinez

2023-06

room 11 was incredibly outdated. In order to have hot water you need to "run the sink for 5 minutes"-management.Potholes galore. lake access is limited due to construction. Obvious wear and tear on the whole place.The room smelled decent, it was decently clean.Staff was great!Don't go here unless a future review says it's been renovated.Safety: Door knob is loose. don't see it stopping anyone with a decent kick from barging in.Walkability: abysmalFood & drinks: Real great, across the street you can get very good raspberry shakes, fries, and burgers.

Rachel Cox

2023-08

There's quaint and retro and then there's run down and in need of maintenance. Not even sure why this place is on Airbnb since it's not a home, it's a motel. In room 7, paint was peeling off the walls. Looks like it hasn't been updated since the 80s. There was mold and water stains in the closet and the bathroom. The musty/mildew smell was almost unbearable. There is no lake access.But we appreciated the play area outside the room and the convenient parking right by the room. It's in a great location. Its just in need of some serious repair and updating.

Steve Hurst

2023-10

I wish I could state how cute, unigue this lodge was, but I can't..The owners of this place should be ashamed to charge what they do for a dump like this. I know, you think I'm used to high end ritsy places....Nope, I'm 69 years old, backpack, sleep in a tent, pop up camper kind of guy. . I had to go in the back door of a closed restuarant and ask a cook how to access my room. she didn't know, told me to walk down the street and ask another place, which was closed. Finally someone called the owner, I had to go into a tiny , dimly lit room, to find my key. Then circling in the back of the parking lot, ran into a pot hole almost a foot deep..It's pitiful the local governing bodies haven't shut this place down.

Summer Martin

2023-06

The lodge was located in a great location that was walkable to some shops/restaurants. Not really any beach access at this time due to construction. We elected to stay here due to the price. We weren’t expecting much as far as being modern, as it is a “quaintro” motor lodge but room 5 was DIRTY. It looked like no one had wiped off tables and counters. The shower was so small a normal 5’1” human could barely fit in there. My fiancé is 5’10 and the shower head was at his chin. We were provided 1 washcloth for 2 people. When I went to the self check-in, a man was trying to guess the combos to get keys to different rooms so he could find a lamp that worked. We paid for 2 nights but left early due to weather and accommodations.

Joe Barbuto

2023-08

We were disappointed with our stay at Bear Lake Motor Lodge. The room had a definite smell of tobacco smoke and mustiness, the bed was not comfortable, it took too long for the water to heat up, and the water pressure in the sink was almost non-existent. I get that they're going for a quaint and retro vibe, but that's no excuse for the conditions being so poor. On top of all that, the rate wasn't all that cheap given what we experienced.

R. P.

2023-05

Man, service was fantastic. They went above and beyond to help us with directions, food choices and even helping us stay out of the rain…However, there was a dirty rag left over from the previous tenant and it was behind the bathroom door and then we pulled down the extra blanket folded in the closet and it was covered in stains. Both pretty discusting.The bed was the most uncomfortable. Room 6 was supposed to have a queen bed but we are pretty sure that’s a full bed. It was very soft and I felt as if I was rolling off it all night.Hotel staff was kind and friendly, but the above complaint makes us think maybe this isn’t worth recommending to friends.Random stray cat walked into our room when we were packing to leave… that was a bonus surprise! We don’t own cats but this guy would have been a keeper if we weren’t in the bike!

Unique Mitchell

2023-12

Me and my wife got a room here for thanksgiving the rooms look nothing like what you see here the bathroom is small as hell the sink is literally right in front of the toilet the shower well let’s just say i felt like i was in jail and the shower curtain wasn’t long enough so we got water all over the floor and body was in office because of the holidays so no extra towels the walls in are room was green and the paint job was hideous the furniture was old and nasty definitely not worth $140 come on guys do better 👎🏾

Ellen Acevedo

2023-05

Be careful about the pricing. It said $189 for one night, but once I received the final bill, we were charged $264. There are three separate taxes and fees that you will be charged: cleaning fee, service fee, and occupancy taxes. The area is nice and the room is decent. Sadly, it smelled badly. The screen on one of the windows was missing. For the cost, we could have stayed somewhere much nicer. I suggest the owner replace the carpet with different flooring suitable for an Airbnb. I would have left a better review had we not been over taxed and if the room did not smell. It has great potential, but we were a bit ripped off.

Emma Woolley

2023-05

My husband and I booked to stay two nights here, we only stayed one for a few reasons. While they said that our room was 'non-smoking', someone had definitely smoked in the room. The manager was wonderful, she let us have our pick of rooms and unfortunately each room was the same. It had a funky smell to it. The room we ended up in felt grungy. There was cracked grout in the tiles and damaged drywall on the corners of walls. We got great food recommendations from the manager. We appreciated the ability to have our dog stay in the room with us, however the grassy area that seemed to be for community use had lots of dog poo in it. They say that disappointment is missed expectations. The manager was excellent at communicating with us via text, and we appreciated that, we just wished the room was in better condition.

Jase Olsen

2023-05

This location is very old. There is a wonderful plan to build a nice resort here so these buildings are going to be demolished and replaced by something nice. Therefore, you can be assured that no money has been or will be invested in these rooms going forward. It makes sense not to invest in something that will be just condemned/torn down.The location is right in the middle of Garden City. Nice to walk to just about anything. The carpets are scary. The sink leaked all night and filled the garbage can, and then flowed over on the floor and carpet. We dried it up and I think that blood was soaking into the towel. Whatever ever it was, it was brown/red. There is no A/C. The smell was difficult to tolerate. We even considered skipping our stay and driving home in the dark. We were happy to leave the next morning and had no problem getting out well before the mandatory check out time. There are newer accommodations in Bear Lake area. I will be staying at one of those in the future now that we have seen what there is to offer.

skyler killian

2023-05

The rooms were nothing like the pictures on their website. I had to pay well in advance and wasn’t able to cancel my reservation. T by e rooms haven’t been cleaned in a very long time and there were stains all over the furniture. It was disgusting.There was no front desk to check into. Keys were in a lockbox at the back of a restaurant. It isn’t even connected to the motel at all. The resort looked totally unfinished and there was no beach access even though I was told there would be by a manager. Everything was blocked off by construction so you didn’t even get any views of the lake because they were blocked by mounds of dirt. The manager never responded to any messages that I sent.Inside the room, nothing looks like it’s been updated since the 1980’s. Holes in the floor and the bedding as well as stains on the chairs. The shower was too small for my 5’ tall wife to fit in and you could barely squeeze around the sink to use the toilet. The sink in the kitchen is “vintage” which means it has never been replaced and it was so dirty that the water coming out of it smelled dirty. There is one very small window in the room which means there is not any airflow coming in to the room so it smelled of mustiness mixed with cigarette smoke. Speaking of cigarettes, I was told it was a nonsmoking room and yet there was a spittoon in the front porch for cigarette butts and chewing tobacco spit which smelled disgusting. The construction crew also had a cord running through the window to use the outlet in the room.I will never ever stay at this resort/hotel again and would never ever recommend this place to anyone!!

j9 mom of 3

2023-08

We did not stay because we did not feel safe. This is a run down motel, broken down cars in pieces in the lot, garbage and broken doors, window screen and the sign to the motor lodge is broken in several places. This is a scam as the Waters Edge doesn’t even exist yet it is a construction zone. We were refused a refund and are going through our bank to dispute the charges.

Rosemary Azevedo

2023-05

The hotel is outdated, but clean. They had a gift basket with chips and water bottles, bathroom toiletries. No air conditioner in room but had a stand alone outdated fan. It was July and temperature was 97 degrees. To hot to sleep. Bed was comfortable. Tv didn’t work. Winter might be more comfortable because there’s heat. You no longer have lake view because of a fence. Overall we give it 3 stars.

Renae Zimmer

2023-05

The rooms are very basic but the beds were decently comfortable. The bathroom and kitchenette are outdated but still had what we needed. Even though the room was outdated, it was super clean when we arrived. The managing staff were super friendly, professional, and helpful. We opened the windows at night for some fresh air and there were fans available as well. I'm not sure I would stay during the warm months without A/C though.

Lyn Baughn

2023-05

Room was dirty. Soap from the previous gusts was still in our shower. The “kitchen” walls had all kinds of spilled and stuck on food was visible on the walls. There were water and urine stains visible on the carpets. This used to be a great place; clean, no frills , but very nice. We have stayed here several times. This was our last time. Won’t be returning.

Jessica Pearson

2023-08

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Steve Setka

2023-05

Room 4 is ok, room 5 is nice and acceptable. Some of the rooms are older and need updating. I hear they are tearing down to build a new resort hotel soon.Staff Amanda was wonderful and very helpful.Cody's next door has amazing food and beautiful people.Heidi and Keith @ Cody's made my dinner memorable.The motel is quant quiet and sufficient for a short stay.I appreciate the people in Bear Lake a lot. They are so amazing!Beautiful views and mountains and lakeside.Incredible spot to spend some time and the motor lodge is nice.