Hotels near Larson-Juhl Center for Science and the Environment, Ashland

This hotel on Chequamagon Bay, a large arm of Lake Superior, looks like a traditional grand Great Lakes resort hotel. But in fact it was built in the 1980s (opened in 1986) to look like one but include modern conveniences and design. They did an excellent job in imitating the classic; the interior design calls up an earlier era, and many antique furnishings help the illusion. Location: in downtown Ashland, a small but regional center town in a former mining, now mostly tourist-based economy. Rooms: the more desirable rooms face Chequamagon Bay with scenic views of the bay and Bayfield Peninsula across it. On the opposite side of the hotel rooms face the standard urban scene of busy streets and stores in Ashland. Our room facing the lake was nicely appointed, a very comfortable king size bed, with a desk, lounge chair, higher than normal windows to capture the excellent view. Refrigerator and microwave were handy. Bathroom well appointed, above average shower. Everything was spotless, super-clean, a plus. Facilities: nice dining rooms (I did not eat at the restaurant), gym, etc. The free breakfast is slightly above average in range of choices. Negatives: we had a very slow checkin due to a temporarily shortage of staff (turned out to be the local high school graduation night). In the room there were three negatives that mattered enough to me to knock off a star. First, insufficient outlets. I had an iPhone, iPod Touch, and computer to charge, it was a chore to find enough functional empty outlets (ended up putting the bathroom into service overnight). The usual outlets on the desk lamp only worked when the lamp was turned on, making them unusable for overnight charging. There were no dedicated USB outlets. Second, the windows are sealed shut and do not open. Want fresh Lake Superior air? - forget it. In a big city hotel with stinky traffic that would make sense, but in a resort-oriented hotel looking right out onto one of the Great Lakes? Makes no sense, and wastes an opportunity. Which leads me to the third issue: the ONLY way to get a change of air in the room is by running the window HVAC unit, which was very noisy, too noisy for us to keep it on at night; it had no low speed quiet fan-only setting. I know such exist, since I had a very quiet one in a Best Western in the Twin Cities later in this same trip (where sealed windows close to an expressway make sense). These 3 problems were enough to take the shine off an otherwise excellent hotel, so I knocked off one star. To some people these issues might not matter but they did to us. Otherwise, though, a very comfortable and inviting hotel.

To start with the room, the AC didn't work, there was no toilet paper, the internet nor the TV worked and the shower head made me have to duck to get under the spray and I am 5'4”. The bathroom floor was dirty, and we were only give two poor quality towels. And you can hear everything in the room above you. The first night I went to the front desk to get toilet paper and I had to wait 15 minutes for someone to come in from their smoke break. The second night (8pm), my husband had to go and get more towels (3 of us total in the room, and we were only give 2 towels), and he ended up getting pool towels (very ratty and thin) because noone ever came and helped him at the counter. The 3rd day, we went to ask for towels and were told there were none and we could use floor mats...absolutely disgusting. The staff, when we did find one, were not friendly and welcoming at all.

We were pleased to be able to get a reservation for the 1 night we stayed at the Blue Wave Inn. Because of it being Memorial Day weekend, many hotels were requiring a multiple night stay. This is an unique facility, with only 5 rental units, a store and a restaurant and it is right on Lake Superior. We arrived around 7 pm and there were no other cars in the lot. When we entered the building, we saw a note to check in at the store. When we found that closed, we were directed to check our confirmation email. At that point, I checked my phone and found directions to use a code in the elevator and go to the 3rd floor. We found our key in the door and our room was very attractive and beautifully decorated! Various kinds of coffee pods were available, but we don't drink coffee, so no big deal for us. Would have been nice if they offered tea or hot chocolate in addition to coffee. They also offered a corkscrew, wine glasses, a refrigerator and a great walk in shower. We would definitely stay here again if in the area!

The PROs: Very nice staff including cleaning crew and breakfast crew. Everyone was super nice. Two chairs in the room besides the beds, etc so we could sit down to eat at the desk. Shower had lots of hot water and good pressure. It seemed fairly quiet. I didn’t hear a lot of noise but that could just be the people who were there that night. Good variety of pillows. Microwave and fridge worked well. Location was not bad and the view from the breakfast room was nice. The CONs: The hallways and the room smelled bad. The hallway by the front desk smells like pool, but the stairway and hallway out to the left of the main desk were gross smelling, like a mix of cat pee and smoke. I don’t know what it was but it was not nice. The beds were innerspring mattresses and you could tell. They sort of sagged to the middle a bit, not very comfortable. The bathrooms are small and everything is a bit outdated. We found the previous people’s socks so I am guessing the vacuuming could be better. The breakfast food was yucky. The eggs were barely warm and were watery and spongy. When pressed with a fork, clear liquid squeezed out. I think they were frozen and hadn’t been heated up enough. The sausage was also spongy and not very warm . The oatmeal is only the packets of oatmeal that you mix with hot water. I guess, sort of standard for some hotels, but when you pay $250 for a room, I would hope for a better breakfast including maybe a gluten-free bagel or bread tucked into a freezer somewhere so people who are gluten-free have something to eat besides squishy eggs and spongy sausage. I could overlook some of this if we hadn’t paid so much. I expect things like this from hotels that are $89 a night, not anything near the price we paid.