Cancel

    Open app

    Search

    Clarion Hotel Beachfront

    1.7 (135 reviews)
    ModerateHotels
    Open Open 24 hours
    Updated over 3 months ago

    Services - Clarion Hotel Beachfront

    Hotels

    Clarion Hotel Beachfront Photos

    You might also consider

    Recommended Reviews - Clarion Hotel Beachfront

    Your trust is our priority, so businesses can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Learn more about reviews.
    Yelp app icon
    Browse more easily on the app
    Review Feed Illustration

    Reviews With Photos

    From October 24-25 2025 my husband and I stayed overnight at the Clarion in Mackinaw City. We had a late check in due to a long drive from northern Indiana. After checking in at approximately 22:00 we went to our room and fell asleep almost immediately. We woke up at around 05:00 with a cough and a sore throat. My husband noticed the ceiling had black mold on it. Also, the deadbolt latch was broken as a screw was missing. We went to the front desk immediately after discovering this and was told they would move us rooms. At this point, it was already 05:00 and we were awake for the day. We requested a refund and the assistant manger Bill became irate and refused this. We then asked for a main phone number to speak with the general manager. Bill again refused to give us this information. At this point Bill became even more irate and threw us out of the lobby refusing to help us at all. Upon further investigation, it appears that this hotel has had multiple complaints online in regards to a black mold issue, dating back to at least 2016.

    Peeling wallpaper in the shower
    Brandon M.

    I booked this property online through a 3rd party for just somewhere to shower and sleep since I was going to check in about 10p. I had ground floor two queen with courtyard view (the courtyard view are the pop machines and the parking lot) Front desk staff were pleasant. They explained breakfast was a granola bar, apple and a water available in the office from 7a-9a. Pros and cons for the property. Pros: location, mini fridge, cold a/c, strong water pressure in shower, large flat screen TV, friendly staff, ice machine worked (once I found it.) Cons: no hot breakfast, stains on the carpet, peeling wallpaper, mold in the shower, the shower drain backed up, bathroom light took 10 minutes to get bright, dated, one bed was missing a box spring, paper thin walls, uncomfortable beds, no extra outlets. This place is the reason I always bring slides and wear them everywhere in the room. So I got some decent sleep, got clean and didn't get any bug bites like other reviewers had. I am so glad I paid after season weekday rates. Whoever pays weekend rate for this place will get ripped. I definitely recommend paying a few bucks more and staying somewhere nicer, newer with a hot breakfast.

    Picture of how dirty the carpeting is

    Our experience was a nightmare!! the absolute worst hotel and staff I've ever had in my many travels. When we arrived our room was supposed to accommodate 8 people comfortably which was not the case. The room was too small, dirty and smelled. I asked if it was possible to get a refund for the two nights I booked. of course I was told no it was too late. The manager Ashley called and was also very rude, she said she would give us two ajionong rooms which was fair. We moved all of our luggage to another room that was dirtier then the first, smelled horrible, toilet wouldn't flush and my grandkids feet and socks were black from the dirty carpet, the bathroom door wouldn't shut, and the air conditioner put out a awful smell. The manager wouldn't give me the corporate phone number but I called the next morning to complain. My grandson is allergic to mold and was very sick from being in the room which obviously had mold! ,no one at the front desk seemed to care about anything except keeping my money!!! i ended up finding another hotel to stay at which was The Holiday Inn express and it was perfect! i was charge three times for two nights at The Clarion which was another issue I have. In all honesty the manager should of been considerate and understood our issues especially my grandsons instead of insisting I have to pay no matter what or move to another room for a third time. And I also I for got to mention the shower for the beach was broken, the air conditioner wasn't working in the dining room, the food was terrible, and the luggage carts were broken and falling apart. This place should be shut down to repair, deep clean and remodel. Don't waste your money!! I hoping that corporate will give me a refund which according to the manager wouldn't hapoen...by the way which adds up to over $900. I hope this long review helps others from making a costly mistake booking a room here.

    Angelica D.

    The hotel is old out dated and there were no ports to charge our iPhones so make sure to take a USB. The breakfast selection was sad. No fruit. No yogurt. No oatmeal. Just ham and toast and cereal. The breakfast area was in a weird location on the second floor and it was old and we saw a spider. The balcony had a lot of bugs. The pool was outside in the middle of the parking lot so you had to go out of the hotel to the pool. This was a last minute trip so I had to take whatever hotel was available. Then we had this high window with no covering so the daylight woke us up at 5:30am.

    Leaking valve - does not shut off.

    This hotel needs to be upgraded. Obviously is older and the company has sure got as much "blood out of the rock" as possible. Got into our room walked around it. When going into bathroom walked into a big spider web. Found the big boy up in the corner and killed him. Checked out entire room and didn't find anymore. Outdated and time to spend some profits back into upgrading this worn out hotel. Shower valve leaked leaving mold in shower. TV didn't work and had to reset 3 X to get to work. On a positive note - front desk service was excellent and our room was huge.

    Flea bites
    Shelley A.

    Fleas in the room! The rooms are a little dated and our bathroom there was peeling wallpaper! The room mirror had a little handprints all over it and we were not traveling with children. The worst of our experience are the 45 flea bites on my feet, legs and ankles. When we called it to their attention they said they would have a manager call us. Guess what? No one has called, avoid this place!!!!

    Two queen beds. Only one electric outlet to use and it was taken by lights. Had to charge my phone in the bathroom.

    See all

    3 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 1
    Love this 1
    Oh no 1

    20 days ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    9 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    6 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    8 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of T S.
    0
    1
    0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 1
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Dena D.
    2
    43
    211

    6 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Very dirty....only stayed because I had my own sheets.....found someones panties in the corner and they weren't mine. Don't stay here !!

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 1
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    5 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Amie D.
    4
    22
    13

    5 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    6 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    8 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 1
    Photo of Amy P.
    95
    26
    3

    4 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Keith K.
    4
    739
    13

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of E.J. C.
    57
    10
    0

    5 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Kyle A.
    19
    12
    2

    4 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    9 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 1
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    5 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    We had a terrible experience staying at the hotel. They overcharged us and the pool was filthy. I would not recommend staying at the hotel.

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 1
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    Page 1 of 4

    Ask the Community - Clarion Hotel Beachfront

    Review Highlights - Clarion Hotel Beachfront

    We thought we had to walk about a mile to catch Sheplers but unbeknownst to us, Arnold ferry is a stone throw away from Clarion.

    Mentioned in 2 reviews

    Read more highlights

    You might also consider

    Verify this business for free

    People searched for Hotels 1,672 times last month within 15 miles of this business.

    Verify this business

    Baymont by Wyndham Mackinaw City

    Baymont by Wyndham Mackinaw City

    (45 reviews)

    $

    Carol and John were phenomenal at the front desk and made the inbound and outbound process an…read morebreeze, Thank you both!! The property is very clean and well maintained as was the room... The house staff were all very professional and always had a friendly attitude and greeting... An all around great stay and would stay again and or recommend!!

    I found this on my latest vacation when googling hotels in Mackinac city. I felt led to leave my…read moreprevious hotel due to a few reasons some of them related to the room and some for personal reasons. This property and its price was a blessing on this day as I took the last room apparently with a single bed. I booked at 3 pm on the day before the property closed for the season. Please express my gratitude to the kind young man at the desk on my arrival on 10/24 for his empathy and kind words to me coming from a unpleasant situation. Arriving here was like a warm hug from a friend, it was warm, friendly and clean. The noise issues that were a major factor at the other hotel were not an issue here. I decided that outdoor corridors and me are not ever going to happen again. It is not what I want from a hotel experience Due to the pandemic, only the pool was open not the hot tub even though it looked good, I didn't go there. Also coffee pots have been removed from the rooms due to cleaning issues, but the lobby had fresh tasty coffee brewing and available. I appreciated the variety of the creamers and sweetners. My room was very large as it was handicap accessible which was ok as it was likely others would have been settled at this stage unlike me. I also like the more spacious parking spots and overall apoearance. It is more centrally licated to popular spots but being October and snow flurries I drove. BC pizza delivers and that is a nice perk as their food is good. Thank you for the grab and go type breakfast which you get at the counter from 7-10am that day I stayed. It is nice to have some options for travelers in the pandemic. I chose apple juice, raspberry yogurt and an apple cinnamon muffin which were all prepackaged. It is a safe and appreciated gesture. The other items offered are pictured below

    Best Western Plus Dockside Waterfront Inn

    Best Western Plus Dockside Waterfront Inn

    (105 reviews)

    $$

    Breakfast Review: Pancakes : 10/10 very soft cooked…read moreperfectly cute little round size (I had 12) Cinnamon swirl breasd: 9/10 sweet and small, wish it was bigger and had some icing but I didn't heat it so maybe that's why Ham: 8/10 very standard ham Overall 8.5/10 I only say that because of lack of options. They had so many carbs and very little of everything else Cereals, cinnamon bread, soft bread, bagels, pancakes, muffins, oatmeal versus eggs, ham, yogurt, oranges But, great coffee machine and juices Would eat again Update: apple juice is shit, 6/10 due to lack of flavor Saw a guy's ass Crack just now Rating is down to 8/10 overall

    I stayed there the week of May 17 for two nights…read more The breakfast was good and the breakfast staff was helpful. We only paid $95 per night including taxes. We got what we paid for. The first night we noticed that the carpet by the door was a little wet. We figured it was from the recent rains. The next morning the first 3 feet inside the door was soaking wet. I took a shower and every now and then a cold drop of water hit me. I could not figure out where it was coming from until I look up and realized that the shower on the floor above us was leaking on me - gross. Since we were staying two nights, we went to the front desk and asked for a new room. We went to the second room and there were flying bugs on both beds. We went back to the front desk and told them about the bugs. They told us that the bugs were everywhere and that we needed to live with them. I asked for a third room, and it was much better and it did not have bugs. The towels are old and a little gray. The toilet paper is very rough and turns cardboard brown when it goes into the water. If you are looking for a cheap place and can put up with old hotel features this might be the place for you.

    Clearwater Lakeshore

    Clearwater Lakeshore

    (33 reviews)

    $$

    I recommended this place to my family and it got rave reviews! They all said it was very clean and…read morethe staff went above and beyond. Not going to get into those details because maybe my aunt has a way with getting people to do much more than any employee should ...which says a lot about their service. So to the employees working on 6/12/2026 ... thank you!!

    We stopped in Mackinaw City on our way back home from camping in the UP. Chose this motel because…read moreit had pretty high reviews. We ended up in Building 3 on the first floor. We had an attached balcony with a view of the bridge. We also had access to the lake front, which has chairs, fire pits, and corn hole boards available. All of which were pretty dated, but it's a nice gesture. The rooms themselves were large. We had a king bed that was pretty comfortable. The mattress pad did have a stain on it, as did a few of the towels that they provided. You could tell that the carpet around the baseboards hadn't been vacuumed well. Lastly, we had a few spiders on our wall. They might have gotten in when we opened the door, but it seems unlikely since we only stayed briefly for one night. Reservation process was easy and the staff in the office were very nice. The site also has a pool and provides breakfast in the morning. Compared to other hotels in the area, $210 for the night seemed reasonable. Overall, it was fine for a short stay, but nothing great or memorable.

    Brigadoon Bed & Breakfast - Hometown feel, this quaint Bed and Breakfast will make you feel at home!

    Brigadoon Bed & Breakfast

    (17 reviews)

    $$$

    What a beautiful place to stay. The house is beautiful and huge! Large common areas to eat and…read morechill. Our room was on the third floor and it was very spacious. We had a sitting room, king-sized bed, and whirlpool. Our private deck provided a view of Lake Huron. We only stayed one night so we only got to enjoy one breakfast. We had sausage, cheesy potatoes, fresh fruit and a cinnamon roll. It was wonderful. Seating is between 8-9:30am. A self-serve coffee/tea bar is available 24/7. As an added bonus, they serve dessert from 7-8pm nightly. We got to enjoy that one night as well. Dessert was a chocolate brownie topped with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate syrup, and caramel. Omg, it was so good. We really should have spilt one as they were huge. The place was in a great location. It was a short walk to the Mackinac Island ferry. We walked to a dinner spot. All the shops were only a short walk away. We got there early (before our room was ready) and they allowed us to park in their lot so we didn't have to pay for parking in the ferry lot. Finally, the staff was absolutely wonderful. So helpful. So welcoming. Whatever you needed, they were there for you. The place is spotless. The food is amazing. So glad we stayed.

    Staff first rate. Rooms quiet. Walking distance to Shepler ferry. Close to main drag but several…read moreblocks away so traffic noise not an issue. Exterior could use some refreshing but interior in good shape. Breakfast tasty.

    Crown Choice Inn & Suites - In the breakfast area

    Crown Choice Inn & Suites

    (100 reviews)

    $$$

    ***Our visit was at the end of March, which is the off season for this city. A visit during…read moreMay-October will offer much more to do in Mackinaw City. There were only 2 restaurants and 2 stores open during our visit, which made it very difficult to get the most out of this trip. I included this note in the review because you will probably book through the Mackinaw City website, which does not fully emphasize how many businesses and attractions are closed November-April. If you visit during the off season, plan on crossing the bridge to St. Ignace or driving 45 minutes to Petoskey for more food/shopping choices.*** [Staff/Service] Check-in staff was friendly, but not particularly helpful. We were given wrong directions for accessing the waterpark, which resulted in taking an elevator to the third floor only to walk back down three flights of stairs to the park when our room was maybe 200 feet from the main entrance. The other desk clerk we interacted with was new, but helpful when we needed batteries for a TV remote. [Cleanliness] The room was very clean. However, my son did find a leftover marijuana cone in the back of a dresser drawer. [Space] The room was very spacious. We booked a suite, and 3 adults + 2 kids were comfortable the whole stay. [Decor] Room decor was minimal and outdated, BUT the low prices of this hotel also don't attract the kind of clientele who respect the property. More modern decor would be nice, but I understand not investing in too much here. [Furniture/Bedding] The mattresses seemed new. Bedding was very clean and comfortable. The furniture is outdated and worn, but sturdy. As with decor, I don't blame the owners for not investing heavily in new furniture. [Noise] It was still the off season, so it was pretty quiet most of the time. A few other guests did get loud sitting on the balconies, but again... the low prices attract a "variety" of visitors. We saw a lot of empty alcohol and cigarette trash around the parking lot every morning, and saw multiple families (with children) carrying baggies of marijuana into their rooms. So... [Location] It's Mackinaw City... During the regular season, it has great access to everything. In the off-season, expect to travel to St. Ignace or Petsokey for food/shopping. [Price] Incredible value! A 2 bedroom suite with waterpark included for three nights was HALF the price of a one-night stay at most other waterparks. It is very budget-friendly, and perfect for kids up to probably 13. The pool is large, and the hot tub is basically a pool itself, so great for adults. [Food] Huge disappointment here. The website for this specific hotel states "updated breakfast room", but there is NO breakfast at this hotel. In the off season (Nov-April), there are only two nearby restaurants with breakfast, one of them being a high-priced saloon. Plan to pack breakfast items or drive across the Mackinac Bridge to St. Ignace. [General] It's a budget-friendly, family-friendly hotel with a nice indoor waterpark. A bit outdated and in need of some repairs, but don't let that deter you from visiting. In the future, we plan to visit after May, when more attractions are open.

    Extremely old and nasty room. We walked in, took one look and went back down to the front desk…read more They sent us to another room that was worse so we left and will never be back.

    Clarion Hotel Beachfront - hotels - Updated July 2026

    Loading...
    Loading...
    Loading...