Stayed here while in town for a wedding. Prices were quite low since it was winter (March). Pros: Cute, clean, spacious room with a comfortable bed and huge, lovely pillows. Nice common area with a fireplace and comfy couches. The views were amazing. Cons: The front desk staff seems unhappy and passes that along to you. As other reviewers have mentioned, they aren't flexible when it comes to changing your stay or checking in/out earlier than the stated times, so make sure your plans are very solid before booking, even in the dead of winter. Parking is very limited. We were expecting guests to drop by for a quick visit (two hours tops) and asked where they could park. We were directed across US-31 (a busy four-lane thoroughfare) to an overflow lot. We asked if there was anything closer, as one person is in a wheelchair, but they didn't budge. (The parking lot in front of the hotel was empty except for our car at that point.) I'm giving this four stars because it is an impressive property and the winter prices are quite low, but keep in mind that the customer experience wasn't great. read more

Tamarack Lodge is a very nice but subtly aging property on the water in Traverse City. We decided to shift away from the neighboring Days Inn for a nicer stay. The policy is rigid. Don't book until you know how long you want to stay. No refunds. We had a one bedroom condo on the main level. Comes with one dedicated parking spot and extra parking on the west side of the lot. The styling is craftsman and is holding up nicely despite the harsh winters and water. Rooms are nicely maintained but the furniture is showing some wear. It was clean and well organized and it felt safe. Access to the beach is easy and each unit has a patio. Views are stellar and it's well worth the price. They come by to clean rooms and tidy up every day. The kitchenette is helpful and the fireplace is also a fun compliment to the space. Staff at the front desk is not award winning for personality but they got us what we needed. Bar was never open and the sister property down the beach has a restaurant and rooftop bar should you need that. We would return. read more

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Tamarack Lodge is building and now opening adjacent structures. The original structure is a unique, even elegant facility that has been well cared for. Beware of being put in the new adjacent structure. It's basically a motel, a box with little room boxes within. The public area is miniature. The remainder of the housing has long featureless hallways containing miniature rooms. Rooms have no shelving except for a 9 inch board on the wall as shown in the room photo with two, small, hard chairs underneath. The closet is about 9 inches wide. Basically it is a dreary sleeping room with a tiny balcony. Don't take these rooms expecting anything like the main lodge. Parking is limited to one auto by the building with not enough space for all rooms, so some late comers will be parking in another lot. At prices approaching those of the smaller rooms in the main lodge, the motel version is not even a good value option. read more

Wife and I never can get away from Saint Joe for down time in the summer . Have been up here a Dozen times in January , Hotels are cheaper . We have driven by Tamarck Lodge dozens of times but thought it would cost to much to stay here. But this time I researched it before xmas and found it was only 106 bucks a nite the end of January so we booked 3 nite . The room was a corner suite , with lake view , fireplace, full kitchen , washer and dryer , separate bedroom and a bathroom to die for . Check out the pictures. Even had a lake side patio . ( to cold to use it but wow) read more

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A few minutes from town, gorgeous location and huge condos. They have nice kitchens which worked great over the past few days we stayed here. They also have a nice relax feel to them like a cabin in the woods (which is actually what our house at home is) so it feels perfect. The best part is the deck with the chairs to relax and see the water. Love this place and we will be back. We come here every year and now this will be our stay. read more

Tamarack Lodge - Side view - Hotels Near Me - Traverse City, Michigan

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Beautiful lodge, we loved our condo, it was like home away from home. They had everything one would need in a house.. just bring groceries and you are all set. Super friendly and helpful staff. We rented the 2bed 2bath condo for the memorial weekend. The Balcony overlooking the lake was amazing.. sunsets right outside the window. even though you can't see the sunrise. :) The second bedroom had no windows. Even though it had a fully equipped mini kitchen, bathroom and even separate entrance.. which can be used as a in-law quarters. . We did not use it much.. so we dint care.. but this might be disappointing if you are depending on the second bedroom. The Saturday brunch was decent.. and the evening born fire, local entertainment and s'mores was a nice touch Everything was nicely decorated and spotlessly clean. Due to covid (they say) extra work checking out. You had to take out your trash. Super strict on check in and checkout times.. 10Am vacation day check out was little early for me, with two kids.. Little on the pricy side. I also hoped that they would have some contact with some activities like jet ski, bike and boat rentals. But they just gave phone numbers. read more

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Beautiful room with gorgeous view of the bay. Comfortable bed! I like that they have a policy about being quiet at night. The young guy at the front desk seemed like he didn't like his job. I held the door for a vendor bringing things in, and the guy complained about the management to the vendor and in front of me, which I felt was unprofessional. read more

Everything is quality here. Top notch service. What is truly soothing to an OCD like me is the spotless entire 3bed 3bath an open kitchen with a beautiful Michigan Lake view suite. Highly recommend! read more

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Terrible Customer service and policies! After reading all of the negative revuews we decided to stay here anyway. We had a family gathering with several rooms we booked. When we had an emergency that prevented us from coming then they were unable to accommodate any changes. Not only did they not offer any type of refund or exchange but they then would charge us again so basically double charge if we wanted to come another time. The manager offered To "try" to resell the rooms. They didn't do anything to try to resell them. I checked the website and it was never listed that these rooms were available. He just told me they didn't sell them. Terrible customer service and policies. Thousands of dollars we gave them for nothing. We will never go back to somewhere that can be so unwilling to help someone out in an emergency. I encourage you to bring your business and support elsewhere. read more

Hot darn this place is nice! The room is enormous! We stayed in a large Pinecone (one of the smallest rooms). It was a corner room with a view of the water from every window. There are two tvs, a full kitchen with appliances and dishes (even a Crock-Pot and blender), dishwasher, fireplace, jacuzzi tub (only fits one person sadly), a dining room, and a living room. This is the size of a nice apartment. There is no breakfast, but they host events almost every night. There is coffee & tea 24/7 in the lounge, as well as a pool table.. It's expensive for sure but if you go on the off season, it's reasonable for an upscale stay. read more

Tamarack Lodge - View from the large Pinecone bedroom. - Hotels Near Me - Traverse City, Michigan

We recently had a three-night stay at this property, which was not a good experience. The walls of the rooms are paper thin, so you can hear everything in the room next door, which kept us up all night, not to mention the kids running up and down the hallways. The AC is in the unit was a workhorse and loud. The main lodge is clean, and the staff is friendly, but the bar, if you want to call it that, never opened. There are also no ice machines. There are much better places to stay for a lot less money. Very disappointing. read more

Loved our stay! The room was great, clean and cozy. The facility was big yet quaint and the front desk was very informative about policies but also about movie rentals and other things they offered. Seemed to be a bit quieter than I would assume the peak months are, so I think it would be fun to see the bar area opened and folks hanging out in the common area. The only downside was we weren't able to get in for an early checkin. When I called to confirm my reservation the day prior, the person I spoke with told me it may be possible, so he took my number and told me they'd call me when the room was ready. I never received a call, so when we arrived to checkin a little early we were denied. Also, everyone seemed to be super high strung about mask wearing. Not surprising but just another thing to prepare for. Overall we enjoyed our stay and would be back! read more

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This place is a one and done. Charged our credit card a week before we arrived and then they make you charge another 50 dollars when u arrive for incidentals that will be refunded. Shame on me for not doing my research before we rented. The staff is well trained I assume to handle all the disgruntled guests. Complaining will get you no where. Very uptight atmosphere. Not the relaxing weekend I was looking for at all. read more

Overall not a bad place to stay. It's right on the beach with nice hangout area. Rooms a little dated and beds a little rough. There is no daily housekeeping. They leave a note under your door on morning of checkout (see pic) that I thought could be worded more gently read more

Tamarack Lodge - Note that is left under your door on check out day. - Hotels Near Me - Traverse City, Michigan

Multiple lights were out and the phones didn't work in the room when we arrived. Luckily that was taken care of by the 3rd day of our stay had to put in two requests for the phones (apparently it was just pluged in to the wrong spot). Was given 30 minutes notice that water was being shut off for almost the ENTIRE day. No shower was not as big of a problem as no toilets for the day. My wife, being pregnant, obviously needed one. Was never offered ANY compensation. Was told the people who had any ownerships were told they were doing maintenance during that week and to not come in. apparently, they didn't care to give that information to anyone else renting a room. (What lady at the counter said) Had to complain that the water being shut off was a HUGE inconvenience for them to even consider offering ANY kind of refund or remedy to alleviate the obvious problem that it caused. Spent almost $3k for the stay and when I asked for a refund for only just the one weekday (which is a less expensive day) that the water was off. they asked "how do you expect us to make money if we give refunds for issues like that" asked desk to have manager call he never did. I had to call twice. Ended up only getting a small partial refund for PART of the day that they didnt have water after a lot of headache. Would not recommend unless you plan on getting poor customer service when they have any kind of issue that happens. Which is unfortunate because it is a very nice location. Will definitely not be returning. Book one of the MANY other places within a few miles of there. Unfortunately the customer service dealing with no water ruined the vacation more than the day without water. read more

I agree with the other reviews. A great place to stay and this summer will be my 3d visit. Like someone else said, get non-summer rates and save. We are going in late Spring. Clean, friendly service, nice views, roomy, etc. 3 couples share a 3 bedroom condo and it is plenty roomy for all - 3 bathrooms and a roomy kitchen and common area. Did I overuse the word "roomy?" read more

Great place, suites are comfy with full kitchens, large balcony facing the lake, in room fireplace and free cookies at the front desk. We had a great stay in Traverse City. read more

Tamarack Lodge - Hotels Near Me - Traverse City, Michigan

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Currently staying here & this place is awesome! It's basically like a little apartment. If you are looking for a hotel, I would highly recommend tamarack. It's nice there is a separate bedroom (as opposed to many hotels where everything is all in one room). It has as fully stocked kitchen with a full size fridge (my jumped up like a child when I saw this since hotels typically have mini fridges if at all), a fireplace with big t.v. hiding above. The balcony looking over the lake is the best part, feels like a beach resort (it is). Washer & dryer in room, super clean and the lobby area has a bar :) Honestly, we were surprised how much it cost....not much more than a basic hotel. Worth the few extra bucks to really enjoy where we stayed. read more

Everything is perfect here. Staff is very friendly and professional. Property is well maintained, clean and 10 steps from water. Guitar by bonfire was such a nice touch. We'll be back for sure! read more

We stayed in the large 1 bedroom, which was perfect for the two of us. The upscale rooms are fairly classically decorated with a few up north rustic touches with modern amenities. I was happy that they didn't have the tacky decor you see in a lot of hotels. Views of the bay were beautiful, and would likely be only even more spectacular with the beautiful summer weather. I absolutely loved having a kitchen for cooking dinners in, and having a full fridge was great for storing groceries and bottles of wine from afternoon wine tasting treks. They also have daily events in the lobby which were a nice treat. We enjoyed apple crisp on Monday afternoon, and there were the chocolate chip cookies in the evening. A few areas for improvement: In room wifi (free) is always a plus, but the connection seemed to drop pretty regularly. Despite having plasma tvs, the reception was pretty terrible. Recycling options weren't available, or at least not readily apparent. Tip: Get a reservation in the off season. Rates are half what they are in the peak summer season, and everything is nice & quiet. read more

This place rocks - they have done everything right! The rooms are complete with everything you need including dishes, full size fridge and freezer, washer, dryer, dishwasher, coffee pot. The furnishings are great, clean and comfortable. They have plenty of activities on and off beach. We went out to eat most meals but we should have bought our own food and cooked. This place is worth the price. The only complaint I would have is that we used the awesome tub in the room but there are sensors that turn on some air blowers every once in a while. This happened while we were sleeping and was pretty loud. I had to call down to the front desk in which they told me to wipe off 2 metal sensors at the bottom of the tub. I will still give it 5 stars as it exceeded my expectations in every way! read more

My family has a time share here, and they have always been very accommodating. Very friendly staff. Great views of the water. We've been coming here for years and years and we will always come home. If you're looking for an upscale northern retreat this is the place! read more

this my third visit, and hv always felt this is the best place to stay in TC. think this is the smallest room yet, and cheapest. but be warned, its the one bedroom with partial view of the bay. and the partial view is still wonderful, but my complaint is that all the road noise hits full force on this west side of the building (where all the smallest rooms are located) and could only be much worse in the summer with the balcony door open. depending on the way the wind blows (ie.from the west or south) you will get the traffic fumes from rt. 72. I now know to pay more for the full view rooms, which face north to the bay and away from the road. what i love is the view, the kitchenette or full kitchen, washer/dryer, the rustic lodge feel and the fireplace. and i willingly pay the price for it. what i like least is the majority of the front desk help. most seem uppity, joyless, and downright rude. all u can drink coffee, tea, and hot chocolate supposedly 24 hours, but none on the morning i went down at 6 am, oddly that would be the time one would expect it.. no breakfast except for the one on the weekend which you will have to pay for. usually a food thing in the afternoons like apple crisp; a wine maybe cheese thing, not sure since i didn't go this year. chocolate chip cookies in the afternoon at the front desk. read more

Third time staying there, third time loving it! Beautiful, clean, units, friendly helpful staff, gorgeous views of the bay! We will be back again!! read more