The Homestead is a beautiful place at least I thin...

The Homestead is a beautiful place at least I think it might be when it's not under construction.

We chose to spend our 1x/year vacation for 5 days at The HomeStead. Friends told us about all the great restaurants, spa, bowling alley etc etc. When we arrived, we found out that their was MAJOR renovation being done. 3 of the 4 restaurants were closed for renovation or for the season (Easter break). The "spa" was in a make-shift portion of the lower level. They just took sleeping rooms and put in massage tables and hung some sheets over the windows.The bowling alley was closed. We had to wade through construction workers and table saws to get to the pool. Heat in our room was nonexistent for a day (we used hair dryers and turned the shower on HOT to heat the room).

This was a major vacation for us. 2 airfares, rental car, etc etc. When we returned home, I sent a letter to the manager. We received a form letter back offering us a free room upgrade (if available) on our next stay.

Our displeasure is not that the Hotel was going through renovation - hey, venerable old treasures like The Homestead need to do that. My quibble with them, is that they did not tell us in advance that the Hotel would be under major reconstruction and most amenities would be unavailable. We spent thousands of dollars on this vacation, and the The Holiday Inn Express in Milwaukee would have been a nicer stay.