Lance Aune

Review of Gunflint Lodge

Our family stayed at a neighboring resort for Lab...

Our family stayed at a neighboring resort for Labor Day weekend, as we have done consecutive years in the past, but we rented a 9 passenger Pontoon for 2 consecutive days with Gun Flint Lodge as they were offering a larger Pontoon. When we arrived to pick up the boat on day 1, everything went 'South'.

(... even before pick up, basic questions could not be answered about the boat when i called to reserve i.e. motor size, length, features, etc. so i gave Gunflint Lodge the benefit of the doubt...)

After seeing the boat we noticed it was considerably dirty right off the bat (Sand / rock ingrained in the carpet, stains on the seats). All of the seats were completely soaked through with rain water, the small cheap plastic pedestal table was not secured to the deck, (literally bouncing around loose!), the rail doors were failing with broken welds, the CD deck was not working at all, and none of the switches were operational (Live Well, Acc, etc) so we couldn't listen to music on the boat or plug in external audio. When we asked the person assisting us with getting underway about these items, every answer was "I don't know"... and no thought to ask someone who did know.

We departed back to our campsite and immediately noticed the severely under-powered 25hp motor. I understand a pontoon is not a speed boat, or even a fishing boat, but this was egregious! Fully loaded we were lucky to be traveling at 5 mph! (...no motor restrictions on this lake either...)

It doesn't stop there...

When asked if we could keep the boat docked at the resort we were staying at for the night the answer was " No we need it back at 5:00" - No further explanation from the gentleman. So i asked "Can we atleast keep it till dusk?" the answer received was "5:30 at the latest , were using it tonight". Perplexed, i went and spoke with the manager and was informed they were using it for a "Dinner Cruise" that evening at 5:30??

After explaining to the manager our intentions for the two consecutive day rentals on how we wanted to keep the boat docked and available for use when we wanted it (late night / early morning fishing / a quick trip out), the fact that no one informed us at booking we had to return the boat each day or even at a certain time was extremely disappointing! No where did it mention this in any email correspondence or receipt, nor was i informed of this over the phone at booking. With our boat plans for the day essentially ruined due to the time constraint, all that they could do was give us a half day credit to the rental. A nice gesture, but not enough.

The second day of our rental when arriving to pick up the boat, we spent 15 minutes trying to track someone down who could assist us. I asked several employees to which no one could help. Only instead to direct me to the front desk. When speaking to one of the employees at the front desk to ask for help with the boat i explained the boat was not at the dock and we needed help getting it. I was given 'attitude and an eye roll', but was eventually helped by a different employee. The boat was still in the same condition as the day before (feel sorry for the people on this 'Dinner Cruise').

In conclusion:

It was a bad experience which could have been a great one had the resort cared even the slightest about the quality of its services and external customers.

They know they are 1 out of 2 places in the area / on the lake that rent boats and they take advantage of that fact. I probably would be a repeat customer of their rental had the boat been at least decent. Additionally, I wouldn't have cared so much about the minor customer service hiccups either.

I will not be renting from them in the future!