There are hotel stays where the room is the whole story. Blue Heron Inn wasn't one of them. The booking was weird, the room had issues, and the lakefront experience did a lot of heavy lifting.
We booked through Priceline for a couples weekend, September 26 through September 28, 2025. We spent time around New Buffalo, had some great meals, and used the hotel as part lodging, part lakeside getaway.
HELLO, MY NAME IS METAL NOT.
At check-in, the hotel initially couldn't find the reservation under my name. Eventually it surfaced under the billing name “Metal Not.”
That isn't me editorializing. The Priceline booking record itself displayed that billing name. Why it happened is something we cannot establish from the record, so we're not assigning blame to Priceline, the hotel or some mysterious booking-system gremlin.
As a description of my musical tastes, however, it was surprisingly accurate.
THE ROOM WASN'T WHAT WE BOOKED.
We expected a king and received two queens. The room felt older and musty. My wife noticed it more than I did, which is exactly why she has veto power in our highly prestigious cleanliness department.
Wife Test: Questionable. Not an automatic pack-the-bags failure, but definitely not a clean pass.
There was also no elevator available to reach our room, so getting there meant carrying our luggage up a flight of stairs. That's not merely an annoyance for some travelers; it's useful accessibility and convenience information.
THEN THE LAKE SAVED THE VIBE.
The property sits on Pine Lake, and that setting became a meaningful part of the stay. We ate breakfast on a cute back deck overlooking the water. The hotel had access to pontoon rentals, and our group spent hours out on the lake with music and drinks. The boat driver was not drinking. The passengers were considerably less burdened by responsibility.
The Blue Heron's current site continues to promote on-site boat rentals through a partnership with Pine Lake Rentals, along with lakefront dining and a guest-only pool.
What we paid: $348.30 total for two nights, an effective all-in rate of $174.15 per night. Booking record purchased September 1, 2025 through Priceline. Rates vary by date and booking method.
FLASHFORCAST // BOTTOM LINE
THE ROOM UNDERPERFORMED. THE GETAWAY DIDN'T.
The booking-name mystery, room-type mismatch, mustiness and stairs all count. So do the lake, breakfast on the deck and hours on a pontoon with friends.
That's why we review stays, not just mattresses. Blue Heron was a flawed hotel-room experience wrapped inside a genuinely pleasant weekend.