Sauble River Marina & Lodge Resort

My family and I stayed at Sauble River Marina & Lodge Resort a few months ago, and the experience was so negatively memorable, I had to write a review.

I will start off giving credit where it is due - this place offers a lot of amenities and the accommodations themselves are decent. That gives it 3 stars. The other 2 starts are lost for one very large reason: utter lack of hospitality! If feeling welcome and accommodated does not matter to you, then you will likely have no issues staying here. Be prepared to either be treated quite well (as half the reviews on here seem to state) or absolutely terribly (as the other half go in detail about). I'm from the second camp. I don't think my family and I have never felt more unwelcome and unaccommodated in all our years of visiting Sauble Beach. Based only on our experience, I feel the owners Charlene and Ken Reinhart need a good berating here online for their attitudes and lack of care towards their guests. That's essentially their one job.

The stay was unpleasant before we even arrived at the facilities. We called to ask to store our perishables in the fridge of our room about 3 hours before check-in since we had a booking at the Grotto in Tobermory for the remainder of the day and didn't want to leave it in the car. The replies received were rude and illogical, saying that we couldn't enter the room before check-in for any reason. If entering the room was the issue, we then asked to simply place the items on the doorstep for them to feel more comfortable taking in with the gloves they were already wearing. Their answer was a resounding "no". Their reason? Strict Covid cleaning protocols, which was a load of crock as the rooms were not cleaned well and previous guest's socks were even found left in the closet. We were hung up on during the phone call. Strike 1.

We asked how to operate the air conditioning unit in the facilities, and the answer given was, "You have doors and windows". Unnecessary passive-aggressiveness for such a basic question is not appreciated. If the owners don't want guests using the A/C, remove the unit. Strike 2.

There were 6 of us during our stay, and when we requested more toilet paper at 8:30 pm as Charlene was walking by, her response was, "Next time, try asking a little bit earlier in the day." Again, unnecessary rudeness. The hosts' job is to provide guests with supplies when reasonable. This was very reasonable. Similarly, when we asked for a few clean towels, the response was, "You've only been here two days, you'll just have to dry them out yourselves. You know, for the environment." Once again, outright uncalled-for. Do these people realize what business they are in? Environmental awareness is understandable, but these policies need to be made known to the guests beforehand. Strike 3.

Which leads me to my last point. The Reinharts absolutely adore rules, rules, rules. As a fellow rule-lover, I was impressed and disgusted by the amount of rules for everything, many of which I found were cop-outs to not have to attend to the guests' needs. One preciously petty rule was that you will be charged a full-night's pay for not having checked-out even 1 minute after the check-out time. Is it possible to strike out a fourth time?

To summarize, the Reinharts are unfortunately inflexible, inhospitable, unaccommodating, and generally antagonistic to the guests they randomly choose not to like, I imagine from the direction the wind is blowing that day. I advise all who consider staying here to read the host of other reviews that reiterate my own experience. From what I have read, mine was tame compared to some people's.

Nice place, right by the river. Have lots of water activities available. You can do kayak to the Sauble Falls (a must to go place in Sauble). Sauble Falls are beautiful, only 10 minutes driving. 10-15 minutes walk to beach. Owners are very nice. Room is complete with mini fridge, microwave. Outside there is BBQ, lazy chair. Beautiful scenery. Place to stay in Sauble.

Can confirm that no dogs are allowed - I saw a no dogs sign on the dock. Very unusual, given how much we love pets here!

Did not interact with the owner but the experience with the service staff was perfect. Friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. Would definitely be back for paddling down the river.

This marina advertises it’s accommodations as ‘simple room & cabins’. We stayed in the Lodge, a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom location with a full kitchen and sitting room.

The Lodge is clean, quite adequate and located in an accessible spot. The kitchen and living room are incredibly comfortable thanks to an air conditioning unit. We would stay here again for any stay shorter than 7 nights (the area’s general minimum in the on season).

However, the three bedrooms were stifling upon our entry, and were still quite warm at bedtime [10 PM] because of a lack of air-conditioning being able to reach the rooms. Leaving the windows open lead to cooler rooms later in the evening, but falling asleep for my two kids was still a challenge even after a day at the beach. The single ceiling fan located in the living room did not quite do the job, and a ceiling fan in every bedroom would be an economical solution to this problem.

The usage of the boats included in the price is a definite plus, as is the marina’s location between the main beach and the falls.

The one thing missing from this trip was hospitality. No one seemed to care about whether we slept well, enjoyed our stay, or knew anything about the area. A little caring in both conversation and amenities would be beneficial to this location.

Owners were very friendly, accommodating and helpful! Room was basic, perfect for surroundings and very clean, comfortable and well stocked. Well worth the price! Loved using the kayaks! We will definitely be back! Highly recommend!