The Port Hotel

First time staying here, and would likely stay here again. Pros: Location, very comfy bed, great water pressure in shower, loved the guest lounge with coffee, pastries, breakfast sandwiches, etc.; quaint look and feel. Loved the restaurant and bar on first floor; no problems finding close parking Cons: The stairs! I didn't realize there wasn't an elevator. Not the end of the world, but lugging heavy bags up to the 3rd floor on steep stairs that don't meet code wasn't fun. Even with the A/C on, the room had a dampness to it. Would have liked extra pillows. The decorative ones on the bed weren't really doable for sleeping. Overall, we loved being so close to everything in Port Wash. The farmer's market was right out front, you can walk to everything, and the restaurant and bar was great. Two nights the fire engines/ sirens went racing by and that was a bit jolting, but very comfortable otherwise. While we had no issues, I can see not having an on-site innkeeper could be an issue if something arises.

While I wanted to love this property, there were some big omissions that really need to be addressed. The room was well appointed and very cozy; however, there was very little toilet paper on the roll when we arrived (with no backups) & when we called & texted the proprietor to get more, our calls went completely unanswered. He was very responsive, accommodating & nice when we made the reservation. There were extra toiletries & towels to be had, but no toilet paper! So, we had to secure our own in town. Yes, really! The tv never worked either! Additionally, one of the Kleenex boxes was empty & a drink stirrer was prominently laying on the floor, so whomever made up the room, did not do it well. I do know that the entire hotel had been rented out the night before for a wedding party, but still! My concern is that without a proprietor available even by phone, what if there were a real emergency and no one was available?

This is real Americana, a wonderful, welcoming -- and historic! -- place to stay in a wonderful town on Lake Michigan. The rooms are authentically furnished, and supremely comfortable with great beds, pillows (our room even had a gas fireplace, lovely!). The hotel's lounge is fantastic -- everything you need for breakfast and snacks, generously stocked with fresh pastries, fruit, yogurts, breakfast burritos, energy bars, cereals of all kinds, juices, beer, coffees and tea. Host Jim Read made this a truly unforgettable stay -- in a town where there's great shopping, great restaurants (including one in the hotel), and excellent lakeside walks. a great bargain, too. We'll definitely be back!!

We stayed at the Port Hotel on Friday and Saturday nights in mid October. It is a wonderful small hotel. Our room (306) was very large and had a hot tub in the main part of the room. There is a couch and comfortable chair. The bathroom is divided; sink in one area and toilet and walk-in shower in a separate room. This is not a bed and breakfast, but there are frozen omelettes, juice, etc. in the second-floor lounge. We saw the owner a few times and he is very pleasant. There is an excellent restaurant on premises. The neighborhood is good. There are two things we did not like. The steps are steep and the rooms are on the second and third floors. If you can’t handle steps, don’t stay here. The other is minor. By today’s standard, the TV is small. All in all, Port Hotel is a great place to stay.

Very nice updated hotel and a work in progress. All the rooms are updated and some have fireplaces. The Bar and restaurant serve excellent find and spirits and the staff is friendly and outgoing. The only drawback is that the rooms are on the second and third floors and there is no elevator. That said, an elevator is planned for 2024. The bar and restaurant is handicap accessible via a ramp. That alone is worth visiting as the food is excellent. The proprietor was quite helpful when we had an issue getting the TV to work. It took awhile to get it working but he stayed with it until he resolved it. 👍 It’s close to downtown and the lake. Highly recommend it.

Look elsewhere, no staff, inoperable shower, inferior continental breakfast. For the money, you would expect more. No one on the premise to help with a shower where the knob came off. A full trash bag was sitting in the hallway during the time we were there. The items left in the refrigerator and the freezer for the continental breakfast did not look fresh nor were the few pastry's on the counter. In the end we paid to sleep - no shower - no breakfast. Very disappointing for an inn that has great potential to be very nice.

The instructions sent by e-mail were unprintable (20% of the sentence length was not printed). The room was very well-appointed. Except for the vacuum that was left in the room, and the crap on the floors. Evidently, not only did they forget TO vacuum, they forgot THE vacuum. For the price of the room, one would expect something other than a shaky-screen CRT TV. The bed was very comfortable. The only clock in the room was the one on the cable box (no bedside alarm clock). The two-headed shower with all of the jets IS A JOKE! The side jets never functioned and it was a battle to turn the selector to get anything but cold water to come out. It is, though, located close to everything there is to see/do in Port Washington.

Location is perfect for the town. Rooms were nice, beds very comfy. The proprietor was very friendly. Unfortunately this was let down by a couple of issues: there is no elevator so we had to lug all our suitcases up two flights of very steep stairs (we were aware there was no elevator but didn't realise how steep the stairs were going to be). The proprietor offered to help but actually dragged one suitcase very roughly up the stairs which led to the case breaking. When we got to the room the toilet was blocked, and it took us ages to find a member of staff to help as nobody on site. Breakfast was supposed to be provided, but when we got there was nothing to eat except chocolate cake or a frozen cheese omelette (I can't eat cheese). There was no bread, no milk, no bagels or muffins (even though there was a sign to say there were). Either they hadn't provided anything or some other selfish guests had eaten everything. Either way there was no staff on site to ask, so we then had to buy breakfast elsewhere, which is annoying as we'd paid the room rate to include breakfast. I wish we'd paid a bit more to stay at the Harbor View Hotel, it would have been cheaper in the long run, and we would have had a much nicer experience.

We decided to stay at the Port Hotel for our wedding weekend. I don't think the pictures do it justice. The rooms were beautiful. I've stayed at 4 and 5 star hotels that don't have the classic nature that the Port Hotel does. You feel like you are staying at a 5 star hotel in the 50s. Really stunning decor. We didn't have a view of the water from the room, but you can walk out the door and see the beauty of the lake. There is a lounge that has complimentary food and drink items. We weren't in the room a ton, but it really did make a very special weekend just a little more special.