Gerald R. Ford Birthsite and Gardens Tours

I stayed at this location for the Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats concert at Stir Cove, the venue connected to the casino. Check in was easy and the staff was friendly. I was at to sign an electronic agreement of the usuals… No pets, no smoking, no illegal drugs, etc. Fastest elevators took me to my room on the sixth floor, and when I opened the door, I was hit by a strong smell of cigarette smoke in my room. I immediately called down to the front desk to let them know my discovery and to inform them that I did not want to switch rooms but wanted it noted that I was not the person smoking in the room. It stayed the entire duration of my trip. I would’ve asked to change rooms, but my room overlooked the river and had a great view of the concert stage. Turns out I didn’t need that view because I sat on the lawn for the entire show, but it was disappointing how bad the smell was. When I unpacked after returning home, my clothes reeked of cigarette smoke. Gross.

The hotel is a beautiful historic hotel but with that comes dated amenities and rooms. While I expected common areas to be historic I wasn’t expecting the rooms to also be. For example the shower was extremely small, the tiles were cracked and broken, water damage along the walls, VERY low yellow lighting, the toilet was practically on the floor it was so low. If you are using your room to get ready for a special event you MUST bring extra lighting it was awful for makeup and hair. Now, some would say this type of stuff is expected for a historic hotel I guess I was looking for more, it was just “meh” to me. The staff were all extremely nice and we had some lights out and a temperature issue in the room and it was handled very quickly. Valet was amazing and so friendly. We won’t be staying here again just because it was very average, nothing bad, I just prefer a little more pamper when I’m on vacation.

The toilet had a leak, the tv didn't work at all but I didn't mind as we weren't in room too much. some staff was really nice and others were not to friendly at front desk