Maingate Lakeside Resort

DO. NOT. STAY. HERE! I rarely post reviews because I think they tend to showcase and celebrate people’s worst and most complain-y tendencies, but I am making an exception for this because it’s important for people to know. Before I elaborate on the “resort” itself, I do want to note that the staff by whom we were helped were absolutely lovely - kind, understanding, and willing to do their utmost to make the situation right. In terms of the accommodations themselves… we initially thought there had been a mistake when we opened the door to our room and were greeted by the stench (and I’m not being dramatic, it reeked) of musky urine. The carpets had stains all over them and there is no way they had been vacuumed in the last decade. Further, none of the lamps in the room worked, nor did the phone, nor the TV and there was black mould ALL OVER the bathroom - in the tub, on the walls, on the door, in the grout, etc.. Being excited for our vacation, the friend who I was with and I initially attempted to maintain an open mind (“It may not be ideal but at least it’s cheap!”) but after leaving to have supper, mulling it over, and returning to our stinky mould-infested room, we decided to speak to the staff member working the front desk (who again, was lovely). No fewer than four rooms were offered to us (all of which had the same or similar issues) before we decided to find somewhere else last minute. When we did get to the new hotel, we noticed that the clothes we had been wearing when we first arrived smelled the same as the room had despite having spent very little time there. Just being there briefly made us feel like we had to shower for a million years afterward. I want to note here too that neither myself nor my friend are precious in any way when it comes to accommodations. We’ve frequently stayed together at hostels and cheap motels and are more or less always willing to sacrifice comfort for a good price. However… this experience helped us realize that there is most definitely a limit to that.