Aurora Resort Motel is an excellent choice for travellers visiting Oscoda, offering a budget friendly environment alongside many helpful amenities designed to enhance your stay.
Rooms at Aurora Resort Motel offer a kitchenette, air conditioning, and a refrigerator providing exceptional comfort and convenience.
While you’re here, be sure to check out Tait's Bill of Fare, one of the restaurants in Oscoda with crab on the menu, which is a short distance from Aurora Resort Motel.
Their website boasts the following: “After a full day’s excitement, sleep comfortably in one of the 9 1-Bedroom Units or 8 Motel Units. The rooms are clean, spacious, and equipped with refrigerators and free color cable TV.”
What once may have been called the jewel of Oscoda is sadly no longer, and apparently hasn't been for some time. It had been a number of years since my 85-year old mom and her (now deceased) husband stayed here. Back in July 2014, we brought Mom and my great nephew along with my wife and son to the Aurora to relive our Michigan family vacations exploring the great places Mom and Dad took me and my two siblings when we were kids in the 60's. Oscoda was just one of many places in the lower and upper peninsulas we enjoyed as kids. While the Aurora was not one of our family stops, it later became one of my mom and stepdad's favorites later in life. This recent vacation was for mom, so we made it a point to stay a couple days. Mom had her favorite room located closest to the beach, which included a separate bedroom and kitchen, so we reserved that room and the one next to it (Picture #2). The rooms we stayed in were the ones in the Playground Area picture. Upon entry into our rooms we noticed right away this may have been a mistake. The upkeep of our rooms (and probably the entire motel) was almost an embarrassment. Old and worn furniture and appliances, the fold-out couch mattress was gross and it was one of those experiences where you just don't feel clean when you're in the room, but you suck it up and make it (mentally) into a camping trip because you want Mom to have a good time (we reserved our comments until after we left). The “fitted” bed sheets were super thin and had lost their fittedness many, many washes ago to the point where we were no longer sleeping on them the next morning. Air conditioning was non-existent, although there was a very small window-mounted unit in the kitchen (unplugged). I cautiously got it working but the noise wouldn’t be conducive to a good night’s sleep. Everything in the small bathroom was……small. Small vanity, sink, tub and commode. The commode seat was so small I could swear it was a child’s size. Even the complimentary soap bar and shampoo/conditioner seemed on the (very) cheap side of the scale. Also, in order for us to cook and eat meals in our room, we have to use cooking utensils and dishes from both rooms to make it work. Before I move to the outside, I should also point out we had at least one four-legged visitor sharing our room (and garbage can).
Upkeep on the outside amenities was also lacking. No, make that non-existent. A beautiful beachfront on Lake Huron with little or no attention being given to it (see picture #3). You would think at least the steps leading down to the beach would be routinely swept and cleared of debris for safety purposes, but these steps were barely recognizable. In fact the entire parking area and room entrances could have used a leaf-blower treatment. I guess they leave it this way to give it that “natural” look (and feel). The recessed porch lights above each room entrance door are literally caked with dead bugs, a testament to how many bugs flock to the lights at night (and make it inside when moving in and out of the room). Did I mention bugs? Behind our row of rooms is an infestation of bugs (the side where the air conditioner is), simply because management has allowed a plethora of weeds of all types, size and shape to manifest there over years and years of oversight. The windows of these units have to be original; thin, single-pane crank-style windows. That is, if there was a crank, or the crank worked. Half the windows in our unit had to be opened from the outside by hand. Thank goodness the screens were in good shape. The playground area also needed attention (and probably inspected).
In conclusion I will say we did enjoy the beach area even though it was in need of attention, although while digging our sand castle and moat, we did come across a few non-organic items left over from past visitors. We also enjoyed using the fire pit for s’mores, conveniently located next to our unit. However, had we not brought our own chairs, we would have been standing around the campfire. We were camping, right?
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Date of stay: July 2014
Rooms
Cleanliness
Service
Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This is a great area for a vacation but the rooms are nasty. This could be a nice place but they need better cleaning and maitenance. Need to invest a little money in the rooms. Loved the beach and the rooms are right by the lake. Sandy beach, clean sandy-bottom lake, play area for kids, bonfire areas, jetskis for rent. Spiderwebs all over doorway on arrival, spiders all over inside,fridge from the 70's that was barely cold and dripped water inside, faucet wouldn't shut off, mouse droppings found in room, mousetraps under beds. If you're not very picky it's pretty affordable. We are planning to go back but stay somewhere else next time.
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Date of stay: August 2011
Value
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Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
My husband and I stayed here once a year for several years because the end unit on the north side had the view of Lake Huron, a firepit and picnic table outside the window. At night, the sound of the waves and the view of the lake, with the moon rising, was beautiful. Unfortunately, we had to stop going. The motel has experienced no updates. The air conditioner in the end until is located above the refridgerator and you can't reach it or even plug it in. The parking lot (as of 2019) is nearly falling into Lake Huron. Whoever owns the place did not create a seawall and it is literally falling into the lake now. I would not walk on the area where the end unit firepit was for fear of falling into the water. Aside from natural lake erosion though, is the poor quality of the place. Huge, old tube tvs, same ol' bed, spiders, and mice in the bedroom, same nastly crank open windows, and the employees that seem to live there and run the place during the rental season are always sitting around the yard drinking or just outside annoying you if you try to play horseshoes, or cornhole or just walk around. There is pretty much no cellphone signal, unless you walk to the front of the property, nearly up to the highway. Last I checked, the place is forsale and overpriced. Whoever buys it will need to do tons of work if they want a respectable reputation. We'll see. I'm not expecting to see much improvement. Most of the resorts in this beautiful town are outdated and gross. The decent ones are usually run by nosey owners that follow you around if you walk out to the beach. Want money? Welcome tourists by updating the properties to match the prices and leave the families alone. We pay for the cabins/rooms/resorts so don't stalk us like we are from some other planet. End of rant.
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Date of stay: July 2019
Value
Rooms
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We stayed there from Aug. 1st to Aug 3rd for two nights. The owner or manager was drunk and constantly questioning the guests. He tried to tell us we signed up for 3 nights and missed Thursday and this was not true. I was there for my son's gus macker with my husband. We are 65 years old and travel often. This place is a disgrace and we were shocked to see the Oscoda Chamber recommended it on their website. I think you should remove it. Thank you, Mary Jo Doherty ps The place stunk and had the sink leaking all over the floor in the bathroom. They advertised a jet ski that they finally had working the 2nd day but was not offered.
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Really sad for a place with a great location. The rooms were INFESTED with spiders. Went out and bought our own repellant to spray the inside and outside. Had no illusions about being bug free, but the rooms had webs everywhere. The foldout and hide-a-bed were disgusting. Broken windows, plumbing, TV...I can handle old accomodations that are reasonably clean, but this was really bad.
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Date of stay: August 2011
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ignore the rest of the reviews. The rooms were clean. The owners were very nice. My family had a great time. It is a nice place to stay at.
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Date of stay: May 2012
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
When we got to the motel, we were asked for cash up front "to guarantee the rate". We gave them cash for two nights. The room we were given had obviously been used and left unclean--sand in the tub, almost no toilet paper, not enough towels for two people, no light bulbs in the bedside light, sand residue on the tv console area. The young woman from the office was pleasant at first, but balked when we decided to move on the next day and wanted our money back. "I couldn't rent the room to others, so you should pay as agreed." I pointed out that we were virtually the only guests, so she could hardly use that as an excuse. Too bad--the beach frontage was a potential real plus, but the service/cleanliness was so poor that I'd advise others to choose one of the MANY other choices of lodging in the area.
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Date of stay: May 2010
Rooms
Location
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This hotel/motel is a dump. Rooms are infested with insects, our fridge and tv did not work, the room smelled musty and disgusting. The management was horrible could not tell if he was drunk or high they were a mess and extremely rude. The beach is not inviting with only about 10 feet of a steep beach for the kids to play on. There was trash everywhere in the so called court yard, I would not stay here again even it was offered free of charge. I DO NOT recommend this place . BEWARE!!!!
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Date of stay: September 2015
Value
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This place is awful. I was not made to feel welcome from the moment I arrived. The motel is that a dirty gross motel. Don't waste your vacation or money here. The owners have no sense of customer service and professionalism. I regret going, please don't make the same regret.
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Date of stay: August 2008
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Check-in / front desk
Service
Business service (e.g., internet access)
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We had previously stayed at the Aurora Beach Resort and Motel and had one of the worst experiences of our lives as far as travel goes. It was not the location because that is great as it sits on 300 feet or so of pure sandy beach. We loved that, it was the management that walked around drunk and belligerent. The management consisted of about 4 or 5 adults that were all in various states of inebriation and could not be less professional. The rooms were not clean and the place was a dump. This year as we were heading to Oscoda to spend our vacation we went by the Aurora on our way to another place to stay but noticed that the lawn was nice and the flowers were pretty...the place just looked a lot better! We bit. So I went in to inquire and met a wonderful couple named Lauri and Rob that were probably the most hospitable people I have ever met. The prices were cheap and the rooms that we got (4) were impeccably cleaned. These rooms are not new by any means, but they were clean and smelled fresh. They were welcoming to say the least. I was VERY impressed at the change that took place in the management and frankly would not have thought it possible in only a year. The resort is very family friendly, very inexpensive, and very clean. There is little that Rob or Lauri would not do to assure us of a good time. We had a great time and will be back again next year. They even added Wi-Fi which my son loved! They havebig play structures for the kids and beach volleyball and fire pits with plenty of fire wood for everyone to use (for free!). I liked not having to bring my own grill too! On the last day there Lauri had my Daughter (3 year old) over to their place (the managers live onsight) and her little boy and my daughter watched a couple movies and had strawberry shortcake. That was a nice gesture and we really appreciated that Lauri!
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Date of stay: August 2008
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Check-in / front desk
Service
Business service (e.g., internet access)
Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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ALSO KNOWN AS
aurora hotel oscoda
LOCATION
United StatesMichiganOscoda
NUMBER OF ROOMS
17
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