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?