Tomteboda Motel, Grand Marais

Stayed here because there was no where else with a vacancy, if we had looked at the room first we NEVER would have stayed.. The room not only smelled dirty, it was filthy. No hot water for showers, actually the shower didn't work. No T.V. remote-someone did bring one down from the office and said people are always stealing them...People next door started banging around at 3 a.m. at 4:30 a.m. we said the heck with it, got up and left-this place needs to be checked by the board of health.

See the other reviews for details, but suffice to say it was the dirtiest and most run down motel I have ever experienced. If it hadn't been so late and all the other places seemed closed we would not have stayed. Our friend actually slept in his sleeping bag rather than risk bed bugs. The only positive thing I can say is that if you have an affinity for vintage 1980's television sets and shower curtains with their very own mosaic of mold, this is the place for you. If I were part of the Grand Marais Chamber of Commerce I think I would try to find a way to shut this place down.

So, so, so disappointed with Tomteboda....no hot water for showers, and when I went up to the front desk, the lady said "Yeah, I was waiting for you to come up here....I would have given you the key to another cabin so you could take a shower." What??? Why didn't she just move us to another cabin in the first place??! The kitchen was dirty, dusty, and there were also MICE in the cabin running across the floor. I've been to Grand Marais many, many times, and I know that lodging can be costly; however, spend the extra cash and be happy somewhere else.

Labor Day Weekend, 2010. We just checked out of this awful room. It was so dirty. Dust and food all around the room. No remote for the TV, no phone, no clock, cold water during showers, mold on the shower curtain, cheap plastic toilet seat, stains on the sheet and dirty blankets. We would never stay here again. We should have checked out the room before we paid for it. Our fault. But we learned fast never to do that again. We were charged $89.00 for the room, paid cash and were glad we did after I read the other reviews that people are being charged twice on their credit cards. An experience we will never have again.

The room was a bit dated. I was told by Dave that he is in process of remodeling. However I was very comfortable and the room was clean. His cafe is beautiful, the coffee is by far the best I've enjoyed in a long time. What is your secret Dave? The breadfast I was served would excede my expectations of a five star Hilton. The atmosphere in the dining area has an accent of what the North Shore experience is all about. My compliments to you and your staff. I plan to see you again. Thank you.

I do believe the bulk of poor reviews are completely misplaced,David is the owner/operator and a very busy business man.I have stayed there for business and pleasure..yes some of the cabins are rustic,but thats what a cabin should be,if you want the radison...stay there.This is a beautiful wilderness setting,yes the motel rooms are a bit dated in decor ,but much better than most owner/operated motel/hotels,I have never had a problem that has not been address.And Grand Marais rely's on foreign exchange students for 90% of the summer work force so quality employees are in short supply,some years they are great other they ARE NOT..clearly to the remote location you get what you get,which has no reflection on David.So with that said all of Grand Marais lodging rely's on the same work force pool,so when its bad its bad at all the local lodging and restaurants.So I have never been with out hot water,my air conditioning has always worked as the heat,I have stayed in almost every room and cabin there and none have been as bad as the other reviewers claims.Of the 1000's of motels I have stayed at in my life this one is a easy top 100 and 5 stars in my book.No one has ever been more accommodating than the now gateway lodge(but to me always the tomteboda)

We were forced to stay here when our camping plans fell through. We were charged $160 for a cabin, but it was last minute so we took it. The screen door was almost off the hinges when we arrived. The latch on the main door was broken, but could have been fixed in 5 min with a screwdriver. The room itself was dirty. We have stayed in rustic cabins before, but this place was bad. The fireplace was covered in soot and ash and filled with garbage (napkins, paper towels, wrappers, foil). The carpet was filthy and matted and hadn't even been vacuumed. The bathroom sink was plugged up. The filthy shower had no hot water. The refrigerator was covered in puddles of sticky stuff and had broken shelves. The TV had a cable connected to it but only had static on stations. The remote had no batteries. The beds were made, but when we turned down the blankets it was easy to see that the sheets and pillow cases were not changed. We slept on sleeping bags on top of everything. The gas stove was missing burners and did not even light. In the morning we could see beer cans all around the cabin and junk stacked around it. The room had no phone. It was a pretty ugly sight. Like something you see in a road-trip comedy. It was 10:30 when we in to the place and the only reason we got that sad room was because the owner was outside. The office was already closed with the lights off, so there was no one to complain to now. In the morning I gave all these complaints to the owner. He did give me $60 cash dollars back but didn't act surprised. He said he had a new cleaning person and that he checks the rooms every day, but didn't check it this day. I don't know how he can say that since anyone can see that the door was broken and nothing worked before even seeing how dirty it was. I still feel bad about paying $100 for that filthy room. This did seem to dampen our spirits for our trip and we didn't stay in long in Grand Marais. We would have stayed the weekend but decided that if this was allowed in town that the health codes wouldn't be enforced anywhere in town. We spent our money in Two Habors and Duluth instead. When we came home we were surprised to find that the motel owner had called and left a message asking why we didn't bring this to his attention when we checked in so he could do something about it. This is really confusing because his office was locked and if we had got a hold of him it would have taken hours to clean the place. I don't know what his game is. I guess I'd hate to see his house if he couldn't tell the place was filthy.

We have loved the quaint, old Swedish immigrant built log cabins, not visible from the highway and near a forest path into town. We have stayed there, on and off, over the past ten years or so. We are done. A recent stay was weird. I'll limit my comments to the cabin's disrepair: bathroom sink wouldn't drain, skanky odor in vicinity of gas stove and cigarette-stale stench throughout that haunted me all night). The fridge was dirty and we chose not to put our food into it. None of us liked the look of the shower either. The outdoor fire pit held half-burned garbage and was littered with cigarette butts. Several light bulbs were burned out--we did get replacements when we asked. We didn't linger the next morning. Not worth the price, around $95. What has happened here?

I could not find another place to stay, read the bad reviews and called the owner to give him a chance. He swore they were all just misunderstandings. All problems had been resolved. I added the appliances had to work and the room had to be clean. The refridgerator is illegal(has an old fashion locking door) and would be a hazard to children. The oven was held together with a bungy cord(afraid to try it). The smoke detector was gone. The shower had a layer of rust, as did the outside of the water heater. The worst, though, was the inside screen porch. It has no opening windows or exterior doors. Yet the floor is completely covered with bird dropings. There is even a pile under an old nest. Given the fact that the owner promised to personnally check out the cabin ahead of time, I don't believe you can expect things to change. I took pictures of these things as proof because I knew I would post. Don't let him fool you with excuses and false promises.

A group of us has been staying here for about 10 years for fishing. It wasn't too bad at first, but has steadily declined. This place is in abominable condition now and premises is stren with garbage and condition of rooms is deplorable. We were last there on May 17, 2009 and our unit had no heat or hot water the entire 4 days we were there. Dave Parsons, the manager was nowhere to be found the entire time, so we were stuck with it during winter like conditions and had a misrable time. Most of the lights didn't work as well and the electricity kept kicking off the breaker outside. When we checked in, we were promised some nice warm conforters and a receipt for our payment. We got neither. There was a grill outside for our use, but it had no gas cylinder. Dave talks a good ball game, but he never delivers. I suppose we are fools to have put up with this for 10 years. We even make jokes about what will be wrong this time. Our biggest mistake was paying him when we arrived. I would have demanded a big discount, but we knew he wouldn't be there when we left, so we paid in advance. I have tried to call him numerous times about this situation, but can't ever reach him . He proably has called ID and knows it is a customer calling to complain. I can't even leave a message because his mailbox is full. This man should be prosecuted for all the code violations and ethics violations that exist. Don Stepan Lonsdale, Mn