Sunlac Inn Devils Lake

We were scheduled for 2 nights in August 2020 for a fishing trip. Stayed one night. Older hotel and a few things had been updated, like floors and tv. WiFi was spotty. Furniture was old and beds were visibly lumpy. The worse part, and what made us move accomodations, was it was DIRTY. Hair...a lot...was in the bathtub drain. Wore socks the whole time because the floors were dirty. And you had to hold down the toilet handle until it finished flushing or else... In times of covid-19 I can handle well worn, but not dirty.

The room was comfy enough to spend the night. Our tv didnt work and I couldn't figure out how to make it work. Thankfully we just needed a place to sleep for the night. The room wasnt very soundproof at all and the housekeeper walked in on my girlfriend while she was half naked. I probably wont go back considering the price was kinda high for what we got out of the experience. Theres better in devils lake for what we paid.

Excellent value. Clean rooms, hot breakfast, and quiet. Lots of fisherman who rise early and turn in early. Fantastic fish cleaning house. Will definitely be back. Mention you fishing guide and get a discount.

I was on a solo cycle tour from Seattle to Maine. I stayed at the Sunlac Hotel in July 2020 for 2 nights.nnPros:nI stayed in a larger than normal ground floor room #126. This had space for 2-3 bikes. It had a couch, large flatscreen TV, refrigerator, microwave coffee maker, good hot shower and efficient A/C. There was a communal washer and drier costing a reasonable $2.50 total, plus $1 for soap.nnCons:n1. Unsafe wiring. Microwave, TV and one table lamp were all connected to a single outlet strip. Its cable was too short and therefore it hung suspended behind the dresser on which the TV was mounted. This caused its plug to be pulled sideways in the 110V outlet, creating an intermittent connection. This could have caused a fire. (I am an electrical engineer who has worked with electrical safety codes). A longer cable should have been used so that the outlet strip rested on the floor. I disconnected the microwave, which allowed the strip to rest on the floor. This corrected the loose connection and restored power to the TV and lamp.nn2. The nearest 110V outlet to the desk was about 6-8 ft away. I needed to use both my 6 + 8 ft extension cables. Not every guest would carry these.nn3. Internet was unreliable. The night of my arrival it was fast (4G, = 20+ Mbps download). The next morning (Thurs) at 6 am it was down to 2- 3G (0.1 – 0.5 Mbps), which was OK for email but too slow for route planning and Google Street View. Several times that day it stopped working altogether. I told the manager Lonnie about this and he dismissed it by saying that folk were downloading videos. He showed little concern and suggested that my cell phone was at fault. During the day I checked at several other businesses in town. They had good internet. I suspect the problem lay with Sunlac’s ISP (Internet service provider). This was the least reliable internet I have encountered in both Montana and ND, at more than 10 locations. Wolfs Point, in the Fort Peck Tribal reservation, had better internet.nn4. Poor breakfast. Citing COVID, the hotel had shut down their dining room. There weren’t even drink dispensers in use. For breakfast, guests could request egg and sausage to heat up in their rooms. No fruit, milk, juice, or cereals. For a vegetarian like me the staff member Jenny offered a packet of oatmeal. This was the first time I had encountered such a situation in MT or ND, in a hotel which advertised a free continental breakfast on Booking.com. In Rugby the hotel had provided guests with a coupon valid at the nearby restaurant. Sunlac could have done the same. Sunlac claimed to be reducing the COVID risk by eliminating communal touch areas in the dining room. I would have been more impressed had the hotel also requested the wearing of masks, which had become the #1 recommended practice to reduce COVID spread across the US. Even the President was recommending this. Yet at Sunlac no staff member was wearing a mask. I was the only guest to do so.nn5. No exhaust fan in bathroom. The mirror fogged up quickly.nn6. Lighting could have been better for such a large room. There were a hall and a bathrooms light and 2 table lamps. Another table lamp, for the far corner away from the window, would have made the room less gloomy.nn7. The refrigerator did not have a separate freezer. Its freezer needed defrosting and dripped constantly onto my food below.nn8. At $79 + tax, my room was more expensive than my other 4 in ND, in Williston, Stanley, Minot and Rugby. It was inferior to all four, each of which had good internet, adequate lighting, safe electrical cabling, and a superior breakfast. The Homestead Inn in Wolfs Point, MT (Tribal) was also superior to and cheaper than Sunlac.

Friendly staff, great price. Room was clean, great water pressure. The heat and air unit blew great. Beds were comfortable, but could be upgraded. I would definitely stay again.