St Clair Inn

I enjoyed the place. I went there on my birthday for the weekend. Upon our arrival they let us veiw the different rooms and what they had to offer. We stay in the in the king suite and for 125, not a bad price at all. The band that played that night was great. The service was spot on. I can’t remember our servers name, a younger gal that had been there for a while was great. Best margarita I’ve ordered out. I plan on visiting there again.

Had fathers day «lunch» here with our family. They did not have a lunch or brunch menu, only dinner. They were «out of bread right now» according to our less than pleasant server. Our meals were nothing short of terrible, the service was subpar and the price was outrageous! Gordon Ramsay needs to pay this place a visit…

Reviewing the restaurant only here…
At a glance: Bad but expensive food, poor service and an uncomfortable atmosphere.
We went to the St Clair Inn for my mom’s birthday dinner. She had apparently had a nice lunch here last winter and my dad lived around here when he was a kid (over 50 years ago), so it had some nostalgic value. As far as we could tell, this is the type of place that has been open forever and seems to have a group of old-​money patrons who have probably been coming here forever and will continue to do so, so why should the establishment change anything or try and improve their service or food?
Oh, wait, they just added an Indian food menu (?). But first things first.
We arrived and told the hostess that we were here for our reservation. Six people. The hostess caught a waitress at that moment and explained that she had a group of 8 coming but had a six-​top in the waitress’ section. «Yeah, I’ll take ‘em,» said the waitress. Wonderful.
We were seated in the dining room overlooking the river with a view of Canada and some huge smoke stacks down the river. Hey, not much they can do about that. We had to pull our tables away from the next table so that we could actually pull out all the seats.
We ordered drinks. My dad’s club soda and lime had been made with tonic water. Gotta love that quinine taste! We ordered the onion petal appetizer. Deep-​fried onions with a dipping sauce. Okay.
There were some groups and couples around us who seemed pretty well-​to-​do and wanted you to know it. Loud conversations about how the liberals are pulling Ayn Rand from schools and ruining our children’s education. Conversations about how men can’t show affection toward anything. Conversations about how when men drink they just want to fight everyone. We were really trying not to listen. Okay?
We ordered dinner. The waitress didn’t know anything about the Indian food menu. But hey, it’s a brand new menu, so you should cut her some slack, right? Oh wait, she also didn’t know what the soup of the day was or specifics about some of the main menu items. Hmm…
We finished up our salads and soups (which were nothing special) and then waited quite a while for our dinners. Everything that came out was sub-​par or below. Crinkle-​cut, straight-​from-​the-​frozen-​bag-​vegetables («vegetable of the day») adorned our plates of strangely-​flavored or otherwise bland meats and tough baked potatoes. When the chef did try and use spices, he seemed to really go for one spice and take it all the way. Indian food was all about cinnamon. The three nut chicken had an almost tasteless — except for the heavy nutmeg — creamy sauce on top. A steak that had been ordered medium-​well came out nearly bloody, sitting atop a bed of some really sad and tired-​looking sauteed vegetables. A shrimp pasta dish was slathered in another tasteless white sauce. Eh…
Coffee was ordered. But really, it just turned out to be brown water. Coffee was refilled. The waitress plopped the bottom of the coffee pot right on top of those tired-​looking sauteed vegetables while she poured. Hey, it’s okay, we probably weren’t going to eat them anyway. Hair was found in a small cup of sour cream. The waitress didn’t seem to notice (or care?) that some of the food on the table was hardly being touched. She didn’t make any attempt to be personable. She did notice when we were done and that she could bring out the check. She didn’t ask about additional coffees or dessert (not that we wanted to stick around any longer).
Overall just a huge let-​down and an uncomfortable dinner where we were trying to figure out something good about it, and there really wasn’t anything. Why do people go here? I guess we won’t ever figure that out, since we sure aren’t going back.

I spent two nights here and would not return even if my car broke down in front of the place in the middle of a blizzard.
When you first arrive at the inn, you can see that it is a very old inn that was probably pretty nice a long time ago. But as you approach, you notice that the canopy of the entry way is torn. As you step inside, the carpets look as if they haven’t been washed since Carter was in the White House. The pool is out of service. Head out to the lounge and the outdoor seating and see the overgrown bushes every where that need some attention. There is no doubt that there has been some «deferred maintenance» here.
But move towards your room and that’s when things get interesting. We were on the second floor. No elevators so we hoofed it– no biggie. Upstairs we were staying in room 221. I see room 220 and 222– but 221 is way the heck down the hall. I have no idea why the room numbers are out of sequence.
When we got to the door, the handle required a downward thrust followed by an upward crank and a firm shoulder into the door just to get in the place.
In the bathroom– the light is downright hidden. Even if you spot it, you may not be able to reach it if you are not 6 foot tall. The sink featured no counter space at all and separate spigots for hot and cold water. You want warm water to wash your hands? Sorry. No towel rack, no conditioner, no hair dryer. Our tiny bathtub tub dripped the whole time we were there and the noise made it tough to sleep.
The main room had a 12 inch TV from 1970 with about 8 channels and a full bed with dirty linens. There was an extra sink in the middle of the room which also had separate hot and cold spigots– but only the cold spigot worked. Out the window, we had a great view of old leaves decaying into the roof.
Head back to the lounge for a night cap before bed. The service was poor at best (even if they do not gouge you on prices). There is an annoying band playing way too loud to hear any one speak.
Head back up to the room and turn in for the night. Except we were awoken at 3:00 a.m. by the fire alarm. The clerk blamed it on some prankster who pulled the alarm. I would have believed him if it didn’t go off four more times after that (and no, i am not exaggerating). When the alarms ceased, we were serenaded by some local drunkards wilding in the parking lot.
You get what you pay for. But I’d rather stay in a cardboard box.

Having read a few online reviews, I was apprehensive about booking here for my 4^th of July trip, but went ahead and did so anyway with my plan being to avoid dealing with hotel staff and management.
The room rates were great for a holiday weekend — I got mine for $ 65 – 85 per night. Part of the stay was in a cheaper room in the «historic» wing, and part was in the new wing. The cheaper room was serviceable for our needs but nothing luxurious. The room in the new wing was cozy but nicely furnished and had a walkout to the river. Very nice and romantic.
Downsides:
The lounge at night is loud, smoky, and the service is lacking. I came down to the lobby one night and the police were interviewing a man with a smashed face about a barfight in which he had been involved. Not exactly keeping out the riff-​raff at this place.
I had a really sour stomach and asked the front desk if they had some antacid. I was told that they have no medications at all. It’s Tums, for god’s sake. It’s not like I asked for codeine.
Verdict: The building is gorgeous, as is the river. If you’re looking for a room with a view, this is your place. However, don’t expect good service or to be shown a good time — you can find those elsewhere.

I booked the St Clair Inn for my wedding 18 months in advance, 3 months before the wedding they told me they could not accommodate my wedding reception. It is a beautiful building that is under poor management, and makes promises that it can not live up to. Luckily the Thomas Edison Inn was able to accommodate my wedding on very short notice with no drama! I would advise anyone against booking the St. Clair Inn.