Varsity Clubs of America South Bend By Diamond Resorts

My family and I stayed at the Varsity Club hotel in Mishawaka for five nights in July. For beginners, if you are staying in a one bedroom suite there is no door between the living area and bathroom as many one-bedroom suites usually have. It is kind of an open bathroom concept at least for the vanity use. The room did have a little musty/smokey smell to it upon arrival but was clean.

Even though there was a sign notifying guests cleaning services were not arranged every day, when my wife called to inform them our room had not been cleaned or towels were needed the front desk did question our request. It had been over four days since our arrival and still not one house cleaning.

With three little kids staying in the room more frequent cleaning is necessary. Also, on the first day when coming down for breakfast, the kitchen staff could not keep up with the guests.

There were no plate or utensils when we got down to the service area and tables were not available. If you are looking for entertainment at night forget about that. Both tv services are not HD cable with limited channel selection.

I think the Super 8 down the street at least has movies for purchase.

To make matters a little more frustrating, there were many nights when kids were running up and down the hallways being loud at night. I understand there were events going on in the area bringing many young adults to the hotel and area, but management did not control the situation in a timely manner.

Because they did not have any handicapped accessible units, we were given a small studio unit with a walk-in shower and safety rails by the toilet.

Nothing else in the unit was handicapped accessible.

We were told we would get a refund.

We never received a refund, even though we have contacted the corporate office several times.

The furniture was uncomfortable and the unit was cramped.

They did cater a breakfast that guests could pay $7.99 that was very good.

Employees were courteous.

Nice location, but this place is way overpriced for what they offer.

You basically get a bed in a bedroom and a pullout couch which would be comfortable if you like sleeping on springs with a metal bar in your back..

This is not a children-friendly hotel. Aside from the tub being filthy when we arrived, it was very average although well-designed hotel.

Our 13/14 year old hockey team booked this hotel as part of a preferred hotel for a hockey tournament. It was terrible. The kids were not allowed to travel the halls by themselves at 14 years old.

They had to be accompanied by an adult. The hotel staff kicked out a family because a “permanent resident” complained about noise at 11 am. This same permanent resident continually swore at kids in the hallway and was witnessed engaging in inappropriate behaviour.

The noise was the sound of doors closing. The treatment by the hotel staff and specifically the general manager Keith Raven was appalling. The family was not given a warning, an explanation, or even a chance to say their side.

There were only met with the phrase “you have 45 min to vacate the premises or we will phone the police.” over and over again. The family was treated as if they were a criminal or a public menace for the door closing too often. Multiple attempts to reach the manager and general manager were ignored. They did bill the family full price though even though they had to go find and pay for another hotel. After 15 years of booking hotels for hockey tournaments, I can honestly say this was by far the worst hotel we have ever stayed in.

A football weekend at Notre Dame brings about high priced hotel rooms everywhere, and the Varsity Club is no exception. We paid 375 dollars per night, as there is also a 2 night minimum on football weekends. No cotton sheets, no daily maid service unless you want to pay an extra 25 dollars, I phoned asking if someone would clean our room and was told “because we are a diamond resort, we do not daily clean the rooms”, which made no sense to my husband and me. The direct TV went out for part of the weekend so many TV channels did not work. Our requested wake call on Sunday never arrived, fortunately, we did not oversleep for our early flight out. The breakfast is lousy at best. This was our 3rd time staying here, and our last.