Punderson Manor Resort & Conference Center

The best thing about this place is the friendly staff and their willingness to address all of your concerns. We had a large family group of 20 and we made reservations well over a year ago. It wasn’t until about a week before the stay that we were told would have to pre-​order all of our meals for the entire three-​day weekend to make sure everyone got what they wanted. While this was inconvenient we did it. The staff were wonderful throughout the process but I was definitely not pleased. Some of us ordered salads and soup or appetizers and all of the food came out at the same time. They obviously pre-​cooked all of the food had it sitting on warm plates to serve it all together some of it was cold some of it was hot some of it was good some of it was awful. One person in our group pre-​ordered a grilled a steak. The steak came out encrusted with gritty coffee grounds and a chili rub, not grilled. We needed to sent it back and we were not able to order another steak and got crab cakes instead. Extremely limited options for vegetarians. Some of the food was absolutely amazing some was not edible. Don’t even attempt to eat the breakfast buffet.
There is a service door on the 2^nd floor the staff use located right next to one of the rooms where there were young children sleeping. The staff would slam this door all day long and all day night making it very hard for people on the guestrooms to sleep. One of the guestrooms in our party had a very very strong sewage smell to it we were told it was due to construction. It was not possible for the couple to stay in this room they had young children so we offered them our room and they upgraded us to a cabin, the only option available. While this was nice we were now away from the rest of our group and had to drive to the lodge for all of our meals. And while the cabin is nice there’s a very tiny standup shower with water the barely trickles out. Needs a lot of upgrades. Again The staff were incredibly friendly during this entire process.
I would not stay here again based on the food and the accommodations. I do not think this facility is able to handle groups over 4. They do have a pool but it was very cold and there is no hot tub.

Went to the Cherry Dining room for thanksgiving dinner and our party of 4 had 2:30 reservations we did not get seated till 3:50. Yes an hour and twenty minutes! And we only got seated after I made a scene because they where taking a party of 10 in that had 3:00 reservations. Once seated at a still dirty table the server half a$$ cleaned it and the linens where wet (good thing because I finished cleaning the table with it) and they didn’t even give us silverware till we asked them twice. We’ve been there before for holidays and never had a problem. On a side note the food was good and probably would have been better if we were in a better mode. I hope they can fix the manager problem but I’ll probably will never go back.

Dinner and drinks Thursday evening. Menu is limited but the food was very good and prepared very nicely, even the sides were somehow «special». The bar was limited and not experienced as we had to coach them thru a gin and tonic order. Service was slow and not particularly pleasant. Too bad, as it put a bit of a damper on an otherwise wonderful dining experience.

We just had 95 people stay the weekend between the Manor Lodge and the cabins for our wedding. We could not have been more pleased. Our guests are still raving about the time they had.
We had a rehearsal dinner at the cabins Friday night, a golf outing Saturday, the wedding outside overlooking the lake, and the reception at the lodge Saturday night.
My husband and I stayed in the Windsor suite. It was gorgeous and spacious.
The staff was excellent and took initiative to make our day perfect! Our wedding coordinator, Megan, helped us plan every detail. Then, she made sure everything went as planned. When bumps in the road happened with a few of the vendors we chose, she fixed them before we even knew about it. Jose the food and beverage manager stayed most of the night making sure the night went smoothly. The wait staff (Susie and team) couldn’t have been more pleasant and worked really hard. Even our bartender, Frank, gave us a tour of the manor lodge the night after.
We will definitely be back for our anniversaries! I am sure many of our guests will visit again as well. I would highly recommend.

We had Hillside Cabin (4) with a great view of the lake. very relaxing location. The cabin was clean and well maintained. If they had more comfortable chairs to sit out on patio I would of rated it 5 stars. they had plastic chairs. The dinning room at hotel seemed overpriced and not very good. I would recommend stocking up on food and grilling out. Our cabin had two picnic tables one outside by grill the other on screened in porch with view of lake.

Impressed, honestly.
Maybe it’s because I had no expectations, but hotel at a state park doesn’t necessarily scream great accommodations to me. I was wrong (Jian got it on his first guess). The rooms here were nicely updated, large enough, with newly renovated bathrooms. Nice heating and cooling system and comfortable (if not a little firm) beds. Stayed here with a newborn and the walls were decently thick as well… so double bonus for those guests staying in adjacent rooms to ours.
We also attended a wedding reception here and it was pretty nice as well. A little tight on space for the amount of people there, but nice surroundings in the Maple Room, along with an adjacent outdoor space for even more partying. Food was above average for catering at an event like this.
Sunday brunch was a little pricey, but had some good selections (plus an omelet station… man it’s exciting to watch food cooked).
The grounds are beautiful and there is not only a lovelii lake, but many hiking trails available. If I lived closer, I’d be a regular visitor.

Just held a company meeting there last week, stayed 2 nights. Will not be back. Upon arrival — the outside looked shabby & creepy, the front desk was like something out of a Laundromat. My room was dark & stunk to high heaven — but I don’t like to complain (normally) so I sprayed some of my perfume & opened the window. Dinner was so so: don’t have the fish — 3 of us ordered 3 of the fish dishes & they all were overcooked –The only positive was the cheerful & accommodating waiter/​bartender Joey (he was the ONLY bright spot of the entire stay). Upon meeting up with my co-​workers the next morning — I learned that the waitress berated them for not having a reservation & was quite rude about it (granted maybe I should have but there were only 3 other people seated in the dining room & we were only a party of 9 not 19.) — Needless to say the waitress carried her attitude the whole service– & it took 45 minutes for us to get our eggs — ridiculous. Lunch started out with a new waitress telling us that they didn’t have the bacon dressing for the spinach salad. ok — how about ranch dressing for the cobb salad? Nope. We found a different venue for dinner that night.- Bass Lake Tavern & Inn — & it was so great! We should have stayed there!

Back in Cleveland’s Golden Era, when Johnny Rockefeller and his ilk plundered the natural resources of our state in their quest to amass personal riches that would make Buffett and Gates blush, every robber baron needed a country estate, preferably on a lake.
That’s how we came to have Punderson Manor. Okay, it’s far more convoluted (and considerably less interesting) than that, but let’s get back to the review.
Stayed over the weekend at this smallish, 31-​room state-​park-​owned lodge. It sits above beautiful Punderson Lake in a quasi-​wilderness setting that belies its proximity to Cleveland and suburbia in Geauga County. We were able, due to the time of year, to snag the Windsor Suite with separate living room, bedroom and spa. The prices are very reasonable, but keep in mind: You’re still in Geauga County. This ain’t Malibu. This ain’t even Traverse City.
We looked at one of the standard rooms, which seem pretty nice, and the cabins, which, for a family outing would be great in the summer, but chose the suite for our de-​compression weekend. For the bucks, it’s a steal. The manor itself is an interesting bit of architecture, but through the decades many architects, designers and builders have had their way with the old broad, and it shows. Rooms, hallways, wings, turrets seem cobbled onto what was perhaps once a grand residence. The overall impression I took away was that they came very, very close to accomplishing a nice building, but missed by allowing government committee to decide everything. For example, the indoor pool addition, by itself, is grand: open-​beamed ceiling, tall windows and doors on three sides overlooking the lake, magnificent. But it sure isn’t of the same era, or even design intent of the rest of the structure.
Those of questionable intellect hold that the place is haunted by spirits of past occupants. I’ll tell you what haunted me: The morons who partied all night in the tiny lobby, attempting to play the piano. Oh, and then the Muzak that starts up in the lobby, the restaurant, the pool area and continues all effing day. Uninspired, unnecessary, and un-​listenable. Cut that crap out.
They claim to have wi-​fi, but we were told «they tried to fix it and gave up.» Still, a charge appeared on our bill, which upon my protest was removed. This was a theme that emerged throughout the weekend, baffled front desk, confused wait staff, lack-​luster employees wandering the halls. I doubt I would return, but the prices are okay if you have something planned either in the park or near-​by.
«The way to make money is to buy when blood is running in the streets.»
John D. Rockefeller