My husband and two sons stayed here for one night prior to driving the Cabot trail. I really wanted to love this place overlooking the Bra'd'Or Lake. I read on tripadvisor about the stunning views, the super cute rooms and noted the advertised "Recently Renovated" comment on the sign out front and on the advertising as I researched this Inn.
We were in room 5. It faced the lake and the view was fantastic, but our room was not newly renovated. Maybe it had been painted in the last year, but the mattresses were old and sloped so my back ached after lying on it for a while. I didn't like that the mattress had a pad and not a cover, so the sheet was over this pad only. I didn't feel comfortable with the coverless duvet. There was an old desk with a plastic chair and a table that had items on it so it couldn't be used for placing suitcases on. We had to leave our luggage on the floor and open them there. The bathroom had minimal space to place our stuff so toothbrushes and things fell off the sink all the time. I had to put my clothes on the closed toilet lid which was gross. There was nothing recently renovated about that bathroom. The drop ceiling tiles were broken and gaping open in spots. There were two small shampoo samples but no body wash and the towels were very thin and not soft at all. The pillows were old and flat as well. There was one small nightstand between the two beds but nothing on either side of the bed so I had to keep my water bottle on the floor. I was looking for an outlet to charge my phone and found a hole in the wall where an outlet used to be. No AC but I wasn't bothered by that. I cracked a window open. There was a fan and a dehumidifier but it was too noisy to run at night. Like, hilariously loud! I have to say the the people in the room above us must have had hooves because they stomped for hours so I thought either horses resided there or someone who enjoyed clog dancing! There is no sound proofing is, I guess, what I'm trying to say, but if the beds were at least comfortable, I might not have been bothered by the noise.
We ate at the Pub. The food and service was good. Apparently it's usually a rockin' place, but on our night, not a thing was going on. The people we met on arrival were wonderful and the woman in the breakfast cafe the next morning was so friendly and great to talk to. So I give the hospitality of the staff a 5 but the room a 2. Would I stay there again? After driving through Baddeck, I could have kicked myself for not booking my night there. So I would stay in Baddeck next time, but if you're looking for an economical accommodation, then Iona Heights Inn might suit you. It was probably worth $90/night. They need to remove the "recently renovated" part from their marketing because that made all the difference to me both in choosing this place and in being so disappointed in my choice.