The Inn At Lock Seven

This place is all about the location, right on lock #7 on the Welland Canal where American, Canadian, and international ships transit between the St Lawrence seaway and the upper four great lakes. All the rooms have a view of the lock with a balcony or patio, and you are VERY close to the ship traffic – maybe 100 yards away at most. If you like boats/​ships and/​or cool industrial stuff, you will probably like this place. If you’re a diehard boatnerd then you will love it… if you don’t mind the less-​than-​manicured environs.
This is the sort of place most people would overlook if they didn’t understand or care about its unique location, especially at the price. It feels like an old school roadside motel that has seen better days. It’s fairly well kept but it has certainly aged. The lobby and breakfast areas are pleasant and filled with great lakes shipping nostalgia. It has exterior passageways and stairs that lead directly to the rooms from the parking lot. It has lots of bare concrete and block in the passageways. The rooms are a mix of old furniture/​fixtures and some more recent updates. Our room had a nearly new tub/​shower that was quite nice, albeit with patterned linoleum bathroom floor.
The owners are very nice and tend to understand and cater to the boat-​nerd crowd. There’s a free continental breakfast downstairs, which is a bit of a boatnerd museum. The office closes for the night at 10pm. They do not allow pets or smoking.
In summary, if you’re looking for a traveler’s motel or a bargain mom-​and-​pop place to stay, this is probably not your sort of place. If you want the shiny sanitized style of chain hotels, this isn’t your place either. But if you don’t mind simple accommodations and some dated décor in exchange for an unbeatable view of ships transiting the seaway locks, and the charm of boat-​loving owners and memorabilia, then this is a must-​stay motel.
This truly is a boatwatcher’s paradise.