Brian's Lakeside Marina & Boat Rental

Reviews

Reviews are sorted by relevance, with the most helpful and insightful feedback listed first for easy reference.

  Tim Payne
7 months ago
Where do I even begin with Bryan's Boat Side Marina? Nestled by the picturesque shores of Houghton Lake, this marina is truly the gem of Michigan s lake scene.From the moment you step onto the property, you re greeted with the professionalism and warmth that you'd expect from a top-notch marina. The staff is exceptionally knowledgeable, friendly, and always ready to assist, whether you're a seasoned sailor or a newbie looking to embark on your maiden voyage.The facilities at Bryan s are impeccably maintained. Every time I visit, I am impressed by the cleanliness and orderliness of the docks, equipment, and amenities. The boat rental options are vast and well-maintained, suitable for various aquatic adventures.What sets Bryan's Boat Side Marina apart, however, is its commitment to providing a holistic lakeside experience. The views of Houghton Lake from the marina are nothing short of breathtaking, perfect for those serene sunset gazing moments or early morning reflections.In terms of convenience, its strategic location allows for easy access to the lake s major attractions and eateries. After spending a day on the water, there's nothing like tying up at Bryan's, knowing that you're just a stone's throw away from some delightful local dining.To anyone considering a visit or looking for a reliable marina service, Bryan s Boat Side Marina is a must-visit. It embodies the very spirit of Houghton Lake serene, vibrant, and full of possibilities. Can't wait for my next visit!

  JediMasterBT Skywalker
9 months ago
Best rentals in the area. VERY clean boats and watercraft. The other guys are dirty, seats torn just not fit for renting but Brian's are incredibly clean and in great shape.

  David Veersma
a year ago
Was able to get a pontoon without a reservation. Had a wonderful day on the lake. The young lady that helped us with launch and return was super!! Thanks!

  Xeitoun Inc
9 months ago
We had a reservation for a full day rental from 8am to 6pm. We shown up about 12 noon, and the girl helping us was very nice and said we can be back any time before 6. Around 3:30 we needed a bathroom break and wanted to leave and return by 5 to finish up our last hour. We filled the tank and asked if we could leave and potentially come back, and if we didn't make it on time they could consider it returned. The man we asked, probably the owner, was very short with us, and stated we can tie the boat to their dock but if we leave and don't return by 6 to do the official checkout, he would charge us for an entire new day rental for holding them up. That made absolutely no sense, we were filling up the gas and not going to use it unless we returned by 5 so if it were left there the checkout would have already been completed, we just wanted to potentially use the last hour of our rental.His demeanor and insistence that he would charge us for a entire extra day completely turned us off and we vacated the boat at 3:45.Our advice: rent from somewhere that has a reasonable owner and not just trying to get you off his boat. We will never rent from them again and will tell other friends about the incident.

  Rory
9 months ago
Rented one of the 12 person pontoons for our family reunion in the area. The owner and employees were extremely nice a d helpful with suggestions on where to go on the lake. Prices were very reasonable. We will be returning customers in the future.

  Christopher Knapp
9 months ago
Meh, the lake was full of seaweed and small sandbars that you need to be careful of or you will get stuck. The owner was slightly rude but overall was okay. I know others have had issues with that person. The boat was in good shape and had no issues with it overall.

  Sara Levering
9 months ago
We decided to rent a pontoon at the last second and are really happy with choosing Brian s. He was so incredibly nice and the most affordable that allowed our dogs. We will definitely be back

  QuiAyejia Cooper
a year ago
My family and I visit Houghton Lake every year for our annual get together. Each year we rent at least one pontoon (usually multiple), and have never had a single issue until renting from this place. There was some misunderstanding about the return time for the watercraft, but the guy who met us as we approached the marina (the owner, I am assuming) was unnecessarily curt and condescending. He abruptly remarked that the boat was trashed , which left me speechless considering we had just finished wiping down the seats and even using buckets of water to try and clear the floors as much as possible. Nothing was ripped, stained, cracked or otherwise broken/damaged. When I reminded him that it had been a muddy, rainy mess for the last few days, he advised that I should have used a power washer to clean the floors. I m not sure about the rest of you, but I typically don t pack my power washer for vacation. I was ultimately charged a cleaning fee for normal usage i.e. walking (see attached photo, which I took after he stated the boat was trashed. As you can see, the non-carpeted floor is wet from our best attempts to clean, but in no way damaged There is simply some dirt from people s shoes that really can t be avoided. The rest of the boat is immaculate). Unless you plan on renting a power washer for your vacation, I would recommend looking elsewhere for a rental. In my experience, there are more reasonable and empathetic local businesses that could benefit from your patronage. We ended up renting from another company for the rest of our trip and will continue to do so in future years.

  Robert Peck
7 months ago
Been keeping my boat at Brian's for 9 years, best Marina on the lake and not by just a little bit. Outstanding in every way!!

  James Payzont
a year ago
We rented a pontoon had a great day unfortunately we went down the river and apparently this is frond opon!! We removed the collapsible,quick release detachable yawning off carefully to go under the bridge and carefully set it on the seat. It came off and went back on in less then a minute because of the way it was made collapsible,quick realse and detachable. The owner was very upset and even posted pictures on FB !sorry I had no idea that removing an yawning was a special skill! Boat was nice and everyone except Brian were nice and helpful Brian need to work on his people skills! He charged us for a missing pin that was never on the boat we rented!my advise to anyone wanting to rent a pontoon is take pictures of everything!! I'm just glad he didn't try to charge us for the garbage prop he had on his pontoon!!

  Mr Schmittou (Rio6019)
2 years ago
We priced so many different rentals in the area for Higgins and Houghton. This place by far had the best prices. When we arrived it appeared to be family owned, mom and daughter were handling keeping the boats clean, dad was working with the customers while what appeared to be the son was parking and pulling boats up. Directions were clear, rental was clear, what you paid in refueling and rental is extremely affordable. Literally half of any other rental, I asked them how do they stay open with those rates, they said they tried to price it so that they can get business. I highly recommend tipping the family and if not at least book them out and show them some support. Definitely coming back, pontoon ran great, they had waverunners too but we didnt' go for that.

  Mark Pilbeam
4 years ago
My wife and I rented a pontoon boat for the day. The boat was very nice and we had no issues with it whatsoever. It ran very well and we didn't use a lot of gas. The boat was very clean and the staff was very nice. Their prices were great and they were easy to work with. I would highly recommend Brian's Lakeside Marina to anyone wanting a great boat for the day or week

  S Graszler
6 years ago
We just rented a day pontoon from Brian (5-29-17). Price for the day was $150. a reasonable price. the boat was well maintained and clean. It was a little worn but everything worked. Brian was friendly (as always) towards us. The deck hand was a college gal that really knew what she was doing and was really helpful. Would definitely rent from them again. We we completely satisfied for the amount of time on the lake and the price/service. We did not think the price for fuel was exceptionally high considering all the extra cost to provide fuel on the water. We were out 6 hours, went around 2/3 of the lake and only used about 3.5 gallons.

  Charity Sawyer
2 years ago
Pontoon rental. Easy to reserve and easy to find. I've never rented a boat before so I don't if the price is comparable, but I do not think the price was unreasonable for an entire day rental. Would have loved to have a half day rental option. Everyone was friendly and helpful!

  Wyatt Keith
2 years ago
Only picked one star because zero wasn t an option. I booked a boat for the weekend and good thing I called a few days prior because I was informed I no longer had a boat reserved. Highly recommend getting a reservation from any other boat rental because they require a debit / credit card to reserve, which this place does not. So the chances that they re going to write your name down on a piece of paper then lose it like which I m assuming happened to my reservation are high. Completely ruined my weekend.

  Marco GTWINS1026 Giulianelli
3 years ago
We just rented a pontoon for 2 days from Brian's. The staff was amazing from the moment we picked it up. John was very helpful giving us instructions, where to go and where to stay away from. When I returned the pontoon I met Brian and he was very friendly, it was a smooth transition. The wife and kids had so much fun. We will be returning!!

  Ron Sears
4 years ago
If you're looking for a place that doesn't provide reservation confirmations definitely check this place out!If you like calling back 2-3 times leading up to your trip to confirm your reservation (because they had the date wrong) then this place is for you!If you're looking for reasonable pontoon rental rates for an under-powered boat, with price-gouging refueling costs you find about after the fact, go to Brian's!!If you're looking for an establishment with an owner (I presume) who gets aggressive when you provide feedback to him about a rude and condescending employee, this place is for you!!If you're looking to have someone literally jump out of their lawn chair, charge at you, reach for something on his hip (def not a gun, perhaps a knife?), threaten you, attempt to intimidate you, and then proceed to throw things (I believe it was a water bottle) at you while you're trying to leave with your wife and 3 year old son (yes, this all happened with not only a woman, but a small child present), then definitely check this place out!!!However, if you would like to find a boat rental that is able to get on plane with just 4 adults on board, or if you'd like to be treated respectfully as a patron while paying a reasonable price out the door, you might want to look elsewhere, because Brian's Lakeside Marina is not for you.

  Mike Hanna
7 years ago
This place is ok. Decent prices on pontoon and boat rentals. I feel like they overcharge to refuel the boats when you return them. We rented the "nicest" pontoon they had for $225 per 8hr rental. We left on a full tank and drove 12 miles RT. When we returned the boat the needle was still on full, somehow we were charged $22 for gas. Seemed like a lot.

  Dale Buckner
8 months ago
We had a great time and was clean and it ran great. The boat was ready when we got there. Staff was great.

  Michael Chupp
a year ago
Staff was friendly and helpful, and the price for the rental of the pontoon was a great Fair rate I was totally impressed nice boat thank you for the wonderful service out of highly recommend this place for rental have a great lake the fish on big ones

  L D (LacedInExcess)
4 years ago
Make sure you call numerous times to make sure they have you scheduled for the correct day. We drove all the way up here from GR and they had us down for the wrong weekend and wouldn't do anything about it.looks like their competition gets our money this weekend. Nice job Brian's lakeside marina. I'll be telling others what a great experience we had BS

  Lauren Koslakiewicz
2 years ago
We rented a pontoon for the day 3 days ago. The boat we were given was nice and the staff was great! We had 4 adults and 7 kids that day and had the best time! We will definitely be back again

  Jessica hanna
7 years ago
Rented a pontoon here. We paid $225 for 8 hours. Thought it was a good price until we found out all the rules that had to be followed. No tubing, no drinking, ect. We pretty much found a spot in the lake and just parked there all day. The. They charged you way over price for the fuel.

  Andrea Oleksa
7 years ago
Did business two years in a row, renting a seasonal slip for our pontoon. This year only needing winterizing of the motor, the grease left on our light beige carpet is going to take a good bit of me scrubbing it to get it clean.Not happy...since just the simple task of putting a towel or anything to cover the carpet while walking in our WELL KEPT BOAT with garage greasy shoes would have been a better way to treat a customer who spent more than $1200.00 in two years.

  Brian DY
2 years ago
We were staying on Houghton Lake for the week and decided to rent a boat. The staff here were so friendly and helpful, we ended up going back to rent again later in the week. If you are looking to rent a boat on this lake I wouldn t go anywhere but here!

  Larry Trpovski
4 years ago
I took my boat in and dealt directly with owner Chris, small issue of low idle, rough idle, stalling. Said he would work on it himself...2 weeks latter I called stated all was good he worked on it personally stated he tried it in water himself no issues of stalling or rough idle anymore repair was to carburetor....I just put it in water over July 4th Holiday.. SAME as before no different, tried calling him many many times, left messages was told at storage lot, at old shop, out on lake, never returned my calls, met a guy boat launch he seen my struggles stated he just graduated from marine school 2 yrs ago looked at issues, adjusted carb, looked at plugs said wrong ones installed 2 different types offered for my boat , I went bought new plugs installed them....boat now runs like a top.... CHRIS YOU LIED to a 1st and last time customer and a stranger did more for the boat that you did.

  Danial Muckel
4 years ago
The staff was rude and discourteous upon arrival to rent a reserved pontoon.The pontoon was in rough shape for a $200 a day rental. To include the navigation lights being completely broken off the boat. Limiting our time on the water.We will never rent from this Marina again.

  Dallas Appeldorn
3 years ago
Service was terrible. We were given a boat that wouldn t turn over when we went to return. Upon being towed in to the landing we were given an attitude for not knowing all of the rules of boating after being given 0 instructions when we rented to boat. If you want to float in the water with no power save money here but if you want a boat that works spend a little more money somewhere else.

  Jason Waggoner
8 months ago
Great place. Nice staff, nice boats. I will be going back.

  KIngs ADV
2 years ago
We had called 3 months ahead to set a reservation for a boat. We called a day early of the reservation and made sure they had our boat ready, once we called they said they never had a name or reservation under our name. We then asked for a manager and overheard the girl handing the phone to the manager say we talked to them already, they never made a reservation. Very unprofessional. Terrible service, I don t recommend going to this place for boat rentals.