Chute Lake Lodge — Hotel in Area E (Naramata/Greyback)

Chute Lake Lodge offers a unique experience. Located minutes off the KVR trail and offering a winter wonderland. We went there for a little weekend in February. The ambience of the location was nice. Cabins nestled in the woods, hiking and snow shoeing within walking distance. If the lake was safely frozen there would have been other activities as well. We were excited to go there as we heard the cabins had recently been renovated and the online pictures looked inviting. On a scale of 1-10 the cabin overall was about 7 out of 10. The main bedroom was a good size and offered a reasonably comfortable king size bed with nice bedding. It was a treat to wake up to the trees swaying outside our window while birds chirped and flew from tree to tree. We spent our first day hiking the KVR trail. It was serene and beautiful and we were the only hikers on the trail. We returned to the lodge and had a wonderful lunch. My burger was one of the best I had in years. And the apple dessert was a unique and very tasty treat. Kudos to the chef. I have to admit our disappointment was in the value. For two nights it cost us $382.00 PER night. For that cost we would have expected the following in our cabin:

1. A Keurig or the like coffee maker complete with coffee/tea pods.
2. As we were required to do our dishes a washcloth and tea towel to complete the task. There was only a drying rack and a "used" sponge for our use. There weren't even paper towels in the kitchen to wipe your hands on.
3. Proper and "gently used" kitchen ware. The plates and cups were in good shape but the cutlery and pots and pans looked like they were purchased from value village and had seen better days. The teflon frying pan was so scratched it should be outlawed to be used.
4. Toiletries. There wasn't even a bar of soap in the shower and the soap dispenser in the bathroom didn't even work.
5. A bath mat or floor mat in the bathroom. Our bathroom floor was wood with a "hatch" built into it and the hardware from the hatch was cold and very dirt ridden. A mat to make it warm and cover the eye sore would have been welcomed.
6. Quality bath towels. The towels provided although nicely presented our bed upon arrival were blue towels that looked like they came from grandma's closet from years gone past. Please - fluffy white linens to match the fluffy white duvet.
7. Real toilet paper. Sorry at the price we paid 1 ply is not acceptable.
8. Maintenance on the cabins. We had one light in the main area with 4 or 5 lights in it and only 2 worked. Our vanity in the bathroom had a broken drawer - the main drawer. There were 2 fire alarms and they had been disconnected and just wires hanging from them. Note: our cabin had a wood stove which we used to keep us warm. Finally, check out time was 10 am - barely enough time to enjoy another day at the resort. We left promptly at ten. If more time was offered we would have gone for another hike and enjoyed another lunch at the Lodge. As a reference once can stay at the Delta on the Lake in Kelowna for $275-$290. per night during the same timeframe or at the Penticton Lakeside for $200.00 Granted they each offer a different ambience they certainly have all the upgrades and "niceties" mentioned above. If you are going to charge inflated prices at provide the quality and experience one would expect based on the price. For this reason I am not leaving Chute Lake Lodge a...

Chute Lake Lodge has a lot of amazing things going for it |- rustic charm|- unique getaway that is hard to find (lake and KVR trail nearby)|- we had a wonderful interaction with the lady who was working the front desk. She was very friendly and did a very good job.|- beds were very clean and comfortable ||Things that took away from our experience |- we booked yurt #4. The yurt was very clean and a cool experience. Downside was that on the map the yurt is shown to be just with the other yurts, on the end by itself. In reality there was a private area, perhaps a staff area, right next to our yurt. Not shown on the map. Whoever was staying in this area had a large number of guests visiting our first night. We know they were extra guests because they said they were. They liked to swear and were quite loud. A man and woman started yelling and swearing at each other and it got quite aggressive. We didn’t feel very comfortable and it left us edgy, wondering who these people were as they seemed to be guests of staff or some sort of party.|- food: it was our 15 year anniversary so we ordered the maple glazed salmon. Was very dry and the brussle sprouts were extremely overcooked to the point they were charred beyond being edible. There was no denying it. We respectfully told the server and showed her. She took the dish and told the kitchen. No acknowledgment for the poor food was given and were were just given our bill for the full amount of $38 for the plate. Mistakes happen but usually there is something done to correct it, offer of a replacement or desert or even a small percentage off. Nothing. I had planned to come back for all our meals on this stay but it just didn’t seem worth the money and the risk. We got groceries from town instead the next day. |- basic maintenance: sinks in bathrooms have such high pressure they spray you when you wash your hands. The outside sink was very dirty any time we wanted to use it (food particles left in it, scummy looking). Gross because we needed to use the tap for drinking water. Broken lightbulbs in the outdoor lights. Jumping pillow was cool, but not fully inflated. ||This Lodge has huge potential and maybe was going through some staffing challenges when we were there. We didn’t feel relaxed with the fighting from the group in the private area and felt let down by the food. We didn’t feel that we could turn to anyone to let them know about the problems as the waitress was also checking and was busy. we didn’t want to put a target on ourselves for complaining.||We left the experience planned for our marriage milestone disheartened and mislead. Hopefully the Lodge can take this feedback and work things out with staff...

We have pros and cons. Starting with the pros, excellent friendly staff. The restaurant atmosphere was lovely. Food was very good, best truffle fries we’ve ever had. Dinner was good but $22 for a salad was steep and it was missing the pecans, after pointing that out I was given some lovely candied walnuts. Beer selection was good and so were the cocktails. Nice to be able to rent ebikes, kayaks, paddle boards etc. There was a nice hike, just hard enough.

Cons, the landscaping has been done very well in the restaurant area and around the glamping tents but it literally did not exist in the forest camping spots. The picture on the website is misleading as it leads you to believe you will be camping in a lovely green forested area. It is not the case at all, it was a dry dirt, uneven dustbowl. We were quite taken back when we saw it. If not for our camping carpet it would have been impossible to camp without getting filthy. I do feel for other camper that we saw that did not have a carpet. It was impossible to get our trailer level so on an angle we lived. We do appreciate that it has been very hot and dry but a load of gravel would solve the problem, a quick and easy solution. $50 is a lot to charge for the condition of the site. We also understand many improvements have been made but maybe until these sites can be improved upon a lesser charge may be appropriate and a more accurate picture on the website.

The next 2 cons are minor but I still feel should be mentioned. It seemed that no one went around to suggest to people that quiet time was in effect and almost 2 hours after quiet time was to have started there were still a few sites, both cabins and glamping sites that were quite loud. For those of us in tents or even the glamping tents, the walls are like paper so maybe being sure things have settled down maybe an hour after quiet time could be something that is implemented.

Also all pets were supposed to be on leashes but we had at least 3 dogs wander into our site and only once did someone retrieve the dog. This could be problematic for some families. I believe one of the dogs was a...