Calabogie Peaks Resort — Hotel in Greater Madawaska

tl,dr: Do not stay here in the summer, there is no resort, the place is a shambles. ||||It started the day before we checked in- I was browsing the website we used to book the hotel to see if our unit had a washing machine (it didn’t), and came across dozens of new, negative reviews. ||||My wife and I, generally positive people who make the best of any situation, disregarded them (mistake #1). “We will barely stay in our room, we’ll be at the beach, pool and resort!” (Mistake #2). ||||As we drove up to the “resort”, we admired the surroundings and hyped ourselves and kids up. As we got closer the GPS sent us past what looked like a hotel area with golf course and straight into some kind of construction. This wasn’t on the hotel but they can get Google to fix this. We circled back and decided to checkout the area that was labeled “Calabogie Peaks Resort” instead of “Calabogie Peaks Hotel” to figure out where to go. It turned out that- gasp- they were the same (Surprise #1). ||||We headed inside and checked in- we were staying in one of the condos so we got our keys and bracelets for the “resort” and went to our room. Staff was very nice and accommodating. They did inform us that that the hot tub - a big selling point for our family - was closed. For…reasons. Apparently it’s been closed since the pandemic, but the pool is open? The hot tub is outside. ¯(ツ)/¯ ||||I started to bring our stuff up and had to pause as the floor just outside our condo was littered with bird poop and dead bugs. Kind of gross and unsanitary, but we forge on…||||Our condo itself was decent. It was fairly clean and had a lot of supplies - so good job there. We would learn the next morning that the cleanliness was really surface level- as we found several dirty dishes, and the coffee maker still had used coffee grinds in it, and the carafe hadn’t been cleaned out. No big deal, really, but starting to paint a picture. The AC was also quite good on the first floor but didn’t make its way upstairs.||||We were finally settled in and ready for dinner. The restaurant at the hotel was closed so we went to the Redneck Bistro- highlight of our trip to Calabogie. ||||On the way back from dinner we decided to swing by the “Resort” and see what it was like- except we couldn’t find it. We did see a small beach with a few boats to use. This is when we started to think we had made a mistake. ||||We went to bed, and got up ready for breakfast. We made our way to the main building to the breakfast room. 😬 This was the beginning of the end for us. There was cold waffles, bread, oatmeal packets, yogurt and some pre-made breakfast sandwiches in the fridge. This was perhaps the saddest hotel breakfast I’ve ever seen. At this point why offer it unless it’s to be able to say “Free Breakfast” on your website to attract guests - which seems to fit with the theme of this entire establishment. ||||We took a few waffles for the kids and headed out for breakfast elsewhere - this was our own mistake because there were literally no options - anywhere. Ok, yogurt it is. We then we’re looking to go on a hike, but wanted to grab some water before we went (the water in our room didn’t taste great). I assumed the gym might have a water dispenser, so we went there. It DID have a water dispenser but it was unplugged. ||||We happened to spot the pool for the first time then- and that was the end. It was murkier than the lake. ||||We went to the front desk and said we were dissatisfied and wanted to cancel the rest of our trip. The staff seemed completely unsurprised, and let us cancel. ||||We quickly packed up, and headed home. ||||Pros||Accommodating staff||Gorgeous views in the area||||Cons||Filthy pool||No hot-tub||Kids playground is ancient and sad||The hotel and facilities are all super poorly kept up||Tennis / makeshift basketball court is a shambles||Tiny beach - no staff ||||Summary: This place is a bait and switch. There’s a reason the hotel and resort has two listings, it’s to confuse guests and make it seem like there is more to the place than there is. ||||Note to management: Spend less time responding to reviews, and more time and money on repairing your facility- then work on...

Caveat emptor - The Resort is a Lie!

tl,dr: Do not stay here in the summer, there is no resort, the place is a shambles.

It started the day before we checked in- I was browsing the website we used to book the hotel to see if our unit had a washing machine (it didn’t), and came across dozens of new, negative reviews.

My wife and I, generally positive people who make the best of any situation, disregarded them (mistake #1). “We will barely stay in our room, we’ll be at the beach, pool and resort!” (Mistake #2).

As we drove up to the “resort”, we admired the surroundings and hyped ourselves and kids up. As we got closer the GPS sent us past what looked like a hotel area with golf course and straight into some kind of construction. This wasn’t on the hotel but they can get Google to fix this. We circled back and decided to checkout the area that was labeled “Calabogie Peaks Resort” instead of “Calabogie Peaks Hotel” to figure out where to go. It turned out that- gasp- they were the same (Surprise #1).

We headed inside and checked in- we were staying in one of the condos so we got our keys and bracelets for the “resort” and went to our room. Staff was very nice and accommodating. They did inform us that that the hot tub - a big selling point for our family - was closed. For…reasons. Apparently it’s been closed since the pandemic, but the pool is open? The hot tub is outside. ¯(ツ)/¯

I started to bring our stuff up and had to pause as the floor just outside our condo was littered with bird poop and dead bugs. Kind of gross and unsanitary, but we forge on…

Our condo itself was decent. It was fairly clean and had a lot of supplies - so good job there. We would learn the next morning that the cleanliness was really surface level- as we found several dirty dishes, and the coffee maker still had used coffee grinds in it, and the carafe hadn’t been cleaned out. No big deal, really, but starting to paint a picture. The AC was also quite good on the first floor but didn’t make its way upstairs.

We were finally settled in and ready for dinner. The restaurant at the hotel was closed so we went to the Redneck Bistro- highlight of our trip to Calabogie.

On the way back from dinner we decided to swing by the “Resort” and see what it was like- except we couldn’t find it. We did see a small beach with a few boats to use. This is when we started to think we had made a mistake.

We went to bed, and got up ready for breakfast. We made our way to the main building to the breakfast room. 😬 This was the beginning of the end for us. There was cold waffles, bread, oatmeal packets, yogurt and some pre-made breakfast sandwiches in the fridge. This was perhaps the saddest hotel breakfast I’ve ever seen. At this point why offer it unless it’s to be able to say “Free Breakfast” on your website to attract guests - which seems to fit with the theme of this entire establishment.

We took a few waffles for the kids and headed out for breakfast elsewhere - this was our own mistake because there were literally no options - anywhere. Ok, yogurt it is. We then we’re looking to go on a hike, but wanted to grab some water before we went (the water in our room didn’t taste great). I assumed the gym might have a water dispenser, so we went there. It DID have a water dispenser but it was unplugged.

We happened to spot the pool for the first time then- and that was the end. It was murkier than the lake.

We went to the front desk and said we were dissatisfied and wanted to cancel the rest of our trip. The staff seemed completely unsurprised, and let us cancel.

We quickly packed up, and...

My kids have been part of Calabogie Ski Racing Club for 8 years now. I have been a customer of Calabogie Peaks for over 15 years and even more than that for lots of my relatives.

The boys have had a season pass since they are 2 years old. So many ski lessons, ski camps, hot chocolates, food and cold refreshment bought at Calabogie Peaks for many years. We have been loyal costumers. Brought families and friends to the hill anytime we could. The boys love skiing so much, we joined the Racing Club, which is a not-for-profit organization run by volunteers (us the parents). I continue to buy a season pass, even if most years I don’t ski enough days to break even due to the amount of time volunteering, but I wanted to continue to support Calabogie Peaks Resort.

The last two years, the owner of Calabogie Peaks has been making it harder and harder for our club to operate. It started by imposing a standard operation procedures just 2 days before the start of the season (after all the families bought their seasons pass). The SOP stated the they were cutting our training time for the entire club to 2 hours per weekend, which is inadequate for competitive racing (amongst other clauses that targeted our families compared to other paying customers). The owner then made it impossible for us to continue training in January after our coaches were training our athletes in a fully sanctioned and insured manner. We were completely banned from the hill unless all coaches, athletes, parents,and volunteers signed waivers that made us personally liable for anything that happened on the hill. But of course, even if he cut our training, the owner wanted us to continue hosting events (as that makes him money). He also stated that our athletes could race but not train without signing a personal liability waiver. No athlete should be sent to compete without proper training. That is not safe! In the weeks that followed, the owner wouldn’t allow our club to train stating liability, but had no problem allowing two other clubs to come and train without the proper safety netting or adequate separation from the public. The resort felt it was ok to take their money (passes and lane fees) while he exiled the customers whose money he had already collected. To add to the insult, they allowed these other clubs to train on a run we have not been able to train on for over two years (tiger/ Barrett’s chute).

As a result of the owners actions, we had to cancel all the events and find other training venues. We had to leave the season passes that we had paid for and many families rented cottages that they are still paying for but sitting empty. Teams and out of town clubs families have been impacted as they have lost deposits on accommodation rentals and had to take on hosting events. The owners actions were calculated to force us to cancel events so they could place the blame on our volunteers, but the larger skiing community has understood the situation and have supported our membership fully in our tough decisions. We thank all of you for your continued support. We all lose when greed is placed before community and the opportunities for our youth to grow and succeed.

My children are heartbroken. All they want is to ski at their home hill.

Please, if you are planning a ski trip, choose another local resort as they all support local youth sports by not only permitting training and racing, but promoting it and valuing their customers to make them life long members of their...