Bascom Lodge — Hotel in Adams

Bear with me as I try to regale you with the story that is visiting Bascom Lodge. TL;DR: I'd give the entire experience somewhere between 2-3 stars. It was weird.

I arrived around 6 p.m., fortunately bypassing the line of cars that waited some 30-40 minutes to arrive to the top of Greylock. I saw a sign posted for employees only that didn't seem to have many legitimate parking spots, so I proceeded to the main lot for visitors. The guy directing traffic instructed that I could go back to that lot I saw adjacent to the lodge. Given that I had a few bags with me, I wanted to get as close to my accommodations as possible. I had no choice but to park on a grassy incline, following suit with the rest of the crowd that seemed to haphazardly line the alley that I guessed was not, in fact, just for employees. As it turned out, this was indeed the guest parking.

From there I headed indoors where folks were milling about enjoying the lobby and the sunset beverage hour (promoted on their website). I hoped I wasn't late. Unfortunately, the parking situation wasn't where the confusion ended.

I gave my name to the nice lady at the front who wasn't able to locate my reservation. I spoke with three different people and they all seemed to not know how to help me. Luckily, I found the email confirmation from January 2022 on my phone that I made my reservation for a private room. This didn't seem to expedite matters. The confusion continued for at least a quarter of an hour, and I was getting a little upset. The worst part was that supposedly this happens "all the time." Yikes. The kind hostess offered me a beer as the people sorted things out and had some discussions in the kitchen about my reservation.

As it turned out, a guy with dreads finally found the email confirming my reservation. But it was still unclear if I was going to get a room. By this point I was so deliriously tired that I offered to just set up my tent inside of the lodge once it emptied out and we could just call it a deal. It couldn't be worse than being out in the cold. I was actually getting excited about this option and it seemed like maybe that was how we would solve this problem. Another kind lady offered her home to me and mentioned her daughter was an avid hiker. It was very sweet of her, but I really just wanted to stay at the lodge and not have to drive around anymore.

Finally, thirty minutes into this confusion (luckily with a beer in hand) I was told I'd be getting a room. I followed the guy up the stairs to room #5. It was a nice sized Queen bed room with a window facing towards the parking area and a sliver of the mountainside lit up by the fading sunset. It was almost too hot, but no complaints here given that I was freezing overnight the previous night. You could easily see an outline of the hall around the perimeter of the door. I was able to hear most sounds late at night and early in the morning. I regret not bringing my earplugs. The bedding was warm and there was an extra blanket.

I peeked into room #4 the next morning where there were three twin beds with a gorgeous view of the mountains.

The showers were compact, but efficient. They were essentially shower booths. There were separate toilets on either end of the hall. Contamination warnings were posted about the water since September, so bottled water was provided for toothbrushing.

Dinner ran late and I wish I could've sat somewhere where I could just focus on the music. The soup wasn't great; the potato bland. The cod surprisingly excellent. The apple cake top notch, with a just-baked crisp exterior. The muffins in the morning were also truly bakery fresh. Lovely notes of lemon complimenting the cranberry-apple. Seeing the sunrise and the starry skies over Greylock were so special.

Would I stay again? For $120+/nt with the value of a college dorm experience, I'm not sure. This place needs a lot of work, the staff appear tired, but it was unforgettable and reminded me of...

I'm not sure where to begin......I was charged $140 for a private room (after tax) so I guess you could assume I had some expectations. Upon checking in the front desk lady, who was the most unhelpful and put zero effort into informing me of any hotel accommodations, showed me to my room which was disappointing to say the least. My room was tiny at about 10x9 complete with only a full bed. The room had no microwave, television, or even my own private bathroom! Yes, I shared a bathroom with 3 other rooms for $140 a night! Oh yeah, I almost forgot, the rooms are not equipped with its own thermostat. You have to share the thermostat with the rest of the building. Want to turn up the heat on the highest point in MA?....suck it up my friend. The rooms are the noisiest I've ever stayed at. I could here every noise that was outside of my room including the neighbors conversations. I was also awoken every time the very mechanical door handles turned signaling the neighbors entering and leaving their rooms. No exaggeration I could here conversations and laughing with clarity that were coming from the lobby at 9:30p and it was thru 2 closed doors. Want to get romantic with your significant other? I hope you aren't easily embarrassed. This place charges $2.50 for a can of coke and $6 for a can of IPA. Outrageous!!!! Are we in Manhatten? Dinner? How about nearing $40 a plate. I know, your getting the idea that this is a fancy place but it is far from it. Last night I bought a brownie, a can of Coke, and a Popsicle and was charged $17.50!!! I noticed the lady at the register made a mistake and charged me for someone else's food and I informed her. She attempted to fix it and it took her over 20 minutes. I literally stood at the counter for OVER 20 minutes while she attempted to correct her mistake and I have the transaction receipts to prove it. The lady at the register brought the cook to the register for the last 10 minutes. I could not understand why they would not swipe my card to refund the incorrect amount and understandably became impatient with the amount of time it was taking. Since the cook seemed to be the one taking charge at this point I asked, 'Will you please explain to me the process of how you plan on refunding me so that I may better understand what is going on? Please?' The cook totally ignored me and did not even acknowledge my presence. After 20 minutes rolled around I informed the cook of the amount of time that had passed and he finally replied "What does that have to do with anything?" My response was 'WHY?!!! Why am I still here?' I went on further, 'I hope your time is valuable to you.' Still no acknowledgement from him. On a side note my girlfriend got dressed and came out from the room to check on me because it was literally taking that much time. I will also say that the wifi was down from 9:00p and is still down as I write at 7:00a the following morning. This place is not an enjoyable place due to the staff, management, and lack of resources. I hope you will do yourself a favor and stay away from this facility. I sincerely mean that as I've taken great time to write my experience and provide you with...

LUNCH REVIEW....top thought....SAFE FOOD HANDLING ISSUES ABOUND:

After visiting the website and looking at the pictures and menus, we decided to drive up for lunch. We Google-mapped and Garmined our way there. What we didn't know is that the address is really for the park's Visitor's Center. It's another 20 minute drive up the hill.....so heads up about that.

The dining area we saw on the website is not where lunch is served. Lunch is served is a pretty grungy looking room, set up with folding tables and chairs. Right at the door is a stand with plastic utensils and condiment packets. I didn't think I was in the right place, so I turned to a woman outside who appeared to be the manager, and ask if that was the right place. She replied, "Yes." My response was, "Really? Plastic and paper? That wasn't what we saw on the website." Her response was to laugh incredulously and say, "Well.....it's a LODGE", while another staff member also laughed. That was kind of creepy. We decided to eat there anyway, even though it was not what we imagined.

We had to order at a counter and then wait for our food. This gave me time to look around and observe a few things. In front of the counter - where a bunch of people stand and go - there were too open (no cover) pitchers of water and plastic cups. The water in one of the pitchers looked nasty. Next to it was a cooler with ice, and - despite a referred to scoop - everyone was just reaching their hands into!

I ordered a burger topped with tomato, lettuce, red onion, and accompanied with coleslaw and potato salad. This meal was laughable. The onions were thick, stringy lengths of red onion and seemed old and just pulled out of the sandwich entirely. There was a scant sprinkling of lettuce. The potato salad and coleslaw were both served in those little, white paper cups often used to deliver medication to patients....lol. The total amount of each was the equivalent of 2 rounded measuring tablespoons. Seriously. Also that had to be the worst potato salad I have ever had in my life. It was tasteless....except for a slight tinge of it tasting like to was just starting to go bad. The slaw was a bit better. The burger was your basic burger slab right out of the freezer....I know because I saw them take some out....WITHOUT food prep GLOVES.

And that brings me to my next observation. While I ate I watched the staff in the kitchen. Let's just say that safe food handling does NOT seem to be a concern there. Since there was a wedding there, one of the staff was filling plastic cups in a dish tray with ice. Also not wearing gloves but using her uncovered hand to prevent ice from falling off the other side of the cup. This means that every cup has ice in it that had contact with her hands.

The views are great, so I might go up there again for that, but I strongly de-recommend getting lunch there, if for no other reason than they probably need to get a visit from the...