Lily Creek Lodge — Hotel in Dahlonega

I visited the Lily Creek Lodge for a three day weekend with my husband. There was some good but mostly bad. Most of the problems can be fixed with zero money. ||The exterior and the living room area really are as cute as you see in the photos. It's charming like a fairy tale. We stayed in The España room (photo # 89).The room had items left from a previous guest like hyaluronic acid serum on a windowsill. There were also patches of the room that were very clean and then others that looked to have not been cleaned in a long time. For example, The nooks in the bathroom door had an orange-coloured dust that usually comes with renovations. This needs a handled tool with bristles that will wipe stronger than a cloth but softer than a broom, and this tool is at the Dollar General down the street for $2. The toilet was overall clean except for a groove in the seat where it is hinged to the toilet. These are signs that the housekeeper does not have a routine and checklist. It is also likely that someone needs glasses. Some things get cleaned every checkout and some things never. Clearly they are making the effort but missing a lot. ||Next, we went into town and returned by 7:30 pm due to cold, wind and rain. We had hoped to spend a little time by the fireplace but were informed that there is a branch growing near the chimney, so the fireplace is out of commission. Since the pool is also out of commission for the season, it would have been nice to have the fireplace going. The innkeeper then stated that they were closing up for the night. The rooms do not have TVs, and usually these lodge-type places do that so that guests can unplug and mingle in the evenings. Everything in this tiny town closes up early. We went to our room and watched a movie on our phone. ||The lodge was completely full that weekend. A nice group of guys had booked 4 rooms for a corporate team-building weekend. They were also locked out of the living room, so they chose to park themselves outside of our bedroom window to talk until about 1am. They were not rude or loud, but due to the thin walls, we could hear them. This could have been avoided if they had been allowed to use indoor common areas. ||The next morning at 8 am we awoke to the sound of a leaf blower and lawn mower. We had hoped to sleep in. I can't understand why the lodge would not ask its yard people to avoid loud work by guest windows until at least 10am. ||The curtains shown in The España room are no longer the same as in the photo. Only the very sheer ones remain. Curtains serve more purpose than just decoration. They also block light and provide privacy. Even on that grey and rainy Saturday, it was too bright in the room to sleep. ||I went downstairs to the living area (all guests must walk outside and enter the living area through the front door). 5 guests were surrounding the one coffee maker. Again, it was a full house with all 11 rooms on the upper floors occupied. That's likely 22 guests. Why only one coffee maker? We decided not to wait the 2 additional cycles for our turn at some coffee and went to buy some in town. I looked for the innkeeper and poked my head into the door that was ajar off of the kitchen. It was the office, and one wall was filled with board games. It was disappointing to know that they had all those board games and kept them in the office and inaccessible to guests. There were also no books in the place other than 2-3 that were clearly part of the design asthetic and not meant to be read. A bookshelf and even a few board games would encourage guests to stay and relax, and that seemed to be the opposite of the goal. ||That evening my husband and I returned from a lovely day of waterfall hiking. We sat at the outdoor table with wine and cheese. The outdoor tables have pots of dead plants. It would be better to have nothing since the bare wrought iron tables are really pretty. ||When it was too cold and dark to sit outside we came to the living room where another couple chatted with us. The other lady was telling me a story and mid-sentence the lights went off all around us. The caretaker decided that 8pm is the cutoff and that the way to inform us of that was to let us be in darkness. She said that we were welcome to continue our conversation outside. Our fellow guests informed her that it was dark, cold and breezy and not exactly the place to talk. We all went to our rooms. I felt very regretful at that time to have chosen this lodge and wished I had booked the Holiday Inn or Motel 6 nearby. This is how you kick college kids out of a bar, not guests. ||In the morning we were hustling like all of our fellow guests to be out by checkout time which is 10am. Many of us congregated in the living room around the one coffee pot. I wanted to speak to the caretaker and share with her my thoughts on the living room area policy. I thinks she was hiding in her room until we all left. We all left out room keys on the counter. ||Quirky is something that I anticipate in a b and b - type place but this was just tacky and rude behaviour. If you are an extreme introvert or prefer to not deal with people, please don't let them book. We did not feel welcomed. We will definitely return to the lovely area but we will stay...

My husband and I stayed at Lily’s Creek lodge for 3 days/2 nights and were not pleased at all. We have years of experience with owning Airbnb’s and reviews are hard but part of the business.

When we arrived the Inn Keeper was very friendly and welcoming. However we had some issues. First we learned there is no and I repeat no individual thermostats in the rooms. This is not stated on the website or anywhere for that matter. The Inn Keeper controls the setting by each side of the building, not rooms the actual left and right side of the building . She said if we had issues being hot or cold to let her know, but how does that work if multiple people are staying there like there was and also being late at night. A guest should not have to call someone to adjust the thermostat in their room period!

We stayed in the Bavarian room. The first night was fine, a little warm but the second night we roasted. I mean upwards of 80 degrees warm. We first tried to close the vents and they did not close all the way. So we had to open a window with it being 25 degrees outside just to try and cool off. So that was fun.

Our bed was the absolute the worst, we did not sleep for 2 days. It squeaked with any movement at all. It was also old and uncomfortable. Actually rolled to the center. We brought this to the Inn Keepers attention and she said she would let the owner know. There is a 2 inch gap in the top and bottom of the door. The deadbolt did not work, only the bottom worked. The Inn keeper said they lock the main entry doors to the hallways and you use a code to enter but that was not the case as we got back late and the doors were not locked and open.

Came in the first night at 11pm and only one of us was able to take a shower. It was under 5 mins as the hot water ran out. We could only pray there would be some the next day for my husband to shower. The room for the most part was clean except the cobwebs on the curtains which was pretty gross. Yes I have pictures. The Inn is only open down stairs from 8-10am and again from 3-5pm. Things to also note: There is no table to eat at if you were to bring food back to the room. There is no ice maker anywhere. There is no TV in the room, but that did not bother us. All in all we would not return...

The hubs and I decided to visit Dahlonega at Christmas as it’s known for it’s Hallmark feel and charm. We ended up with a late arrival after getting free tickets to a Christmas play downtown and texted the Innkeeper to let her know. She immediately responded and put my mind at ease that we would still have no issue getting into our room. We arrived to the lodge around 9:30 that evening and innkeeper Kellie greeted us and made sure we got up to our room. We just happened to get the last room available at the Lily Creek Lodge, tucked away at the tip top of the residence. The climb up the stairs was steep but the room was quaint and comfortable with a Moroccan feel and views of the beautiful mountain property. Warning if you choose this room, you should be mindful of the slanted ceilings,, I wouldn’t recommend for anyone very tall. The room does tend to also get a little warm however they provide fan in case you need it or we just opened the door for a few. In the morning, we went down to the lodge where they offer coffee and tea but no breakfast. This would be the one thing that could take this place over the top! It was beautifully decorated for the holidays and the innkeeper Kellie greeted us with a smile and with pot of coffee brewing. She clearly invests her time making sure everything is neat and super clean- just look around, you can tell!!! Whether she was gathering wood for a fire, visiting with guests or tidying up the place she clearly loves her job and takes pride this cute little gem in the mountains of Georgia. She referred us to some local eats around the area and stopped to chat with us for a few before we headed out to town. BTW, Highly recommended the Smith House for southern cooking and Bear Necessities coffee house for a wonderful pastry, coffee and we even went for a fabulous lunch! All in all, our lil trip to Lily Creek Lodge was a beautiful...