Sun Mountain Lodge — Hotel in Okanogan

This was a first time visit. The first impression on walking into the lodge is impressive. It reminds me, although the SML is smaller, of the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC. We had requested a King room with a great view, and that is exactly what we got. There was no TV in the room which was great. The room is pretty isolated so I really didn't hear anything going on next door on either side. The beds are pretty comfortable, the pillows so so. They have a lot of trails, but we decided not to partake this time, we did use the pool but it was not a clean as I would have liked to have seen it in other places I have stayed and we did use the hot tub which was nice. The towels and washcloths in the bathroom were very soft which was also nice. The room we had came with a Jacuzzi, which we used. The showed was kind of small but that really is based on the person using it. The restaurants. First the Dining Room as it is called, this is upscale, while there is no dress code, we were greeted by Nancy to get us to the table, she also took our initial drink order, and then our waiter was Colby. I had the Tenderloin while my wife had the quail. The salad we chose was the 3rd on the left side of the menu. Presentation was a 5, and the meal we had the first night was perfect in every way it could have been. Having eaten at some of the most prestigious restaurants in the US, it was really deserving of the AAA 4 star rating for the last 17 years. Colby was exceptional, if not one of the best experiences I have ever had with a waiter. He definitely gets joy out of doing what he does. I was able to meet the Souz chef, to share my experience. The Breakfast was breakfast. The hostess did not seem like she wanted to be there both mornings. The waitress on the other hand acted like she was doing what she wanted to be doing. She got the orders right both times, and was very pleasant. The second night for dinner, we opted to go back to the dinning room, and requested Colby a second time. Nancy remembered out last name, which I thought was kind of impressive considering all of the other guest. Again Colby was exceptional. Because the Tenderloin was so good the first night I opted for a second helping and my wife ordered the tenderloin as well. The second night, which in my opinion is the key to determining the quality of a restaurant. My wifes was perfect, mine was under cooked. Now I could have said something, but in my opinion, this is a skill set that required consistency in order to get my highest rating. Make no mistake, the food served at this restaurant is top shelf, but as a note to the chef, "you have to do it right every time" :), We partook in a couples massage, and I think they did pretty well, perhaps a 8 out of 10. I felt relaxed when I left and she didnt injure me so that was a plus, and my wife felt like she wanted a little more. So all in all pretty good and worth the expense. Lunch at the Wolf Creek was a completely different experience. The food here is not exceptional, nor would I ever eat there again. You only get a chance to poison me once. I ordered a salad which was ok, I ordered a roasted chicken and red pepper soup which was really good, but I was not really hungry so I just ordered some chicken strips that came with fries. I was served frozen chicken that had been deep fried, but as everyone knows when chicken is frozen it takes longer to cook all the way through, and they apparently didn't know that as one of the pieces was almost raw. If you have ever watched Hells Kitchen and seen how Chef Ramsey gets when food is not cooked, I didnt pull one of the those, but when I brought it to the attention of the waitress, her response was "Can I get you something else?" No apology, which would have made the situation better. I told her no, and that I wanted it taken off the bill. Then the manager came over, and filled my water, didnt say anything, then the other waitress came over replaced my wifes drink, and didnt say anything, Then before she left, she said let me go check on your replacement wings. Not...

Wow, if you are an outdoorsy person but need a nice roof over your head this is a great option.

I have to say getting to Sun Mountain Lodge (SML) is as amazing as being there. Then drive up and thru the Cascade Mountains is stunning. You will see lakes, rivers and waterfalls all along your trip, depending on your route.

The lodge offers so many activities including mountain bike rentals, hiking trails, horseback rides and many more outdoors activities.

SML provides all of the warmth and imagery of an old wood cabin hunting lodge in the mountains. Enormous fireplaces in every public and guest rooms. Comfortable communal sitting inside and out. spectacular views of the valley. This place melts always months if not years of stress is a short amount of time.

There are 2 charming towns nearby Twisp and Winthrop. Very beautiful old world buckboard sidewalk throwback stores and shops. Winthrop especially provided us with an afternoon a wandering, eating and shopping.

So why 3 stars you ask? The restaurant and bar services did not provide the same level of comfort and relaxation has the other amenities at SML. I am taking into asccount location and post Covid conditions for hiring and keeping quality staff but for an upscale and pricing lodge, service is poor.

Examples: I never send food back to the kitchen. If it is not prepared to my satisfaction i simply ask to have it removed from my bill. However, I broke my rule because in one instance it was a gross mistake from our server and the cook I hand to say something and start over. It was acknowledged properly and the end result was acceptable. Still, simple things like delivering your beverage in under 10 minutes, getting utensils and clearing dirty dishes, you know the basics, needs a lot of work.

The next day we had dinner in the dining room. The menu looked great. Execution of the menu was not. My wife and I both had the halibut. It was a 3 maybe 4 oz cut of halibut, usually a plump cut, half inch filet cooked to a crunch on runny mash with mint and green peas. It was inedible and we both sent it back. The second round was better but the same thin filet obviously dictated an alternate method of preparation. Oh yea, this 3 to 4 oz serving was $57 each.

Ok, so food prep and service was poor. How about other service areas. There is a nice little game room. Clearly says no unsupervised children. It should say no children since parents were not supervising their child so the games were wrecked. Tables were broken and supplies to play games missing. The issue here is no one wanted to own the issues and get them resolved.

The rooms have nice views looking out over the valley most with a northern exposure allowing maximum sunshine morning to night. The rooms have a nice coffee/tea stastion, repurposed wet bar. The room has a comfortable bed and enough seating for 6. There were 3 chairs and a huge couch and table in front of the gas fireplace. There are no drawers and a tiny closet to hang some articles but you live out of your suitcase in limited floor space for the suitcase stands provided. In all fairness you don’t spend much time in the room but once you tire of watching a fire burn, waiting on a beverage at the bar your room is the only place to be. No TV and the sound system is outdated (MP3) inputs. Last thing about the rooms, take a mosquito net. We killed a dozen mosquitos in 10 minutes after entering our room. Again, the staff just laughed it off “careful, some are big enough to carry away a small child, chuckle chuckle.”

Set the right expectation and this can be a nice weekend...

Huge disappointment. We were here during phase 2 covid and were told that the pool and spa were open along with the game room, all of which were closed. Supposedly they moved those to phase 3. We were also told the place was cleaned head to toe to keep the employees working and our room was mediocre. 10 years outdated, old fridge, no microwave, no tv, and barely 1 roll of toilet paper when we checked in. They say there's no tvs in most of the rooms but only in a disclaimer at the bottom, which I'm told that's how the place is supposed to have their 'rustic' feel and yet they provide a fridge and wifi which goes against that entirely. They simply don't want to pay for any extra costs. At 10pm what else is there to do when everything is closed? If we don't want to watch tv then simply don't turn it on, not having it to get your patrons to get out and about in the middle of the night with nothing to do whilst still having wifi is completely pointless.And while everything is closed, they still charge full rates for their rooms with ZERO amenities and activities available. The stafff was super friendly, polite, friendly, and we never felt disrespected by them one bit, but they have terrible leadership with little to no guidance whatsoever. They also royally screwed up the breakfast for everyone. Ours was 45 minutes late and there were only 2 options: oatmeal and a breakfast sandwich. The breakfast sandwich came with hashbrowns and fruit, which instead of putting the hashbrowns below the sandwich, they put them below the fruit consisting of strawberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, and oranges...which made the hashbrowns taste like fruit. Genius. Why it took them over an hour to prepare the simplest of meals is astounding, considering everyone waiting was furious at the lack of promptness and disorganization. You would even come up and order ahead of time and they would give you a time when your breakfast should be ready. 45 minutes after that time, it finally arrived. I also had a birthday cake surprise for my girlfriend and told them it was so, and when we showed up for our dinner reservation the server asked us if we were the ones with the surprise birthday cake...in front of my girlfriend, whom the surprise was for. Classy. Granted, we thought that part was actually kinda funny, but the lack of communication was appalling. The management of the whole place was abysmal. They had nearly 3 months to prepare for these scenarios and failed miserably. Management needs to be changed and communication needs a massive improvement. I would be embarrassed to be in charge of day to day operations here and be aware of the absolute failure of execution of the simplest of demands by the state government. The million dollars in needed updates, remodels and lack of leadership aside, the only saving grace of this place are the views and trails that you can partake in. If I think about it, I may give them one more chance and stay in one of their suites, but highly unlikely unless it is at a greatly reduced rate or complimentary. I have friends that had their wedding here and loved it, so I'll be willing to give them the benefit of the doubt during the pandemic. But for me, during this stay, was an absolute waste of $800 that I'll...