Hill's Resort — Hotel in Sandpoint

Oh how times change from just a few years ago 😢 - the resort itself? Amazing, beautiful. The general staff? Kind and accommodating. The restaurant? HORRIBLE!!

Spending close to $5k for a week at Hills, not inclusive of food. Having dinner with my parents (dad is 82, mom is 79) at the resort restaurant. Dad would like a burger, medium rare. Please add mushrooms. A simple enough order that you could get at any 2-star establishment in any town. But not here! Our server, Isaiah, was INCREDIBLE and kind!

Isaiah came back and let us know that ALL burgers are cooked well done and the kitchen had told him that they would not temp food for individual orders.

Also they would not add mushrooms to the burger because they only have pre-made mixture of mushrooms/jalapeños and won’t add individual items. WTF? Can you please have the manager come down? Absolutely. Thanks Isaiah, you’re the BEST part of this story!

The manager Jake comes out (turns out his last name is Hill so we’re not gonna get anywhere) with an immediate attitude and lets us know that his staff is not able to make individual temps per order like ANY decent restaurant would do, especially when you’re charging $19 for a burger! (Insert haughty attitude laden tone here) “As I’ve explained and your server has explained, we are unable to accommodate individual requests with the volume of food we’re pushing out of the kitchen.”

Suggestion then Jake Hill - FIX IT!!! Almost nobody orders a well-done burger, ever! For the prices you charge, every single order should be done correctly and with the highest of standards. This was embarrassing for you and your business.

Enjoy the lake, relax in the sun and the sand, but don’t expect anything close to quality food (or management response) and still pay Michelin star prices. I guess when your family owns the place you can treat people...

We previewed the property in April 2021 and loved it.. Unfortunately we did not look at the accommodations. Big mistake. Because of the wonderful lake and beach and nearby amenities I gulp once or twice when saw the rate. However the wife really loved it so I said what the hell, go for it. So we booked and dreamed about the great family gathering. The total tab was $4000 for a 3 BR over the July 4th week or about $600 per night. This is Idaho. Our first impression upon entry of all 4 adults was immediate disappointment. It was tight with low ceilings, dark, dirty carpet and old looking. There were tons cars and pickup in the parking lot just outside. The condo were tightly packed and there was NO privacy. We found the other guests strangely unfriendly. We ate in the restaurant twice and it was ok at best but the hamburger I ordered was practically inedible because it was so overdone. Checking out would be highly impractical so we began thinking of other alternatives. I had both travelers insurance and AMEX. We considered complaining to the manager. We decided to wait and see. We enjoyed the view and the lake and mellowed. Probably what upset me the most that I was paying $600 per night for a great view and lovely lake and true garbage for accommodations, noise, no privacy and NO usable WiFi except for $175 extra for the week and being a stock trader and had to pay this blackmail. Needless to say that I grumbled and cursed most of the week at the dishonesty and lack of integrity...

Rooms: was charged $200+ a night for a room with a hide-a-bed (3 guests). The bed was in the middle of the “living area” and was so outdated. The mattress itself was about as thick as my finger and you couldn’t sit on the end without the mattress falling through the metal support bar. This by far was the largest complaint. Overall everything is fairly old and if you’re going to charge $200-$250 a night for a room with a “second bed” then it should be something you’re not forced to sleep diagonal on to avoid your feet falling through.

Service: attempted to purchase butter/sugar from gift shop at 7:30am to make breakfast as we forgot some items from the store but the lounge doesn’t even open until 8AM. No exceptions and bar doesn’t open until 10am. Not really an accommodating lake experience. Be ready to drive back into town if you forgot anything from your list.

Bar/Service: For the most part the service was great. We had one encounter with a gal behind the bar who acted as if she disliked her career choice. It’s unfortunate because I’d assume most people that go up there are taking a break from the norm and are in a relaxing mood. The last thing we were hoping for was a condescending server to attempt to ruin our families time/mood.

WiFi: non-existent. Even if you attempt to purchase the wifi offered, it doesn’t work.

Not our best lake resort experience. We’ve been around WA & ID and I think this one was a little more hyped up by word of mouth than actual experience...