Inn at Lake Joseph — Hotel in Town of Forestburgh

The website reads like it's been written by chatgpt to sound appealing (though maybe not as they consistently butchered the spelling of "accommodations") , so the reality was a major letdown, especially for OVER 400 DOLLARS A NIGHT ||Where to begin? Calling itself a "resort" is a stretch of the imagination for one thing, as is the idea that it's lakeside. The inn is NOT "lakeside". It is a 10-15 minute walk from the inn to the lake on a non-ADA accessible path. The website says "you never have to leave the inn" but there are no food options other than breakfast, which again does not suggest "resort" (though they do put out some nuts in the afternoon which was a nice touch). "The "heated pool" was not heated. The "in room massage" was not available. We were told on our last morning that the checkout time on their website was "wrong" and we needed to be out an hour earlier, not leaving us much time to go up and pack.||The much-hyped breakfast featured mushy store bought pastries rather than "fresh baked goods", one type of fruit rather than "seasonal fruits" and some other offerings on tacky plastic plates. Things ran out and weren't replenished. The cooked offering took forever to come and featured overcooked scrambled eggs accompanied by a sprig of wilted parsley in a futile effort to try to make it look fancy. ||The room itself was uninspiring and dated, but clean. Again it did not deliver the quality they aspire to. No blackout blinds, or even drapes of any kinds, just cheap slatted blinds, which meant the sun shone right into my eyes from the space between the blind and the window waking me up in the early morning. Power sockets were almost impossible to find for plugging in electronics to charge. The TV remote didn't work. On the plus side, the terrace had a lovely view, though "furnished sundeck" translated to two Adirondack chairs and a lot of empty space. If nothing else it would be helpful to have a small (or regular) table out there to put drinks or a book on.||The communal areas could have been really nice except they are set up in bizarre inhospitable furniture configurations. ||The "text only" option for service is not ideal and makes you feel like they don't want to be bothered. And if you are elderly and not tech savvy forget it, especially because all the inn info is only available on an app.||All of this would have been ok if it weren't for the pricing, which while it sounded ok for what was described on the website was massively overpriced for what we got. I wish I had taken more photos to include in this review so others could compare the reality to the marketing...

We stayed at the Inn for a long weekend, 3 nights in total just this month of September.

On the plus sides, the location is fantastic, with beautiful hiking trails, wild life and Matt, the host was very kind and would happily provide guidance and asked several times if we were comfortable. Breakfast is generous and fairly tasty. Having tennis courts onsite was a big plus and it is possible to swim on the lake or at the swimming pool. The room was clean as compared to many other hotels I visited, which helps balance the fact that rooms and a the place is old and need a serious refurbishing!

On the minus side, the pictures do not give a fair description of the place which looks more old than cozy in reality. The staff although very kind does not have experience with children making the place not ideal if traveling with a baby. We were put in a room upstairs despite mentioning that we have a one year old child a few days before arrival. The place does not have cribs or high chairs and do not serve dinner so we had to drive to the nearest town for dinner, all not convenient when traveling with a baby. Everyone is asleep at 9.30 pm when we arrived and we did not want to disturb even if I am sure the staff will respond to our needs. It is not a place where you can have a drink or a quiet evening in the common areas after dinner. All rooms have carpets, which is not ideal if you have allergies and/or a crawling baby as this is not a hygenic especially knowing that it is a pet friendly hotel.

Rooms are not serviced during the stay, you have to ask for your bed and rooms to be tided up which the staff happily took care of when we asked. But the servicing was below par, the bed was barely made, the bathroom sink, toilet and shower not wiped or sanitized. The used mugs were not exchanged for clean ones, we had to wash our used coffee mugs ourselves to use them again. The bed linens are performance sheets which if you get hot while sleeping is not ideal. We may go back because of the location and the kindness of the staff but it will be a compromise on our comfort standards... Overall not great value...

Perfect for a weekend getaway. My boyfriend and i stayed in the redwood, (mar14-16,2025) which is the cheapest of the carriage house and in my opinion the best location. It’s on the left side of the house with private entrance, back patio, and upper deck. There’s 5/6 other rooms in the building but you rarely cross paths when coming to and from your door. Very short walk to the main building for breakfast and lunch pickup. We had our breakfast delivered to the room by Matt, who was super friendly and helpful for local dining recommendations. Forage pizza around the corner was one of his recommendations and it absolutely did not disappoint. The chocolate covered strawberries we ordered were delish and waiting in the fridge for us.

The room itself was great. Cozy and rustic. It is an older building so if you can look past occasional creaks of the stairs etc i think it’s a great little spot. The stairs are narrows and steep so I advise leaving a light on downstairs so you don’t tumble at night Lol. My only complaints are the metal trim leading into the bathroom from the carpet was sticking up and i caught my foot on it while exiting the bathroom. it should be fixed soon to avoid injury of other guests. (i’m fine) Also the gas fireplace is great, but the whole downstairs lingers with the smell of gas even when it hadn’t been on. It did get better as time went on though.

The bed was comfortable and adjustable, and the jacuzzi tub was relaxing. We brought cleaning pods and ran it a few times first before using just for our own peace of mind but it was clean for us upon arrival. The shower was clean (aside from some reasonable light water stains) and had a dual shower head system with hot water and great pressure.

The property is very calm and quiet. there’s trails to the lake and a hiking trail as well. We did some of the trails but it was a little too muddy.

Overall we will definitely add this place to our revisit list. It gives great camping cabin vibes and is great for a couples getaway. (it has smart Tvs too!)

Thank you Matt and all at Inn at Lake...