Lake Placid Lodge — Hotel in Town of North Elba

For as long as I can remember, Lake Placid Lodge has been a dream destination for me due to my deep-rooted love for the Adirondacks whether it's the vibrant fall foliage, summer camping, hiking, or skiing. During my college years, staying there was financially out of reach, so I had to settle for more affordable rentals. Fast forward nearly 20 years, and with a more comfortable income, I finally had the opportunity to visit the Lodge. This trip was particularly special as I planned to propose to my girlfriend of eight years.||||I initially hoped to book the Owls Head waterfront cabin, but it was unavailable. Instead, I chose Cabin Colden, also on the waterfront. Before our arrival, concierge Gail contacted me to confirm any additional amenities or reservations. I opted for an upgraded bottle of champagne, ordered a dessert tray, and requested rose petals on the bed. Upon our arrival, we were welcomed with two glasses of champagne, a thoughtful gesture by the porter, Benjamin, who was both kind and accommodating.||||Cabin Colden initially impressed us with its rustic charm and stunning lake view. However, our excitement quickly faded when we noticed a strong smell of smoke. While the rose petals were slightly wilted, the overall arrangements were satisfactory. As the evening progressed, I attempted to light the fireplace which was an integral part of my carefully planned proposal. Unfortunately, the room quickly filled with smoke. Despite opening windows and using the ceiling fan for ventilation, the smoke persisted. My girlfriend and our dog had to seek refuge in the bathroom for some relief. Although we contacted the front desk and a staff member came to remove the embers, the smoky haze lingered throughout the night. With temperatures dropping to 40 degrees, we were left shivering in the smoky room. My proposal, which I had envisioned as a romantic evening by the fire, had to be postponed. Instead of the intimate moment I had planned, we spent the night in discomfort.||||By the end of the second day, conditions had worsened. The fireplace issue, which had supposedly been resolved, reappeared when I attempted to light it again, filling the cabin with smoke once more. This ongoing problem compounded our frustrations. Additionally, a dangerous rusty nail protruded from the bed frame, an alarming safety oversight that should have been addressed by housekeeping. Spider webs, complete with live spiders and eggs, were found in the main window and went uncleaned for three days. The water pressure in the bathroom sink was nearly nonexistent, and the lighting - a mix of warm tones from one lamp and harsh bright LEDs from another created an inconsistent ambiance that detracted from the cabin's charm. As someone who owns a resort in the Catskills, I appreciate the rustic charm, but the condition of this cabin was far below the standards expected of a Relais & Châteaux five-star property.||||Although the staff made efforts to compensate by offering a $200 meal credit and complimentary breakfast, the fireplace issue remained unresolved despite their assurances. For the third night, we were offered to be moved but only to a downgraded room, which we declined. We decided to forgo using the fireplace altogether. When the staff came to our room to fix the fireplace, I raised concerns about the absence of smoke detectors, which had failed to go off both times the room filled with smoke. My concerns suggested that this might be a recurring problem. Without opening the windows, we could have been at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.||||The second day also brought additional frustrations: the hairdryer was inexplicably placed next to the toilet brush, and housekeeping services were inadequate. Trash, bottles, and a melted ice bucket were left untouched, dirty cups and a used makeup towel were not replaced, and we even discovered bugs on our pillow. The turndown service staff's response to these issues was that they were not responsible for cleaning was unacceptable for a hotel of this stature.||||Lake Placid Lodge, once a symbol of luxury, has unfortunately lost its luster. While the picturesque grounds and the charm of the Hacker-Craft boat provided some appeal, they could not compensate for the overall disappointment. What should have been a memorable and special weekend turned into a frustrating and disheartening experience. The room we had was in urgent need of refurbishment, staff retraining, and a renewed commitment to delivering the high-quality guest experience that its prestigious...

I usually do not write reviews but considering the unusual and bad experience we had at the late Placid Lodge, I felt compelled to write one. My boyfriend and I had planned a 4 night stay at the lodge in a lakeside cabin in hopes of relaxing and distressing from a very stressful few months with our careers and a house move. We were looking for a quiet and peaceful, secluded cabin and thought the lodge would be the perfect location. We had visited Lake Placid before and had dinner at the Lodge's restaurant so we were familiar with the property. We also wanted to bring our dog on this trip, so the cabin was a perfect fit. Unfortunately we were greeted with just the opposite of a quiet and relaxing stay. When we arrived on Sunday evening, we were shown to our cabin and we noticed numerous construction equipment and workers at multiple cabins surrounding ours. We did not think much of this the first night since we were tired from our long drive, we decided to get room service and stayed in for the night. Unfortunately, at 7am the next morning we were woken abruptly by loud power equipment and loud talking. As I took my dog outside, I realized this would not be a private or secluded location, construction workers were everywhere I turned and construction was in full swing, From there on the construction only got more intense and we were woken every morning at 7am by the chaos. We considered asking to be moved to another cabin, but when we walked around the property, we saw that every cabin had work being done nearby. The main building at the lodge seemed like a quieter option but we knew dogs were not allowed in this building so we did not think this would be an option. Since we spent most of our days out of the cabin, we decided to do our best to ignore the construction. The last two days of our stay a new roof was being installed on the walkway leading past all the cabins, up to the lodge. This was definitely the worst part of our stay, having to navigate through and over roofing debris and equipment to get to and from our cabin. Upon check out we spoke to the front desk about our annoyance with all of the construction noise, she was polite and brought us a manager to speak with. Unfortunately the manager was unpleasant and combative, telling us that we should have said something sooner and there was nothing she could do about it now. We completely understand that we visited during their slow season and that periodic maintenance and construction has to be completed during this time. Our main complaint is that nothing was ever said to us about the construction in the numerous emails we were sent prior to our trip or at check in. It is completely unacceptable to put guests in the middle of a construction zone when your property is advertised as a lakeside retreat with secluded cabins. The right thing would have been to advise us about the construction ahead of time and offer to put us in a quieter section of the property. This is an absolutely beautiful property but we were so disappointed by the experience and lack of care for their guests that we will not consider returning or recommend this resort to others. For the price that we paid for this experience we would have had a much better time at one of the of the other numerous resorts in the area that offer a comparable setting and we strongly recommend anybody reading this review...

This was our 2nd stay at LPL and probably the last. Don't get me wrong, the place is as beautiful as ever. However, what drove me to stay at this place the first time (2022) was its membership to the Relais & Chateaux, a French network of properties that prides itself on offering guests a blend of excellent food, quiet surroundings, picturesque landscapes, and a varying level of luxury with their own grading scale.|2 years ago, we were not impressed by the food, and assumed it was a post-pandemic thing, with all the difficulties of finding the right staff that we all know about. |But this year, the food experience was also underwhelming. We had moderate expectations though, so this was not the driver of my 3 stars review.|What really made a negative mark was the accommodation we selected. This year, we chose the 1BR suite in the Lakeside house, on the top floor, because of the beautiful round balcony and view of the lake.|Because of all the black flies this season, we could never stay outside more than 5 minutes before being bitten like crazy. Not at all the fault fo the property of course, but i wish they would install some sort of netting around portions of the terrace, or offer some outdoor bug repellant devices.|The thing that really warranted the poor rating though, is how this Lakeside building was designed. Many rooms' fireplaces share the same chymney and even if you do not use yours, your room will get smoked out as soon as another room starts a fire. And lighting a fire in this part of the country is a must, so let's just say our suite was always smokey. There's a fan that you have to leave on at all times, we were told, to make sure the roome doesn't get smokey, so it's a known issue, however, this system doesn't work at all. We mentioned it from day 1 (we stayed 3 nights) and no solutions were offered. It got so bad we had trouble breathing in the middle of the night sometimes. And coming back to our room after a day outisde always felt so strange that the smell of smoke was still so present. |The worst part is that even after leaving the property and going home, we had to hang our coats outside for 3 days to get them back to normal and get the smell out. Even the tubing of my CPAP machine was so seriously impacted that I couldnt use it afterward. Each time breathing through it felt like i was breathing smoke...||It's still a really beautiful place though, so if we had to go back, we would definitely opt for one of their cabins by the lake, where each accomodation is independent from...