Trailhead Hotel in Tupper Lake, NY — Hotel in Town of Tupper Lake

We stayed at this hotel when it was Sheehan’s at least a dozen times yearly for over ten years and always had an outstanding customer experience. Sheehan’s was quaint and always clean, always well maintained, the pool was pristine, and the staff was incredibly personable, helpful, and always kind. We loved visiting Tupper Lake and staying at Sheehan’s. The ‘new’ Trailhead by Weekender, who bought Sheehan’s, rooms are way overpriced, and our stay was terrible. You reserve a room online. We booked our three-night stay and requested a first-floor room; there is no way to see or confirm you will even get a first-floor room. Trailhead has zero human interaction, and no one is staffing the front desk to check you in personally or assist. Everything is automated via email and text messages.

Our experience: The hotel is not handicapped accessible; they are upfront that there is no elevator to the second floor or rooms with walk-in showers. We got an email from Trailhead a few hours before arriving stating we were in room 28 on the second floor; I had requested a first-floor room, if possible. They promoted having a pool in all their communications, yet when we drove into the hotel parking lot, there was no water in the pool, and the liner was falling off the sides of the pool walls. Then we lugged our belongings through the one access door to the second floor; the smell of a powerful, pungent urine-type smell was overpowering in the stairwell and disgusting. It was not a great way to start our Trailhead experience. The Tupper Lake Tinman was happening that weekend, and every nearby hotel was completely booked. If that were not the case, we would have found another hotel to stay at. Then we had to deal with their automatic entry key system, which was a very unfriendly customer experience to get into our room each time. The lighting outside our room was very dark at night, making dealing with the keyless entry system even harder because you could not easily read the keypad. We discovered the toilet did NOT work our first night, and you could not flush it. We called Trailhead to alert them; they said they would fix it promptly. In room 28, at the foot of each bed, there is a large storage chest. As you enter the room, the first bed in room 28 is at a slight angle, then the storage chest at the end of the bed, and to the right of the bed, a coffee table and small refrigerator directly across from that storage chest, the space to walk between the bed is way too narrow, very little room to maneuver past the bed, to get to the bathroom or other bed and sitting area. I came to the hotel early evening with my hands full, and when I attempted to walk and maneuver past the bed/chest and between the coffee table, my knee hit edge of the chest, I lost my balance, and I hit the floor. I hurt my hand, bruised both knees and damaged my glasses. Day two: The toilet still does not work. I called Trailhead and was told they had a water main break at another one of their hotels, and their repair people were busy fixing that issue, he was sorry. I told him that not having a working toilet at the hotel was completely unacceptable; we were checking out and departing a day early. He apologized again and said he would credit my cc for a one-night stay. Trailhead should have credited our entire $719.06 three-night stay; it was an awful overall experience. What a shame Sheehan's was such a hidden gem of hotel and Trailhead could have carried on that great customer experience. We will never stay at Trailhead or recommend Trailhead in...

I really wanted to like the place. Tupper Lake has always been, in my 30+ years of Adirondack trips, underwhelming. So to see a modernish motel with nice amenities be available, I was excited.

I rented the room on the drive, so I showed up 45 minutes after I booked. Everything is run remote, so the only help is the nice cleaning guy who speaks no English. Thankfully the Spanish I knew helped him reach out to management so I could acquire my room and lock code for the door, which has to be manually entered from what I gathered. I definitely didn't receive it immediately after I filled out the additional info sheet they require after booking.

Rooms are really nice and you can tell they've been updated. The beds were comfortable and they have streaming services to watch on TV. (FYI people - if you use your personal Netflix account, be sure to remove the credentials when you leave) But, I'm in the ADK and really didn't want to have TV. You can see some shortcuts in the details of the rooms, covered by extra paint, but it wasn't a huge complaint.

What was most frustrating is the seating outside and the pool. The outside stuff looked like it was thrown together and nothing like the photos. You're right on the highway and it was really just picnic tables, a few chairs around a fire pit out by the main road. The pool was definitely not in service and was drained. One of the main reasons I booked there was because of the pool along with the rooms looking nice. My 6-year-old and I were only looking to stay one night and then head to the Wild Center the next day. If they were honest in the listing and said the pool wasn't available, I would have gone elsewhere. We really just needed a room, but the pool was a fun option to relax with for one night. They also charge their full seasonal rates while not having the pool available (and not letting people know it isn't, which is shady to me).

The cleaning staff also tried to come in and clean at 9am. Check-out wasn't until 11 and I definitely hadn't checked out when they wanted to come in. If the staff is so disconnected from the management because of the cloud based setup of their hotels (they have a few), they'll be annoying a lot of customers and making them second guess a return.

I'd like to support them when I visit again, but will probably just look at one of the other options or cabin rentals nearby. At least I'll know what I'm getting since those places haven't changed in years and...

This hotel underwent a major makeover several years ago after it was purchased from a family who ran it for ages. The color scheme is black and white with contemporary fixtures, upgraded TVs and technology and an emphasis on being ECO friendly. The property, including rooms and pool, are well-maintained and attractive. Rooms are comfortable and bright and of average size. Newer furniture and lighting are tasteful and functional.||This is a contactless hotel where you have no human contact before, during or after your stay. Registration is done online by filling out a form and scanning and attaching your ID. A door code is emailed to you and there is no front desk to visit for check-in. It is all very sterile. During our stay, we had to request some towels for a few that were missing when we arrived. A call to the local number for the hotel was redirected to a call center in Lake Placid who then had to notify someone local to respond. The towels were delivered promptly. If you are looking for "homey" or inviting, friendly accommodations, the Trailhead is not for you.||Rooms are priced high for this small town - more on the order of Lake Placid pricing. But quality accommodation options in Tupper Lake are few. For the price paid, it came as a surprise to us that the hotel did not provide free cable but, rather, assorted streaming services. Free cable with live programming is pretty standard in 2025 so this was surprising.||Other issues of note is that shower water pressure is not great. Compounding that is the unsettling surge of hot water periodically that causes you to jump back when the temperature shoot up. Not fun. When the air conditioner kicks on, any lights that are on will flicker noticeably. Clearly, an electrical issue that should be addressed. Also, the lack of a staffed front desk is troublesome when other guests don't observe the quiet hours beginning at 10:00PM and you are on your own having to address loud and inconsiderate neighbors....unless you want to call the call center to see if they can dispatch staff to handle.||Finally, once home I called to question the charges for my stay. After the phone tree entry, an outgoing message said no one could take my call but to leave a message. The next recording said that the mailbox was full and I was disconnected. ...