We would not stay here again. We booked for mid-February 2023 and stayed only 1 out of 3 planned nights. Despite the beauty of the surrounding area, this lodge’s standards have clearly slipped. The most unacceptable condition of the property was the unplowed driveway, which we emailed the owner a week prior to our stay to ensure there would be no issues getting to the cabin. We were reassured by Mark (the owner) that housekeeping plows the driveway. It was SOLID ice; a few inches think. Our mini-van couldn’t traverse the driveway. The 4x4 pickup made it up the ice sheet once, but it now has a new paint job after sliding down the ice and into one of the bushes on the low side of the driveway.
The level of neglect of the driveway was unacceptable. My husband and I literally had to crawl on our hands and knees to get up the driveway because it was so slippery. We saw footprints going up the side of the driveway going underneath a bush, perhaps this is how housekeeping got to the cabin. Regardless, we couldn’t get to and from the cabin and do any of the other activities we had planned in the surrounding area.
We did finally make it inside to discover crumbs in various rooms on the floor, stained sheets, cobwebs and dust in the master bedroom, the leather couch downstairs was ripped, huge wrinkles in the carpet that are tripping hazards, and trash in various cabinets/drawers. The oven was filthy and we had to clean out huge chunks of burnt food. The sheets were terrible. There were stains the size of a post-it notes on one of the twin beds as well as droplet stains on various pillow cases.
I contacted Mark after arriving to tell him about the terrible condition of the driveway and he said it must have been the “freezing rain” the night before. He was very surprised the driveway was that bad. Again, it was clear this driveway was neglected. And it wasn’t freezing rain – there were no issues with any roads up to the cabin’s driveway and no sign of ice on any trees in the area. The final straw was when my elderly father slipped on the ice just walking outside the house at the top of the driveway (the flat parking area) and hit the back of his head. I contacted Mark again stating that we had to leave. He offered to put additional sand and salt down, but after the lackluster accommodations and inability to use the driveway to get in and out, we had enough.
I hope this feedback will improve the interior of the cabin as well as the standards of the care.
