NPR Reviews Provided by
Lodge at Whitefish Lake
Old and tired
User:
Suzanne K from: Missoula, Montana
Trip Type: Couples
Published Date: Dec, 4, 2024 Travel Date: Nov, 1, 2024 Rating: 2 We’re Montanans who like to venture to Whitefish occasionally for a weekend getaway. We stayed at the Lodge about 8 years ago when my husband attended continuing education there. The experience was fabulous in a 2nd floor room. Recently, we had the chance to stay for 30% off with a resident discount. Why not? Well, maybe because they haven’t done anything to improve it for many years. It’s rather old and dingy. We stayed in a poolside King suite this time. Honestly, I’d rather stay at North Forty in Columbia Falls than pay even the discounted rate with the resort tax.
Worst Overpriced Experience
User:
thehappytravelors from: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Published Date: Nov, 6, 2024 Travel Date: Sep, 1, 2024 Rating: 2 My husband and I spent eight nights staying at the Whitefish Lodge. I had made the reservations one year in advanced. They were unable to give us all eight nights in one room so we stayed into separate suites. I will go over each room separately.
For the first four nights, we stayed in room 346 which is considered a junior loft suite. When we arrived on the property, we were told just leave your car and go in. There was so much traffic buses. We were almost in the road so I left my husband with the car and I went inside by myself, not once where we asked or greeted to leave our keys and they would bring our luggage to our room. When I checked in, I was informed while you’re only here for four nights and I promptly responded with. No we had to be in two separate rooms because one room was not available for all eight nights. I was instructed to sign a paper for quiet time after 10 PM which is not a problem for my husband and myself. Before I left the front desk, I inquired as to where to park and about our luggage. I told the front desk girl that no one offered to take our luggage. She promptly called someone. By the time I got to our car, someone was there to assist with the luggage. We went up to our room and our luggage to arrive shortly after. I was promptly asked what I where would I like the luggage. I said upstairs isn’t that where the bedroom is. He did not look happy, but he did take the luggage upstairs. I would like to add, but I did give him a very nice tip.
Onto the room itself room 346. The room has two separate bathrooms, one upstairs and one downstairs. The toilet paper in the downstairs bathroom was half used and was not even folded as is usually the case when you arrive in your room.
Onto the kitchen, we found a dirty kitchen towel in the drawer. There was a constant drip in the sink. The air vents throughout or filthy dirty. The dining room table was dirty. There was still a dirty bowl in the microwave.
When we went out to the balcony, it was filthy. It looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in months. The bed was supposed to be a queen size. I measured the bed. The frame was queen size but the bed was only slightly larger than a full size. When we got into the bed, the mattress was so worn that we rolled into the middle. There was absolutely no support whatsoever. The television in the bedroom is attached to the wall at 1 AM. The television started to beep and was flashing green. I woke my husband up and said are we being recorded.
After our first night we decided to have breakfast in the boat club, which I have reviewed separately. After breakfast, we were going out for the day. Upon returning in the late afternoon, our door was wide open. We assumed the maid was still there we called out since we have two floors, but there was no one there. I began to look around to see if anything was missing. The cleaning person took the only knife for cutting and did not replace it, but the dirty coffee cups remained. The creamers were not replaced. Water bottles were not replenished. The dirty kitchen towel still remained. The dirty bowl from the microwave remained. The bathroom towels were removed and replaced with fresh towels. When I looked in the shower, it was not cleaned. The bed was made, but nothing else was cleaned.
The carpeting throughout was so dirty and in bad need of being replaced. The fireplace in this room did actually work. The downstairs television did work, but was not a smart TV.
After having found the room open, we went to the front desk and asked for the manager. I proceeded to tell him everything that was happening. His name was Bobby & he understood where I was coming from so he offered to compensate one night. I would like to point out that that is the only reason my review is two stars and not one star. I actually wish I could give zero stars. After speaking with him, I told him we no longer wanted anyone coming in our room. He understood and said if we needed anything to call the front desk. He even arranged for someone to transfer for our bags to our new room after the fourth night. We did ask to be moved sooner, but unfortunately, there was no rooms available.
Room 336 Lakefront Loft Suite-our 2nd room
By all appearances, this room looked way better. Unfortunately the bed was just as bad if not worse. I also measured this bed, which was on a queen size frame with a slightly bigger full-size mattress. Again, these mattresses must not have been changed for many many years. At least the television did not come on at 1 AM with the green lights flashing in this room.
This room did have a combination washing machine and dryer, which was very helpful. The kitchen had a lot more amenities and was cleaner than the previous room. Unfortunately, the fireplace did not work. We did not notify the front desk because we did not want anyone coming in our room.
As for the bathtub in the downstairs bathroom, there is a giant hole which will be shown in the photos I post. The hairdryer sounded like it was ready to take off and was extremely hot to the touch.
The couch had absolutely no padding left. We had to use the extra sheets and pillows to sit on to have any support whatsoever.
There were two balconies in this room. It would have been great to sit outside, but unfortunately there were so many events happening that the noise level was ridiculous. The noise did stopped promptly at 10 o’clock. I guess that’s why we had to sign the noise policy upon arrival. The room was supposed to be soundproof. The room was not soundproof. We had to turn the television up loudly because of the noise from outside.
We did go to the tiki bar on several occasions. The drinks and food were very good. The service was very good. Unfortunately, there were so many yellow jackets that the chef had to come out and constantly try to kill them. Apparently, every employee that has work down there has been stung on numerous occasions and management will not do anything about it. We were informed that traps would not look appealing to guests. We dined at numerous other restaurants in whitefish and we saw plenty of yellow jacket traps and no one seem to mind them or care about them. Shouldn’t safety for all be priority number one?
I took pictures of ducks swimming in the pool with guests. No employees chased the ducks out. Totally unsanitary.
This was not a relaxing or comfortable stay in either of these rooms. These rooms were over $1000 a night, which is absolutely ridiculous, considering the quality of the furniture and appliances. When we checked out, no one even asked how our stay was or if we needed any assistance with our luggage. I would never recommend this lodge to anyone.
Subratings:
- Rooms: 1
- Value: 1
- Sleep Quality: 1
- Location: 3
- Cleanliness: 1
- Service: 1
Repeat guest
User:
copilot12 from:
Trip Type: Couples
Published Date: Oct, 17, 2024 Travel Date: Oct, 1, 2024 Rating: 4 Over 15 years we have been repeat guests of the Lodge at Whitefish Lake. We’ve stayed in both the lodge rooms and the Viking lodge rooms.
This trip, a chance to enjoy the fall foliage and low season, we stayed in the Viking Lodge. As requested, we were pleased to be given a quiet room on the second floor. I remember writing a review about the Viking lodge years ago (when it first opened). There were problems with a low humming noise in the AC unit. This previous problem seems to have been corrected.
During our stay, we had one problem with the toilet intermittently flushing. Maintenance was immediately sent up and changed out the flush valve.
Viking Lodge guests are connected to the main lodge via an over the main road closed walkway. If you have a hard time walking (which we do not), I would not recommend the Viking lodge.
The staff, as always, were very professional and efficient. We appreciated that.
The Lodge itself is, however, is in need of some refurbishment. Common area carpets and chair fabric are getting old, as well as the mattresses.
Bedding is good. Hot water is instant and so is pressure. I would recommend that all sinks be checked for slow drains and shower doors be adjusted on a quarterly basis. Our room was spotless and I was happy to report that housekeeping came in daily, rather than upon request, which is frequently the case (still today) in many of the top hotels we visit. Seems this policy started with Covid, and due to lack of staff, continues.
The pool was closed and so was the outdoor pool bar. There were only two chairs to sit by the pool. I would recommend that chairs still be set out for guests until winter. There is also an outdoor fireplace that was not lit during our stay. Only one fire pit in the front of the hotel was available. It was usually surrounded by families and children.
The boathouse restaurant is always great. The views never get boring. We loved watching the sea planes come in.
We recommend this Lodge. Best place in Whitefish. Shuttle takes you to town on an hourly basis.
We rented a car this time from the airport and are glad we did. We visited glacier and took a day trip to Bigfork. Both the town of Whitefish and Big Fork are charming. We even visited the dude ranch in Bigfork owned by the same family that owns the Lodge.
It was closed for the season, but after looking around, we can report that it looks like a great place on beautiful Flathead lake.
Top rated Whitefish/Glacier National park property
User:
Artay from: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Trip Type: Couples
Published Date: Oct, 17, 2024 Travel Date: Oct, 1, 2024 Rating: 5 Well located and excellent property. Staff, room, and amenities were excellent. It is about 40 minutes from Glacier National park and 8 minutes from the town of Whitefish. Be sure to enjoy the deck for drinks or dining.
We do recommend and we look forward to returning.
3rd stay and hopefully many more to come!
User:
63impala from: Stoneham, Massachusetts
Published Date: Oct, 15, 2024 Travel Date: Sep, 1, 2024 Rating: 5 This is our 3rd stay at the Lodge. Every stay has been nothing less than stellar. We feel right at home here and get along so well with all of the employees. This really is a special place. This time we tried out the Viking Lodge section and it is every bit as great as the main lodge. I will close by saying that our 4th stay cant come soon enough!!
Subratings:
- Rooms: 5
- Value: 5
- Sleep Quality: 5
- Location: 5
- Cleanliness: 5
- Service: 5