Friends Lake Inn

We recently had our wedding here, and there were so many things that went wrong, it was almost comical. The fiasco started at 9:30 am, when I watched their delivery driver accelerate, despite the utility lines being visibly caught on his truck, ultimately tearing down the transformer, resulting in a total power outage. This was not a matter of an unpredictable "act of God," as they tried to tell me it was. This was a preventable incident resulting from negligence, and was the responsibility of the inn, though they insisted it was not. An inn charging the prices they do and who caters to weddings, should have a generator capable of powering the inn in these types of emergencies, but they did not. The power outage disrupted every key part of our wedding—from getting ready in the dark, to essential vendor delays, food complications, and critical ambiance issues. Guests were uncomfortable, and many of the elements we carefully planned and paid for were compromised or lost altogether. It is not enough to simply say that efforts were being made “behind the scenes.” There was a distinct lack of communication, leadership, and proactive care. Many guests witnessed the chef and other staff cursing and drinking shots at the bar early on in the morning, which explains the lack of professionalism. The "director of events" should have been there onsite since the debacle started, but she didn’t get there until after 2 and I had already left to get my hair and make up done, which I had to arrange myself. I had to go to another hotel to meet the make up artist, and sit in a camp chair, because the inn made no arrangements for us. They actually sent her initially to a dark room with no electric. I still could not tell you who was in charge or who was the manager. My maid of honour had to instruct the staff of what to do. She told them to make a bar outside, serve cold apps, and prepare to move all the tables outside if things aren’t fixed by 5pm and we will grill and do dinner outside. Luckily the electric came on minutes before I walked down the aisle. Then, even though we paid for an open bar, my husband had to get his own bottle of Jameson (which is the only thing he drinks) because they ran out on Thurs night, despite us informing them that was all he drank, when we went for our tasting. When I complained about this, instead of an apology, we were reprimanded for bringing our own bottle because we were putting their liquor license in jeopardy. To top it all off, one of the servers was extremely rude to my nephew and when I told her she is not to speak to my guests that way, she started screaming at me. This was all because my nephew went behind the bar to get ice for his drink. If she had been doing her job, an open bar would always have a bartender, and he would not have needed to get ice. But her attack on him and myself was uncalled for. I heard later she was rude to everyone she encountered. Then when my uncle got upset because she was yelling at m

Nice tub - plenty of hot water. With prior reservations we arrived on a Tuesday evening about 5 to find the inn completely vacant. Had spoken with an employee the day before with no mention that no one would be there when we arrived. Took a chance and found the front doors open and an envelope with our name on it. Wouldn’t see an actual front desk person for two days! Internet sporadic at best, non-existent most of the time and cell coverage isn’t much better. So good luck finding what else is around for a place to eat or things to do. Local restaurant suggestion list inn provides is inaccurate. Since no staff and no vending available = no ice! Bed a giant block of foam and quite uncomfortable. A/C loud and inefficient. Shower stall dirty-moldy. Breakfast is the usual collection of stale muffins and pastries. Didn’t even have sugar available for morning coffee. Second night with 20+ rooms empty they stuck the only other guest in the room next to ours. Although sort of in the middle of nowhere there were no walking trails and no mention of lake access or kayak/canoe use. Anyway - I could go on but you get the idea and all that for $300+ a night.

We spent a ski weekend at the Friends Lake Inn. We chose the inn because it was the nicest accommodations we could find that would accommodate our family of 3 within 20 minutes of GORE mountain. Also when we called the Inn the staff was so helpful that we knew even before we got there that we would have a wonderful time. We are looking forward to returning. Rooms: The rooms and Inn all have a rustic flare but the rooms are nicely renovated and very comfortable. We stayed in the Cedar room and the bed was comfortable, the bathroom was large and well maintained. We were greeted with a bottle of sparkling wine and freshly covered strawberries in our room. Breakfast: The rooms all come with a made to order breakfast served from 8 - 9:30. The breakfast menu had a good variety and the breakfast was very good. Bistro Food: We ate in the bistro twice and it was good. There is also a happy hour in the Bistro from 4 - 6 with 1/2 draft beers (they have a nice local draft beer menu) and discounted drinks and small plates. Kelly was an amazing server! Main Dining Room: We also ate in the main dining room one night and it was excellent. The menu in the main dining room is more upscale and more expensive but we had a lovely meal and would not hesitate to eat in the main dining room again. Common Areas: There are a few common areas throughout the inn with games, books and a billiards table. We also saw snow shoes at the front door for guests to use, although we did not have a chance to use them or access the trails around the hotel.