Can anyone comment on the Belknap Lodge?

We will be traveling in the McKenzie River area in July of 2007 (myself, husband, and 9 year old son). We%26#39;re considering staying at the Belknap Lodge and Hot Springs. Although we found this in our Frommers book, I haven%26#39;t been able to find any reviews of the Lodge here. Has anyone stayed there? Another possible choice is the McKenzie Riverside Cottages in Blue River. Pros and cons of each??? Thanks.

Can anyone comment on the Belknap Lodge?

I have stayed at the Belknap Lodge. It is really very pleasant. It is especially nice to get a riverside room. The rooms are spacious and comfortable, great hike nearby. The hot pool was not quite hot enough for us, but still a great amenity. There is another outdoor hot spring about 10 miles east up a steep hike. When we were at the lodge a vintage car tour was there, which made it extra entertaining. We ate at a different restaurant about 2 miles west, which was very good. Forget the name, but they will know. I think you made the right choice. I have not stayed at the other place but i recall this being a decent value as well as a very pleasant place. One warning about rafting the McKenzie, it is very boring, though maybe this year there is better flow. Stick to the half day. It should be safe for kids. If you are fishing, great. You can%26#39;t go wrong in the Oregon Cascades! have fun,

Eleanor

Can anyone comment on the Belknap Lodge?

Thank you for all the info, including the additional comment on rafting in the McKenzie. We%26#39;re leaning toward the Belknap!

You won%26#39;t be sorry! Do ask for a riverside room. The river is amazing. Also, depending on the time of year, the Upper McKenzie can be fun. I was thinking of the downriver trip.

Thanks again for the added info - and I%26#39;m glad to hear that the upper river has some thrills. We don%26#39;t need huge rapids for rafting, but one long bathtub float will definitely bore my son! We%26#39;ve called the Belknap, and reserved the only remaining room in the Lodge. We%26#39;re relieved to hear of your positive experience, and will write a review upon our return.

Ive never stayed there, but the grounds are very nice. It looks like a really nice place to stay and relax. I think the restaurant that Elanor is refering to is the Log Cabin Inn-which burned down about a year ago. :( Too bad it was pretty good.

Thanks for the added positive description of the Belknap. Sorry to hear of the loss of a good eatery in the neighborhood. Hopefully, others are still around or have sprung up.

The place is beautiful outside. The price is alright if you don%26#39;t have any extra people in a room.

I%26#39;ve only been there once and would love to go there again, but will not due to their customer service.

The lady that worked there was unbelievably rude.

I simply asked why we were being charged an additional $60 while we were checking in.

The guy told me it was because we had an extra 3 kids in our room.

I asked if age mattered and he said that if they were under 4 we would not be charged (we had a 2, 4, and 6 year old)

Then a lady came out and her exact words were,

';I know her, she has tried this before. Don%26#39;t listen to her and just charge her .';

This was my first time coming there and I have never been treated so rudely and in front of other customers. I am a quiet shy person and was embarrassed by her remark. . I don%26#39;t mind paying extra for each additional person, I simply wanted to know what I was being charged for.

My mom asked her to clarify what she meant by that remark since this was our first time coming there.

She did not apologize and told her that our kind always comes here with extra kids and already knows that it is an additional $10 per kid per night.

Since the place was pretty booked, we had 2 different rooms for each day.

The next day we went to ask what time would we have to be out of our current room and when we could move into the other room.

The lady%26#39;s response was that we had to be out at 11:00 and check into our other room at 3:00.

I noticed that cleaning ladies were already cleaning the rooms on the upper floor where our new room would be.

I asked if it would be possible for us to stay in our room until the cleaning ladies were done cleaning our room and move all of our stuff then.

She could have responded with a ';Sorry that%26#39;s not possible or I%26#39;ll see what I can do.';

But her response was, ';I%26#39;ve traveled all around the world and paid $500 a night. I would have to checkout in the morning and sit in my car for 5 hours and I would not complain.';

I was not complaining, just asking. It%26#39;s kind of hard to be without a room for that long with 3 small kids and to move every thing back to the car then back to a room.

She then said, ';If you give me $10 I%26#39;ll talk to the cleaning ladies for you, but I will not bother my cleaning ladies for you without $10 first.';

I gave her $10 and we got to stay in our room for a tad bit longer.

While we stayed there our rooms were unbelievably hot. They either had no air conditioning or it was broken white we stayed there.

Most of the rooms have no TV. The place is so beautiful outside I doubt you would want to watch T.V during the day, but it would have been nice to watch something at night before going to bed.

I also noticed that the walls are so thin you can hear people talking in their rooms (that%26#39;s probably why they don%26#39;t have T.V%26#39;s either.)

Wow, naeuju, what a dreadful experience! We recently returned from our stay at the Belknap and I have to say that we were very pleased. As you said, the rooms and the grounds are very nice. And, the location is fabulous for experiencing all that the cascades have to offer (but very out-of-the-way for those who prefer convenience).

Although we had one child with us, we were not charged extra. We had little trouble with the front desk, although they were very busy (RV and camping reservations, as well as the small number of lodge rooms). In fact, we arrived very late the first evening and the front desk was accommodating and gracious. However, we heard rumors that one of the women was known to be very unfriendly and I bet that%26#39;s who you encountered.

We, too, were surprised by the lack of TV in our room since the website seemed to indicate otherwise. But, we%26#39;re not big TV watchers so it was no problem. Our first couple days there was no AC, but some repair people arrived and did install a room thermostat (apparently it rarely gets hot there, and we happened to be there during the only 100 degree days in years). Nonetheless, at night it cooled down pleasantly and we didn%26#39;t use the AC.

Thanks for your reply. I%26#39;m actually hoping to write a real review when the post-vacation craziness subsides.

No one mentioned the beautiful garden hike just across the river. Also, take a drive up to Koosa and Sahalie Falls. We have never stayed at the lodge but camped there. We used their pools about 12 years ago as well.

can anyone comment further on rafting the upper mckenzie? my brother and i (both in our mid-20%26#39;s) will be headed down that way in late august and i would like to take him white water rafting for his birthday. we have each been twice before so we are by no means seasoned, but don%26#39;t want to just float down the river either. any thoughts? thank you.