Willoughvale Inn

I stayed in the Angler cottage, and it was Adorable. So clean, and filled with everything one could need, so well stocked. You just can't beat being right on the water, on the beautiful shores of Lake Willoughby, just step outside and hear loons etc. Fabulous. Comfortable bed, full kitchen, gas fireplace....just wonderful! Helpful staff too. Love it, would go back in a heartbeat, and highly, highly recommend.

The WilloughVale Inn and Cottages were incredible. Our family stayed in three cottages, The Robert Frost, The Songadeewin and The Twilight Cottage. Having traveled from NJ, we took full advantage of the cabins having all plates, silverware, pots and pans and appliances necessary. Our family used the kayaks, canoes, fire pit, and grounds throughout our stay. The staff was so friendly and accommodating. We have NO suggestions to improve our stay and highly recommend Willoughvale to anyone looking for a beautiful scenic place to relax and have fun. Thank you Willoughvale - we WILL be back!

Clean property, but needs updating. It would be in its heyday in the early 70s'. Excellent location and great views. Breakfast muffins tasted like stale frozen grocery store variety - needed improvement. Too bad the tavern and restaurant are closed as that was one of the reasons I booked this property, only to be notified later that it was being closed indefinitely. Stayed anyhow but nearby dining is very limited. The new owner definitely needs hospitality training. Overall, it is a good value and one of the better properties in the area.

The Inn is quite nice and the person at the front desk friendly and helpful. I have no complaints about the place itself. But our stay was disappointing nonetheless for two reasons. First, though we were warned that the Inn had decided to close it’s restaurant for the season (we chose WilloughVale in part because it had a restaurant on site), we weren’t able to make other lodging arrangements at that point. Unfortunately, we assumed that it would be easy to find alternatives places to eat close by. It wasn’t. When we arrived Tuesday afternoon we were given a list of restaurants in the area, some 20-30 minutes drive each way, with a note that many were closed on Tuesday - our day at the Inn. To complicate matters, there is no cell phone reception (something else were weren’t made aware of), that made it impossible to contact restaurants to confirm if they were open. And since the front desk closed at 5PM, we had no one to consult with. This turned out to matter. After having driven to a market we found that closed to. We ended up having lunch and dinner at a pizza place 20 minutes away, which while quite pleasant was not what we had imagined. We suggest the proprietor do a better job of communicating with guests. We would have made different choices if he/she had.

The Inn is quaint and very clean. The rooms are small, but sufficiently sized. The sheets and towels were soft. Unfortunately, the mattress in our room squeaked every time one of us moved. Breakfast was plentiful, but the muffins did not taste fresh.

HORRIBLE. My party of 4 arrived and were seated, only after we ordered drinks and appetizers were we told that they were missing over half the items on the menu. I ordered a mocktail, my SIL ordered an aperol spritz, my husband an old fashioned, and my BIL a Manhattan. The mocktail and spritz were fine however, the old fashioned was watered down and possibly the worst old fashioned we’ve experienced. The Manhattan…well, first it was delivered with a lime. When my BIL inquired about the lime, the bartender rudely said “well that’s how we make them here, what do you want a cherry? Fine here’s a cherry” and dropped it in then asking how the drink was. My BIL had not even taken a sip yet which he told her, and she walked away before he could. Surprise, surprise, it too was awful. The proportions of bourbon, bitters, and vermouth were wrong and it was watered down. My BIL didn’t drink his drink due to how bad it was, and the bartender never returned to check on the “amended” beverage. When the appetizers arrived, the tomatoes in the caprese salad were mealy and bad, and the 6 coconut shrimp were over fried, had no pineapple as listed on the menu, and were hard to chew. We each had one and could not work our way through them, leaving the two remaining on the plate. At this time, we informed them that we would not be staying and asked for the check….the bill was $100!!! We argued about paying, but did and left. In the time it took us to get home, we decided we had to go back and say something. I went back on behalf of my group, provided the feedback to the manager, and asked for a refund of the Manhattan, old fashioned and coconut shrimp. The manager agreed that it was the fault of the restaurant and said he would ask about how to comp those items. After talking to the bartender and waitress, he called the owner and came back to me saying that no refund was possible, due to the bartender saying my BIL threw a fit over a cherry in his Manhattan, that he and my husband said their drinks were fine (they did not) and that we had eaten ALL of our food and left….OH, and mocked the fact that I asked for a mocktail (nice touch). In all my years working in the service industry (bartending and waiting) I have never come across a situation such as this. My family has been going to the WilloughVale since the 60s when they first came to the NEK and have only ever had great things to say, but this new ownership/management/staff has run this place into the ground. We will NEVER come back, I will ensure no one from my family will go back and will ensure our neighbors know what the service is like as well (with a strong recommendation that they do not go). We.are.appalled