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Reviews of Elkwater Lake Lodge

3 out of 5
Elkwater Lake Lodge
401 4th Street, Elkwater, AB

Reviews

8.4

Very good

Rating 10 - Excellent. 79 out of 190 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 76 out of 190 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 21 out of 190 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 9 out of 190 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 5 out of 190 reviews" "

8.8/10

Cleanliness

8.6/10

Staff & service

7.8/10

Amenities

8.2/10

Property conditions & facilities

8.0/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

6/10 Okay

Karen

Travelled with partner
Liked: Staff & service
We stayed Friday & Saturday in a fireplace room getting away after a lose of a Parent. The room set up is a bit different but works actually really well. We didn't swim or eat in the restraunt as we were looking for more of a secluded weekend. Our room was tidy but the tub wasn't very clean because the doesn't drain so there was a lot of hair and things in the bottom, which we know was due to the lack of drainage & drying after cleaning. Sunday morning before check out time, they were knocking on doors which I found of & have never had happen before. We don't live that far and though we thought the weekend was okay, we'd likely opt to not stay a full weekend again, maybe just a night before/after skiing if the weather's bad.
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2024

6/10 Okay

Dana

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
CONS:They need to lose the old 'Motel' wing that the diner is in as it detracts from the overall first impression. This lodge has great potential but needs to address a couple of key issues. The restaurant is awful. Even if they make decent food the environment is bad enough to turn your stomach, especially to spend premium dollars on a steak. Little things like the children's size mismatched damaged cutlery, dirty menus, artwork not mounted in the frame or the waiter's shirt half tucked into his pants. Plainly simple, the restaurant needs a new, updated location to fit into the look and feel of the lodge. No grab-bar in the shower and floor level shower is without a glass door and wall. It's very dangerous if you slip or lose your balance. The hide-a-bed is low-end and very uncomfortable!! PROS: The gentleman who checked us in was very friendly and helpful. The main lobby is nice and exudes the wilderness atmosphere. This lodge is very welcoming and the rooms have a beautiful wilderness feel and appearance. Good fridge and microwave, very comfortable king size bed. The whirlpool tub for two is very nice as is the fireplace. Decent flat-screen with Shaw cable (needs to have a movie package added that's easily available from Shaw). Good air-conditioning/heating and a secure double-lock door with privacy pull-down, at least there was one in a jacuzzi suite. The lodge is located close to everything as Elkwater is small and lakeside. This is an amazing place to visit.
Stayed 3 nights in Sep 2023

8/10 Good

Todd

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Close to restaurants and the beach. Dog friendly room was right next to the elevator so with the increased traffic/noise caused increased barking. Probably should have those rooms down at the end of the hallway on both floors.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort
Cypress Hills, 5*, Elkwater Lake Lodge, 3*
We enjoyed our stay in the Cypress Hills. Our room was clean. However, we were disappointed by the lack of property maintenance. This needed care and attention. There was an old truck filled with broken appliances and bits of wire (trash) that was very visible as you drove from the office to the parking lot. Discarded refrigerators and washing machines were visible. The outside garbage can was full so it was difficult to dispose of garbage. We noted surrounding properties were clean. While we appreciate there may be staff shortages, first impressions and outward appearance count, especially in the hospitality industry. The Elkwater Lake Lodge would benefit from taking a look at itself from a visitor’s perspective. Perhaps “Management” should start a quality assurance program.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

10/10 Excellent

Noel

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Very nice place. Will definitely be going back. Nice clean rooms. The staff where great.
Stayed 3 nights in Aug 2023

6/10 Okay

Linda

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness
Located well to walk anywhere in town/lake. The room was not ready at check in time. Bring your own food as there was only 1 place to eat and the hours of operation were limited. Thank you.
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2023

8/10 Good

Linda

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities

8/10 Good

Lisa

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

8/10 Good

Grace

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Friendly staff, clean, kids loved the pool. I would stay here again.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

4/10 Poor

Patrick

Travelled with partner
Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Enjoyed stays at this property in the past, but the new management appears to have no experience or training in hospitality services. Unlike every other hotel that we have used, no daily maid service is provided (e.g. bed-making, bathroom cleaning, etc.) and this was not indicated at check-in. Room was not ready at 4:00pm check-in time. This is not the three star hotel that it used to be - more of a campers' hostel.
Stayed 4 nights in Jul 2023

8/10 Good

Michele

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
An upper floor room would’ve been excellent had balcony and quieter no one above but felt as paid through Expedia automatically got a room on main floor versus top (2nd) floor.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

8/10 Good

Jody

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Beautiful scenery
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

6/10 Okay

Irene

Travelled with partner
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
The room was not clean , the sheet had a spot . The hotel main area was not clean .
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2023

10/10 Excellent

Aaron

Travelled with family and small children, Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities
The stay was amazing, the lodge is just really old but that’s to be expected at these locations and the lodge has a lot of unique characteristics and the kids has a great time!! Family friendly!! The on-site restaurant is more of a pub, sticky floors and over priced, was not clean and dark and dingy. The rooms have full kitchens so better to cook your own food.
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2023

10/10 Excellent

Robert

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2023

8/10 Good

JIM

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2023

8/10 Good

Heather A

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2023

10/10 Excellent

volodymyr

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2023

6/10 Okay

Susan

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Don't eat at the "restaurant", terrible!!
Hotel was nice, lovely bed and clean room. Was very disappointed in the restaurant. It was more like a cafe to be honest. I ordered the butter chicken thinking it would be good as the staff was Indian and its an Indian dish. My mistake! Rice was obviously reheated and watery like mush(rice shouldn't be reheated its a health hazard), the butter chicken was insipid with no taste. (I make it much better at home myself) I told the waitress and was told everyone loved it. The manager didn't even ask how everything was when i went to pay, I thought they might discount the meal at least, but nothing was said and I paid the full $24 which was a rip off for a terrible meal. All in all it really ruined the stay and decided not to chance and pay $17+ for breakfast. I won't ever go back. The hot tub was closed also. I should have got something from the little store/gas station up the road.
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2023
Response from p on 11 July 2023
Dear Susan thanks for the feedback. we are sorry you were not happy with the restaurant. we have a people around the world working here in our lodge. first of all a server if you find herself as Indian that does not mean that she is the one who is cooking the butter chicken for the guest. we know all the people are having different taste buds so you taste might not be same as the other guest, but still all the people who order there butter chicken they had given excellent reviews about the butter chicken. the same day there was couple of other people order and still we have not got any complaints. if you don't like the taste that doesn't mean your eligible for a discount, if there was a problem with the food then only discount applies. we are sorry the hot was not working the next day it got fixed as well.

10/10 Excellent

Jason

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2023

6/10 Okay

Sharon

Travelled with family, Travelled with pets
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Outdoor deck not cleaned and needed repair.Guests expected to wash any dishes used.No control for hygiene especially following pandemic!
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2023
Response from p on 11 July 2023
thanks for the feedback sharon. we will have a look on the deck. regarding Guest washing the dishes, we are requesting the guest to was the dishes they used like rinse and leave it in the dishwasher or leave it on the counter top.

8/10 Good

Roy

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
The property nestled in the picturesque Cyprus Hills park close to the lake has very much a lodge feeling. The accomodating staff make every effort to make the stay an enjoyable one. A great place to meet up with friends or share time with family.
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2023

2/10 Terrible

Mike

Liked: Property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Staff & service
Horrible restaurant in the hotel. Dirty, bad service, bad food. Bring food or plan to buy overpriced food at the local gas station instead.
Stayed 1 night in May 2023

8/10 Good

Kathleen

Stayed 1 night in May 2023

4/10 Poor

Lori

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Disappointing
We went exclusively to use the hot tub which we found out wasn’t working but we were unaware. They moved us to a room with a jacuzzi and the key card lock wasn’t working so we had to move again. The hours for the restaurant were different then the sign on the door and so they closed the restaurant an hour early so we didn’t get to eat breakfast. They couldn’t tell us why the restaurant closed early and offered nothing for us. If it wouldn’t have been asking for upgrades or perks they wouldn’t have offered anything. Second time we stayed - second time it was very disappointing accommodations. We likely will never go for a third visit and tell others the same. Which is too bad because its a nice short drive from home.
Stayed 1 night in May 2023

4/10 Poor

Dan

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2023
Response from Elkwater Lake Lodge on 28 Mar 2023
Thank you for the review.

8/10 Good

Jason

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Yearly Vacation
We stay here every year to take in Elkwater parks’ many winter amenities. Our rating dropped a notch this year as the pool is in need of some TLC. Filters are ransacked with hair, hot tub is at room temperature, tile floors are grimy, and the liner in the bottom of the pool is lifting in all areas. Overall, still one of our favourite vacations of the year and already booked again for Christmas 2023.
Stayed 3 nights in Jan 2023
Response from Elkwater Lake Lodge on 10 Jan 2023
Thank you for the review. We will be looking into your concerns.

10/10 Excellent

Justin

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Amenities
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2022

10/10 Excellent

Robert

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Staff was super helpful
Stayed 7 nights in Dec 2022
Response from Elkwater Lake Lodge on 10 Jan 2023
Thank you for the great review!

10/10 Excellent

Jesse

Travelled with family, Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Pleasant, quick and nice spot in the little town.
Response from Elkwater Lake Lodge on 29 Dec 2022
Thank you for the 5 out of 5 review!

6/10 Okay

Laurie

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Staff & service, amenities
We have stayed here once before in the fall and the park area was beautiful, that is still true in winter; however, we were there for an early Christmas meet with family and we’re disappointed in how the condos were equipped or NOT well equipped. When we stayed in a two floor loft unit before it was well equiped with salad bowls, carrot peelers, lots of glasses and cups and the broken coffee pot was replaced when we said it didn’t work. This time, we booked a fireplace queen room which had a tiny 4 cup coffee pot and one bag of bad coffee *seriously change your brand! On day two of our stay I met house keeping staff in the hall and said there was no need to make up the room but we wanted another coffee for the next morning. She acknowledged me and said she would get that but it never happened. This room also needed a couple of breakfast plates. The fridge and sink and microwave suggest it’s a mini kitchen but it wasn’t very functional. The double condos my niece had rented for family were a nice layout but lacked many kitchen items. Perhaps an inventory list is needed as they are set up for each guest’s booking. Also in the winter the hot tub is a selling feature and it was unfortunate it was broken the entire time. Everything was clean and the snow was shoveled but considering our family of 13 were virtually the only guests, one would think a coffee bag would be manageable -I had brought my own coffee but if I go again, I need filters and bowls and plates ….
Response from Elkwater Lake Lodge on 20 Dec 2022
We are very sorry to hear about your stay. We will definitely put into consideration some solutions for your concerns. Again very sorry.

10/10 Excellent

Deborah

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2022
Response from Elkwater Lake Lodge on 24 Oct 2022
Thank you so much for the 10/10 review!

8/10 Good

Brendan

Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 3 nights in Sep 2022

6/10 Okay

Andrea

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Disliked: Amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2022

8/10 Good

Dawn

Travelled with pets, Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Would have rated the property/room excellent except the shower curtain rod kept falling down once the curtain got heavy with water. Also the toilet did not flush well and had to unplug it once and then be very careful and flush often . Overall would have rated the property and stay excellent.
Stayed 3 nights in Jun 2022
Response from Elkwater Lake Lodge on 2 July 2022
Sorry to hear about the issues, we will definitely look into this. Thank you for the review.

10/10 Excellent

Barbara

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
They were willing to refund us one of our 2 nights stay because we needed to return home to check for flooding. We really appreciated their cooperation in this matter.
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2022
Response from Elkwater Lake Lodge on 22 June 2022
Thank you for the review Barbara. We are glad we could help you out and hope all is well on the home front!

10/10 Excellent

Chris, Stettler

Stayed 1 night in May 2022

10/10 Excellent

kendra

Travelled with family and small children
Liked: Staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Loved the condos and Elkwater is so beautiful in spring
Stayed 3 nights in May 2022
Response from Elkwater Lake Lodge on 11 June 2022
Thank you for the 5-star review! Come again soon!

10/10 Excellent

Denise

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2022

8/10 Good

STEPHEN

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2022
Response from Elkwater Lake Lodge on 23 Mar 2022
Thank you for the review!

10/10 Excellent

Ryan

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Staff at the resort were excellent, thank you!
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2022
Response from Elkwater Lake Lodge on 14 Mar 2022
Thank you so much for the 5 out of 5 review!

10/10 Excellent

Kerri

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
A wonderful winter getaway!
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2022
Response from Elkwater Lake Lodge on 10 Mar 2022
Thank you for the awesome review!

10/10 Excellent

Christiane

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2022

8/10 Good

Gail

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Well looked after.
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2022
Response from Elkwater Lake Lodge on 24 Jan 2022
Thank you for the review.

8/10 Good

Mark

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 3 nights in Nov 2021

8/10 Good

James, Calgary

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Nice Lodge and location
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2021
Response from Elkwater Lake Lodge on 15 Nov 2021
Thank you so much for the review.

4/10 Poor

Douglas, Lethbridge

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Room was dark with poor lighting. Toilet paper holder never installed. Had to use flashlight to see coffee maker controls. Shower head at nose height. Keys kept failing. Had to prop bathroom door open to get heat in bathroom. Pool was nice. Building quiet. Staff friendly.
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2021
Response from Elkwater Lake Lodge on 10 Nov 2021
Thank you for your review. Management has been notified about these issues and are already making plans to rectify what we can. Thank you for staying with us.

8/10 Good

tyler

Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2021

10/10 Excellent

Guy

Stayed 1 night in Oct 2021

10/10 Excellent

Tim

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities
My stay was great.
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2021
Response from Elkwater Lake Lodge on 13 Oct 2021
Thanks for the great review Tim. Come back again soon!