Basin Harbor Resort - Lake Champlain

We went to Basin Harbor last night for a “North Dock Dinner.” First of all, we were treated to a spectacular sunset over Lake Champlain. That was “worth the price of admission “! However… There is very little information on the website about what to expect. Not even where to go on the sprawling property and there weren’t even any signs. There apparently isn’t a North Dock restaurant. We had to drive around and finally stop and ask for help. We did know that we were eating buffet food and so we set our expectations low. Good thing. There were some interesting salads but the beef was so tough I couldn’t cut it and the overall quality of the food was disappointing. We asked for a coffee and that seemed to create some consternation. We did receive some coffee that was too weak to drink. We were seated under a tent at long tables crammed together to accommodate the maximum number of people. We were right on top of our neighbors and their noisy kids. In fact, there were many families milling around so the vibe was more like a wedding than a relaxing evening by the lake. The live music made it even more noisy. The staff was clearly working hard, so they deserve a shout out. Honestly? The view was worth it, but the overall experience was not.

Basin Harbor is in a nice enough location and the service was good; however, their cabins and lodges with their “rustic” charm were filled with bugs, spiders, and mosquitoes. We arrived in our room to find dead mosquitoes on our bedding. We caught multiple spiders crawling on our bed. You’d think they would address this issue, given that a mosquito-spread virus is being reported throughout the state.

We just returned from a first time three night stay at the Basin Resort. First the positives: nice location on the lake, really fun golf course, beautiful flower gardens, very friendly staff and family oriented. Now the negatives…we originally booked a lakeside cottage. After checking in and unloading our car, we were relaxing on the glass porch. My wife decided to inspect the bed and soon became aware of black hairs all over the sheets, blankets and on the mattress pad. The fabric bed frame was covered in black pet hair. After calling the front desk, our only option in switching units was to go to a pet free room in a multi unit historic building located on second floor (attic) with one small window that did not open. It turns out, all 74 cottages are pet friendly and it appears the cleaning is marginal. Maybe they could reserve 10 of the cottages to be pet free? So, we spent very little time in the room as the weather was great…fortunately. Maybe there are some nicer pet free rooms in the main lodge but we are just not sure. And finally, I tried to do a little remote work during the visit but due to the very poor Wi-Fi and AT&T cell coverage, it was virtually impossible. All these negatives are fixable but likely not a priority.

We went here to rent a boat for the day. It was great! The service was great, and they allow you to go wherever you want to on the lake as long as you can be back on time. Several of the other places we checked had distance limitations that were just too restrictive for us. The boat was slower than we thought it would be but we had a great time nonetheless. Champlain is such a beautiful lake.

We stayed at Basin Harbor Club this summer in Eaglerest Cottage. Overall we had a wonderful time and really enjoyed our trip. A few things to highlight and leave feedback on: PROS: -Location: without a doubt, best feature of the property, beautiful location on Lake Champlain, wonderful views, beautiful and well kept grounds to walk around on and enjoy -Service: overall staff was very friendly and helpful -Rustic charm: really enjoy how they have worked to maintain the rustic charm of the property and preserve many aspects of the older cottages and buildings -Breakfast: breakfast is amazing, hands down, just wonderful -Pool area was kept very clean -Love the lawn games they keep out for kids and families on the West Lawn -Lobster Dinner on The North Dock on Thursdays is wonderful CONS: -Some cottages do need updating: while we certainly appreciate the rustic charm of the cottages, we do feel that they need a few upgrades simply to make things a bit more comfortable, for example in our cottage in our bathroom we had no towel hooks and the bathroom fan did not work. Granted these are simple items and not a huge deal but it does make a difference when you are out swimming during the day and everything gets wet, nothing was really able to dry properly which was just a bit frustrating, we feel that they really should update these aspects of the bathroom to be a bit more modern and just ensure all rooms have those simple features -Wifi/Cell Service: really just not great anywhere on the property with the exception of the main lodge, even then wifi really is not great -Lifeguards: something to consider, especially as a nice feature when you have young kids wandering around and enjoying the resort during the day, it just gives a little peace of mind. Now granted we understand this never takes the place of a parent directly supervising their child in the water, but it would be a nice feature to consider, especially during the busiest times in the summer -Dock condition: docks were not well cleaned and the steps on the dock were badly damaged and definitely a safety concern. Just felt like that upkeep was behind a little bit and the docks and all of the swimming platforms were covered in bird poop and it would be have been nice if this was just cleaned more frequently -Dining: just wish there was an option for more late night fare on the main part of the grounds, currently only option is the Red Mill which is just a bit farther away and not as easy to get to, especially with kids