Staying in one of the 3 canvas cabins was fun, but it didn't completely meet my expectations. The experience could have been improved, and I hope that someone at Columbia Hospitality, the owners of this property, act on the feedback that I've provided.

First of all, and this is not made clear AT ALL on their website, Lakedale Lodge and their cabins are separate from the canvas cabins and the campground, where people pitch their own tents or bring RVs. The lodge/cabins are one world, and the campsites (including the canvas cabin we stayed in) are another. And yet their website makes it seem like they're all one big, happy family. There weren't a lot of RVs when we stayed, but there were a few, and they were HUGE. It just seems so wrong to see one of those out in the woods.

Lakedale needs to do a better job differentiating the lodge (fancy, think Willows Lodge without a nice restaurant/spa attached) from the campgrounds. They're RIGHT next to each other, but very much separate. The lodge employees don't seem to be very friendly toward us lowly campers, either. We walked into the lodge when we arrived because we weren't sure where we were supposed to check in, and they pretty much ignored us, and sounded confused when we said we were checking in. When we clarified that we were checking in for <i>camping</i>, and they told us where to go to check in. We drove further down the dirt road and realized that check-in was at the general store. This should probably be made more clear in the reservation confirmation that Lakedale Resorts emails to you, because the signs on the property are not very clean as to where you check in for camping.

The people who run the campground were VERT friendly, at least, and signed us in quickly, giving us some tokens to use for the showers (we got 4; each one is good for 5 minutes of showering before it turns off, so buy more if you think you're going to spend more time in the showers) and lanterns. Then we drove up the road to our site, and found our cabin. We accidentally walked into someone else's because the sign on ours was facing the wrong way. Oooops! It looked like it had been vacated that day, though - there were no belongings sitting around, which is probably why I thought it might be ours. Haha, I wondered why the bed wasn't made! We quickly realized that this wasn't ours and found the right one.

The canvas cabin we booked was pretty cool! It was really big inside - it's basically a big canvas tent reinforced by cables and wooden beams, with a big comfy bed inside as well as some chairs and a table. We were provided with a couple of lamps and a flashlight so we could walk around in the dark, to the bathrooms or wherever. We had a fire pit with a couple of plastic Adirondack chairs to sit on. That was great, because it was COLD at night. I'm glad I brought some firewood. However, I was expecting real Adirondack chairs instead of plastic ones, for the price we were paying. Also, there was a LOT of dust under the bed and tables - obviously whoever cleans these things in between guests is not doing a very thorough job. Everything else was really clean, so it was bizarre seeing a thick layer or dust under the bed, chairs, and tables - it was pretty obvious, even by my lazy cleaning standards.

The canvas cabins are indeed a short walk from the bathroom/shower house, which has 3 bathroom stalls and 3 showers. This is not enough for the 8am rush when everyone is waking up and wanting to shower at the same time. My advise is to shower in the evening, when the bathrooms and showers are desserted. There was also no toilet paper in ANY of the bathroom stalls at 9am. The bathrooms are cleaned between 11 and 1 each day. I think they may want to clean them twice a day so people aren't inconvenienced by a lack of toilet paper. There are supposedly portapotties scattered throughout the campground as well, but I didn't see any of these during our stay. The men's bathroom was disgusting; the women's was clean but just needs more TP than what is supplied.

In regards to the campground itself, there are too many sites crammed together. There isn't much privacty at all. We could see the 2 other canvas cabins, which were both within 50 feet of ours, and 3 regular campsites just from inside our cabin when the windows were open. It just seemed really crowded. There <i>was</i> a nice, open space in front of our cabin, which overlooked the lake with the lodge on the other side, but there was still a lot of noise from all the people on the other 3 sides of you. It quieted down at night, though, so that's good. I don't know that there is any 'quiet hour' policy, but people seem to at least have the common sense to do it themselves.

My complaints may seem minor - some dust (who cares! you might say), a crowded campground, and a disconnect between the lodge and the campground? I expected better from Columbia Hospitality. I would probably be a lot more satisfied if they charged less - maybe under $100/night? It just seems disappointing when you factor in the price of $125/night. If it were maybe $50/night, twice the price of a regular campsite, I would be ecstatic! What a great experience! But we paid almost 3 times that much, and for that price, there's a lot that disappoints. I'm just glad I didn't spring for the "deluxe" experience, which is $170/night for souvenier sweatpants and sweatshirt, aveda bath products (I just bring my own anyway!), ingredients for s'mores (we brought our own anyway), a one-hour boat rental (we did this for $6), and 2 fishing poles with bait and licenses (we don't fish). I really don't see how that's worth an extra $45/day! I'm glad we just got the basic package and brought our own stuff.

Alterately, for the current price, just iron out the kinks - sweep under the furniture once in a while, space out the campsites so people who are paying a premium for the canvas cabins actually get a peaceful, serene experience instead of thinking they're in the middle of someone else's party. Clean the bathrooms more often, and/or maybe have bathrooms/showers in more than one area. Include more information when you email the reservation confirmation so people who are camping know where to check in. Maybe include the canvas cabin campers in the complimentary continental breakfast offered in the lodge every morning?

It seems like the canvas cabin campers have been neglected by the people who run Lakedale Resort, only because it's so Lodge-centric. It might make sense to just separate the Lodge from the campground and not try to pretend like it's one big, happy operation, because it's distinctly separate. The people who run the campground are REALLY great, friendly, and helpful. But the canvas cabin is in some kind of weird no-man's-land. Is it part of the Lodge? Is it part of the campground? I guess it's the latter, but you don't really find that out until you get there!

Anyway, it was a good experience, but one that could have been improved. It's a great option if you want to go camping, but don't have your own gear. (I would recommend renting gear from REI and staying at a much cheaper campsite instead!) I hope Columbia Hospitality can encourage their partners (or whatever the relationship is) at the Lakedale campground to pay attention to the details of the canvas cabin camping experience, or work out some alternative pricing so that the accomodations in the canvas cabins are more in line with what you're paying for them.