Hotel North Woods review

Please note that Hotel North Woods has been re-branded The Great Adirondack Hotel, so this review may not adequately cover new amenities, dining, etc. as we have not stayed there since it changed hands. 

We had the pleasure of visiting Lake Placid during its annual Holiday Village Stroll. This Hotel North Woods review (who graciously hosted us during our stay) is based on our experience with several trips to the Lake Placid area in the last couple of years.

The Canadian flag waves proudly at the Hotel North Woods entrance.

THE GOOD

Hotel North Woods is a family-friendly boutique-style hotel that sits near one end of Main Street — home to Lake Placid’s vibrant village. You’re within a five-minute walk of anything even at the far end of Main Street, and only five to 10 minutes away on foot from some of the Olympic venues. Plus, there’s free parking in the back, saving you the trouble of staying beyond the village and needing to find and pay for parking in what is a relatively small downtown core.

The hotel houses two restaurants (and if you don’t try the sausage gravy breakfast dish at the Cabin Grille, you haven’t lived), so if the weather outside is frightful, you don’t need to brave the elements to get some food in yer belly.

Hotel North Woods is comfortable and homey. It’s not luxe, but it’s got charm.

We stayed in a one-bedroom suite, which provided us with a king bed in a master bedroom and a pullout couch in the central living space. My kids are starting to get to the age where they just don’t fit well on most pull-out sofas, but this one worked pretty well. I was super impressed with the big dresser; we could unpack everything, which is not often the case.

The one-bedroom king suite layout. (Photo courtesy of Hotel North Woods as we arrived too late in the day for good lighting.)

Rooms at Hotel North Woods are affordable. When I search prices for March 1-3, 2019 — considered peak season thanks to spring breaks and the beginning of Quebec’s March Break — two double beds in a one-bedroom suite is US$256 per night. Travel outside of a peak period, like the end of March, and there are one-bedroom suites with king beds available for US$189 a night and that double-bed-suite that was US$256 drops to US$199.

In your room, you’ll find a coffeemaker and a couple of the awesome Hotel North Woods mugs along with both coffee and hot chocolate K-cups. We loved being able to pop into our room, since it wasn’t far from anything we were doing, to warm ourselves with a hot bevvie. Note that you’ll want to buy a couple of the mugs before you leave. I use mine every day.

Housekeeping was excellent. We found our room spotless upon check-in and they did their best to work around our ski gear and general chaos to keep it that way.

We went during the holidays and loved the little decorative touches throughout the hotel. It just added that extra-special touch.

My Insta-kids.

THE GAFFE

The rooms are not noise-proof, so depending on who else is on your floor, you may want to download the free White Noise app on your phone to play at night just to drown out any background noise from the hallway.

We found the heater in the master bedroom very loud when it turned on, and it seemed incapable of maintaining a comfortable temperature without kicking in and out — including all night long. My heavy-sleeping husband didn’t notice a bit, but as a light sleeper, it did wake me up several times.

Parking is tight, especially for bigger vehicles.

THE GEARS

4/5