Hawks Nest Lodge and Restaurant

I booked this lodge with its highly rated restaurant, in a lovely area. When booking, there was a 50% non-refundable deposit. Fine, it was picture perfect place. A week later, after they took my money I received an email saying....oh, by the way the restaurant is not open. There is however a caterer who can cook your food. She did not cook on premise, had no menu or prices....Hmmm? Just not kosher to me. When we got there after a 4 hour drive, we had to knock on the window for the person to see us. She opened the door and asked us who we were. The owners were not there to greet us, just that cook and a cleaning lady. The cleaning lady brought us to our rooms and immediately I saw bugs everywhere!! There was a convenient vacuum to pick them up. Gross. NO OTHER PLACE that we went to in those three days had a bug problem. They were falling on my head at night. Horrific. To tell you the truth, I felt like we were in someones house and it was deserted...empty dining hall. closed bar, it was vacant. It we needed something we had to try to get in touch with them by email or phone. After we left I got an email the next day saying, We hope you enjoyed your stay and it will leave lasting memories...The only thing it left was me being angry that we were duped and they were not forthcoming with the restaurant being closed before they took my deposit. I reported them to the Better Business bureau and they never bothered to respond. So sad that people with a business don't care about anything but getting a persons money. Well at least they are discredited through the BBB now. NEVER AGAIN. Handled VERY poorly!

First of all, this place has the potential for a 5 start review, and I am saddened at having to give it a 1 star. And this is a long review - sorry for that. But I have much to say. We made reservations last year, Finding this lodge lovely on the website and the amenities were nice, finding the in-house restaurant a big plus for us. As we could enjoy our meals and relax in this beautiful lodge for 2 nights. We rented a lovely suite with a balcony overlooking the river. All should have been good. We received a call about a month before our arrival date stating that "Due to some legal technicalities with the previous owner" the restaurant would not be open during our stay. I asked at that time, was everything else OK or should we cancel our reservations and wait until the future to plan a stay here when all was functioning properly. I was informed right then "oh no, your stay will be wonderful, it's just this little issue of the restaurant, so all will be good." I was told that the chef that worked there would work with us (if we wanted her to) to cater personal meals and deliver to us during our stay. When we did discuss the details of those catered meals. The prices were quite high - breakfast for 2 of us around $100 ( which included a service fee and tax) . It also seemed very complicated trying to figure out the logistics of delivery and set up. So we nixed that idea, for which we were glad when we heard from another couple staying there about their experience with that. (Which was very negative) Now --- for our stay !!!! Well, these folks SHOULD HAVE INFORMED us that this lodge was actually not fully functioning as we noted a "Closed" sign out front when we arrived. We got a call the morning of our arrival giving us a code to get in the front door and telling us where our room was located and that a key would be in the room. No one here in the lodge. In fact we didn't see another person anywhere when we arrived. A total closed up entry area that looked like it would have been lovely. A dining room area we walked through that was all closed up and deserted. Our room was in fact open. But I don't think anyone had been in our room to prepare it for us in a while. There were dead flies and dead lady bugs all around on the carpet. I did find a portable vacuum cleaner that I was able to get rid of those when we came in. If someone had prepared our room that morning, I cannot imagine they would not have cleaned that up. But that was a minimal negative issue. The room was nice. Bed would have been more comfortable with a box spring under the mattress. Just having a mattress made the bed so very low, but that was OK. The wood in the room was beautiful and the view outside on our deck lovely. As I said, potential for a 5 star review. As we are getting ready to check out this morning, there is no one around. No one ever checked on us to see if we had what we needed. We discovered by talking to one other couple staying here t

Awful! NOT disclosed is that the room with 2 bunks is 2 feet away from the bar and restaurant. I was exhausted from traveling and wanted to just sleep - NOPE! The stairs going upstairs are also right next to the room and LOUD. Breakfast was watery scrambled eggs, lukewarm coffee and a wet not fully cooked piece of French toast. The bed was extremely uncomfortable and the pillows worse. The only good thing was the shower. Definitely DO NOT recommend.

You don't go to The Forks unless you want to be a bit off the grid, likely on some kind of outdoor adventure. With that in mind, I found that the Hawk's Nest strikes a good balance between having sufficient amenities to keep you comfortable while maintaining the appearance of a north woods lodge. Rooms were excellent - the log construction gives that cabin feel. Restaurant offerings were hearty and tasty. Loved sitting on the porch & watching the river roll by.

My wife and I enjoyed a two night stay in the Honeymoon Suite at Hawk's Nest Lodge, and we could not have been happier with the location, the facility, the food, and the first rate service. Everyone from Sarah, the owner, to our morning and evening servers, to owner Peter, who built the lodge, was friendly and incredibly accommodating. We arrived a little early and since our room was ready Sarah brought us right to the room and gave us all the information we needed. The room has an incredible deck with picture-perfect Dead River views. The Lodge serves breakfast to the public on weekends but only to guests on weekdays. They serve lunch and dinner to the public seven days a week, and lots of people take advantage of the incredible food. We had dinner twice, and our server, Taylor, was a delight with one of the best dispositions you'll find. We also had breakfast both mornings we were there, and our server, and chef, (sorry, didn't catch her name) was wonderful. She prepared the best meals for us and was incredibly accommodating. Clearly a special person. Pete provided us with directions to a wonderfully wild and picture perfect river fishing spot. It's easy to see that he and Sarah are proud of their place and rightfully so. Close to remote lakes and ponds, rafting companies, kayaking, hiking, and any outdoor activity you want to try. Absolutely wonderful, and we'll look forward to a return visit.