Lake Placid
New York


The Experience

Lake Placid Lodge has long served as an Adirondack camp for those whose families don't possess their own. Twig furniture, moose heads and landscape paintings set the scene decidedly in the Arts and Crafts epicenter of lake-filled upstate New York. Sadly, a kitchen fire in December 2005 destroyed the main lodge's prime collection of Adirondack furniture and furnishings, much of it antique. Lake Placid Lodge has downscaled while it rebuilds, retaining 12 of its original 17 cabins for guests and using the other five (none of which were fire damaged) for dining, a cinema, game room and administrative facilities. Until the main lodge is rebuilt (contractors aim for the end of 2007 to reconstruct the main lodge, dining room and its 17 lodge guest rooms), the historic timber-cabin compound on Lake Placid operates as an intimate boutique retreat, considerably quieter and more exclusive in the interim.

The Rooms

Each of the 12 cabins models the style of an individual Adirondack artisan, lending arty flair to rustic-in-style-only rooms. Most of the pieces -- from birch-bark chairs and antler chandeliers to an enormous bed frame fashioned from the roots of 100-year-old trees -- are for sale by consignment. Though the decor is unique, the cabins all have lake views, stone fireplaces, wet bars and generous bathrooms, some with their own saunas.

The Service

Staff members are as folksy as a luxury lodge allows, eagerly sharing tips for wildlife spotting or providing information on the artist-made furniture when asked. A wake-up knock on the door, in lieu of alarm clocks, comes thoughtfully accompanied by coffee, juice and pastries.

The Highlights

Like the Vanderbilts and other moneyed families who colonized the great camps of the Adirondacks, loyal guests come for the outdoor recreation (make that couples only; children are not welcome, though dogs are). To accommodate their interests, Lake Placid Lodge stocks bikes, kayaks and canoes for guest use in summer, cross-country skis and snowshoes in winter. Able fishing guides ensure you catch your limit of trout or bass. Dine in the intimate, lakeside "dining cabin"; (which is so popular it may remain as a second, boutique restaurant once the main dining room reopens), then walk outside to watch daylight fade from a cozy Adirondack chair, a stone's skip from the aptly named Lake Placid.

-- Elaine Glusac

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