Blackwater Falls State Park Lodge

May 2024 - We stayed 4 days, 3 nights in a Standard Lodge room with 2 double beds. The view we had from the room was of the overlook, which was beautiful. The rooms have a small keurig coffee machine with complimentary coffee pods, sugar & sweetener packets and stir sticks, creamer pods, and two bottles of water. I had brought my own coffee pods, so I could enjoy my morning coffee experience. The standard rooms do not have refrigerators. I understand the suites have them. We made due with a medium sized cooler that we refilled with zip lock bags of ice (the ice machine was located just a few doors down from our room on the 2nd floor). If you don’t have a lot of refrigeration needs, this could work for you. Each bed had three pillows and the bed was very comfortable. These rooms have been renovated in the last couple of years and are very nicely done. TV, dresser drawers, bedside table with lamp & electrical outlets, luggage stand and closet with a safe if you want to store valuables. The bathroom has a hairdryer along with hand soap bars, bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and hand lotion. Ample towels available, and we had our room refreshed with everything during our stay. Nobody came into our room to straighten or refill during our entire stay, but left a large bag of towels and extra supplies outside our door when we left the “service please” tag in the door. We set our trash and used towels outside the door in one of the extra bags and it was picked up within 10 minutes. I have not had that experience with hotels, but appreciate that no one was in our room while we were gone. Maybe this is the way they do it here. Either way, we had what we needed to enjoy our stay. The water pressure in the shower is weak, but the water is HOT, so that was okay with me. The only issue with our bathroom was the pocket door wouldn’t stay shut. We wedged a washcloth between the door and the ceiling and it stayed shut fine…not a big issue. The staff were friendly and helpful. There is a vending/coffee area off of the lobby where they have brewed coffee and a large keurig with pods and all the trimmings. Lobby lounge with fireplace and ample seating to enjoy the scenery. There is a dining room that served breakfast, lunch and dinner (although I think they were closed some during the afternoon between lunch and dinner). We had dinner in the lodge dining room one night and it was very good. We went in to Davis for dinner twice; once as Sirianni’s Cafe for subs, and once to Milo’s which has excellent food, but a limited food menu. We didn’t use the pool or hot tub or rec room, but they are available. We spent much of our time outside on the trails. You must take the Elakala Falls Trail to see those falls. It’s right next to the Lodge parking area and only a short distance to the bridge overtop the falls. The trails connect througout the park and I encourage you to do as many as you can, especially the Blackwater Falls. If you have tro

It has been five days since I left Blackwater Falls and its superior hospitable accommodations leaving me inadequate to capture in words, any human verbiage whatsoever, the experience stirred within my spirit by means of the presence of this setting. I pride myself as an accomplished academic who usually succeeds in communication yet I accept total defeat and surrender to the spirit that only the spirit can encapsulate my time spent here. The majesty....the serenity....beyond compare leaving me hard pressed to name any former circumstances of my remarkable life of this level. Perhaps because I am a cancer patient of the last two years I find myself reflective, yet always marveled at great beauty. The emotions dwelling in me are a testament that as an older man living with this disease....God still has in store for me an unfolding of the unexpected taking me constantly by surprise. I thank park superintendent, Jim Browning and warm hearted general manager Lois for their extraordinary kindnesses. They are superstars and leave no detail to spare if it can accentuate your visit. I am grateful to my new buddy Chad (a man of vast knowledge with great experiences) who befriended me and I'd be remiss if I did not recognize Ginny for her encouraging enthusiastic recommendations for explorations of the park. On a practical note for fellow travelers...I had the blessings of my experience on a Monday and Tuesday in which the local restaurants in Davis and Thomas are closed leaving the choice of the dining room, The Smokehouse, within the lodge (yet not operated by the lodge which explains less than favorable customary greetings with an absence of pleasant service yet one notable exception is Trenton who was splendid) or a drive to perhaps Mami Mia's about 12 miles south of the park entrance. Please be advised the lodge does not offer microwaves or refrigerators in their room...hence these practical mentions. I will never forget Blackwater Falls and I close my eyes and see it all. Pictures by way of a mobile cannot acquire the essence. I thank you all (please tell Chad I drove by the Morgantown airport and ducked my head....lol...he'll know what I'm talking about). With deep appreciation, Robert Hughes

We planned on crosscountry skiing from the lodge but no snow so did a lot of hiking. Beautiful location ! The room was small but had nice amenities. Great towels and linens. Bed was comfortable. We went downstairs to play games and read in the comfy couches. We ate the restaurants in Thomas and Davis which was very close. The only con I had was that there are dogs in the hotel and one was barking.

Lovely lodge with friendly staff to greet us at check-in. Rooms were comfortable and extra clean. The kids took advantage of the indoor pool. Travel tip: find a place to eat before you arrive outside of park. The lodge itself was wonderful but the Smokehouse grill was a terrible experience.

We spent two nights here over Memorial Day weekend. We were curious how the remodeled rooms would look given that the place was closed for reconstruction for a long time. When we checked in we learned that we had two rooms booked instead of one. Not sure how it happened but part of the problem was that we never received a confirmation for our bookings. They said that other people had complained about that issue, too. They were able to cancel the 2nd room for us so it worked out ok. I recommend calling for a reservation instead of using their website, however. The remodeled guest rooms were a pretty significant improvement over the old ones. We had a large flatscreen tv with a lot of channels. Everything looked new except for one wood paneled wall and the sliding bathroom door. The door was odd, especially for a remodeled room, because it didn’t fit the doorway. It was off by a few inches. The bathroom was nicely done but the water pressure was poor, both in the shower and sink. The room was clean when we arrived but, like a lot of places, they no longer clean the rooms during your stay. We had the breakfast buffet at the lodge one day. It wasn’t very good. The food was much better during our last stay a few years ago. We didn’t use the pool or fitness center. I did notice that the Game Room was being used as a storage room, though. That was sort of sad. Overall, we liked staying here. Hopefully, the restaurant will improve, though.

If you're travelling with other people as we were, you'll have to hang out in one of the sitting areas because you won't all fit in a room! Our room had a queen and a twin bed, a nightstand between the beds, a small chest with drawers, and two chairs. No room for a desk or table. If you push a luggage trolly into the room you can barely squeeze between it and the bed to unload things. Closet is OK, but only cheap plastic hangers are supplied. There's a barn door to close off the bathroom, kind of a strange choice. No way to lock or latch it. The bathroom is the best part, with a big walk-in shower. Our room was not very soundproof either.

We stayed at Black Water Falls Lodge for a weekend ski trip. We hadn’t been to the lodge in several years, but were very impressed with their recent renovations and upgrades! The staff was friendly and rooms were in great condition. Ginny at the front desk went above and beyond for us! They are still finishing up renovations on some amenities such as the pool, but we are excited to return to see it once everything is finished! Definitely plan to come back for our next ski trip!

A great check in experience with Carol who quickly resolved a booking issue. She was awesome. The view from our room (210) was fabulous. Our only issue was room noise…conversations from our neighbors seemed to bleed through the walls quite easily. Might want to be prepared here with a white noise generator for best sleep.

This place was a miserable stay. Upon arrival I noticed there was no microwave or refrigerator in the room. Instead there's a single communal microwave for the entire lodge to use downstairs near the front desk. The pool and hot tub were fine but the hot tub is infested with spiders. On day 2 they wouldn't let us into the pool because the door was having issues with key cards and I guess they were too lazy to open the door for people who wanted to swim. The restaurant was fine. Day 2 we had buffet breakfast and after being seated and given initial drinks and our check, the waitress disappeared. Went outside to use the binoculars to view the mountain and of course that was broken as well. I absolutely wouldn't stay at this lodge again, I hated it. The only reason it got 2 stars from me is that the area is absolutely gorgeous.