Guest Rooms

This summer while helping my mom paint the lake house we took a morning to walk over to the Lakeview Lodge in Harrison to check it out. Although DJ and I weren’t engaged yet, I was hopeful that I could convince DJ to get married in Harrison

Harrison has a lot of great aspects, but it is missing one big item: abundant hotel rooms. There are 15 hotel rooms in Harrison. Total. Plus four rooms at the Bed and Breakfast.

The “Where will people stay” issue really impacts DJ’s family and guests. Most of mine will stay at my grandparent’s lake cabin or camp, but DJ wanted to make sure his peeps would have a nice enough place to stay.

The Lakeview Lodgeisn’t much from the outside right now. Like a lot of businesses and commercial properties in Harrison, it’s been in need of serious reinvestment for a while now. New owners came in about two years ago and probably saved it from the brink of being a tear-down.

So when my mom recommended that I should go check it out, off Erin and I went to investigate. And I was so incredibly surprised! The manager Claire is such a sweetheart (Irish- how does an Irish girl end up in North Idaho?) and the owners are so great.

The owners have started out by redoing the interior of the guest rooms, and will move to an exterior remodel later. They figured the guests didn’t care what the exterior looked like if the rooms were nice. And they’ve done such a great job!

Most of the guest rooms are actually suites, with a small kitchenette and sitting area. Families often book a room in the hotel for a week since it’s so close to the bike trail and marina, and the cooking areas are used heavily.

Guest suite 1. I wonder where they got the bar stools... I like them for our house!

Full out KITCHEN!

The bed folds out, so this suite sleeps four.

Yes, I know this is a "bad" photo, but I wanted to show you the view out of the doors!

All of the guest rooms open up out the back onto a shared sitting area which has tables and chairs on it. The Lakeview Lodge is right above the bike trail, and right over the public docks and beach at the marina.

Shared patio area.

Public marina.

Bike Trail.

One of the coolest suites was the two guest rooms which opened inside to each other. The kitchen is VERY VERY nice!

Apparently they're also equipped for small chillun's.

This couch folds out too.

It's a hide-a-bed!

Functional bathroom.

Doorway into kitchen.

Totally outfitted kitchen.

Awesome view.

Seriously! Even my grandparents don't have a dishwasher at the lake!

They also have this patio area out front, which has a BBQ for use of all the guests. Pretty inviting, don't you think!?

I wonder if we should be having our reception here?

After visiting the Lakeview Lodge I was sold on a Harrison wedding. It was totally doable, and there are accommodations in town for people. The key, I think, will be begging people to bunk up as much as possible so that we maximize bed space and leave no room unoccupied. I feel like Eisenhower pulling the logistics for the invasion of Europe on this one. We’ve got spreadsheets identifying who has hotel room priority and who else is SOL.

The kicker is that in order to get this to work, I have to remember something crucial on New Years Day. The Lakeview Lodge does not take ANY reservations until January 1. None. Won’t even block off rooms for me. So I have to call at 8:01am on January 1 to do so. Claire knows to expect my phone call.

There is also a campground in Harrison, where we hope a number of our guests will stay. More on that later.

Logistics, especially when getting married in a SMALL town are difficult. I still have not a clue where our flowers will come from…

What do you think? Would you stay at the Lakeview Lodge for me?