Kalaloch Lodge, Forks

My husband and I took our 5-year old to stay at Kalaloch Lodge. We figured we could go and relax and enjoy ourselves. The scenery in the Olympic National Park is just breathtaking and we would have enjoyed our trip immensely had it not started with a fight at check-in and check-out. Aramark apparently does booking for Kalaloch and they are based in Phoenix, AZ and have no clue as to the area they're making reservations for. We reserved a bluff cabin with a view of the ocean (or so we thought) and made it clear that we had a young child so we didn't want to be moving from cabin-to-cabin during our trip. Upon arrival, we were shocked to find our cabin had no view and that we would have to pack up two days later to move to another cabin. We were told that we should have informed reservations that we didn't want to change cabins. We blew up at the Front Desk staff and asked what idiot forgot to enter that information in the system (not to mention that they sold us a room that had no view). Basically, they simply overbooked and tried to put us in the cheapest cabin since we had the "Best of the Northwest" package. To make matters worse, we had anticipated cooking our meals in the cabin only to find they don't have afull size fridge --they only have a mini fridge. They purposely do this so that you can eat at their restaurant which sells horrendous food. We ate breakfast and dinner there for two days of our trip. The food was shockingly over-priced and the food was so, so bad! They try to take advantage of the fact that you have to drive quite a ways to get to a resturant. Also, please be aware there are mice. So, don't leave food out. We had them setting traps for the duration of our trip! My advice: Go elsewhere.

The setting is charming for peace and quiet, beach walks, and sunsets (don't expect anything more). The cabins are semi-rustic and OK. The lodge's restaurant served our group very overpriced, poorly prepared food (4 out of 5 dishes were worse than mediocre; the fifth was mediocre). If possible, take advantage of the fact the cabins have full kitchens. Nearby points of interest include Ruby Beach and the Hoh Rain Forest. The Lodge is a decent place for a brief relaxing escape if one of the discount package deals is available (otherwise, you may feel overcharged). About the "ocean view" cabins: They likely aren't worth a big price premium, as you cannot sit inside and watch the ocean -- people contihuously troop by outside the sea-side sliding glass doors, so there's no real privacy in the cabins unless the curtains are kept shut.

I loved the Kalaloch Lodge. They treated me and my group with excellent services. The food was great the the view was outstanding. We have a superior time.

Bottom line: I would not recommend this place given the price. I stayed in two different bluff cabins and was disappointed with the view, service and food given the nearly $300 per night I was paying to be there. This lodge is run by Aramark, a multi-national corporation headquartered in Pennsylvannia. Reservations are run out of a central locations call center so the agents you are speaking with have never even seen the lodge. I called several times prior to my stay and was given misinformation on each occasion. I was told that I would be in a two bedroom bluff cabin with a fireplace. I ended up in a one bedroom cabin with no fireplace. Most importantly, I was told that every cabin has a full view of the ocean and sadly, this is not true. Some of the cabins do, but many do not and since you can't reserve a specific cabin, it is completely hit or miss. The cabin I was in on the second night had no view of the ocean because the weeds/shrubs in front of it had grown up too high. When I complained, I was told by the staff that Olympic National Park prohibits them from trimming anything so it is outside of their control. That is fine, but I resent paying for a cabin I was told had an ocean view and only seeing bushes. When I complained to the staff about the misinformation, they said it happens all the time because central reservations are run out of Arizona (or some far off place) and they were "working to fix it." Not much consolation. I had a cabin on the inner edge of the bluff and still had no view. Many of the "bluff" cabins are set back much farther to begin with and certainly don't appear like they could have a view. The cabin's "full kitchen" was not well equipped - no coffee filters, no tea, no paper towels, no dish towels, no potholders and barely any cookware. Since the cabins don't have phones, we couldn't just call the lobby to bring these items out to us - we had to get dressed and walk up to the lodge to secure the filters we needed to brew our morning coffee. The quality of the entrees (dinner) in their restaurant was also quite mediocre given the price, although the view from the restaurant is beautiful. I would not stay here again and would not recommend it to anyone. When I mentioned my experience to a coworker, he said I should have stayed at the Oceanside Resort run by the Quileute Nation in La Push (just outside of Forks). He said the ocean views are stunning there and the rates are more reasonable. I wish I had known about it earlier as I would have given it a try. The location of La Push is also much more central to the things I wanted to see on the Peninsula than the far south Kalaloch Lodge which added a lot of extra driving. I would not stay here again and would not recommend it to anyone. When I mentioned my experience to a coworker, he said I should have stayed at the Oceanside Resort run by the Quileute Nation in La Push (just outside of Forks). He said the ocean views are stunning there and the rates are more reasonable. I wish I had known about it earlier as I would have given it a try. The location of La Push is also much more central to the things I wanted to see on the Peninsula than the far south Kalaloch Lodge which added a lot of extra driving.

The only good thing is that it's right on the water. But once you walk along the beach, then you've done all there is to do. There are no hiking trails, no other restaurants or shopping areas, no pool/hot tub, no other activities at all. Worst of all, they lost our reservation and when we arrived there were no cabins left. We were put in room 1 which was next to the kitchen of the restaurant. We heard pots & pans, the kitchen staff's conversations and their radio playing through the thin walls. We had to walk past the huge bay windows of the restaurant where 15-20 guests watched us haul our luggage to the only room on that side of the hotel. It was embarrassing. To be honest, I don't think it was a hotel room. I think it was a storage area that was later converted to a room. There were baseboard heaters all along the room, but there was no thermostat or control for them. The heat never came on and it was quite cold for the end of May. There was no TV or phone, which is fine because it's a rustic setting, but again, there were no activities or anything to do at all besides walk along the beach and dine at their restaurant. The nearest city is Forks which was 35 miles away and there's nothing there either. We will never go back to this lodge and would never recommend it to others. In fact, I've gone out of my way to tell my friends NOT to go there.

Have been going to Kalaloch for twenty years. Love the cabins, but food is steadily deteriorating. Excessively expensive and bland. Used to be very good years ago. Now you are better off driving the 30 miles to forks to eat. Half the the price and twice the quality.

I have been going to Kalaoch since I was a little girl and look forward to going every year! The cabins afford you decent privacy and are perfectly accomodating. We were given what we needed and were allowed to bring our dog on our last trip out. A fair price for a decent room! And the beach is the best part with giant tidal pools a little ways up. I would recommend the cabins at Kalaloch to anyone!

No, our room wasn't ready by check-in but it gave us time to explore the beautiful beach at low tide. The prices weren't bad considering this is in the middle of nowhere. Would definately go back here for romance and relaxation. The restaurant in the lodge was not bad either.

We took our first family vacation here & it was beautiful. We stayed in an ocean front cabin & ate in the resturant in the lodge. The best part was the view! My oldest daughter was three & still talks about how great it was. She calls it "our cabin". We will definatly return as soon as possible! I highly recommed this for a relaxing vacation. No phones & no tv are a great way to enjoy all the natural fun!

Its not the Four Seasons, but if you have realistic expectations, Kalaloch is a great spot. We had great weather, our cabin was clean and delivered on time (early in fact), and the food in the lodge was OK. Beds were a little lumpy; water pressure in the shower was great(economizer nozzle and all); the heater was adequate, but we relied on the woodstove. Being 35 miles from civilization works for and against Kalaloch. Bring everything you think you'll need and then bring more. Long walks on the beach, DVD's by the heat of the woodstove, and more walks on the beach. Very relaxing, if not very elegant.