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Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa
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Contact Information
27984 Highway 189
Lake Arrowhead, CA 92352
Phone: (909)336-1511
Fax: (909)744-3088
laresort.com
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The resort's private slice of the lake
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It is reassuring to know that the folks at Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa recognize a few realities about today’s economy. The manager, Steve Boswell, has noted that while in the past parents may have vacationed by themselves and then taken a second vacation with the kids, monetary constraints have caused many families to unite these two trips into one. This mountain resort has adjusted itself to pack in appropriate activities for all members of the family including the pets! Younger, older, and furrier travelers can all expect full rejuvenation at this quaint mountain resort which, in 2007, completed an extensive $18 million renovation of all guest and meeting rooms, public spaces, restaurant, bar and spa.
My family’s visit to Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa was on a beautiful, warm weekend in June, 2009. Driving up the mountain is quite an adventure because Lake Arrowhead is located at 5,100 feet above sea level surrounded by the San Bernardino National Forest. It is situated in a relaxing alpine setting that revolves around the lake and the shopping enclave of Lake Arrowhead Village. The village complex is comprised of cute specialty shops, outlet stores, various restaurants and a mini amusement park called Lollipop Park. Lake Arrowhead Resort & Spa is conveniently located within a short walking distance from the center of this village and right on the lake, which makes this a true destination resort. After your car is parked in the resort’s lot, you can forget about driving for the next few days since everything is located within arm’s reach of you. In the winter months, this situation may differ slightly because skiers will want to hit the slopes at Big Bear, about 30 minutes away, or at Snow Valley, only 20 minutes away, and the resort offers Snow Valley ski packages in the winter. However, in the warm months, we found everything we needed right there. Although the resort’s sense of quiet ethereal beauty makes it feel galaxies away from the mania of southern California, it is actually only 90 miles northeast of Los Angeles and it can be reached within about two hours from most points of southern California.
Lake Arrowhead is a very kid-friendly and, to me, a surprisingly dog-friendly village. I noticed immediately that the resort caters to this pet reality as I was checking in and saw the jar of dog treats on the front desk counter amidst the lobby’s rustic, mountain décor. Many guests were walking their dogs through the lobby and by the pool. In the village, several stores had put bowls of water out front for the pooches, had provided “pooch hitches,” and the big doggie destination is the Three Dog Bakery near the shore of the village complex. If it is important to your family to bring along your dog, this resort and surrounding village will truly pamper your four-legged friend.
This special resort simultaneously offers both serenity and boisterous activity, as difficult as that might be for less talented resorts to master. The visitor seeking peaceful, quiet moments can amble off to the resort’s private “beach,” as the resort owns an exclusive slice of Lake Arrowhead available only for resort guests. Along this section of the lake is a private tree-lined path laced with the resort’s hammocks for true cloud and star gazers. The resort also offers a private boat and fishing opportunities, both guided by the resort captain.
Alternatively, for kids, teens, and adults seeking a more social scene, the pool and two jacuzzis are bustling with activity and it would be easy for kids to make some pals as they play. People sit around this pool all day and gaze at the lake below.
Hiking and stargazing are big at this resort in the warm months. For hiking, the resort provides maps of the trail surrounding the lake. Also, volunteers from the San Bernardino National Forest Association (SBNFA) will take guests out on the lake trail for an hour or an hour-and-a-half long walk. These walks are offered four times a week in the summer and are open to all ages. My family participated in this walk on the Sunday morning of our stay. It is a tame “hike” around the privately accessed lake where hikers can see some of the houses, docks, and different parts of the lake up close. The resort also offers a stargazing program led by a SBNFA astronomer year-round. My kids also participated in this outdoor 30-minute slide show presentation of various stars and constellations after having dinner in Bin 189 and the audience was mostly comprised of other young kids.
The resort restaurant is Bin 189 and, for quite an elegant restaurant with an extensive wine list, my kids enjoyed themselves immensely eating dinner on the balcony perched above the lake. They were especially entertained watching a wedding party in the adjacent lounge. When a wedding is not in progress, the resort offers entertainment in the lounge every Friday and Saturday nights and a monthly comedy night. A notable feature to me was the magician entertainment as you wait for your dinner table in the lobby. Magic Jay approached my family as we were waiting for our table. He did a card trick on me which I am still pondering as to how he figured out the card I mentally picked and had it turned upside down and colored differently in the same deck he was holding!
While I pondered this enigma, I noticed that the restaurant menu offered many excellent adult choices including appetizers such as foie gras and shellfish chowder and entrees such as grilled Idaho trout, pan roasted Atlantic salmon, Maine scallops, stuffed shrimp, sea bass with tomato risotto, bouillabaisse, duck breast, rib eye steak, grilled tofu steak. The kids menu included chicken fingers, grilled cheese, cheese pizza, burgers, macaroni and cheese, and tomato soup. The kids’ dessert menu contained chocolate chip cookies and milk, the creative entrée of “dirt and worms,” root beer floats, and vanilla ice cream. Both nights of our stay, the waiters and the maitre’d were very attentive to my kids, providing them with coloring pages and crayons and making sure they were comfortable.
I had the seabass the first night and the scallops the second night, and both meals were preceded with olive and cheese breads with olive oil and balsamic vinegar accompanied with coffee made in a French press. The food quality, prepared thoughtfully by executive chef Jim Lindfors, rivals that of some of the larger city restaurants reviewed in this site such as in Los Angeles and San Diego. Kyle Davies, a regular waiter at the restaurant, said that breakfast is their most popular meal for kids in the restaurant and this meal is usually comprised of 30% kids.
The room service was prompt and the kitchen did get the details right for my picky eaters (i.e. fruit placed on the side of the waffles, etc.). The breakfast menu suits both kids and adults alike with homemade cinnamon sugar donuts, grizzly granola, tropical fruit salad, toasted bagel and smoked salmon, heuvos rancheros, and griddle classics: buttemilk pancakes, French toast, Belgian waffles. There were also omelette selections such as ham and cheese, Spanish, and veggie delight varieties.
If you choose to eat in, the room has entertainment options including Nintendo, in-room movies, and board games from the front desk. My kids played Chutes and Ladders, Scrabble, and Trivial Pursuit on the large patio that overlooked the pool and the lake further beyond.
A unique and memorable touch the resort offers that I have not seen anywhere else is their nightly beach-front campfire lead by a local known as the Mountain Man. On the second night of my stay, my family sojourned down to the private beach for the campfire lead by the Mountain Man and his daughter, dressed in leathers. He entertains guests with tales of his trapping adventures and brings along some animal skins for the kids to feel. The resort provides marshmallows for the kids to toast on the bonfire as the Mountain Man talks about the history of the mountains and Native Americans. How fun for the kids to retain this memory!
Besides being very pet-friendly, the town of Lake Arrowhead also offers hours of entertainment for kids. Lollipop Park, mentioned earlier, offers a horse carousel, swing ride, swinging pirate ship, choo-choo train, go carts, a fun house with optical illusion mirrors and a mini golf course. My kids had fun at this park as well as feeding the ducks in the lake. Duck feed is available from many of the local shops for 50 cents a bag and once the kids begin tossing them some feed into the lake, the ducks and the kids are all happy. Finally, the Arrowhead Queen is a Louisiana-style paddle wheel boat located dockside on the village. The captain takes passengers around the lake while narrating the history of Lake Arrowhead and pointing out the houses where celebrities have lived and movies that have been filmed there.
There is as much or as little activity as one wants at Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa, but either way, this is a very special retreat that enjoys four distinct seasons and where you will want to return with your family again and again.
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