Black Forest Lodge

Hotel

My dog is not welcome to stay at this property because she is a pitbull. I will never recommend this place and I will give every bad review that I can. The man who answered the phone this afternoon was very polite but the woman I spoke to this evening was absolutely rude and horrible. I do not recommend. We have a 10 year old pitbull and apparently she's not welcome. They discriminate against pitbulls.

Excellent very nice cabins.

Friendly staff, but the room I was in had no counter, no table, and No closet. Just absolutely no where to place our belongings/clothes/etc. But a great location.

Great people, super friendly and great rooms. Love this place.

Where to start? I wanted value so I went for the lowest price they offered. That was my first mistake. Normally, an establishment will set aside a few of their regular rooms at a special price. When those are gone, the price goes back to the regular rate. Not here. Cheap means really cheap in quality. When I first arrived they gave me Rm. In the. Aspen bldg. And it was easy to see it hadn't been cleaned before my arrival or for months before that. After depositing my things and getting past the odor that met me, I immediately bought LYSOL Disinfectant and Febreze Room Deoderizer. The room was musty smelling and thats being generous. I thoroughly dosed and sprayed everything twice and again the next morning. It helped some. The furniture was shabby and stressed beyond acceptance. Judging by the general appearance, I decided to sleep on the recliner that first night until I could get my Black Light the next morning and check the bed and bathroom for biologics (human fluids). It was disgusting. There was dried urine on and around the toilet, under the seat, under the seat cover, around the toilet rim and the floor had, obviously, not been mopped for ages. No supervision for housekeeping personnel means little care for visitors health and comfort. Yes, I complained and they gave me a nicer room but that didn't solve the problem nor will it. Only a change in management and management techniques can accomplish that.

Hands down the worst place I have ever stayed! The room was so tiny, as soon as we walked in it smelled like stale cigarettes and pee, the carpets were so nasty I couldn't even let my son play on the floor. This place really needs help in the cleaning department. It was so bad we didn't even stay the 2 nights we paid for. You would think the management would want better for their guests! Very disappointed and when we checked out early we were never asked why or if everything was ok.

This is the worst place I ever stayed. It was disgusting and outdated. Our room smelled like cigarettes, natural gas and old people. I literally never review places but I truly felt like I needed to warn people not to stay here! The room was falling apart, there is also no air conditioning so it was very hot. We decided to open the windows to let a breeze in to cool off but that breeze was just straight cigarette smoke coming from the person next door. It was not an enjoyable experience. My husband and I actually left a day early because we couldn't stay another night in this gross place! The entire room was carpet and it was probably 20 years old. Our bathroom had ants all over it. The bed spread was covered in hair like it hadn't been washed at all. This place needs to be torn down. Worst experience ever.

A very bad experience. my husband and I rented a cabin for 2 nights. The first night evrything was fine, but on the second day when we went to the village and came back there was a post-it on the door saying we had to go to the lodge office because our stuff had been moved to another cabin without our permission. When we had paid for those 2 nights, the receptionist brazenly said they moved our stuff because they had already rented the cabin to someone else when we had already paid and rented it ourselves. They have no respect for their customers, if you plan on renting from here think twice before you do.

Room was disgusting so bad we refused to stay. It's okay to be old but not okay to be dirty, run down and filthy! Don't stay here! Lady at the counter was nice and gave a complete refund with no hesitation.

The room needs a deep clean, you can breath the dust and ashes and that makes the place very uncomfortable, my husband was having breathing problems every time we entered in the room and we had to check out one day before of we expected, we just stayed one night to decide leave the next day we arrived. The check in was fast, the attendance very nice but they could do better with the place, need lots of improvement. The location is perfect because is in the center of everything and you have many restaurants around and the lake at walking distance (but be aware that mostly all the restaurant, taberns and/or bar around close some at 9pm others at 10pm)

Extremely hiker friendly, great rates for PCT hikers. $75 got me and three others a private room with two queen beds, shower, toilet, and TV. Split between us it was cheaper than a hostel. Within walking distance of several great restaurants and a bus stop to get to the grocery store.

This is honestly one of the nicest stay at a hotel I have had the pop pleasure to stay at. They are very friendly at the front desk. The rooms are nice, comfortable and nicely decorated. Some of the rooms even have spas in them. It's got a pool. They even have a beauty salon that offers botox. It's a wonderful place, so if your in Big Bear try to stay at the Black Forsst Lodge to experience one of the best night in Big Bear!

Cute little room with a gas fireplace. Be aware the walls are thin though. Disappointed that the hot tub was closed for the season but the staff was very friendly and helpful, no major complaints.

Very noisy due to the fact it's near the main street. Bed was sunk in and just outdated. Castlewood cottages much better for price.

Okay, so I stayed here 4/7/18 first thing I noticed was that the room had a very unwelcoming scent, when we walked out to the balcony we noticed 2 tacos still sitting on the table, CLEARLY maintenance there is super lazy, the tub wasn’t washed either… (SPA ROOM) I paid extra to get this room and I literally had to grab a towel with soap and clean it myself! In the bathroom there was what it seemed to be a blood stain and there was hair on the toilet. I REALLY WISH I WOULDVE TAKEN PICTURES! Okay all that isn’t as bad as this though. We didn’t go anywhere else because we got there pretty late so we literally stayed in the room grabbed some pizza at around 11pm when we woke up around 7am to have some leftovers there were ants EVERYWHERE I mean the pizza was covered in them! So gross! This place is so dirty it’s not even worth $100 at all! (I paid $120) Anyway, when I got home on Sunday I noticed marks on my thighs and my BUM! I’m pretty sure these are BED BUG BITES! Attached are some photos, I didn’t post the ones on my bum, but these are pics of my thigh. If you’re planning to stay here please make sure to ask for clean sheets, because I doubt they even changed ours you get what you PAY for, unfortunately that’s the sad truth.

My stay was awesome the night managers were very helpful and made my stay enjoyable I'll definitely be staying there with my family anytime I come up to Big Bear.

Had such a comfy stay here. Friendly staff. Nice Cabins.

This place needs a total update. Walking into the rooms looks as though you stepped back into the 80's. It's kinda clean but also gross because everything is so old. They claim they have Wi-Fi but I could never get it to work. The rooms were so hot even with the window open all night. And walking the stairs to the room was scarey cuz I felt like the stairs were about to break. I personally will never stay here again. It's creepy.

My cabin was cute and clean and comfortable, and my hostess, the owner Rita was very caring and let me choose from different cabins available. It was a great stay.

They have no idea how to run an exemplary hotel, which is no doubt why this is rated as a 2-star joint. Katrina and Rita are two of the worst customer service representatives I have ever come into contact with. Let me take you on a factual journey: My partner and I booked a stay here last minute. Natalie was actually helpful in setting us up. We were going to arrive after hours, so because this business is literally too small to man someone at the desk 24 hours, they leave a key in a random box outside at night. This is not the classic hotel experience where someone greets you at the front desk if you arrive tired and late. You basically get a map of the place and your key. Fine, whatever. Moving on. Unfortunately my partner and I were not able to make it due to a family emergency. Things happen and we were NOT expecting a refund, nor any special treatment. In fact, we simply called as a courtesy to let the hotel know that we wouldn't be able to make it (mind you they still have our $ because rooms are non-refundable). Not ideal, but understandable. The next morning we get an extremely rude message from Katrina, the hotel employee, stating that, "we could have rented that room out to someone else and my mom waited up for you. " Now THIS is where the confusion starts to set in. You could've rented our room out to someone else when we've already paid for it and you had to do nothing to get that money? How is that possible?

Good quality rooms in a great location. The bed was very comfortable and the in-room spa is awesome to have. Watch out for the $50 fee for leaving dirty dishes…

Great, cozy place. The in room spa was the best. But the internet was slow.

Nice simple accommodations. Great staff. Walls are a bit thin and the beds are hard as a rock, thise are the only two gripes that leave it at r instead of 5 stars.

Great hotel, great service very clean. Cheap. 2 girls I don't remember names on the reception very nice also guy Alex was very helpful. Very nice and friendly and welcoming. Definitely wen next time in big bear will stay here.

It's a very nice cozy place to stay. There was enough room for me my BF, and our dog. Decent views. And perfect spa bath!

Thin wall, thin curtain, sliding door and not an actual DOOR. Feel like collage dorm. I can hear the neighbor talking and showering. Tv doesn't work. It smell like pinesol the moment I step in. Suffocated I had to open the window all the way. This is coming from a low maintains person that fully understand that you get what you paid for but the place I stay in was such a bad vibe. It look so much better in pictures. Thought it might be decent.

Decent place. Very nice staff. Quiet. Wouldn't be my first choice but a decent second choice for the area.

Rooms are cozy, close by everything. I would recommend this place for everyone in the family.

Cozy and very rustic. Loved it! And the owner is just wonerfull. Never wanted to leave.

Rooms need to be renovated. Furniture is old and needs to be replaced. Did not feel comfortable sleeping in this room.

The room we stayed in was amazing, it really felt like we were on vacation. I wish we would've came in the winter but the summer is cool too because of the pool and Jacuzzi. The lodge is close to stores and near the lake.

Locked in our room and held prisoner Upon arrival our doorknob was all jenky. Then discovered in the middle of the night that the doorknob would not turn and we were locked inside of our room. Decided to wait until morning to try to contact hotel staff. Luckily the place didn't catch fire because we would not have been able to escape. No phone in our room, but tried calling on cell phone starting at 6am. Since our dogs needed to get outside and we were increasingly becoming angry about being held prisoner, we managed to remove the window and screen. We were able to climb out over the plant box below the window and then lift our 50 lb dog through. Nobody in the office, tried the night window call box, no answer. Finally someone there at 8 am who responds with, "well what happened to the door? " By around 8:30, a cranky maintenance guy comes to our room and asks, "what happened to it? " As if it's our fault their old jenky doorknob broke. No, mention of, oh I'm so sorry you had to go through this… being held prisoner. Then he busts through the door, grumbles "I'll fix it later" and storms off. We were so filled with anger at this point, just wanted to get the hell out of there. Stopped by the office to talk to who I believe is the owner. She was a little more apologetic, but still didn't seem to grasp how frustrating and potentially dangerous the situation was. Didn't offer a refund or discount, just an upgraded room with our next stay. Um, no thanks!

Rita is Great! Wonderful Woman with an amazing family and a great location to match. Right in the middle of town, cozy humble rooms, & hot tub in the Lovers Suite sealed the deal!

Really Unclean and Unsavory. The shower was gross with hairs and black stuff all in it and the drain was clogged so one would have to stand in the filth. We went without. Will not be back in spite of my regular travel to the area.

Very nice and comfortable. Thin walls though, you can hear your neighbors.

Love the hot tub. And fridge in the room. This only skims the surface. They have heated rooms and fireplace and TV. Very friendly atmosphere. Well recommended. Will Visit often.

Front desk lady was the best memory I had. She was funny and friendly. Rooms are clean and almost all of them have hot-tubs. I recommend to get your drinks from Vons and stay by the wood fire-place in the backyard of the lodge at night. I stayed there May 2015 and booked for May 2016 to stay again!

Excellent place to stay! Very cozy, friendly, quiet and peaceful. Very nice management. No complaints at all!

My husband and I had a last minute trip here and had an incredible stay. The staff was so friendly! It's not the fanciest place on earth but for the price and location you can't beat it.

This is by far the worst place I have stayed at in Big Bear the price for a room with two queen beds was $165 got to the room with my family walked in it smelled very foul. The microwave was sitting on a chair the curtains were see through the bending didn't appear clean they have controllable Wi-Fi don't offer DVD players basic TV the heater is a little fan in the wall. Room was very cold. Very disappointed seems how the office was nice and the employees were kind. I will never stay or recommend this place to anybody unless the management/owners invest in a major remodel. It was like staying on foothill Blvd in Fontana. What a very disappointing vacation.

OVERBOOK AND GIVES YOUR KEY TO OTHERS — HORRIBLE SERVICE — DO NOT STAY! My birthday was in December and my girlfriend took me to Big Bear for the night. We had a reservation from two weeks prior. After checking in, they gave us keys to a room and WE WALKED IN ON A COUPLE ABOUT TO HAVE SEX! The hotel clerk stated they overbooked their hotel and denied us a room. He made minimal and unsuccessful efforts to find an alternate accommodation. His solution was to stay at a place that in his words was "the worst hotel in Big Bear, " or to drive 90 minutes down a mountain pass in a snow storm. It was bad that he did not offer to pay for the alternate room like all other hotels do when they screw up like this… But it was worse when we went to the "worst hotel" and the Black Forrest Lodge clerk DID NOT HOLD THE ROOM… The experience left us stranded in the below freezing and snow storm for over three hours from 6:30 PM to 9:45 PM. We never got a call from management or owners as promised. No apology. No compensation. This place does not care and it shows! DO NOT STAY — Black Forrest Lodge is the worst hotel in Big Bear!

The worse hotel I have ever seen. (See pictures! ) Checked in 12/26/15 checked out 12/27/15 @2am Rm. 15. I have uploaded pictures of the room. Upon checking in we head to our rm. 15. The place was just dirty, but didn't complain. I had left because my friends had rented a cabin. We were just going to sleep at the Black Forest lodge. So my mom and I came back around 1:30 ish before heading to the room we went to the window outside to ask for clean sheets. Since the room was filthy. No one was answering. So we just went to our room to use our own blankets. As we were getting to the room it smelled like gas. We never turn on the heater. I told my mom that we can not sleep here. We try calling the front desk # and no one answered. There was a smoke detector that is broken. (See pictures). My mom started bleeding due to the smell. I started getting stomach pains. We finally decided to leave around 2am. I couldn't help being here at all. Went to the window again and the bell was not working. Finally we notice a sign that said no vacancy and I lifted up the sign and it was an intercom. I told the man we are leaving due to the conditions in the room. He didn't mention a word. I wrote him a letter and hand him the key. The room was cheap that's why we rented it for the weekend, but with the gas smell and the filthy room I couldn't stay. My mom and I had to look for another place to stay it was late at night and everything was booked.

Came here on the Sunday before Christmas after riding all day to see if they had any rooms available. The person working the front desk was so nice and quick, which was perfect after a long day of riding. The room was ready right away with no wait, clean with a nice fire place And the heater in the room definitely worked, heated up extremely fast. The overall stay and the service was amazing.

Terrible. We arrived around 7 pm in our suite with our 3 children under 4. They were ready to eat their dinners and get to bed. The room was the same temperature as the outside (with snow on the ground). The bedroom window was wide open and the heat was off. Even though our baby was ready to go to bed, I couldn't put her down in a freezing room. We started the heat but it didn't light at first, it took nearly two hours for it to get warm. There were no sheets or pillows provided for the futon and the extra comforter had holes in it (even though I booked my room two hours earlier with the owner and told her we needed the extra bed). If it wasn't late and I didn't have three small children with me we would have been looking for a new place to stay. The room was in dire need of updating. It felt like I was sleeping in a thrift store. Silk flowers with cobwebs, dirty wallpaper, rusty gas oven, no fire extinguisher or carbon monoxide monitor meant I slept between my two small kids on the futon in case there was a fire. There was a huge fireplace in the room and I'm guessing in all the others too, the room was smoky from all the fires around us. There were unsavory adult novels on top of the shelf in the kitchen. The room door only had a small door handle lock, no dead bolt or anything. From the outside the place has a ton of Bavarian charm, but it didn't even meet out basic needs.

Been here two different times had a great time rooms are great and service is very good already planing our next trip to big bear with family will be staying here again.

I love the Black Forest Lodge! I used to live in Big Bear and now come up every month. I have stayed in many places here and the Black Forest Lodge is excellent. It is a large beautiful property with several individual cabins as well as hotel rooms (which are really nice and just like a cabin! ). Some have jacuzzis in them and are REALLY AFFORDABLE AND CLEAN. The one I am in today has a Kitchenette, full fridge, microwave, fireplace, one full bedroom, large living room and full bath with tub and shower. There is a nice clean pool and spa and bbqs are plentiful around the property. Rita, Katrina, Todd and one gentleman who's name I don't know always treat me like family. I am safe here, the rooms are very clean and the atmosphere is super cozy. I had to walk my dog in the snowy rain at 3am this morning and it was beautiful. The other guests are quiet and respectful and I see some of the same guests who come and go as I do and they also call the Black Forest "home. " Great cable TV and wireless always works. Just a very cool and very affordable place. Thanks Rita!

I canceled my reservation with plenty of notice and they said they would waive the outrageous cancellation fee. When I called to ask why they did not waive I was treated very inappropriately and hanged up on. Do not book anything or stay at his hotel unless you want to have issues even after you leave.

Love it! nice and quiet, rustic, cutely decorated, nice big porch with tables with umbrellas and chairs, fireplace, In room jacuzzi, fully equipped kitchen. Single cottages $ 65 a night at end of Sept. Very nice woman in office. Staying 3 nights, added one more night we liked it so much. Some rooms are motel style but the cottage's are very nice.

We had a softball tournament up there and due to fires the tournament was cancelled. This hotel was so rude. I called and spoke with Thomas at first and explained the situation. The competition was cancelled within the 7 day cancellation period. I told him I would pay for one night because I understood the cancellation policy but asked that they refund the rest. Thomas said "there are no fires" and hung up. I called back and spoke with Rita, who is apparently the owner, and said "you are stupid and we don't want your kind here" and hung up. I called back and said to Rita (who at this time pretended she was someone else) and said "I think I got disconnected" and she said "No, I hung up on you and am going to do it again because you will not get your money back because THERE ARE NO FIRES HERE" and hung up again. I called back and said that I didn't understand her hostility and again she said "we don't want softball players at our facility. Go somewhere else. " I understand that they didn't want to lose money and were probably getting an abundance of calls but the staff was so rude. I reported her to the softball director and explained the situation. She said that all the other hotels were happily refunding people and she doesn't understand why Thomas and Rita were saying there were no fires. I have disputed the charge with my credit card company and Rita actually said that Thomas would refund the money the next day — 1 month later, still no refund.

Here is the truth! This place really does have what you need. Fireplace … in room jacuzzi. It's not the Ritz but they do a good job. People who complain online need to remember how much you paid. The place is perfect for the price. A pool. Hot tub and in room jacuzzi is not a bad deal for $80. We have enjoyed it for years.

I love this place. They are always friendly, cabins clean, great weekday prices, wonderful location. Walking distance to the village and lake. Cabins are old, funky, and cute. There is a large, fenced in area full of old tvs, chairs, and various dump worthy junk which can be seen from the (open) bathroom window of one of the cabins ("Clare" cabin, I believe). I just don't stay in that cabin. Leaving in the morning for my third weeklong stay.

I stay here a lot when I go through Big Bear to go on Hikes, and Rita and her daughter and other staff have always gone out of the way to be nice, friendly and helpful. Ive stayed in 4 different roms in different locations and NEVER WAS THERE STINK, never was anyone rude to me, I see Rita going out of her way for all her guests and it is pretty obvious by the names on the nasty reviews that this is a personal attack on some very nice people. I say stay here, best price in town, nice people, and a great location.

I wouldnt stay here if someone paid me to. I didnt even get the chance to stay there. I had booked a room over the phone with Rita the owner yesterday and she didnt seem very friendly, but I didnt think anything of it. Then after I booked it I read all of these reviews about how terrible the place is and how the rooms were dirty, etc. So I called her again today to see if she knew about these horrible reviews. OH MY GOSH she just about bit my head off through the phone, so Im assuming these reviews are all true now because she said, in her words: "its very hard to clean all of the cabins when they are all separated away from eachother, not like in our lodge. " She told me she was cancelling my reservation and she didnt want me staying there if she was going to have to worry about keeping me happy all weekend! I told her that the reviews about the bad customer service were obviously true and she screamed and hung up on me. She just earned yet ANOTHER bad review! I would not advise anybody to waste their money staying here. I am planning to spend my money elsewhere, where they treat their customers with respect.

If you like mold, garbage, and rude staff, stay here. This place is disgusting. Their service is disgusting. See their yelp and tripadvisor reviews for a true feel of this awful, smelly motel.

Stinky stinky stinky, can't you see! Really dirty rooms, really dirty attitude from the staff, they don't care if you're happy or not. Save your money and sleep in a dark alley.

We stayed in a beautifully decorated room with two queen beds, a gas fireplace, sofa, and a balcony. The room was very clean. The room was made up each day, and the gentlemen I dealt with at the front desk were efficient and pleasant. We will definitely stay there on our next visit to Big Bear.