At first blush, the Keltic Lodge seems a bit dated, kind of the place that my Spinster Aunt would have stayed at: a remote lodge where the seasonal staff lives on site and old white people go to and drink gin and tonics on the front lawn and wear jackets and ties to dinner, kind of like the movie "Dirty Dancing". However, this is the place to stay in north Cape Breton. The reality is that most of the accomodations in the area are just strip motels or self serve cottages. The Keltic Lodge offers good accomodations with the amenities of a resort (spa, pool, restaurant, lounge, etc.) at a superior location. The resort is set on a little spit of land that juts out into the Atlantic and offers great views from all locations. We stayed at the newer "Inn" at the Keltic Lodge. Very much a basic hotel room with a king size bed, loveseat, two chairs and a desk. Room was pretty basic, but bathroom was a bit dated (surprising since this is the "new" annex). We were on the second floor and had a great view of the bay and Cape Smokey. The only real complaint about the room was that only one small window opened and I would have really loved more airflow in the room (though, if you went in the heat of summer, the Inn does have A/C and I don't think the...At first blush, the Keltic Lodge seems a bit dated, kind of the place that my Spinster Aunt would have stayed at: a remote lodge where the seasonal staff lives on site and old white people go to and drink gin and tonics on the front lawn and wear jackets and ties to dinner, kind of like the movie "Dirty Dancing". However, this is the place to stay in north Cape Breton. The reality is that most of the accomodations in the area are just strip motels or self serve cottages. The Keltic Lodge offers good accomodations with the amenities of a resort (spa, pool, restaurant, lounge, etc.) at a superior location. The resort is set on a little spit of land that juts out into the Atlantic and offers great views from all locations. We stayed at the newer "Inn" at the Keltic Lodge. Very much a basic hotel room with a king size bed, loveseat, two chairs and a desk. Room was pretty basic, but bathroom was a bit dated (surprising since this is the "new" annex). We were on the second floor and had a great view of the bay and Cape Smokey. The only real complaint about the room was that only one small window opened and I would have really loved more airflow in the room (though, if you went in the heat of summer, the Inn does have A/C and I don't think the main lodge does, though I would confirm that). Nice thing about the Inn is that it is just across the street from the main Restaurant and lounge. You do have to walk up to the main lodge for the breakfast, but it is a short walk and very refreshing int he a.m.. All in all, this is the kind of place I could see going to every year (probably not for us, since we drove 1200 miles to get there, but if you lived in a day's drive, I could certainly see it) and make it a family tradition. Most of the days, we spent out an about in the park, so I didn't have a lot of interaction with the staff or the resort facilities, but I would recommend the hiking trail that starts right a the lodge, it was an easy hike, but offered great views and surprising amount of bald eagles. We ate all three nights at the Ardan Rum restaurant, one night in the main dining room and 2 nights in the lounge. The lounge offers the same menu as the restaurant, but comes with the addition of live music (Cyrill MacPhee was playing and was very enjoyable and I found myself singing along despite the fact I can't sing to save my a**). I couldn't imagine an better way to end the day than a few glasses of wine (maybe some Glen Breton Whisky) and some Fish/Chips, Lobster Pot Pie, Calamari, Blackened Haddock, etc while listening to live music in a very warm and inviting room. Suffice it to say, The Keltic Lodge is an institution and deservedly so, all the staff members were friendly and helpful and the location can't be beat. You won't regret it.More
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