This review will be exhaustive. I will list lots of positives and negatives. When reading the negatives, please keep in mind that my wife and I both loved every moment of our 2 night stay at the tent cabin, and we plan on making this an annual tradition. It was sublimely enjoyable from beginning to end. Though we are still tired and sore from the hike to the top of Mt. San Antonio, we are both thoroughly satisfied and mentally rested.
We arrived around 4:30 on Friday. We went into the office and got our wristbands. Stephanie (and the guy with her, we didn't get his name) were really friendly and told us about the things we get with our ticket. We were surprised to know we get all meals comped, plus a free zipline. We asked about parking. They said our car will be fine, but just for peace of mind wrote us a note to put in the car indicating we were there for the 2 night package. We said thank and made our way to the lift. Lift operator put our bags in the following 2 lifts and we got to ride together. We had two large backpacking bags.
The meal the first night was brisket, chicken, tater tots, mac n cheese, salad, and some very tasty beans. Everything was super good. They were not stingy - they will give you as much as you want. TIP - get all you will eat on your first trip. You are not guaranteed seconds. Drinks are not included, but we got unlimited refills of lemonade and/or iced tea for $3. We also enjoyed some live music and some very delicious churros (not included).
The tent was bare bone. It had a bed, a water dispenser, a shelf. The bed had clean sheets. 3 windows and a door with a lock. That's it - but that's all we expected. We saw a few ants in there and the occasional mosquito. If you are super sensitive to bugs, you may want to bring a bottle of bug spray. The tent withstood the wind really well, and won't leak if it rains, but it's not 100% bug proof. It gets cold at night! My wife and I brought a nice throw blanket, a plain sheet, and a double sleeping bag. We opened the sleeping bag to be just a blanket and used all three. We were WARM. the 40-50 degree weather was not an issue. During the day the windows produced a nice breeze. We took a nap both days, and slept like babies. It was super restful.
Bathrooms - there are porta-potties. We did not use them. They keep the door to the restaurant open 24 hours. There is a gate - so really you can only use the bathroom. But the heater is on, so when we woke up at 5:00 am for our hike, the bathroom was open, warm, and clean to start our day.
First morning we did not eat breakfast. We hiked from early in the morning until around 12:30. When we came back, we were expecting some type of small bag-type lunch. We were surprised when they told us to pick anything off the menu. We had some VERY tasty burgers and fries. We paid $3 each for lemonade, and got a couple refills each throughout the day. It's GOOD lemonade.
We took our nap and went back for dinner. Dinner was great! tri-tip and chicken was good, vegetarian lasagna very tasty, and I loved the corn. We were stuffed. The live music Saturday night was on point, and about 200 people showed up to enjoy the food and music. It was a party! Good times and dancing. Despite the nap, we were fast asleep by 10.
We woke up around 5 and went to the bathroom. No one was at the lodge, so we relaxed and enjoyed the sights and sounds of nature. BTW - there is a very friendly cat that lives right at the lodge. Hopefully you see her! (or him)
We took another great nap and woke up around 9:00. we packed our things and took our bags to the lodge to get some breakfast. Generally, you get a continental breakfast, but they had a special fathers day brunch planned. My God the brunch was good. The usual breakfast stuff - plus BEEF RIBS! We enjoyed breakfast and hopped on the lift to end our vacation.
We ended up not doing the zipline. I'll be honest - it looks kind of like a kids thing. It's not a very long zipline.
I want to really underline what a value we believe this was. $300 for 2 serene nights at Mt. Baldy for 2 people. A total of 5 meals. Not 5 star cooking, but much better than we expected. We really felt like we got a great experience for a very reasonable price.
I also want to underline how FRIENDLY the staff was. Stephanie, as mentioned, was great. Christina at the bar was also SUPER friendly and helpful. She answered all our questions and made sure we knew all the various perks that came with the package. Those are the only two names we got, but every single person we interacted with was friendly, helpful, and overall a pleasure to be around.
Are you looking for a 5 star hotel experience? This isn't for you. Are you looking for a camping trip with 3 meals a day and some additional creature comforts? This is for you!
We absolutely loved our experience and the people that made our experience what it is, and we absolutely WILL be back next year. read more