Policies
WE ARE AN ADULT-ONLY INN AND WELCOME GUESTS 21 YEARS AND OVER .
GROUP RESERVATIONS
We do NOT accept group reservations, whether made on our website or through third-party travel sites. We define a group reservation as five or more rooms booked collectively by a single person or booked individually by multiple people who are coming together on overlapping dates for a shared event, reunion, wedding, retreat, get-together or any other reason. We reserve the right to cancel such reservations at any time, before or after guest arrival.
WAIVER REQUIREMENT
All guests at the Lakehouse Inn are required to sign a waiver. This is a requirement of our insurers, since we are a lakefront property and lakes pose inherent risks to all guests. A copy of the waiver can be viewed here.
Unfortunately, we cannot host any guest at the Lakehouse Inn who does not sign the waiver.
LAKE USE
(Please note: The lake is OPEN. It will close between Sept 15 and Oct 15, 2024)
Only guests staying at the Lakehouse Inn are permitted to use the lake.
The lake is open for activities in the spring and the summer. Opening and closing dates depend on weather and regulations from the Town of Lee. Please call us or look at our website for opening dates for each year. The lake is closed in the winter.
Guests can swim, fish (provided they have a fishing license from the state of Massachusetts), paddleboard or kayak. Guests are not permitted to use any other kinds of boats from our property, or to launch any other kinds of boats from the property.
Guests can use our complimentary kayaks or our paddleboards on a first-come, first-served basis.
Guests can bring their own paddleboards and kayaks for use on the lake. However, the Lakehouse Inn does not provide storage for guests' own kayaks and paddleboards. Guests will need to store their own kayaks and paddleboards in or on their vehicles when not being used, at their own risk. The Lakehouse Inn is not responsible for loss of or damage to guests' paddleboards, kayaks or vehicles while they are in the parking lot.
Non-guest or individuals who are not registered guests of the Lakehouse inn are strictly prohibited from using the lake and are not permitted to swim, fish, use our kayaks or paddleboards, or access the lake in any way from our property. We reserve the right to tow — at vehicle owner's expense — any vehicle parked on the property that does not belong to a guest staying on the property.
The lake is tested for water quality from June 1 to October 1 each year by the Tri-Town Health Department. Guests entering the lake outside of the period between June 1 and October 1 do so at their own risk of infection from pathogens in the lake.
The Tri-Town Health Department does on occasion close the lake to all use because of pathogens. We have no control over this, and guests are not entitled to refunds or changes outside of our normal terms and conditions due to lake closures.
Please note: We DO NOT have lifeguard on duty. Please watch your children at all times while using the lake and while on our property. By using the lake you indemnify the Lakehouse Inn against any and all liability for you and your dependents. All guests staying at the inn are required to sign a waiver, releasing the Lakehouse Inn and its owners from any liability resulting from use of the lake. A copy of the waiver can be viewed here.
PAYMENTS, FEES, THIRD PARTY RESERVATIONS, CANCELLATIONS, REFUNDS AND CREDITS
A NOTE ON NON-REFUNDABLE FEES
We are a small operation, we never overbook rooms (so the room you book is held for YOU), and we cannot afford to refund “non-refundable” fees to guests and operate profitably. We STRICTLY adhere to our no refund policy, no matter the reason, and we do not deviate from it due to Covid, other illnesses, weather, or anything else. We STRONGLY advise guests to purchase appropriate travel insurance that includes hotel cancellation. Such policies can cover guests for costs related to cancellations due to various emergencies. www.insuremytrip.com sells a wide variety of cost-effective policies.
50% DEPOSIT REFUNDABLE RATE
If you are able to provide at least 30 days’ notice of cancellation prior to your scheduled arrival, you may cancel free of charge. Your deposit will be refunded. Less than 30 days of notice means forfeiture of the deposit (unless your room is otherwise rented to another guest). If we are able to rebook your room and nights to another party, we will immediately return that portion of your deposit. Please notify us with as much notice as possible, as that will drastically increase the chances that we can rebook the reservation.
Additionally, once you check-in to the inn, you will be charged the full rate for your entire stay, even if you depart early, and no matter the reason for departing early.
NON-REFUNDABLE RATE
The non-refundable rate deposit is not refundable or changeable for any reason. If you have booked with a 100% non-refundable payment for the room and need to cancel, please still call us immediately. We will make every effort to rebook your room and nights to another party, and if we do, we will immediately return that portion of your payment. Please notify us with as much notice as possible, as that will drastically increase the chances that we can rebook the reservation.
THIRD PARTY RESERVATIONS
When you do not book directly with us, and instead book on a third party site, such as an Online Travel Agency (like Expedia, Hotels.com, Booking.com, etc.), a travel site provided by your credit card company, or a credit union, we are not responsible for any misrepresentations made by the third party site, as we have no control over how these sites present our hotel, our rooms, and our amenities. When such misrepresentations are made, we do not offer refunds, room changes, or any other modifications or changes to address such misrepresentations. When such misrepresentations are made, we do not offer refunds, room changes, or any other modifications or changes to address such misrepresentations, and the guest is solely responsible for contacting the third party site to address any such issues. (Third party sites do not allow us, as the hotel, to contact the third party site on behalf of the guest).
CANCELLATION POLICY – DIRECT BOOKINGS
For reservations booked directly with us (in person, on the phone, or via our website) contact us directly at 413-394-4256 or email innkeeper@lakehouseinnlee.com.
CANCELLATION POLICY – THIRD PARTIES
When you do not book directly with us, and instead book on a third party site, such as an Online Travel Agency (like Expedia, Hotels.com, Booking.com, etc.), a travel site provided by your credit card company, or a credit union, you must contact that online travel agent and follow their rules, timelines, and processes for cancellation. Information on how to cancel or change a reservation booked with a third party should be included in the confirmation email you received when you booked from the third party.
UN-USED SERVICES
We do not offer “credit” to guests for any unused services. For example, if a guest does not consume a breakfast during their stay or if there is only one guest in a room so only one breakfast for that room is consumed, said “un-consumed” breakfast cannot be used at a later date, nor can it be offered or transferred to another individual. For example, if a guest does not consume a breakfast, the guest cannot offer said breakfast to another guest or a non-guest.
NON-GUESTS' USE OF FACILITIES AND SERVICES
All non-guests or individuals who are not registered guests of the Lakehouse Inn must immediately go the Front Desk and sign our lake waiver. Failure to do so constitutes trespassing on private property and will result in the visitor's immediate eviction from the property.
Non-guests cannot use the inn’s services, or consume the hotel’s food and drinks without the permission of the inn and, if given permission, MUST pay for consumption of food, snacks, breakfasts, drinks, etc. GUESTS AT THE INN CANNOT OFFER OR TRANSFER UNUSED SERVICES AT THE HOTEL TO NON-GUESTS. For example, if a guest does not consume a breakfast, the guest cannot offer said breakfast to a non-guest. Non-guests are STRICTLY PROHIBITED from using the lake and are not permitted to swim, fish, use our kayaks or paddleboards, or access the lake in any way from our property. We reserve the right to tow — at vehicle owner's expense — any vehicle parked on the property that does not belong to a guest staying on the property.
FORMS OF PAYMENT
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Visa
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Mastercard
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American Express
WE DO NOT ACCEPT CASH OR CHECKS.
DEPOSITS
A deposit for your stay is charged at the time of booking. If booking more than 30 days in advance of your arrival, the deposit is 50% of your total bill. If booking 30 days or less in advance of your arrival, the total bill for your stay must be paid in full at time of booking. A deposit for your stay is typically charged at the time of booking. If staying multiple nights, your deposit is equal to half of your stay with the balance to be paid upon arrival.
SERVICE FEE
There is a mandatory 5% service fee for individual bookings, and a 10% service fee for group reservations. This service fee is a gratuity that is paid directly to the team members who help you during your stay.
OCCUPANCY
We are an adults-only property and our advertised rates are based on two-person occupancy. There is a per-night charge of $50 per extra guest (anyone over 2 guests is considered extra). We only allow more than two guests in specific rooms, and do not allow more than two guests in any other rooms. We do not offer rollaway/foldout beds/cots.
Guests wishing to extend their stay past the scheduled departure date should check with us to ascertain availability and we will do everything we can to help. Once a guest checks in, the guest is liable for the FULL AMOUNT of their booking even if their stay is cut short and regardless of the reason their stay is cut short. In the event that you must cut your stay short, please notify us as soon as possible so that we can offer your remaining nights to other guests; if we are able to rebook any nights, we will happily refund that portion of your fee.
MINIMUM AGE, CHECK IN/OUT TIMES AND HOUSEKEEPING
MINIMUM AGE
We have a minimum age requirement of 21 YEARS OF AGE for anyone staying at the inn or using inn grounds or facilities. We do not make any exceptions to this policy. Guests with reservations arriving at the inn accompanied by infants, children or any person(s) under the age of 21 will be refused check-in and asked to leave WITHOUT REFUND. This applies to any and all reservations, including reservations booked on our website, on the phone with us, and through third-party sites like Booking.com, Expedia, Hotels.com, and through any other third-party website, travel agent or any other booking venue by which a reservation can be made, and this policy applies whether or not the website, travel agent or other booking venue informed the guest about our Adults Only policy when the guest booked.
We reserve the right to check identification on anyone in the inn or on inn grounds, and anyone 20 or younger will be asked to leave the inn or inn grounds immediately Anyone without an official form of government identification will be asked to leave the inn or inn grounds immediately.
CHECK IN & CHECK OUT
Check in: 3 PM – 6 PM | Check out: 11 AM
In the off-season (November to May), early check-ins may be accommodated on a case-by-case basis. Advance notice of an intended early arrival will increase the likelihood that your room will be ready prior to 3 pm. We do not offer early check-ins during the high-season (June to October).
Kindly contact us at 413-394-4256 if you plan to arrive later than 6 pm so we may advise you of our after-hours self check-in procedure. Please note that our front desk is not open 24/7, so it is imperative you contact us by 7:30 pm if you are arriving late.
HOUSEKEEPING & ROOM TOUCH-UPS
The Berkshires is experiencing severe labor shortages, and we are thus only providing room touch-ups upon request. We respectfully ask all our guests to limit their requests to every other day unless absolutely necessary. To request a touch-up, please hang the “make up room” sign outside your door by 10 am on the day you require a touch-up. Guests who require full housekeeping services during their stay must request this at the Front Desk by 10 am on the day they require full housekeeping.
FOOD, BEVERAGES AND ALCOHOL
BREAKFAST
For breakfast, we focus on quality, not quantity. We have 3 rotating menus and each day we feature three entrees from which to choose, as well as sides, coffee, juices and baked goods. Please note that we do not have chefs on staff; we hire and train cooks to prepare the specific items on our menu, and we do not accept off-menu or custom orders.
In case of allergies, we will do our best to accommodate them if we are informed in advance of guests' arrival. As our breakfast team will have no way to visually identify you, do mention your allergies or dietary restrictions to your server at each breakfast.
We serve breakfast on a first-come, first-served basis and only seat limited tables at a time. We do not offer breakfasts to-go and we do not change our timings for breakfast service for any reason.
Due to our small kitchen and staff size, we cannot accommodate outside guests at breakfast without written permission and 24 hours’ notice. We do charge $25 per breakfast for any approved outside guests or extra breakfasts.
ALCOHOL
Massachusetts has very restrictive laws about the consumption of alcohol, and we as a business can lose our liquor license if we do not comply with them. Please read this section carefully and comply with these laws and policies that WE ARE REQUIRED BY LAW TO ENFORCE.
It is ILLEGAL in Mass for anyone to bring outside alcohol (alcohol purchased anywhere other than at our inn) onto the property, or to bring any alcohol received from us off the property. You CAN bring alcohol received from us anywhere on OUR property. Our liquor license does not permit us to store outside alcohol for guests either, so if you plan to bring your own alcohol, please make sure you have a way to keep this alcohol in your vehicle. We do not provide coolers.
Massachusetts law does not allow us to sell more alcohol to an individual guest than that individual guest can consume themselves without becoming intoxicated within 2 hours. This means that ONE GUEST can purchase 1 bottle of wine in a two hour period, or three hard liquor drinks, or three beers, but not more than this. Guests cannot “pre-buy” alcohol and use it to stock up rooms with alcohol or use it to serve other guests alcohol.
We do not have professional bartenders on site – we are not a large enough property to employ a full-time bartender. Our front desk team will do their best to accommodate alcohol requests but please understand that a) they are not professional bartenders and b) they will be busy with other tasks, such as checking in guests, so please be patient when requesting their services.
SMOKING AND PETS
SMOKING
We have a property-wide non-smoking policy. We ask that nothing be ignited by guests on the property grounds, common areas or rooms (other than logs provided by the Inn for designated fireplaces) at any time. As is customary in the hospitality industry, a cleaning and de-fumigation surcharge of at least $300 will be added to the bill in case of inadvertence to this policy, and, further, guests will be asked to leave the property and their reservation will be terminated without refund if they break this policy.
PETS
We love them, but we do not allow pets in any of our guest rooms or on the property. This is for the protection of all guests and our property. As is customary in the hospitality industry, a cleaning surcharge of at least $300 will be added to the bill in case of inadvertence to this policy, and, further, guests will be asked to leave the property and their reservation will be terminated without refund if they break this policy. We do, of course, make appropriate exceptions for certified service animals.
CHILDREN (NOT PERMITTED), PARTIES, AND QUIET HOURS
CHILDREN
WE DO NOT ALLOW INFANTS, CHILDREN OR ANYONE UNDER 21 ON OUR PROPERTY. We have a minimum age requirement of 21 YEARS OF AGE for anyone staying at the inn or using inn grounds or facilities. We do not make any exceptions to this policy. Guests with reservations arriving at the inn accompanied by infants, children or any person(s) under the age of 21 will be refused check-in and asked to leave WITHOUT REFUND. This applies to any and all reservations, including reservations booked on our website, on the phone with us, and through third-party sites like Booking.com, Expedia, Hotels.com, and through any other third-party website, travel agent or any other booking venue by which a reservation can be made, and this policy applies whether or not the website, travel agent or other booking venue informed the guest about our Adults Only policy when the guest booked.
We reserve the right to check identification on anyone in the inn or on inn grounds, and anyone 20 or younger will be asked to leave the inn or inn grounds immediately Anyone without an official form of government identification will be asked to leave the inn or inn grounds immediately.
HOSTING EVENTS, PARTIES OR RECEPTIONS
We do not host any events, parties or receptions or any type of catered or non-catered events on our property. We are a ma-and-pa setup and don't have the staff, the space or the ability to provide such services.
QUIET HOURS
Many of our guests stay with us because of the quiet and beauty of our lakefront location. We therefore ask all quests to adhere to quiet hours 9 pm to 8 am daily. We reserve the right to remove guests from property who violate our quiet hours.
PARKING AND EV CHARGERS
PARKING
We have limited parking. Guests are permitted ONE parking spot for each room booked. We do not allow vehicles that take up two spots to park in our parking lot, nor do we allow vehicles pulling any sort of trailer. We reserve the right to tow, at the owner’s expense, any vehicles that breach this policy.
EV CHARGERS
We do not have chargers for electric vehicles — our existing outdoor outlets are not permitted for EVs. We reserve the right to unplug any EVs plugged into our outlets. There are public EV chargers within a 10 min drive of the inn.
GIFT CERTIFICATES
To purchase a gift certificate please email us at innkeeper@lakehouseinnlee.com.
ALL inn policies listed on this page apply to reservations booked with gift certificates, or that are booked partly with a gift certificate and partly with a credit card (we do not accept cash).
CANCELING RESERVATIONS MADE WITH A GIFT CERTIFICATE
IF YOU BOOK YOUR RESERVATION MORE THAN 30 DAYS BEFORE YOUR ARRIVAL, and you book with a gift certificate, or partly with a gift certificate and partly with a credit card, and are able to provide at least 30 days’ notice of cancellation prior to your scheduled arrival, you may cancel and have any monies deducted from your gift certificate put back on your certificate (and monies debited from your credit card, if used, credited back to your card). If you cancel within 30 days of your arrival you will forfeit the TOTAL deposit paid, including any amount paid with the gift certificate and, if a credit card was used along with the certificate, the amount paid with the credit card.
IF YOU BOOK YOUR RESERVATION WITHIN 30 DAYS OF YOUR ARRIVAL and you book with a gift certificate, or partly with a gift certificate and partly with a credit card, any payments made with a gift certificate or credit card are non-refundable and non-changeable for any reason.
If you need to cancel within 30 days of your arrival date, regardless of when you booked your reservation, please call us immediately. We will make every effort to rebook your room and nights to another party, and if we do, we will make every effort to rebook your room and nights to another party, and if we do, we will immediately return that portion to your gift certificate and/or credit card, depending on how the payment for your reservation was made. Please notify us with as much notice as possible, as that will drastically increase the chances that we can rebook the reservation.
Additionally, once you check-in to the inn, you will be charged the full rate for your entire stay whether payment was made with a gift certificate or credit card, even if you depart early, and no matter the reason for departing early.
TRAVEL AGENTS
We do not pay commissions to travel agents. If travel agents book reservations for guests with us, we must be supplied with the guests’ names, cell numbers, and email addresses. There are two reasons for this: 1) Our front closes at night and if guests arrive after our front desk closes, they will not be able to enter the premises, and your guests will be stranded. We have to be able to connect with guests directly to give them instructions on how to self-check-in and get their keys. 2) We need your guests' contact information for security purposes and to be able to reach them in an emergency. This is critical for the safety of any guests staying with us. We reserve the right to cancel guest reservations, WITHOUT REFUND, if we are not supplied this information at least 72 hours before guest(s) arrive.
ADA COMPLIANCE
INFRASTRUCTURE
The Inn offers one ADA compliant guest room, with a wheelchair accessible shower. It also offers an ADA compliant common bathroom, and an ADA compliant ramp to the Main House, where the main reception is, where breakfast is served and where the pub is.
WEBSITE
We want everyone who visits the Lakehouse Inn website to feel welcome and find the experience rewarding.
What are we doing?
To help us make the Lakehouse Inn website a positive place for everyone, we've been using the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1. These guidelines explain how to make web content more accessible for people with disabilities, and user friendly for everyone. We are also undertaking internal training of all Team Members to help them assist anyone with disabilities.
How are we doing?
We're working hard to achieve our goal of Level AA accessibility, but we realize there are some areas that still need improving.
The Lakehouse Inn is in the process of facilitating the accessibility and usability of its website, https://www.lakehouseinnlee.com for all people with disabilities. We will be implementing over time the relevant portions of the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 Level AA (WCAG 2.1 AA) as its web accessibility standard or other standards to the extent required by the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA").
Please be aware that our efforts are ongoing. If, at any time, you have specific questions or concerns about the accessibility of any particular webpage on https://www.lakehouseinnlee.com please contact us at innkeeper@lakehouseinnlee.com. If you do encounter an accessibility issue, please be sure to specify the webpage in your email, and we will make all reasonable efforts to make that page accessible for you.
Please also know that we are always happy to discuss our facilities, accommodations, and services by telephone or email, and any reservations that you wish to place can also be placed by telephone.
GDPR & PRIVACY
The Lakehouse Inn does not use cookies on its website, nor does it collect any data from anyone visiting our website unless you book a reservation with us on our website (or call us to book a reservation).
When you book a reservation with us, the data is stored with MEWS, an international hotel reservation system and property management system. MEWS’ privacy policy can be viewed at https://www.mews.li/Platform/Document/PrivacyPolicy?language=en-GB