FAQs
Some of the most frequently asked questions about the Golden Arrow and Lake Placid.
Common Hotel Questions
Check-in is any time after 4pm. This does not guarantee your room will be ready at 4pm. If we have a full house, it may take a little longer to get rooms cleaned. This also means we can’t guarantee early check-ins. That being said, if you arrive before 4pm and your room is ready, we will happily check you in!
If you arrive early and your room is not ready, we will give you a parking pass so you can park in our garage and then walk around town, or enjoy our amenities like the pool, beach, or gym. We’ll also add you to our texting service so you know when your room is ready.
Check-out is at 11am. A late check-out can be requested the morning of your departure by contacting the front desk.
Please note, a late check-out may not be possible if your room is on arrival.
You still have access to our parking garages and amenities, like the pool, gym, and beach for the rest of the day.
If you need to cancel any part your reservation or make any changes to your number of nights, you must do so 7 days prior to your date of arrival.
Our cancellation policy is different during large events. If you need to cancel or make any changes to your number of nights, you must do so during the following time frames:
Ironman: 30 days prior to your date of arrival
Summit Lacrosse: 14 days prior to your date of arrival.
While we do our best to fulfill any special requests, please know these requests are not guaranteed.
No, we do not have a resort fee. Our amenities are included in your stay!
Yes! We know that pets are part of the family and welcome you and your pet to stay in one of our Deluxe Rooms on the third floor.
We do not have any breed restrictions, but there is a $150/per pet fee. This goes towards extra deep cleaning of the room after you leave. We also donate 10% of all pet fees to local organizations like the Tri Lakes Humane Society.
Lake Placid can be a tricky place to find parking. Lucky for Golden Arrow guests, we offer FREE parking (plus we’re within walking distance to all the shops and restaurants on Main Street!)
We have 4 underground parking garages in addition to our main level parking lot. When you check-in at the front desk, our staff will let you know what parking lot is closest to your room.
Have a large truck or a car rack? We suggest parking in the top lot or at the Thunderbird across the street.
Parking Garage Information (also on the parking pass you receive at check-in)
GARAGE A: 6’5” CENTER, SOUTH & WEST WINGS
115-146, 211-246, 311-347, 422-449, 515-553
GARAGE B: 7’0” CENTER, SOUTH & WEST WINGS
115-146, 211-246, 311-347, 422-449, 515-553
GARAGE C: 6’8” NORTH WING
101-114, 201-210, 301-310, 401-410
GARAGE D: 7’4” NORTH WING
101-114, 201-210, 301-310, 401-410
You must be at least 18 years old to check in at the Golden Arrow.
We offer a lot of great amenities at the Golden Arrow – all complimentary to our guests! This includes:
- Private white sand beach with lounge chairs in the warmer months
- Kayaks, canoes, stand up paddleboards, Hyrdobikes, rowboats, and pedal boat in the warmer months
- An indoor pool and two whirlpool tubs
- Fitness center with various cardio and weight machines as well as free weights, exercise balls, and yoga mats, plus the only racquetball court in town!
- Multiple outdoor firepits
- Happy Hour pricing all day at Generations Tap & Grill
- Ice rink on Mirror Lake in the colder months
- Mini Refrigerator, microwave, Keurig Coffee Maker, hairdryer, and extra pillows in every room
- Free Wi-Fi throughout the hotel
- Free Parking
Our indoor pool is open year-round! Pool hours are 8am-10pm. The pool area also has two jacuzzi tubs and a kiddie section.
Our gym is open 6am – 12am.
All of our water toys are free for guests to use! Here’s what’s available:
- kayaks (single & double)
- stand up paddleboards
- rowboats
- Hydrobike
- pedal boats
- canoe
We gladly welcome those extra warm spring days in May when we get them! It’s important to remember that a few days of hot temperatures do not magically make the lake warm (unfortunately.) Don’t forget, the lake is usually frozen until April!
So if our watercraft is not out, it’s because it’s not safe yet. We promise they will be available as soon as it’s safe!
Current Mirror Lake Temperature
And remember, it works the same way in the fall.
As long as the weather allows for it, our firepits are lit year-round. If you would like one turned on, just ask one of our beach or front desk staff members! They get shut off around 10pm every night.
The ducks are so cute, you might have the urge to feed them. Reist the temptation! It’s harmful to them and humans.
Ducks have a natural survival rhythm and by feeding them things like bread, crackers, and potato chips, we make them dependent on our handouts and provide them with less nutritional foods than they naturally would find themselves.
Our feeding them also hurts their chance of survival by encouraging them to lose their natural fear of us.
Feeding waterfowl can also put humans at risk for “Swimmer’s Itch,” a skin rash caused by parasitic flatworms.
No, personal grills and BBQs are not allowed.
Room Questions
We have 165 rooms; 124 Deluxe Rooms + 41 Suites & Specialty Rooms.
The Cascade Suite is the largest suite at the resort with a nine person capacity.
It has three rooms total, a wood-burning fireplace, a full eat-in kitchen, and two full bathrooms.
This room is not connected to the hotel and does not have a lake view, but you still have access to all our property amenities.
We recently converted all our wood burning fireplaces to gas. The following rooms have fireplaces:
- Whiteface
- Marcy
- Cascade
- Algonquin
- Panther
- Phelps
- Skylight
- Wright Peak
- Normandy
- Lakeside
- Haystack
- Wolfjaw
- Condos
We have six room types that have kitchenettes.
- Wolfjaw
- Cascade
- Windfall
- Morningside
- Table Top
- Condos
Kitchenette rooms have additional features such as a cook-top stove, toaster, sink, and breakfast bar or table.
Restaurant Questions
Generations is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Hours may change seasonally but tend to be 7am-9pm daily.
Because you cannot access the outdoor patio without first going through the restaurant, Generations is not dog friendly. Sorry!
Generations is not just open for Golden Arrow guests, which means they don’t know if you’re a guest or not. We keep looking for mind readers, but just can’t find any – so until then, you’ll have to let them know you’re staying at the hotel.
While the pricing is all day, it’s still only on their normal happy hour menu, so make sure that’s where you’re ordering from!
Lake Placid, weather, and what to do
What to do in Lake Placid
Lake Placid has several great restaurants and it’s hard to go wrong with any of them. Our number one recommendation is of course Generations (hello all-day happy hour!), but some other favorites of locals and tourists alike include Lisa G’s, Smoke Signals, and Lake Placid Pub & Brewery.
Lake Placid might be most well known for hosting the Winter Olympics, but summer is actually one of the busiest times in Adirondacks! With so many lakes and rivers, it ‘s the perfect spot to get outside and enjoy nature. Kayak Mirror Lake, take a boat tour on Lake Placid, or just lounge on our private beach and take in the mountain views.
Other popular summer activities include: hiking, biking, and golfing.
Popular attractions include: High Falls Gorge, Ausable Chasm & the Olympic Venues.
Lake Placid is often referred to as the winter sports capital – and for good reason – there’s so much to do in the snowy months! Skiing, skating, and dog sled rides are popular for tourists and locals alike.
See all of our Adirondack winter adventure suggestions.
Weather
We wish we could predict the weather that well. Since we can’t, we just leave it up to mother nature to decide. That being said, you can usually see some great color around the end of September – mid-October.
You can follow us on Instagram to see the foliage progress.
2023 Progress (Whiteface Views) | 2023 Progress (Boathouse Views)
2022 Progress (Whiteface Views) | 2022 Progress (Boathouse Views)
Lake Placid averages 102 inches of snow per year. For comparison, the US average is 28 inches of snow per year.
We haven’t figured out how to predict this any better than the weather guy (yet), so we have to rely on the Weather Channel too.
Overall, you can expect the summer to be warm (average temperature is in the high 70s) and the winter to be cold (average ~20s).
The Lakes
Strangely enough, none of the tri-lake villages lie on their namesake. Lake Placid actually sits on Mirror Lake. Lake Placid (the lake) can be accessed by walking up Main Street.
No. Early conservation-minded lake owners had the foresight to block a bid to build a road around Lake Placid Lake. Instead, key landholdings were granted to the state, thereby granting them “Forever Wild” status.
“Forever Wild” is a constitutional designation set into the law at the turn of the century that states that once a property in under state ownership, it can not be developed for any purpose whatsoever, making it literally “forever wild.”
There is a way to see this beautiful lake, even if you do not own a house on it. The Lake Placid Marina takes guests on a 16-mile, round-trip boat tour and points out all the highlights. Be sure to ask about the Lady in the Lake!
Mirror Lake is 2.7 miles around and approximately 60 feet deep.
You can walk all the way around the lake.
The best place to find this information is with the Ausable River Association. They monitor the lake year-round and are also the ones who host the live stream on our homepage.
We wish we could predict the weather that well. Since we can’t, we just leave it up to mother nature to decide. That being said, it usually freezes around mid-December and thaws around April.
Here are the Ice In and Ice Out dates for the last few years:
2020/2021
Ice In: 12/16/2020 (Ice first formed on the lake on 12/11/2020, melted later that day and the next, then froze over on 12/16/2020)
Ice Out: 4/9/2021
Duration: 114 days
2021/2022
Ice In: 12/20/2021 ( Ice first formed on the lake on 12/9/2021, melted on 12/12/2021, and then froze over on 12/20/2021)
Ice Out: 4/14/2022
Duration: 115 days
2022/2023
Ice In: 12/13/2022
Ice Out:4/14/2023
Duration: 122 days
2023/2024
Ice In: 12/22/2023
Ice Out: 4/1/2024
Duration: 101 days
Dog sledding starts as soon as the ice is thick enough. Here are the start dates for the last few seasons:
- 2023/24 season: 01/08/24
- 2022/23 season: 12/22/22
- 2021/22 season: 12/29/21
- 2020/21 season: 01/09/21
Rides run Thursday – Sunday + holidays from 10am to ~4pm (they’ll go until it gets dark, but might leave early if it’s slow) for as long as the ice is safe enough to be on.
They do not take reservations. All rides are first-some-first-served.
What else you need to know: Dog sledding is not part of the Golden Arrow; it’s an independent company. You can follow them on Instragram @lakeplaciddogsled
They only take cash.
This is a weather dependent activity. There needs to be at least 12 inches of ice in order to be open.
Some other helpful info:
The toboggan chute only takes cash.
What’s included in the price: the toboggan and as many rides as you can get in during the scheduled time
How to dress: warm! Wear durable pants, like jeans. Friction can cause some nylon ski pants to wear through.
The movie Lake Placid (1995) was filmed mainly in the town of Shawnigan Lake, BC, Canada – which was pretending to be Maine.
There are no alligators here.