Golden Gate Lodging

So, I went the Labour Day weekend by bus from Montreal. I slept well at the hotel and loved that the lake is right there. The place had more of a working class crowd; the room had a bit of an odour, not unpleasant, but differed in smell from some hotels. I arrived by Uber from the bus stop in a Plattsburgh mall. Although there is a private beach at the hotel, I found I preferred to walk the ca. 20 minutes to get to Plattsburgh City Beach which had concessions and more of a vibe with other bathers and a lifeguard. For those without a car like me, the only place to eat within 5 minutes walk is a McDonald’s, took me about 20 minutes to walk towards town to one of the next closest eating establishments, Mickey’s, a busy Italian restaurant with a friendly, fun energy. It was maybe a 35-40 minute walk to the downtown core with its denser area of cafes and restaurants. So, doable but just for carless people that don’t mind walking (you could couple with Uber if you felt tired) —I felt I managed and was glad in a way to between the city beach and downtown Plattsburgh. Of note, I don’t think there are hotels in the more walkable downtown core; perhaps AirBnBs?

Bob, the manager, kindly remembered me from last summer and offered a complimentary upgrade to a spacious suite with a separate living room, two queen beds, and a kitchenette. The private beach access was a highlight—clean water and perfect temperature. Only downside was the housekeeping, as some fixtures and surfaces had noticeable dust buildup.

As an alternative to staying in Burlington, Golden Gate costs less, has beach front with a great lake view and is not far from the ferry dock. While the building may be showing its age, it does have a retro vibe and appears to be well maintained. I think having the kitchenette space is not a bad trade-off for a compact bathroom. Good value for travelers - especially in summer!

Stayed here a few times and each time is always pleasant. You have your own private beach which is a bonus.

room of my literal nightmares I gave this place 1 star. I couldn’t give it zero. I’ve literally never written a review before but I feel compelled to write one on this place. All we needed was a room to sleep in for a few hours while driving up to Canada, so I booked a room here for my boyfriend and I after reading some decent reviews. This was the room from my nightmares. We started unpacking to go to sleep and I noticed 2 spiders in the corner; my boyfriend killed them. We started noticing them in the shower, in the window, the corners, and another on the pillow. The final straw was when I went to grab something from my bag (which was on the ground for no more than 10 minutes) and there was a spider crawling in my bag. I called the front desk for another room and thank goodness there was another one available. I explained to the man at the front desk our room was filled with spiders, his response was “oh man really? we usually spray for those.” We got to the next room and somehow it was worse. This room also had spiders crawling everywhere(including the bed), but this one had different types of spiders! We saw what looked like a wolf-spider crawl into the air conditioning unit and another nesting between the window and screen (in addition to 3 other types of spiders we found both dead and alive). We didn’t even check out. I called a different hotel and ended up staying elsewhere. Absolutely disgusting and I hope the others guests rooms were sprayed because who knows what else is crawling around there!

Location and price. Drain a bit slow. Door window could have been shaded more to block out night light. Overall clean and convenient