3 Best Hotels in Lake Placid, The Adirondacks and Thousand Islands

The lodge, 5 mi south of Lake Placid, was built in 1927 on the shore of Heart Lake. It's run by the nonprofit Adirondack Mountain Club, which also runs the High Peaks Information Center here. The lodge has private rooms, family bunk rooms that sleep four to six, and a coed sleeping area with 18 beds. The main room has a stone fireplace, and the dining room serves homemade breads and soups. You may also order trail lunches here. There's a small beach on the property, and trailheads are steps away. The lodge has canoes and kayaks, and snowshoe and cross-country-ski rentals are available at the information center. Also on the grounds are two cabins, three canvas cabins, 36 campsites, and 36 lean-tos. A Modified American Plan for dining is available to lodge guests staying for three or five nights.

The family-owned hotel, named for the famous ski jumper, sits on 2 acres three blocks from the Olympic Center. Every year, the owners renovate a new bit of the property. All but two rooms have been renovated since 2000, and many are now larger, have bigger flat-screen televisions and refrigerators and feature granite countertops and wood ceilings.

The former Best Western Golden Arrow is under new management, and sits right in the heart of Lake Placid, on Main Street. Beautiful views of Mirror Lake are available from the lobby and some rooms, which have balconies. But what really sets the property apart is the owners' decision to go as green as possible. Expect recycled and ecofriendly gifts to greet you on arrival (perhaps a pine-tree seed in a terra-cotta pot filled with earth, for example). Have a seat at Charlie's, the resort restaurant, for a view of the green roof. The roof, finished in summer 2008, is an insulating blanket of plants grown on a flat section of the property's roof. Some of the herbs grown there might go into dishes served at Charlie's. Kids' programs are available.