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Writer's pictureThe Lodge Blogger

Summer 2021 Update and Indoor Dining Room Reopening!

Fun Summer Days and Gorgeous Summer Nights


With the summer season in full swing, we have had several fully-booked weekends, and are about to have several more. This is our busy season, and although it is tiring and hectic, we relish the opportunity to welcome back old friends and to make some great new ones.


It is always very satisfying for us to be able to walk the property and see our Guests having a wonderful time, playing soccer or badminton, throwing the ball around, jumping into the water, laughing, boating, fishing, etc. Especially after a long, lonely winter. It truly makes all of our hard work worth it, and keeps us going.


We've begun the process of updating cottages one by one, and returning Guests may notice some of these changes; from fresh paint to new furniture and appliances, etc. We're taking the slow-and-steady approach to bringing the cottages into a more modern era, while making sure they maintain the rustic nature that all of our returning Guests have grown to love over the 8+ decades that the Lodge has been hosting friends and families.

The COVID guidelines for Lodges like ours, although slowly being relaxed, mean far more stringent cleaning and sanitizing procedures that we have decided will be continued in our cottages permanently to benefit all of our present and future Guests.


We hope that everyone is having a very safe and enjoyable summer, are taking advantage of the vaccinations being offered, and are looking forward to at least a partial return to 'normalcy' as much as we are!


Indoor Dining is Returning to the Lodge!


We're pleased to announce the reopening of our indoor #dining room. It has been many months of #takeout only, but the time has finally come for us to see many of you face-to-face again, as well as meet a whole bunch (hopefully) of new folks.

We'll be tweaking hours, availability and capacity over the coming months, as we try to establish our operations and adapt them to demand, etc. It's very difficult to judge those things right now, as the times haven't exactly been normal. Trial and error is the key, so please bear with us as we attempt to make the Restaurant suit the needs of as many of you as possible. One crucial thing that won't change, however, is the quality, uniqueness and deliciousness (is that a word?) of Chef Matt's menu: that's a guarantee!


Currently, the plan is to be open (starting tomorrow, Saturday, July 17, 2021) for dine-in reservations Thursday through Sunday; 11:30am-1pm for Lunch, and 4:30pm-7pm for Dinner. Again, this is subject to change as we assess the viability and popularity of our operations. As we operate our Restaurant staffed, at the moment, with just our family, and due to current health and safety guidelines, several important points have to be made:

  • Seating is very limited, and the same social distancing guidelines that have been in place since near the beginning of the pandemic are to be maintained; meaning that although party size is no longer limited to 6 people, any party must be self-contained and keep a minimum 2 meters from the next table/party. This limits the number of reservations we can accept at any given time, and that number can vary widely based on the party size of each reservation.

  • Indoor dining is by reservation only, and all reservations have to be accepted on our end; that way we can refuse reservations that fall within the timeframe of other patrons' reservations that may case the distancing guidelines to be in peril. In these cases, we will do our best to contact reservations that need to be refused to see if we can find alternative times for them. To request a reservation, please visit https://www.thewestarmlodge.com/reservations and be sure to input all of your information; the system will then alert us to your request, at which point we can accept, decline or suggest an alternative time.

  • In order to maximize the number of patrons we're allowed to have in the dining room, we will be closing the temporary outdoor seating that was used before indoor dining was available again; we're only allowed the total maximum 30 guests under our license, and having the outdoor seating available takes away from that total, and strains our ability to serve everyone promptly.

  • Our policy requires masks to be worn at all times when entering, exiting or traversing the restaurant, including when using the restrooms, etc. Once seated, you may remove your mask. If you do not have a mask, we may be able to provide you with a disposable one on request. There is no exception to this policy.

  • Please be aware that currently the dining room is not air conditioned, and although several windows do open up, on the hot days we can experience here, the dining room is very warm.

  • Because of the mega-popularity of #cheffmatt's pizzas, if you would like #pizza for your dine-in reservation on Friday nights, it will have to be pre-ordered just as it is currently for takeout. We sell out of pizzas on Thursday for Friday night, so it is recommended you make your reservation first, noting that you will be pre-ordering your pizza in the 'Special Requests' field when reserving. Then, on Thursday morning, when you order your pizzas online, be sure to add a note that you would like it for your dine-in reservation, and include your reservation number if possible. Please remember that once we're sold out of our allotment of pizzas, there is simply no way to add more.

We look forward to the remainder of the summer, and will have more news about the upcoming fall and winter seasons soon. In the meantime please take care of yourselves, and remember to always be kind. The world needs more kindness right now.


Sincerely,


The White Family

The West Arm Lodge and Restaurant

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