As previous reviewers have noted this place has no electricity despite the area having power for 2 years. This makes the rooms dark and the bathrooms even darker. Kerosene lanterns don't put out much light!
Our room had a fire and I suspect they all do but it was not needed in July. There was hot water but the shower wasn't that good and the plumbing needs an update in general.
We were the only people staying there so things might be different if it was full.
The lodge is in a very small collection of houses (who have power!) but offset on its own.
There is no literature on what to see or do whilst staying here, all they have is a hand drawn map, which is not to scale, on a piece of paper.
Basically there are 3 things to do. The main attraction is the waterfall which is easy to find and the second thing is the upper caves. We combined both and they offered a guide. Do not do this without a guide! If we had just used their map we would have got nowhere! There are no real trails from the upper caves to the waterfall and it is a general scrabble through the bush so you need the guide.
Both are really nice and will take you all morning. The caves are deserted whilst the waterfall is much more touristy with sellers etc.
The third thing to do is to walk to the mission. This is the least interesting in my opinion.
That will take the afternoon.
We came in by train and stayed 2 nights which is what most people do.
The food is included and is excellent. Up there with the best food (if not the best) we had in Mexico. Breakfast is cereal and eggs (of your choice). Lunch was soup and fruit and dinner was soup and a main course and pudding. Not sure why there was so much soup but it was excellent as was the dinner. Mexicans say that the best food is home cooking and I can only agree!
The staff were great and very helpful and the guide was excellent and it didn't matter that his English was non existent.
We had a great time there but the place had that "owner absent" feel about it. You can't help but feel if they lived there they would have power (forget about reading in the evening) and improve the showers etc. Come darkness there is nothing to do, there is a general sitting area but it is very dark and not that welcoming.

This charming lodge is located within easy walking distance of a waterfall and a short hike away from the village of Cusararé. Both the museum and the mission make it worth the effort to stroll into town. There is no electricity but when we returned to our room after dinner we found the kerosene lamps lit and wood for the stove ready to go. Three hearty meals are served daily by friendly staff and the showers were always hot.

We stayed one night at the Sierra Madre Hiking Lodge outside of Creel due to the rave reviews we saw in certain travel guides. After 2 days in town, we wanted to get out of Creel and spend some time in an area with hiking opportunities and a quiet atmosphere. This lodge offers both in abundance! But be prepared for a lack of comforts - the simple rooms do not have heat, electricity, or hot water. In December this can make staying there a lot like indoor camping. The rooms do have fireplaces and kerosene lamps and the lodge dining room serves basic but hearty meals.

We paid $120 for 2 people for one night, a lot for what you get. But go there for the beautiful location and the hiking.

The Sierra Lodge was built by American Skip McWilliams 40 years ago, when it was a primitive location without electric power. Skip made a lot of the lack of power adding to the ambiance, and that he could get more for the rooms without power than with. This lodge is still a nice, quiet, rustic place to stay in the Creel vicinity, out in the forest away from the tacky, poor-man’s resort town . Today, in 2007, though, I would argue with the lack of power, since the road is paved and the power poles stand immediately in front of the building. Even the primitive Tarahumara cabins surrounding it are lit with electric light.
Despite the white walls, the log ceilings and the floors are extremely dark, and there is an excessively low-hanging roof over the veranda, which keeps the rooms very dark even at noon. . At night, the kerosene lamps provide just pinpoints of light to follow. The light doesn’t even reach the floor. I never put anything down in the room except on the windowsill, where I could find them in the gloom. I stayed at more remote locations than this by far, and they had either electricity (with real kerosene lamps for the not-infrequent power outages) or solar lights. It is my understanding that Skip sold this place because civilization was encroaching too close (pavement a quarter of a mile away). I really don’t think it would hurt the ambiance of the place to add some electric lights. The fireplace in our room kept us cosy even though it froze very hard overnight (late March). There are large showers but I chose not to shower in the dark. The dining room is intimate and rustic, and the fireplace, margaritas and authentic Tarahumara music group playing on genuine home-made, unvarnished violins, made for a wonderful, genuine experience. I do think, though, that the name Sierra Madre Hiking Lodge is a little grandiose, considering the hiking opportunities are basically two: a 1 km walk through Tarahumara huts in a dusty bowl to a cliff-dwelling alcove with granary, goat shed and both ancient petroglyphs and modern graffiti; or a 3 km walk down the river, with discarded scraps of cloth and plastic garbage littering every step of the way, to Cusarare Falls (just a trickle in March).
Overall I would recommend this lodge as a superior choice compared with the unattractive town of Creel, but I definitely would vote for bringing in the electricity.