We booked 3 nights at the Westlake Waterfront Inn sight unseen, in order to visit Smith Mountain Lake as a potential retirement location. We ended up adding an extra night to our stay!

The Westlake is run by a very friendly couple and their adult daughter. They do have 2 dogs and 2 cats. One dog is a golden retriever, the other is a laid-back rottweiler. They do not pester the guests unless the guests approach the dogs. They are usually quite busy catching small fish (the golden) or moving rocks in the water (the rottweiler). The cats are tame, but prefer to be petted and not picked up.

The Inn is beautiful. Every room has a front and back door, with a water view from each. There IS a tub in every room. The beds are comfortable and the rooms are quiet (at least ours was, and one night of our stay was a full house). There are loaves of bread to feed the carp, and chairs outside of every room for sitting on the covered balcony.

Rooms have microwaves and good sized mini-fridges. The coffeemaker only has regular coffee, so bring a decaf if you want.

We rented a pontoon boat right across the street and the boat was beautiful. The marina staff is friendly and helpful. There are also two dogs at the marina. Smith Mountain Lake seems quite dog friendly!

There was a LOT of boat traffic on the lake on Saturday and the first half of Sunday. Weekdays in the summer are much nicer for boating and fishing.

Pick up a free map in the lobby...they are invaluable if you are cruising the lake. It was our first trip here, but definitely not our last. It took us over 7 hours to drive here, and I'll probably cry the entire way home. If I could just stay and stay, I would.

This is a not a Sheraton or Hyatt. There is no room service, gift shop, or coffee shop. However, there's a nice strip mall not far away with a Kroger's, CVS, and Wendy's. You won't starve.

The Westlake Waterfront Inn is basically a Super 8 by the water. If you don't mind putting up with a hard bed, no bathtub, paper thin walls, no hair dryer, no shampoo/lotion & towels like sandpaper then this is the place for you. In its defense the room was very clean & did have a wonderful view. Sitting on the balcony looking out over the water was the highlight of our stay. Oh, & you must love big dogs as the proprietor allows her dogs free reign of the place. I personally don't like dogs & they don't like me. They look at me & see lunch, it seems, I've been bitten so many times. So I wasn't happy with these dogs asserting themselves on me while I sat there. I tried to hint to the owner that I don't like dogs but she defended them. It isn't good when a hotel's owner doesn't care about the comfort of her guest. This stay was to celebrate my 2nd honeymoon with my husband but we were so uncomfortable we checked out a day early.

My friends and I stayed here on a fishing trip april,6-7. Met dad and daughter upon check in, very nice and friendly people. Very clean rooms, dock slip for every room with eletric so bring your boat. We hired pro guide Todd Keith from the shad taxi he will pick you up at the hotel dock.

On a spur of the moment weekend to Smith Mountain Lake, VA, we stumbled upon the Westlake Waterfront Inn which sits on a point offering amazing lake views. It's a mom & pop & daughter operation that provides basic and clean accomodations. Basic: they give you soap and towels but no shampoo or body lotions, a coffee pot with styrofoam cups rather than mugs, a mini-fridge and microwave oven, and cable tv. Ah - but there is so much more. The hotel is one-room deep, so you get a back door and front door. You can sit on the deck chairs and enjoy views of the lake from either side. If you bring your boat or rent one, you can dock right at your door. There were also several grills lined up on the side of the hotel, which seemed to be free for the borrowing. Across the road is a boat rental company and a gourmet restaurant. We will definitely stay here again.