Merriweather Lakehouse Is The Good Winter Getaway
9 min read
“Just a little tranquil lake is extra vital to my life than any huge metropolis on this planet.” – Munia Khan (creator and poet)
Constantly making it to the highest of Cash Journal’s finest locations to dwell within the U.S. every year, and named the “most secure metropolis” by Forbes Journal, Columbia, Maryland is a superbly landscaped instance of a tree-lined suburban utopia with city conveniences.
Near each Baltimore and Washington, D.C., Columbia’s quickly increasing downtown, often known as the City Middle, attracts each locals and vacationers to its leisure and occasions, but additionally to buy on the Mall of Columbia, the place there are over 200 locations to buy and eat.
The newly developed Merriweather District in Columbia’s City Middle is shortly changing into a hub for arts and tradition, with a wide range of distinctive eating choices that embrace Thai, Indian, and a speakeasy with a number of extra eating places and eateries set to open this yr together with a “crossanterie.” In Merriweather District’s Colorburst Park, you’ll be able to go ice-skating at their seasonal out of doors rink in winter and so they even host out of doors film nights and dwell music in the summertime.
There’s an appreciation for nature and sustainability right here too. Columbia maintains 3600 acres of open house, 114 miles of trails, and 5 lakes for anybody eager to benefit from the outside. Columbia’s Lakefront District is a well-liked spot for festivals and different out of doors occasions all year long.
The Merriweather Lakehouse Lodge

The entrance entrance of the Merriweather Lakehouse Lodge in Columbia, Maryland.
Now, with the opening of its brand-new luxurious, Merriweather Lakehouse Lodge final yr, Columbia is changing into a sought-after vacation spot. With trendy lake home vibes and lovely floor-to-ceiling lake views all through, The Merriweather Lodge is the right spot for a soothing winter getaway.
Open only a yr, with 212 trendy rooms and a part of Marriott’s Autograph Assortment (a gaggle of over 180 distinctive unbiased accommodations, upscale and luxurious accommodations), Merriweather Lakehouse Hotel is a surprising lakeside retreat tucked in seven wooded acres the place you’ll be able to take time to chill out and refresh any time of yr.
And there’s a lot to like right here.

The residing space within the Presidential Suite on the Merriweather Lakehouse Lodge
Lovely, serene visitor rooms with luxurious linens (many with lakeside balconies views), a beautiful foyer and bar, a contemporary health heart, a cute little foyer cafe/espresso store, and lake views for days will all make you by no means need to depart.
Visitor room comforts and facilities embrace:
- Luxurious Linens
- C.O. Bigelow Lavender-Peppermint Tub Necessities
- 55′ Flat Display screen Good TV
- Mini Fridge
- Keurig

The bed room within the Presidential Suite on the Merriweather Lakehouse Lodge
The excellent news is if you wish to deliver your pooch alongside, they’re pet-friendly too.
The nice and cozy and attentive employees makes this resort really feel like a boutique property, however it’s the attractive views, luxurious facilities, and scrumptious onsite eating that may make you need to come again many times.
As you enter The Merriweather Lakehouse Lodge, you’ll immediately get transported right into a Zen-like house that mixes the great thing about lakeside residing with an appreciation for the musical facet of Columbia’s historical past.

The welcoming and spacious foyer at Merriweather Lakehouse Lodge
With a impartial palette with accents of blues and greens and lake-inspired décor in each nook, one of the hanging issues in regards to the resort is its floor-to-ceiling glass home windows that supply larger-than-life lake views from nearly each spot within the resort. There’s no technique to not really feel relaxed. We particularly loved sipping complimentary scorching chocolate within the cozy foyer every night.
There’s additionally a real appreciation for dwell music right here. Musical performances streamed within the foyer, honor the close by Merriweather Publish Pavilion, which each Billboard Journal and Rolling Stone have acknowledged as probably the greatest out of doors amphitheaters within the U.S. For the final 40 years, it’s drawn a number of the largest acts in music, together with Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Santana, and Taylor Swift. And it’s solely a 15-minute stroll from the resort.
Lake Kittamaqundi

Having fun with espresso and the winter view of Lake Kittamaqundi from our suite’s non-public balcony.
The Merriweather Lakehouse Lodge overooks Columbia’s stunning 27-acre Lake Kittamaqundi. Surrounded by a peaceable 1.4-mile wooded path, it’s excellent for nature lovers and health fans. A beautiful spot to reconnect with nature any time of the yr.
A reputation which means “assembly place” within the language of the primary regionally settled Indian tribe, Lake Kittamaqundi, is a reasonably little lake. Calm down on one among its many benches, take a leisurely stroll, or get your each day run alongside its simple paved path. Whereas the lake actually sees extra site visitors in summer time, it’s simply as stunning and serene within the winter.
Lake Kittamaqundi is the biggest of Columbia’s 5 deliberate and developed lakes. However though it’s not authentic to the realm, it appears to be like and feels prefer it belongs right here. And native wildlife agrees.
Chicken lovers shall be blissful to be taught that the lake and its surrounding space are actually dwelling to a wide range of chicken species, together with water birds like belted kingfishers and nice blue herons. Head to the lake’s pier to identify one of many many species of geese like ring-necked geese, northern shovelers, and hooded mergansers fortunately swimming by.
Tip: Verify right here for up-to-date daily bird sightings at Lake Kittamaqundi!
An incredible place to “canine watch”, the lake is a favourite spot for locals to stroll their canines of all breeds. Welcome to kayakers, you’ll want a allow if you wish to fish.

A panoramic view from the resort of Lake Kittamaqundi
What’s good is that the path that wraps round Lake Kittamaqundi additionally connects with different paved trails that wind all through Columbia. For extra exploration, veer to the left the place the path forks on the northwest finish of the lake. This path will take you to close by Wilde Lake and is the right path to take when you’re in search of an extended out of doors trek (2.9. miles whole). See the trail here
Lake Kittamaqundi makes an important picnic spot within the hotter months. There’s a Entire Meals a brief stroll from the south finish of the lake (2 minutes) the place you’ll be able to seize lunch, a snack, or take a espresso to go to benefit from the lakeside. It’s additionally identified for its stunning sunsets.

Lake Kittamaqundi at sundown.
Eating At The Merriweather Lakehouse Lodge
The resort is inside strolling distance of the eating places within the Merriweather District and The Mall of Columbia. However you don’t want to depart the resort property for a scrumptious chew. The resort’s onsite restaurant, lāk affords a inventive menu of traditional American with Worldwide infusions.

Merriweather Lakehouse Lodge’s model new restaurant, lāk
lāk Restaurant at The Merriweather Lakehouse
Serving breakfast and dinner each day, lāk (pronounced “lake”) is taken into account a effective eating restaurant. However its heat service, cool trendy, pop artwork décor and relaxed ambiance give it good informal vibes. And we love that.
Even higher is the meals.

Fried Calamari at lāk.
Every thing we tried at lāk was contemporary and scrumptious. The highlights from our order the night time we visited was the sunshine and crispy Fried Calamari with pepperoncini and Fra Diavolo sauce and the Hen Piccata, a Parmesan-crusted hen breast with angel hair topped with a delicious Lemon Caper Sauce.

Chef Zach Dollak within the kitchen at lāk.
Raised on a dairy farm in Pennsylvania close to the Poconos, Chef Zach Dollak just lately joined the Merriweather Lakehouse crew because the resort’s culinary director after working all through the U.S. at premier eating places and luxurious accommodations, together with Emeril’s NOLA and The Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia. Now he’s placing lāk on the map as a culinary vacation spot to not be missed.

Crab Desserts at lāk
Since there’s no higher place for crab desserts than Maryland, we couldn’t depart with out attempting their two lump crab desserts served over a creamy forest mushroom risotto with lemon garlic aioli. Completely unbelievable. When you love crab, don’t miss this dish.

Skillet Cowboy Cookie Sundae
Even when you’re full from dinner, don’t miss out on their ever-changing made-from-scratch dessert menu. Dessert choices change right here typically. If out there, strive the Apple Crisp served with caramel ice cream or the Skillet Cowboy Cookie sundae topped with vanilla ice cream and moist walnuts. Each are tremendous scrumptious.

Pastry Chef Brian Holland icing a carrot cake.
Pastry Chef Brian Holland, a graduate of the Worldwide Culinary Middle in New York Metropolis who spent greater than a decade on the 4 Seasons in Baltimore, creates tantalizing desserts and pastries for the resort.
The Rookery Bar & Lounge

The Rookery Bar & Lounge
At night time, unwind on the resort’s Rookery Bar & Lounge serves up craft cocktails, wine, and beer with tasty bites like Steak & Cheese Egg Rolls, Bavarian Pretzel Sticks, and Cubano sandwiches.

Steak & Cheese Egg Rolls and Bavarian Pretzel Sticks at The Rookery Bar & Lounge.
Stylish and trendy, with a number of the finest lake views in the home, The Rookery Bar & Lounge opens at 4 pm every night time. You even have the choice to order from lāk’s menu however get served up within the bar.
The Osprey Cafe
For gourmand espresso served with lake views and comfortable seating in entrance of a fireside, head to the Osprey Cafe, the resort’s stylish lobby-side cafe.
Together with contemporary brewed Lavazza espresso, espresso, and fancy espresso drinks, you too can seize a fast chew within the morning when you don’t have time for a sit-down breakfast.

A contemporary chocolate croissant and Lavazza espresso at Osprey Cafe.
Don’t overlook to select up one among their freshly baked pastries, like their buttery chocolate croissants.
The Health Middle
The gymnasium right here is so good right here you’ll need to break a sweat.
To get in an excellent exercise, the Merriweather Lakehouse Lodge has a 24-hour onsite health heart that’s well-equipped with weights, machines, and equipment like BOSU® steadiness trainers, yoga balls, and foam rollers for energetic restoration.

A rowing machine with a lakeside view on the Merriweather Lakehouse Lodge health heart.
Additionally they have a rowing machine, Peloton® bikes, and high-tech Elevate Life-style treadmills and elliptical machines, that are Bluetooth and Wi-Fi enabled and have dwell real-world interactive programs that may transport you across the globe. They’re a number of enjoyable! Make an account, and it can save you your exercise knowledge for later.
The Pearl Spa
For spa facilities, remedies, and health courses like yoga, The Pearl Spa, is a 27,000-square-foot wellness heart solely a brief stroll from the resort.
In addition to enjoyable massages, physique wraps, and reiki, additionally they supply magnificence remedies like facials, manicures, pedicures, and waxing. A novel function of THE Pearl is its expansive water remedy room that features a jacuzzi, steam room and sauna, chilly plunge, leisure pool, and vitamin C bathe they name THE Therapeutic Waters.
For a novel expertise, guide a session in The Pearl’s Halotherapy (salt) room which advocates consider helps promote detoxing, reduces irritation and improves respiratory. To quiet your thoughts, THE Nice Abyss – is a deep multi-sensory meditation expertise that mixes vibrations and magnetic remedy with layers of music – to induce deep leisure.
The Pearl Spa’s Wellness Passport offers visitors with an inexpensive package deal with a few of their hottest experiences for relieving stress. It consists of:
- 1 mind-body motion or meditation class
- 1 aspect expertise salt session
- 1 hour in THE therapeutic waters
- A 25-minute session in THE nice abyss (meditation expertise)
It prices $100 per individual and you’ll prepay when reserving the resort with code SPA at checkout.
Merriweather Lakehouse Lodge Location and Parking
Lodge: Merriweather Lakehouse, Autograph Assortment
Web site: https://merriweatherlakehouse.com/
Handle: 10209 Wincopin Circle
Columbia, Maryland, 21044
Tel: +1 410-730-3900
Nearest Cross Avenue: Little Patuxent Parkway
Parking: Parking on the resort is free and straightforward. Self-park within the storage immediately throughout from the resort.
Attending to the Merriweather Lakehouse Lodge
Close by Airports
Balt/Wash Intl (10.25 miles southeast)
Ronald Reagan Natl (27.25 miles southwest)
Dulles Intl (36 miles southwest)
Close by Sights
The Mall in Columbia
Merriweather Post Pavilion
THE Pearl Modern Spa
Fairway Hills Golf Club
Historic Ellicott City
Robinson Nature Center
Patapsco Valley State Park
Toby’s Dinner Theatre
Lost Ark Distilling Company
Sapwood Cellars Brewery