This B&B changed hands four years ago and currently has an offsite manager who lives somewhere in…read moreCalifornia and attempts to manage operations by text. Prior to the sale the owner lived in the house next door and personally managed the inn's daily operations.
We stayed in the Juniper room and the first night was quiet, but the second we were kept awake by coyotes howling right outside the window. When we entered our room, we checked and found the following:
1. There were dozens of dead bugs on the bathroom walls and all over the floors, especially next to the nightstands and next to the bed.
2. There was a large mass of black hair in the shower drain.
3. The bathroom faucet was almost completely clogged with minerals so that the water sprayed sideways.
4. The show was also clogged and only three streams of water came out at high velocity, so it was painful to try to use it.
5. The shower mat was wet and dirty, and the tiles and floor were heavily mineralized or perhaps dirty.
6. The bathroom cabinet was dirty and had some sort of residue all over it.
7. There was a 6-inch by 3-inch hole next to the air conditioner that was open to the outside. The right side of the air conditioner was also open to the outside.
8. The outer screen door did not open properly unless I applied upward pressure, and the inside door did not lock completely.
9. The bed was very small, an old-style queen, but the sheets were clean.
10. When we woke up in the morning there were mice droppings all over the floor, which is not only unsanitary but also dangerous as many mice carry hantavirus.
After walking around the grounds, we noticed the following:
1. There were three-foot-high weeds all over, and the back of our casita had five-foot-tall weeds and broken glass bottles scattered around.
2. The fields around the inn were all wild and overgown.
3. The mulch in the shrub beds was sinking into the dirt.
4. What appeared to have been manicured plants in the past were now all overgown and unhealthy and surrounded by overgown weeds.
5. There was a 5-foot wide and 4-foot deep hole dug in the back yard with no protection against someone falling in other than a rope, most of which was on the ground.
6. The paved paths, including those adjacent to the main house, were cracked and dirty and were covered by leaves and debris.
7. None of the outdoor chairs had cushions or covers.
There was no onsite maintenance or operations manager, and the women who cooked the breakfasts were also working as housekeepers and groundskeepers. They told us that there is nobody else to help them and that the owner rarely shows up in person. The owner attempts to manage by text message but there is no cell service at the inn - how ironic! Thus, there is no way to report problems unless a guest has enabled Wi-Fi calling and messaging.
This place is a perfect example of a property that shows the failure of remote management and that lacks adequate staff to operate successfully. The one part-time person makes a huge effort to do what is needed, but one part-time employee simply cannot do everything to handle daily operations. What is needed is a full-time grounds maintenance person, a full or mostly full-time cook, full-time housekeeping, and an on-call or part-time handyman for fixing things like doors, plumbing or electrical. The owner needs to realize his failure at remote management and acknowledge that the tasks needed to properly operate the inn cannot be completely accomplished by only one part-time onsite person who tries to cook, clean, and maintain the grounds.
As a result of this management failure, the facilities and grounds have become dilapidated, run down, overgrown with weeds, and verge on non-functional. I do not recommend staying here until there is a complete overhaul of the management approach.
