A thoroughly uncomfortable experience, I wouldn't recommend this place to my worst enemy. If you need this opinion explained, I would be happy to oblige.
At first glance the ranch is quite pretty. The surrounding countryside was also very nice. Rolling hills and featuring animals such as abundant pronghorn. This was offset by the fact that it seems like they absolutely hate that other people are in their home despite the fact that these people are guests that are paying to be there.
We have stayed in other Airbnbs before, in which you are staying in the home of the host with them. And they have been overwhelmingly positive experiences. Therefore we were expecting a similar experience here but were sorely disappointed.
Everything has a rule attached to it, and all these rules are explained in ways that are both incredibly wordy, and also vague. There are rules regarding how many rolls of toilet paper you can use; many, many rules regarding how many cars you can have parked there, and where they can park. Again, there are no designated parking areas, but you will get an ear full if you inadvertently park in the wrong spot, or, God forbid, bring one too many cars. We found the limit was three when a friend was reduced to tears for parking in an apparently unsanctioned area, despite the fact that the area is vast and there is no signage indicating where one is meant to park.
There are also dozens of personal items scattered around the guest areas that the guest aren't allowed to use or even touch. These towels are decorative, these blankets are not for the guests, dozens of little labels that are easy to miss if the room is dark or you wear glasses. Several of our party do not wear their glasses into the bathroom, and thus inadvertently used the "wrong" towels as they could not read the tiny labels indicating which towels they were meant to use, which they were later chastised for. And every little rule is explained in more words than are in this review, it's really hard to believe. In this rule book is explained the fact that almost everything in the room has a price. There are towels that you are allowed to use (I think) but other towels that you have to pay for. And hats and sunscreen, and other random things (kitchen utensils etc.) that anywhere else would be for the guests to use, but here are for sale. Like the toilet paper I mentioned earlier. Instead of the bathroom being stocked, every guest house is allowed two rolls. Two rolls for what could be 4 people staying over 3 or 4 days. And if you accidentally leave your roll in the common bathroom and someone else uses it, you're out of luck. Why is this rationed so much? Is it that expensive? This isn't high quality toilet paper. It is motel 6 quality, 25 cents a roll toilet paper.
Also, everything is wrapped in plastic, the mattresses and pillows come to mind. This causes lots of noise everytime someone moves and all your sweat to stick to you, causing you to both be cold, and soaking wet, not entirely enjoyable.
If you can get past this you get to experience the joy of having family time intruded upon constantly, or at the very least watched like you are in a prison camp. Is there a polite way of saying "this is a family vacation, can you please leave us alone?" We were constantly watched, to the point that the host at one point sat in the dark and watched us play cards. Additionally, the host at one point asked about the contents of our garbage! Why are you going through that!?
What triggered this investigation of our garbage was what appeared to be a very small stain on the couch. This we learned after being away, all day. Upon our return we faced accusations that one of our party had bled on their couch. This, despite the fact that there is a very elderly dog wandering around the guest area (there is no separation to keep the dog on their side) and, as we later learned, there were other people passing through our guest area to use a pool table and attend a shower downstairs. Despite all these other people (and animals) that may have used this couch, the host was convinced it was us, to the point where she assumed one of our party was on their period and the host searched for evidence of this in our garbage. We don't even know that this was blood. The stain was maybe the size of a dime, indicating that the area designated only for our use was clearly scoured top to bottom while we were away throughout the day, and some of our belongings had been moved, which made them frustrating to find later.
I cannot recommend anyone else stay at this ranch, particularly in what is referred to as the lodge, as this is in fact where the owner lives, and as I stated above, it couldnot be clearer that the host was exceedingly uncomfortable with having people in her house. This made staying there extremely uncomfortable and soured a very special occasion. read more