I have never, ever written a bad review, but I thought I needed to warn others about this place. My husband and our 2 year old daughter missed our flight back to Colorado and were scrambling last minute to find something in Seward. Murphy's Inn was one of the only places with a room available--should have been a warning, but we were desperate. We booked a standard room for 2 nights, at $165.00 a night (this includes tax). I had told the girl on the phone that we had a 2-year old, but I didn't ask for a crib. We drove in late last night to discover the motel was in a really sketchy area of town. Also, the motel did not have an operating crib for our daughter. When we got to our room, it was so tiny, and on the first floor. We switched to a deluxe room for $209.00 a night, which was on the second floor. When we went up the stairs we witnessed a couple of scantily dressed women hanging out smoking cigarettes. The room was bigger but just as cheaply built. Very thin sheets on the bed. Rusty shower drain. Window opened up to dilapidated housing. We didn't feel it was safe for our family, so we decided that we needed to stay someplace else. We went to the front desk to explain our situation and how we didn't think the place was suitable for our child. The girl at the front desk, although seemingly nice, said we couldn't cancel without paying a penalty because they couldn't rebook. I found this odd, because when I first walked in to talk with the woman, she had just received a call from an interested person looking to book a room that night. I asked to speak with her manager, who I think was the owner. While we were waiting for the owner to call me back, another person called about renting a room for tomorrow night. Also, during this time the girl at the front desk asked where I was from, and then asked me if I always book last minute and don't plan my vacations! The nerve! I explained how we booked last minute, only a few days ago because we missed our flight, and usually plan our vacations ahead of time.
When the owner called me back, I explained to him the our situation, and that the lack of a crib and the location just wasn't going to work. He then told me that he could find me a crib. I told him thank you, but that it just wasn't going to work. He said he would have to charge me a penalty for canceling, which he said was 50% of the cost for each night canceled. This is different than the advertised cancellation policy charge is just ONE night's stay. He said he'd cut me a deal and just charge me $75, which is really all that the cheap room was worth.
I asked if we could get our money back if they were able to rent out the room, and explained to him how the front desk had just received calls about availability today and tomorrow. He refused! He said, the issue was not whether he could re-book the room, but the amount of money he could get for the room (apparently, he was happy ripping us off with the overpriced room and didn't want to lose out on his windfall). We explained to him it would probably be better business to try to work with us instead of worrying about his $75.00 but he wasn't convinced. We paid the money and left.
We have to say here that we wouldn't have been able to get out of this mess if it weren't for Sarah at the Exit Glacier Lodge. She had a cancellation last night and was able to accommodate our last minute needs. She had a nice, clean room with a king size bed available for $169.00. The room was bigger than the cheap tiny room at Murphy's for the same price, plus we felt much safer. And breakfast was included! When I told the owner of Murphy's Inn that we had found a room at Exit Glacier Lodge, he told me that Murphy's Inn had a three-star rating, while Exit Glacier Inn had only a 2-star rating. On what planet???
Overall, terrible experience with this business, DO NOT COME HERE IF YOU CAN HELP IT, EVEN IN A BIND PAY THE EXTRA MONEY TO GO SOMEPLACE ELSE. BEWARE OF MURPHY'S INN!! read more