I am, first and foremost a returning customer; rather, I should have said, I "was" a returning customer, as I will certainly no longer be one.
My past experiences here have been acceptable, enough so that we obviously returned on 3 occasions. Given our love of the Stanley Basin, with its majestic views and the beautiful Salmon River, one couldn't ask for a much better location; right on the riverfront with great views and close to services and groceries. This condition alone allows for considerable leniency when critiquing the age of the facilities, the furnishings, the fixtures and utensils, and the surroundings, as well as the owner's seemingly inept attempts to keep up with general maintenance of the aging facilities, or to implement improvements. Having read all of the reviews posted to date, it appears that the majority of reviewers, mostly as I do, love the location and find the facilities below par for the rates applied, even while respecting the degree of difficulty presented by the remote location.
Above all however, the one seemingly far too common critical theme found in the multiple reviews was regarding the first and foremost duty of any hospitality service provider, that being the providers respectful and service oriented attitude toward the customers, and it came into full view on my 3rd and final visit to this facility. I fully admit booking at the last moment, only 4 or 5 days in advance. While I wanted my usual cabin right on the river, none were available, so I told the owner's "agent" (daughter or assistant at the facility) that I would accept a room just off the river with one king bed if they could provide a fold out single bed for my daughter who would be accompanying my wife and I; she readily assured me that that was very doable, and took my booking information. The booking was followed by a room confirmation email that I readily acknowledged. We arrived at the facility to find no fold out bed in the room, and reminded the "agent" (owner's son) that there was supposed to be one for our daughter. He called his dad, and then told us his dad would be there in 20 minutes or so. The dad (owner) arrived a few minutes later , unmasked and wreaking of alcohol, to tell us that we had "signed off" and paid for only a room with a king bed, and that he knew nothing about a third party or an added bed, accusingly as though I had some incentive to lie to him about my daughter being with my wife and I. After reiterating that they had been fully informed of what we needed, he simply continued to rudely note that he knew nothing about it, and it was not an issue for him as I had "signed off" upon booking the room with only the king bed. After my continued insistence that his "staff" had been fully informed, he provided us with a folding cushion and a sheet and blanket to wrap around it for my 16 year old daughter to sleep on the floor with, offering no consolation whatsoever for his own daughter's failure to properly inform him of my original booking request. Aside from this poorly handled booking accommodation , we arrived after dark to find our rooms exterior light at the front door completely inoperable and hanging by its exposed, presumably live, electrical wire leaving our entry and it's tripping hazards pitch black as we unloaded our luggage from our car...... perhaps those neglected or inept improvements to this sub-par facility, do in fact, deserve stronger criticism. I will never return to this facility, nor will I recommend to anyone, and I will very likely share this rude hospitality experience with employees and associates to clearly illustrate "What NOT" to do as a hospitality or service provider. Any rate savings achieved by booking with this unprofessional operator are likely not worth the disappointing experience of staying here. read more