Welcome to Ranch Suites, a.k.a. "Bates Motel!"
Our experience here was absolutely horrific! We made a reservation well in advance and spoke with a gentleman (not the owners) who seemed very cordial and nice. The photos also looked cute. And these two factors led us to make the reservation site unseen.
Little did we know that we were walking straight into h e l l when we got there! Yes this place surely has a small town feel... Though not the one you'd expect. Our experience was not unlike the movie Bates Motel, Which it looked a lot like once we arrived in person.
Our "greeter" was a haggard looking chain smoking lady stumbling like she was on drugs wearing a raggedy nightgown who was blatantly directing us as if she represented the motel. When she told us she was not the manager or owner we were relieved at first. Until we did meet the owners themselves. Stereo typical backwoods Texan nightmare caricatures, h e l l -bent on being rude and defensive right off the bat in response to our smiles.
They had switched the room up on us without letting us know, and though all the rooms are located near lots of noise and traffic, when we went into our room it reeked of a super strong pet smell, particularly cat. A smell that had been worked into the carpet over the years it seemed. Everyone in my party made a face because it was so overpowering. When we went to let them know of the smell and see about possibly changing rooms, the owners immediately became defensive, shoving some artificial room spray at us and telling us we could leave if we didn't like it. They also denied there were pets when it was (white elephant in room) obvious that that had created the smell. We felt highly inconvenienced by this, and told them we needed a few minutes to think about our plans. Since we had already put our belongings in the room, we stepped in, again passing the original obnoxious lady, who was now smoking outside our room blowing it near our door and shouted that she had a couple dogs in there. We went back to let the owners know of the disturbances, and again were met with nastiness, and an emotional rage at us (the old blame the victim card), rather than any concern or Customer Service.
We went in our room (which had already been paid for) to grab our belongings and make a phone call and the owners came pounding on our door demanding their key back. They took my credit card again and also kept a copy of my drivers license, so let that be known on here. If there is any fraudulent activity I will surely post an update on here as they will be suspect. Their reaction was so emotional and out of line that I wouldn't put anything past these people.
I let the owners know that their conduct was very unprofessional, And that we would've gladly worked with the disturbances and been open to a win-win solution, had they handled this in a cordial or professional manner. They began threatening us to call the police because they couldn't handle us standing up to the uncalled-for treatment. I suppose many people in the backwoods there don't have the refinement or courage to call these people out on their conduct, so they get away with it.
We had a couple cars and a lot of bags to get back into our cars and were parked behind each other, so we were taking a second to gather ourselves to leave. The owner lady came out as we were engaged in our business and started pointing her finger and yelling at us to get off the property. Some words were exchanged at that point as we had had enough and felt she was attacking and that we had to defend ourselves enough just to get out of there. (Think the infamous knife scene from Bates Motel lol... She may as well had that knife in her hand coming out after us like that).
This experience was indeed horrific, and unusual. And it was completely unprovoked. Fortunately we found a very professional and clean hotel called A m e r i c a s B e s t value Inn gunbarrel city. Everything was professional, and we really enjoyed our stay, and even paid less than this dump!
Beyond me sharing my story of this experience, know that this place looks absolutely nothing like the photos. It's a dump off the side of the road a few feet from traffic and the doors face outward and the walls seem very thin. The place has an overall dumpy feeling and everything is smaller than those photos which do not represent it. We had also been looking at getting our family members a bridal suite, and the room they showed us was in back of the office so that you could hear every sound and they could walk right in. If that's not downright insulting I'm not sure what is! It's laughable at this point and I hope more people are willing to share their honest experiences on here, So more people don't go through such an experience!
There are lots of other good hotels around the area, you just have to look!
I do NOT recommend this one. Good luck! :) read more
