BAIT & SWITCH: GUEST COMFORT AND CONVENIENCE:
Advertised as 3-bedroom, 6 guest cabin, Cabin #1 has no separation/privacy doors (only one queen bedroom has a thin door), a small bathroom with 2 towels (not half as nice as the bathrooms pictured on the Veebar.com website) and it is located at the main (dirt road) driveway of the ranch, so every truck and trailer entering and leaving passed directly by. Add the mouse or rat that is currently building a nest in the ceiling of the only "bedroom" with a door, sleep is optional in this setup. The little sink in this bedroom has multiple cracks and shows major use/dirt and is no pleasure to use for personal hygiene. The bathroom itself wasn't clean, did not provide sufficient towels and shampoo for a party larger than 2 and the shower curtain did not look like its cleaned regularly. A proof for this assumption was, that the two nights we spent in cabin #1 the room was not cleaned, the beds weren't made and the towels not exchanged. The excuse of "true western experience" sounds lame, as we are sure even cowboys shower from time to time and each would prefer his/her own towel to dry. We signed up for the 3:30pm orientation ride - unfortunately, our cabin was only ready minutes prior - no time to change into riding gear. Although not anybody's fault, we could have been advised not to park our car next to Cabin #1, as the tree there emitted enough tree-sap for our car requiring expert detailing after our stay.
FOOD:
Sourced from a SYSCO truck and the Vee Bar "Wal-Mart charge account" (quote of a wrangler), the food does not nearly meet the expectations set by the amount charged ($5,800 for four people, Wednesday afternoon arrival, Saturday morning departure). Do not expect espresso drinks or a breakfast buffet with several choices of cheeses and meats.....you are in for a couple of yoghurts and one or two warm dishes (scrambled eggs, hash-browns), basically a "free breakfast" equivalent of a Residence Inn or similar hotel type. Also worth mentioned is how the rations are calculated: once the wranglers join for the meal (nice touch), the more popular food items are quickly exhausted. Twice (in only two days) we were unable to acquire a second helping and not once were we truly impressed with the taste, the quality of the ingredients or the choice of sides. We felt "nickel-and-dimed" as sodas (!) and beer/wine was charged extra for $3/can/bottle. Seriously for that price and the quality of food served? You could - of course - always drink water from the sink.....
Soft-boiled eggs, Eggs Benedict, omelet's or espresso for breakfast? Dream on, Cowboy!
ENVIRONMENT:
We observed how trash was mixed with glass and recyclable paper cups/plastic at the
Camp", although it would have been easy to put two cans and to separate these items for proper recycling.
GUEST WELL BEING AND HEALTH:
No filtered water is provided - other facilities we have visited (including Yellowstone, Bryce lodges) had plastic bottle elimination faucets with cold, clean drinking water. Glasses are filled in the "saloon" in the dishwashing sink from the faucet. The bathrooms we observed (including the cracked sink in Cabin #1 queen bedroom) are not very clean and aged and the toilet at the camp site is disgusting (our mom ran to the shower after our return from there).
RIDING:
The orientation ride on the ranch - the only "ride" we experienced there - did not nearly provide the guidance we have experienced at other outfits; NO advice on heal position, properly holding the reigns, foot-steering, backing-up, riding uphill or downhill, or potential life-saving single-side reign emergency stop etc., etc. was given. We blame this lack of instruction for our group "newbie" to being unable to avoid/steer around low hanging branches, resulting in bruises and cuts.
90% of the wranglers are young college students, some are very nice and tell the guests about the area (e.g: "Frog"), others do not speak a word for the whole transfer to the other Ranches, where the actual riding takes place - see below. The horses (approx. 40 owned by Vee Bar (Brent and Kari) another 30 or so leased from other ranches) appeared well trained and healthy BUT the Vee Bar Ranch itself appears to have little to none challenging riding terrain. Hence, every ride (but the orientation) requires a 20-45 minutes shuttle ride to the terrain (often in total silence from the student wrangler).
The advertised cattle drive (at the Hecht creek ranch) was disappointing, as we rode along the highway for several miles (walking), hence no excitement, views or fun to be had, as we have experienced at other ranches, e.g. in Vail, CO, where we jogged and cantered for most of the drive and the terrain and views are amazing. In Vail a much more compelling (faster, more interesting and much more beautiful terrain, and Texas longhorn cattle) better ride costs $170.00 per person.
Our (significant) refund request was refused to date. read more