Catskill Mountain Lodge: No hot water, we dont care.
Catskill Mountain Lodge: No hot water. If you dont like it, dont stay here again. We dont care!
This weekend Cathy and I went to the Catskills. We stayed at the Catskill Mountain Lodge. My family has been going here for years… but it recently changed ownership. Our room was in a building adjacent to the main lodge, which was no where near as nice as those found within the main lodge. It featured a 1960’s drop ceiling (which allowed easy access, and noise transfer room to room), and in typical fashion the drop ceiling was sagging badly and covered in water stains. The carpeting was sticky, the room smelled like mothballs, and was infested with spiders. While the room had an air conditioner it was broken. Since we didnt plan on spending much time in the room we decided not to let it ruin the weekend.
Saturday morning we both woke up and tried to take a shower but to our surprise this wonderful room had no hot water. We contacted the hotel management who refused to believe that the water was cold. After 30 minutes and many attempts I finally coaxed someone to come to our room and check it out. After inspecting the water supply (turning on the hot knob) the person agreed the water was cold and simply stated: “We have 3 boilers” and left. By Sunday morning we had hot water.
Upon checkout I asked the manager for some sort of discount for our first night due to the lack of hot water. We were told ‘there is nothing we can do, if you don’t like it don’t stay here again’. Cathy was standing right next to me when the manager said this and responded (after getting over the initial shock of the managers demeanor): Wow, With an attitude like that we wont. The manager then said: ‘I dont care, goodbye’ and walked away. The total cost for two nights was $226. Hardly worth it.
Oct 16th, 2007 at 11:36 pm
Mr. Schiffner,
I’m not sure if you stayed with us at the CML when my husband Andreas and his brother were running it, but I can certainly tell that you were there after his mom and dad effected a hostile takeover over the property and sent it into bankruptcy.
I am shocked and appalled at the condition they allowed the rooms to get into and at their behavior towards you.
You may be glad to know that due to their ineffective management of the property, that the property was sold in late August (accounting for the comment that they didn’t care if you came back. They didn’t, they were no longer going to own it by then). The property is now under new ownership by a Mr. Guart, I believe his name is.
Maybe after allowing him time to clean up and repair things, you might consider trying it out again since your family has a history there.
Oct 17th, 2007 at 9:57 am
Stacy,
Thank you for an explanation for the way we were treated, and the poor condition of the hotel. When we arrived at the hotel it was obvious that the grounds and rooms were not being kept up. Unfortunately I would have to think long and hard before returning for another stay. Perhaps if the new owners offered some sort of discount, as a showing of good faith, we would give it another try… But after paying what 100+ a night and receiving such poor treatment, we were left wondering why we didn’t just stay at the Comfort Inn down the road. My family stayed at the hotel Dozens of times when it was Han’s… in addition to several times following the initial sale. Then we stopped visiting the area while I was in college. This summer Cathy and I decided we would like to start going to the area again and we naturally chose Catskill Mountain Lodge (as we had always stayed there). I hope the new owners turn the hotel around but I fear they may have some damage control to perform. The treatment we received was inexcusable, and based on the comments from other guest in our building it was not an isolated incident.
Oct 15th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
We’d appreciate your updating or removing this posting for several reasons. The first is that it applied to owners who sold the Lodge more than a year ago. (Sold on Sept. 1, 2007). Why hold it against the new owners?
Second, the issues you raised have long been addressed. We have many positive reviews from guests on TripAdvisor over the past year.
Third, these are tough times for everyone and this kind of negative review, however old, does hurt small, family run businesses more than it would some hotel chain.
Fourth . . . it’s the right and fair thing to do.
Thanks,
AG
Oct 21st, 2008 at 12:44 am
First let me say this. Myself and my family were loyal customers of Han’s County Line (the original name). Whenever I visited the Catskills this was the hotel of choice. I had stayed here since childhood and planned on continuing the tradition with my girlfriend.
I’m sorry you feel you are being misrepresented. I have written a review based on my stay at the hotel in August 2007. The pictures taken were from the date of my stay. Everything I wrote was accurate and true as of the date of my stay. We were treated extremely poorly. At no time was I offered any restitution for the condition of the premises or the treatment we received. I can fully understand why new hotel ownership would be upset with poor reviews but the previous owners really destroyed what was once a well regarded hotel. Since I have no way of knowing if the problems I discussed have been resolved, or if the condition of the rooms has been addressed, I can not in good faith remove this review.
If someone has stayed at the Lodge since the sale/renovation?/repairs - they are more than welcome to post their comments here.