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.
UPDATE: My stay at the Catskill Mountain Lodge was in August, 2007. As per comments below, the hotel is now under new ownership.
«ChristmOctober
It still sucks. I would never stay there again. The room smelled disgusting and there were roaches and other bugs througout the bathroom. Camping in the woods would have been a step above this filthy hotel.
After reading the above while looking for a place to stay for this summer’s vacation in the Catskills, I certainly will not be staying at your lodge. The ownership/management’s complete lack of reasoning skills and professionalism is more than evident here. They way that Agnes and Al are treating a long time customer is nauseating. I will not be recommending this lodge to anybody and will actually spread the word NOT to stay there. Now sue me Agnes over my opinion.
Chris,
We’re glad you added the update. However, we don’t understand why you feel our last message contained an “open threat.” Where exactly is the threatening phrase?
From the beginning, all we’ve asked is for the review to be taken down because people who read it are likely to hold it against us.
Your response, in a nutshell was, “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 posting.” That is false. You have a way to find out. You choose not to.
But even if the problem was not addressed by us, a fair-minded person could see it is wrong to hold a past error against new owners. Why do harm to innocent parties?
As we said, keep your outdated and irrelevant review up forever. It says nothing about us but speaks volumes about you. Let’s hope it’s not how you’ll be remembered.
This “confrontation” occurred at 11am, shortly after “checking out”. I doubt if anyone was eating dinner.
We asked if we could discuss some sort of discount for the lack of modern amenities and your response was not to come back. You were the one who caused a scene – much like you are doing now…
As for the rooms condition at the time of our stay, the pictures speak for themselves.
Al good riddance to the guest from hell, those rooms were newly painted, new drapes and bedding, it is an old unit the rooms are smaller then the Deluxe units, his memerory is not very excact. We had a couple there who have been coming from the very beginning,who kept all of us informed. Yes our dishwasher was eating his dinner at the counter. The others were guest from our Lodge having Dinner. An older man who was very grateful to get a free warm meal. Our Hits people loved the place and we were booked months in advanced and all agreed with us it was just a short while without said hot water. With everything going on in our Country, hot water should be the least. He was nasty, arrogant carried on in the dinning room like a looney and as you can see from his letters is still acting looney, no pleasing such a person. Auf Wiedersehen have a lovely evening Al give my regards to Kathy and your children
Agnes,
Your account of the events is not accurate.
Agnes wrote:
“The first mistake they made, was to not say anything about their complaints. The room yes did have a leak, but since we were fully booked (because it was a horse show weekend, no excusses), we could not find a room at any other hotel for them before they even checked in.”
When we complained about not having hot water you blew us off. People in the neighboring room told us they tried to complain about the lack of hot water but were unable to find staff since the counter was never attended. Furthermore, at no time was the condition of the room explained to us. Not at the time of check in or otherwise. You had our contact information but made no attempt to warn us about any damage.
Agnes wrote:
“The first time they went up to me, I did apologize, but again, one can not tell these people anything. They belittled me, and made me put up my defenses by their remarks the second and third time they confronted me.”
We approached you twice. Once to report the problem, which you were unable to resolve. Your reply was that its impossible there is no hot water and that no one had ever complained about it before. Only after we insisted that something be done did you bother to get someone to look at the water. They just told us to wait and did not want to come to the room to verify the problem with our water. We waited 2 hours for hot water which is more than enough time. Even then the water was ice cold. The second time we approached you was after “checking out”, which entailed leaving our keys at the un-attended front desk. You laughed at us when we asked for restitution and told us not to come back.
Agnes wrote:
“As to the hot water, we did ask them to wait about half an hour before trying to use the water again.”
The hot water did not work for more than 2 hours. By the time anyone was willing to come to our room more than half an hour had already passed, and it was still ice cold. Your response was that this was impossible and started to walk away. After waiting 2 hours we left for the day. That evening water was luke warm. By the next morning we had hot water.
You claim we were “irrate and irrantional”; several people were in the room which this conversation took place (the restaurants counter area – the only place staff could ever be found), and could attest that we very politely asked for some sort of restitution for the lack of hot water. We did not ask for a discount for the deplorable condition of the room… only the lack of hot water (something we have had for every stay at a local camp site). Your response was “this is a big place, lots of people take showers, you have to wait. If you don’t like it, don’t come back!”. We have not returned.
I hope readers can see through through Agnes’ inaccurate account. Why after 20 years of patronage would I suddenly formulate a negative opinion of hotel? We were not “one time guests”. We were return guests. From the time I was a child we stayed at the Lodge (then Han’s County Line). This was a place we looked forward to visiting. We still visit the area but we no longer stay at the lodge. Until this stay I had never had an experience at ANY hotel that affected me enough to write about it. I have not had one since.
Al,
After making what appears to be an open threat I doubt I will “dare” to return. However, as a showing of good faith I have added an update at the bottom of my initial post indicating that the date of my stay was prior to your taking ownership.
Dear Al,
Well, this is all very interesting!!!
This is Agnes the previous owner, and I have just come about this website!
First of all, I’d like to address Chris. We did try to settle all acounts and address all complaints! This particular couple were completely irrate and irrational. The first mistake they made, was to not say anything about their complaints. The room yes did have a leak, but since we were fully booked (because it was a horse show weekend, no excusses), we could not find a room at any other hotel for them before they even checked in.
We did try to repair the ceiling damage, but because it was the day before they were to check-in we discovered it, we did not use oil paint (the fumes), and the latex paint we used obviously bled thru.
As to the hot water, we did ask them to wait about half an hour before trying to use the water again. As I said above, the hotel was full, but as you can see, they did not want to hear anything.
The first time they went up to me, I did apologize, but again, one can not tell these people anything. They belittled me, and made me put up my defenses by their remarks the second and third time they confronted me.
So… yes, I did let them know not to let the door hit them in the !@# on the way out, never to return, and Al, I suggest you do the same.
As per Stacy’s comment, she had no authority at anytime to try to interfere in the business. Not only that, but I believe that defemation of character is grounds for a law suit!!!
Thank You and Have a Pleasent Day.
Its unfortunate that you have chosen the approach of attack and discredit.
Al Guart wrote:
“You can keep your silly, irrelevant review up for eternity. We’ve politley asked for a reasoned, intelligent response on your part. That seems beyond you.”
I feel as though I offered you a reasonable response. I made sure to include the month and year of my stay so as to clearly show that my visit was before the sale of the property.
Al Guart wrote:
“Even if we lied and never made the repairs, we never treated you well or badly. So again, why hold it against us? Did we take your money and fail to provide services? No. We never even met you. (At this point that’s okay with us.)”
I could spend more of my hard earned money, stay at the hotel again, and then write a follow up to my initial experience. Unfortunately your comment clearly indicates that my visit would be welcomed with nothing more than hostility. At any time you could have offered updated pictures of the unit I stayed in(it was on the second floor of the building by the road all the way to the left when looking at the front of the building, just in case you didn’t have access to old records). You could have offered a discounted rate, or even a free night to entice me to return. You offered none of these things. Let it be known that I do not expect anything from the new ownership… These are simply actions that could have been taken rather than trying to attack and discredit a guest who was wronged. As far as holding this against you; You clearly pointed out I do not know you. The only thing I can hold against you is the stab you took at me in your previous response.
I wish you the best of luck with your business.
Post this!
This hotel was not “destroyed” by the previous owners. It still exists and you are free to verify what we’ve stated as fact. You know where we are and if you don’t believe us, prove us wrong. I dare you.
If you throw a rock at a dog, it may bite the rock. Unfortunately, it misses the object of its scorn: the person who threw it. So, why keep biting us? The people who allegedly wronged you are long gone. Their company went bankrupt and was dissolved more than a year ago. Do your homework before slandering innocent people.
Even if we lied and never made the repairs, we never treated you well or badly. So again, why hold it against us? Did we take your money and fail to provide services? No. We never even met you. (At this point that’s okay with us.)
You can keep your silly, irrelevant review up for eternity. We’ve politley asked for a reasoned, intelligent response on your part. That seems beyond you. Intelligent people can spot a small, vindictive mind without our help. Keep gnawing on rocks for all we care.
As a veteran journalist, I’d never put my name to a shoddy piece of work such as your “review” or your response to our request. Your militant ignorance discredits you and everything else you’ve ever written. The phrase “By Chris Schiffner” has been rendered a joke for all eternity.
Now post that!
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 an account of 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 posting.
If someone has stayed at the Lodge since the sale/renovation?/repairs – they are more than welcome to post their comments here.
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
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.
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.