Earlier this year we took a trip around the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, booking up cheap hotels and testing just what you could get in the price range of £25-40 a night. Our fourth night away saw us return to the tiny town of Ouray where we had stayed just a couple of nights earlier in another budget hotel called the Ouray ChaletInn. Of the five budget hotels we used on our trip, the Comfort Inn had one of the better rooms but unquestionably the worst service.
Since we'd spent time in Ouray already we had no problems finding the hotel, tucked away on a side street in the middle of the town. On our first trip to Ouray we'd arrived from the north along very good roads but this time we came in from the south along the terrifying 'Million Dollar Highway' - a 25 mile route winding through the mountains between Silverton and Ouray. Explanations for the name vary - it was either because it cost over a million dollars a mile when it was built in the early 1900s or other tales suggest that a million dollars worth of gold was present in the low grade gold-bearing rock used to construct the road. Either way, it's one of the most beautiful and scary ways to cross the mountains to arrive in the town. We arrived late
afternoon and parked up in the car park in front of the hotel. Leaving my husband with the bags, I went to check in.
The reception area was pleasant and clean with a couple of sofas, a computer with internet access and magazines and books to read. A sign on the reception desk told me to ring the bell for attention but to only ring it once. My 'irritation sensors' were tweaking at that point but I pushed the button and waited..........and waited...........and waited a bit longer. Clearly nobody was coming. By this point I'd read all the warning signs about the fines the hotel would impose if I booked a non-smoking room and then smoked in it - $100 - took a pet in a room that was unregistered - $50. God forbid if I'd brought an unregistered beagle with a 40-a-day habit. It was a bit like Singapore - I expected to see a warning that I'd be fined if I spat or didn't flush the toilet.
So what should I do, break the hotel rule and push the bell again or sit there waiting until my hair turned grey and my teeth fell out? I rang again and waited.......and waited some more. Finally after I'd been in reception for about 15 minutes I cracked and leaned on the button for a good 20 seconds and finally a man arrived to check me in. He issued me with a card key and I headed to the room only to find that the card hadn't been activated - so back to reception and another long wait to get it sorted.
As you can imagine, by the time I got into the room I was feeling pretty fed up. Hubby meanwhile had started to wonder if he should call out mountain rescue to come and find me but had spent a pleasant time watching a hummingbird drinking from a feeder in the car park. All logic tells me that hummingbirds shouldn't hang out in mountain towns with snow on the peaks around them but both in Ouray and Telluride, we saw evidence that the humminbirds had moved in.
The room, once we finally got into it, was actually very good. We'd booked on line and the cheapest option had been a 'disabled' room so the doors were wide and the bathroom had extra handrails and things to make it easier for a wheel chair user. There were rails all along the wall by the bath but I would have thought that a shower with a seat would have been more suitable in a disabled room.
The room itself was large and well but simply furnished with a table and chairs, a large bed with bedside tables and lamps, an iron and ironing board, a dresser with a TV and lots of drawers, a hanging rail and a case stand. In the bathroom there was a long vanity unit with plenty of space, a loo and a bath and as we'd seen elsewhere, the coffee maker was in the bathroom. Does anyone else find that a bit odd? Fortunately the bathroom was spotlessly clean.
After a bit of unpacking and a quick catch up with the TV news, we locked up and headed out to buy some food for dinner. We'd already discovered on our previous stay that all the restaurants in town were pricy but there was a great bakery that did fantastic cakes and bagels. So we stocked up and headed back to the room to eat and chill out. Fortunately I'd checked there was no fine for unauthorised eating in the room.
The hotel's rooms are laid out on two levels - we were on the lower level and I would imagine the rooms above ours probably had really nice views. Directly in front of our room was a hot tub but that seemed to be all there was in the way of additional facilities.
Breakfast next morning was poor. It was included in the price but to be honest, I'd have been happier if it hadn't been so we could have gone back to the bakery. The food choice was poor and the food was replenished so slowly that only my stubborn determination to hang on for some egg kept me there. The owner/cook kept saying 'in a minute, in a minute' when we asked if more eggs were coming and then disappearing for another 10 minutes. I think she just hoped we'd give up and leave and since the egg when it finally arrived seemed to be some kind of weird microwaved disc, we probably should have skipped off a lot sooner.
Check out was a bit of a disaster. I thought I'd paid already when I booked but the hotel swore I hadn't and claimed they don't do prepayment. My booking paperwork was ambiguous and I was worried that I'd get charged twice as all the other hotels we'd booked online had been prepaid. Next disappointment was discovering that the rate we'd booked at (£30) didn't include all the taxes so it actually ended up being more expensive than the Chalet Inn. When I said that I was disappointed that this hadn't been made clearer on the website, the owner insisted that it was still the cheapest hotel in town. I should have just shut up and paid but instead I pointed out that the Chalet Inn was cheaper and she indignantly said that they didn't do breakfast.
OK, what followed was nothing to be proud of - I'm ashamed to say that I was really irritated and snapped back 'Well it wasn't much of a breakfast, was it?' Yes it was true but it was also really rude of me to let them wind me up so much that my manners went out the window. I'm even more ashamed to say that I still don't think I've seen the charge for the hotel on my credit card bill so I really don't know if I even paid for it.
In summary, the Comfort Inn is cheap, clean, has nice rooms and stroppy, slow staff. If poor service and being kept waiting for even the simplest things matters to you, then stay at the Chalet Inn up the road. if you don't care about the service and want the nicer room,and a really bad breakfast, then the Comfort Inn might be for you. Either way, be sure to check out the bakery for your breakfast!
I’d go for the service every time. A slightly nicer room isn’t going to make up for someone ruining your mood. Lx
MarcoG 18.09.2008 21:33
Oh dear, I've never had the pleasure of a comfort inn...I shall look forward to it!!! And yes, it is incredibly weird that they put a coffee maker in the loo??? Why would ANYONE do that? What if the previous person thought it was some sort of fancy loo??? No way, that is WRONG! x
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