The Vacation Escapade

Higher prices do not always mean higher quality.  Recently we went on vacation to Arizona's Snowbowl for a few days with the kids so they could play in the snow for the first time.  My Hubby and I researched hotel options.  We looked at the hotels and motels in the actual city of Flagstaff and the hotel closest to Snowbowl.  After weighing the pros and cons we decided to stay at the
Ski Lift Lodge and Cabins right at the base of the mountain so we could be as close as possible to Snowbowl and the Wing Mountain play area.  It was going to be more expensive than anywhere we looked at in the city but we were happy knowing that we would get a lot of snow play in.  The hotel was going to cost $85 for the first night and $135 for the second night since it was a holiday.  We had been planning on this trip so was prepared to spend a little more out of out vacation fund to be closer to the snow.

 

The drive up was great!  Beautiful and serene, especially since the Munchkins were in the back watching Spongebob.  I love the new DVD players for the car (this was our first trip with them).  When we reached Flagstaff we stopped by the store to grab some snow gear that we were lacking and ate lunch to kill some time because check in wasn't for a few hours.  Arriving at the lodge I sat in the car with the Munchkins while Hubby ran in to check us in.  I wasn't thrilled when Hubby came back with a piece of paper in his hand and when I asked what it was, Told me it was the receipt and that they had already charged us for both nights.  What?  Really?  I have never had a hotel charge me BEFORE checking out before,  But I took this in stride and we started to collect things from the car and take them inside.

Once in the room I was immediately struck with how HOT it was in the room.  The thermostat was set to 80 degrees!  Now that is boiling walking in from 15 degrees or whatever it was outside at the time.  So strike one.  The next thing I noticed when I tried to close the door was it was very difficult to close and then when I did get it to click into the jamb it still did not seem secure and it did not meet the doorjamb at all.  I mean there was a 1/4 to 1/2 inch space between the door and the jamb where light and cold air was coming in!  No good, no good at all.  Strike 2.  The Munchkins turned on the TV to occupy themselves while Hubby and I got everything settled.  As I looked around to plan out where I was going to station the bags and other things I started noticing many things that most hotels have that this one did not.  These things included, a mini fridge, coffee maker, and microwave.  Non of these a huge deal but then I noticed that there wasn't even a phone.  Really?  What if there was an emergency?  Oh right....that must be what the payphone booths outside were. (rolling eyes).  I thought maybe they were just leftover from the 90's.  Strike 3.  At about the same time the Munchkins start freaking out because there isn't cable!  We only had like 5 channels and they couldn't find any cartoons.  And I thought their were only 3 strike allowed in baseball!   But yet this place has managed to get 4 all in the span of 5 minutes.....not to mention the the charging my card before checkout that I had already let slide.  But it isn't over yet.  We had the door open during all this to cool the room off some and 3 freaking cats kept coming in and out of our room like they belonged there.  They all had collars on so I know they belonged to someone but I couldn't help but to get really mad at this point.  Luckily no one in my family is allergic to cats and god forbid someone come stay in that room that has a severe allergy to cats that could cause hospitalization or death!

I could not believe we were paying as much as we were for this room with so many problems and roaming cats.  My Hubby and I talked and decided we were NOT going to stay.  It was not worth what we were spending on the room and would rather feel safe and comfortable in a room in town a little further from the mountain than be hoarded by cats and burned to death in a room right next to the mountain.  Since my Hubby does not do well with confrontation and I like to have my way and don't back down, I went into the office this time.  I told them all that was wrong with the room and that we wished to have a refund and were going elsewhere.  They tried to make excuses for how hot the room was by saying if it wasn't that warm in the room then the pipes would freeze but I know that the point of freezing is 32 degrees and I am sorry but it could have been 60 in that room and the pipes would have been fine!  Needless to say I didn't take their BS and left to tell my Hubby that we would be getting a refund.  This time Hubby went into the office while I repacked the car.  As we were leaving a cat walked into the room and we just left it in there because we didn't' feel we should have to shoo cats out of  our hotel room.  Hubby told them at the office that the cat was in the room.  He came back with a receipt for the refund and was told that it would be credited back immediately to the card, little did we know it would take 4 days to go back to the card.

Since we left the ski lodge we didn't have anywhere else to go yet and we were too far into the mountains for our phones internet to work so we drove back into the city and parked in the Rodeway Inn parking lot to figure out what to do next.

To Be Continued........  Check Out Part 2 HERE