This was our first time and we will definitely be back. The property was beautiful and my two boys were very happy hopping from one pool to the next! Our room was spacious and we loved having a kitchen to keep our little ones happy. The meals we ate on the property were delicious. Next time I would love to check out the spa.
Hello Melissa,
Thanks so much for taking a few moments to share you recent stay experience with me.
I'm so glad you you enjoyed your 1st of I'm sure many more visits to Grand Cascades Lodge.
We look forward to seeing you again sometime soon!
Mike
Guest Experience
I will begin with the positives. The hotel was clean and had ample parking at no additional charge. The pools were very nice and had plenty of seating. There was also a sauna and a steam room right by the hot tub (although no jets in the hot tub). The pools were very warm but there was also a colder pool outdoors but no one was in it as it was indeed freezing! I like that they had an indoor pool that had a retractable roof for those days that it rained. The activities are also nice and most are included with the nightly rate. But some activities required walking about 10-15 minutes from the main hotel or driving to the other Mineral Springs resort. Food was good and the staff in the restaurants were very friendly.
Now for why I only gave it 3 stars. Although the rooms were clean and modern the beds were like concrete extremely firm mattress and also paper thin walls. There were no drawers to put your stuff away only a closet. So your bathing suits, underwear and stuff you don’t hang up had no place to be stored. There is a fridge in the room but no freezer compartment and I needed to freeze an ice pack to transport insulin home. I went to the front desk to inquire and was told they don’t have a freezer. The man was curt and so was the other man at the front desk when I asked why they didn’t have a freezer in the entire resort. He then acted like he was doing me a favor by asking some other employee who had freezer to re-freeze it for me. The 2 men at the front desk in the evening each night were really not kind and lacked customer service skills.
They give you a $40 credit per day for breakfast and tell you in writing and in person at the front desk that the credit is only good for the buffet and can also be used for the a la carte BF if buffet is not available. None of us had an appetite for the hefty buffet p/p price and since we were 4 people in our room it would have only covered one person and a partial of one other. We went to the a la carte breakfast and the lovely waitress told us we could indeed use the credit for the a la carte BF. The buffet was available so they lie at the front desk to force everyone to go to the buffet so they can make more money. I have no tolerance for dishonesty so this really left a bad taste in my mouth with the resorts practice of lying to the guests. And indeed, the credit was applied for the breakfast we consumed in the a la carte restaurant.
Be mindful that there are elevators only in the central part of the hotel and 2 wings that are significantly long. If you have an elderly person or handicap person in your party, this is a nuisance having to walk to the elevators and then back in the same direction to go to pool or the restaurant that is in the same wing that you are staying.
One other thing about the restaurants. The staff was lovely but the service was not great. Each time at breakfast there were no spoons, sugar or milk on the table and we had to ask a few times to get these things while our coffee was getting cold and the cereal was served (without milk). We were a large party and the food was served with long pauses in between everyone’s meals. The manager was attentive and all of a sudden meals appeared quickly which means they were sitting in the kitchen while the remainder of our party was waiting to be served.
The resort is nice but needs a lot of work in the above mentioned issues. For the price they charge per night I shouldn’t have encountered as many issues as I did.
Dear Lizzy,
Thank you for recently staying with us at Grand Cascades Lodge as well as for taking a few minutes to share your experience with me.
That said, I'm so glad you enjoyed many aspects of your time with us!
I did want to clarify several of your disappointments that you had touched on here in your review.
As you mentioned, our standard rooms that come with a mini fridge do not have freezers, however we do not advertise that they do on our website. Perhaps selecting one of Studio-King Suites or a 1-Bed Suite would've been a better option given your specific insulin needs and these room types do come fully equipped with everything you would have wanted and needed.
Regarding the breakfast credit, while I'm very glad that your server delighted you by accepting your breakfast credit, the information you received from our front desk is 100% correct. The credit can only be used for a la carte up at Crystal Tavern IF there is no breakfast buffet being offered. When there is, guest's redeem this credit exclusively at the buffet so please don't think that anyone on our team was lying to you as I understand this was a huge source of your frustration. Quite simply, an exception was made in the moment for you which our restaurant team was happy to do for you. Here is the specific policy which is listed directly on our website:
"WHAT IS THE BREAKFAST CREDIT AMOUNT FOR OVERNIGHT GUESTS?
A breakfast credit of $40 is given per night, per reservation of hotel stay. Please note that this credit is not applicable to owner, group or wedding reservations. This credit may not be used towards any tax, service charge, or gratuity charges.
This credit may be used at the breakfast buffet or towards an a la carte breakfast at either the Crystal Tavern or Kites if the breakfast buffet is not available. Guests may only use this breakfast credit at whichever hotel they are staying at. Hours 8:00 – 11:00am.
The breakfast buffet is $29.95 for adults {12+}, $19.95 {ages 4-11} plus taxes and fees."
For the rest of your feedback pertaining to your dining experiences and that certain items were not properly brought out as well as the pace of your meal being off, please accept our sincerest apologies and know that this feedback is very important to us and our culinary team so we can provide our guest's a with a seamless dining experience.
For the comfort of our beds, this is very much a matter of personal preference and we are sorry that this was a shortcoming as well. We do receive mixed feedback about this and appreciate you letting us know. Some do prefer a softer sleep as in your case while others prefer medium or a bit more firm. We do try to land somewhere in the middle so there is better balance for all of our guest's, but again, your feedback is very helpful.
Your experience with some of our front desk staff has been shared directly with the front desk manager so this behavior can be addressed with the team. Our committment to our guest's is always to provide the warmest hospitality and it's upsetting to hear that any of our guest's would experience something otherwise.
We do hope to see you again at some point in the future.
Thank you again for visiting Crystal Springs Resort!
Mike
Guest Experience
We had a great time in our 2 days stay at Grand Cascade Lodge. Very nice, very clean, amazing personnel, good variety for meals. Great for kids activities. And you can go back and forth and enjoy amenities at their Minerals resort. Highly recommend it!
Thanks so much for staying with us recently at Grand Cascades Lodge.
I'm so glad you enjoyed your time with us and hope to see you again sometime soon!
Mike
Guest Experience
The hotel and the view is unbelievable. The rooms, we got the suite with an adjoining room, had more than enough room and were very cozy. Everything about this place is perfect for a dream vacation. A few exceptions: The food is terrible. No wonder they give you a credit for breakfast. Microwaved eggs is not my idea of luxury. Most of the people at the desk are rude. I get it, they probably get asked the same questions over and over. The policies and itinerary lists are just confusing and finding the things to do can sometimes require asking the front desk. Some more positives: I have to say all of the things to do are amazing. The star gazing one is unbelievably awesome. Is it worth the price? Yeah. I just wish they would get better food.
Dear Musicfam247,
Thank you for staying with us recently at Grand Cascades Lodge and sharing your feedback with us.
I'm so glad you enjoyed many aspects of your time with us including your room accommodations, the spectacular view from our hotel, as well as many of our fun activities.
That said, I am sorry you did not enjoy our cuisine and the dishes you had ordered. We do not serve microwaved eggs up at Crystal Tavern and regarding the service you descibed receiving, I would love to learn more about your time with us and can be directly reached at service@csresort.com so I can share this feedback with our managers.
Warm Regards,
Mike
Guest Experience
The first two nights of our 5 nights stay were interrupted in the middle of the night by faulty fire alarms. After sitting outside on the curb for 90 minutes in our pjs, we were allowed to go back to our rooms. Tough to get much peaceful rest after being awakened in that manner so we were sleep deprived for most of our stay. We heard staff say this has happened several times in recent months. At a minimum, a call or visit from a manager to apologize would have been nice or “hey, have a glass of wine on us” but nope, nothing. Instead we heard staff making light of this with shoulder shrugs.
Dear H242AVrond,
We're incredibly sorry for the huge inconvenience regarding the fire alarms, but they are not faulty whatsoever so this should never be implied as this is a very serious safety issue.
When something legitimate triggers the alarm they of course will go off as with all other businesses. That is a good thing because the alternative in a real threat or emergency could be fatal which I'm sure you and anyone reading this can understand. That said, we have a very strict protocol in place that also legally requires the local authorities as well as fire department to physically come to the hotel to determine whether or not it is safe to re-enter the building. The time at which this occurs can vary, but much of this is completely out of our hands.
Nevertheless, I understand the negative impact this had and am eager to learn about your personal experience so this can be shared with our internal team. I can be reached at service@csresort.com. When reaching out, please include your booking confirmation as well as the best method in which to contact you.
Kind Regards,
Mike
Guest Experience
