The Grand Idyllwild Lodge

No one to meet or greet us upon arrival, and no one to talk to at time of check out. It looks like this Inn and the one down the hill are now "co-managed" as when you call the main number for GIL the answering machine announces the name of the other hotel. ... confusing enough, but the other hotel was locked up and no one answered their door or door bell either. The biggest problem was that they never replied when you called and texted the general manager. This is not acceptable to me. Eventually, we found a nice housekeeper from the other hotel, who let us into our room. This visit was a birthday present for my spouse and we splurged and rented the villa with private hot tub. Nope, the hot tub was out of service. Our stay was a complete disaster and we were charged full price after checkout. The hotel sent us an email afterwards saying to review them so they could see how they were doing. Here ya go.

We made a reservation for mid-May but work interfered, so we sent a direct email, canceling almost 3 weeks in advance. It was a nightmare getting a refund. First, we were told "Unfortunately, you would have had to of called us to cancel the reservation." Next we were told "We have carefully reviewed your attachment; and does not have a proper date/time stamp that you find on an email." (of course it did). Next we were accused of "doctoring" the email cancellation. Amy did everything possible to avoid returning our money. Finally, after persistence and resending the same proof of our online cancellation, she acquiesced and issued a full refund. I strongly suggest never giving your credit card information to this outfit, as they obviously rely on your giving up when you try to get your money back. Terrible booking customer service, discourteous and rude, so we are glad we did not have to deal with them on site. We will never stay here!

Don't make the same mistake I did. I saw the negative reviews, but it looked beautiful, so we booked the villa. We were visiting our daughter at school, and we invited her grandparents over for dinner. The villa included a table set for six. The grandparents had flown in from Chicago to visit as well and were staying at a different hotel. Shortly thereafter a man came to our door and said the grandparents had to leave. I thought he was joking at first. He said no more than four occupants in the three-bedroom suite at any time. I told him they were not occupants. They were our visitors. He said, "Either they leave or you forfeit the room." So I had to drive my elderly parents back to their hotel and they could not visit with their granddaughter. Not only did this ruin our visit, but they also treated an 80-year-old couple with complete disrespect. The workers were heartless about it and continued to lecture us about this policy that was nowhere to be found in any hotel documentation. We looked on the website and confirmation email for any mention of a policy of "no more than four people, including visitors, in a room at any time." There is nothing stating this or even close to it. As if that wasn't bad enough, they made it very clear that their "strict rules" applied even to their subpar towels. These towels were far from luxurious, and we were warned that we'd be charged for the slightest stain or mark on them. It's absurd that they charge premium prices for such substandard amenities and then threaten guests with additional fees. I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone. After paying $630/night , the complete lack of compassion and the hidden policies make this place one of the worst we have ever experienced. Avoid at all costs!

This lodge is a pretty property, very clean with lovely decor. Unfortunately, the mattress on our bed was VERY saggy. That, along with the loud AC unit, constantly cycling on and off, made it difficult to sleep. Also - on three different occasions - when leaving the lodge to go into town, there was a large van parked adjacent to the end of the driveway that was completely blocking our view to exit onto the road. The van was parked in what was clearly a designated parking spot. Seemed like an accident just waiting to happen. Whether this van belonged to the Grand Idyllwild Lodge or not, the property surely should have addressed this safety issue.

What a beautiful lodge. The room has everything you need in all the right places. It somehow feels low key and luxurious at once. Great personalized service. Downside was there didn’t really seem to be a spa or spa services available when we came but it really wasn’t necessary.

First, I want to start off by saying that I’ve never written a negative review. I also have worked in the hospitality industry for over 25 years, directly engaging with hundreds of hotel owners and managers. We booked the largest room in The Grand Idyllwild Lodge for four nights following our wedding Aug 6th. We paid full price and spent money for spa treatments as well. The second day, while we were out hiking, I received a message on my cell phone from Trisha, whom I never met, stating that we had discolored the towels and that we might need to pay for damages if the laundry doesn’t get the marks out. The call was made prior to even laundering the towels. She also said that they could deliver black towels to the room. This was disruptive to our honeymoon and punitive. We used a personal lotion that has never left marks on our towels or linens at home. We used the lotion only once and never again after the phone call. I walked into the lobby to speak with someone. No staff member works out in the lobby or common area so it already feels cold and empty. I rang the buzzer and spoke to Amy. She is the only staff member we ever saw. I was kind and played the message I received from Trisha asking, "do you see how this can be disruptive to a guest, especially on their honeymoon?" She was nice and understood but had no power to change the customer experience. We did not complain that half the shower door had been removed so naturally water would get on the floor. We had no bath mats so when we asked for one, we got more hand towels. With that said, towels will be on the floor. We did not complain that the light under the microwave was out so we could not see well to cook dinner. We were respectful. So when I got home, I was shocked to see a charge for $43.75 on my credit card. This charge was not approved or signed off on. When I called the lodge, Trisha answered. She defended the charge for towels they could not completely clean. We spend more than $2,600.00 for four nights, but she felt justified in charging for the towels, which was more important than the customer experience. She even sent me an email listing every linen and towel that had a mark on them, even if they came out clean in the laundry. This email felt invasive and rude. I was able to reach the original builder of the lodge and previous owner/manager. He was surprised at the charge and said that he would never have charged for towels as the manager. He said he would contact the current manager, Nathan, and have him call me. Nathan never contacted me. Fortunately, I disputed the charge with my credit card company that also was surprised at the unreasonable charge. In all of my years in hospitality, I’ve never heard of or experienced such a ridiculous encounter. It is truly unbelievable. I write this as a warning for people booking this lodge who want a first-class experience. The employees bring out the heart and soul of a place. This experience w