Florence N.
Yelp
We stayed in the Sierra Suite at the Black Bear Lodge. Note: if you can't see all 24 photos, use a computer. For some odd reason, not all the photos are displaying on my phone. Also, please read the captions on the photos.
Please remember that this is a review of the Sierra Suite only.
Pros: Beautiful, huge and elegant suite, it's 1400 sq ft. It has a grand kitchen. Spacious living room and bedrooms. See photos. I loved taking a shower in the Master bath as the water had such good pressure. Very nice location -away from the hustle and bustle of Heavenly Village but close enough to it. Staff are nice and friendly both from phone conversations prior to our stay and also during. This property is probably really nice as well in the summer, spring and fall.
Cons:
1. Heating system is dicey. We woke up on both nights sweating. I set the heater at 69F which is how we have it at home. The rooms get really hot but the hallway, kitchen, living room are cold.
2. They have this beast of an oven. It's called AGA Legacy. If you're not a gourmet chef, you would not know how to operate this. I looked it up on Youtube to learn how to use it (I shouldn't have to do that but no manual provided in the suite) and followed every step but the broiler was not getting hot and the oven that I set to 450 felt like 50F only even after 45 mins of waiting. None of the four compartments were working. You heard me right, it had 4 doors. I called the front desk, got Katie, but she did not know how to operate it either. Don't get me wrong, as I said, the staff are all nice and friendly. Also, no drip pan for the broiler, sure I could use the drip pan in the oven but in the video, it had separate ones for each of the oven doors. What if I was baking and broiling at the same time?
The frying pan was curved at the bottom which made it dance around the stove top, tricky frying eggs. Also, no kitchen scissors.
3. No dining table. Our kids ate on the counter and we ate on the coffee table. For some, this is not an issue but if you like sitting around the table with the whole family then you would not like this set up. The counter could sit 4 people.
4. The living room TV stopped working on our second day. My husband did all the suggested trouble shooting to no avail.
5. Speaking of TVs, they were all small, especially the ones in the rooms.
6. Some parts are needing attention, see photos. For how much it is, $579/night, no refunds, you have to cancel 14 days in advance.
7. They have those box type air conditioning units with remotes. And said remotes show these icons of what looked like snow, a teardrop, something else that looked like snow (again). I was guessing half the time on how to make it work.
8. The fan over the bed in the master's bedroom --- you had to turn it on using a switch on the head part of the bed but to regulate the fan speed and the fan light, you have to go all the way to door to operate it. No remote provided. So if you need the fan in the middle of the night, which we did because, as mentioned above, the room was like an oven at 69F setting, I had to stand up, go to my husband's side of the bed where the switch was, then walk to the door to set the fan speed.
9. We were on the second floor but the first floor was very unsightly. It looked like a storage unit. It was dark and dirty. They should have put a decorative barrier or panel so that you do not see this area. That's the first thing you see when you walk in. Not a good first impression. I should have taken a photo of it.
Little things make a huge difference especially if you are paying top dollar. I think this room needed an operator's manual. That would not be a foreign idea as we have stayed in rooms with a booklet that tells you how to operate things especially for items that are not straight forward like this specialized oven.
