Casey F.
Yelp
I was very disappointed with my interaction with the Shady Spruce Hostel. Needing a room that same evening (a Monday), I found a private room on Booking.com for the seemingly too-low price of $20. Thinking that this might be an off-season or mid-week random price, I immediately and excitedly booked the stay. There was no one at the physical location, which wasn't abnormal as we guessed there wasn't anyone staying there. After calling the number provided in the reservation email to ask for the door code and talking to one of the staff, he told us that the $20 price listing was in error. He said he would talk to the owner about the mistake and call us back. We were understanding about the error, and told him we would be willing to pay more than the price we were promised on Booking. Unfortunately, in business, when you promise a certain price, it is best practice to deliver for the sake of customer satisfaction instead of backtracking, but I digress. We waited for a call back; no response. After taking a walk around the block, we realized that no one was going to call us back. Fortunately we were able to book one of the other hotels in the area and check in promptly. After staying at many hostels both overseas and in the US, I was looking forward to seeing the Missoula version. Hopefully they have fixed whatever glitch was in their communication system with Booking.com so future guests actually get to stay at the hostel when they make a legitimate reservation.