Jill S.
Yelp
I unfortunately need to write this on yelp after getting no response by phone or email from management. I did leave a message with the front desk on Thursday 4/29 and never received a call back. I also submitted the feedback form that was emailed to me and again received no call back. I also responded to an email form them regarding my folio I requested and gave them this feed back and still no response. I was trying to avoid submitting a yelp review as I saw how many negative reviews they had.
We travel a lot and have been to fancy places and not so fancy places. Many years ago I drove by Sorrel River Ranch and I thought it was amazing looking. I looked it up and saw the reviews and they were outstanding and I could not wait to go.
So this year we had some time and needed to get away and decided on Sorrel River. Unfortunately, our expectations were not met. Let's start with this, I usually do not have huge exceptions when I go places, for the very reason, not to be disappointed. But between the reviews from years ago and the price per night, I had higher exceptions than usual. Whoever hired their front desk staff did a good job on their personalities. I thought every one was very pleasant and wanted to please. But after the hiring, I believe the staff were not supported in their training. The lack of training and knowledge was very frustrating. We pretty much had to figure out when meals were served on our own, where the dining room was, where the spa was. No one gave us an introduction to anything on the property, we basically just stumbled around until we found it. The answer we got a lot was "I just started last week." No one knew about any of the hikes or activities that they had HAND WRITTEN on their chalkboard. No handouts on schedules, everything was supposed to be online, but we had a hard time pulling anything up.
The menu was limited. Breakfast was great, but the food in the dining room was average and the staffing was inadequate. First night we wanted to eat and we had a reservation at 8pm because that was all that was available. We went up to dining room to see if we could get in earlier. There was only two tables that had 2 people each and they could not seat us because they were expecting a table of 12 and they only had one wait staff on a Saturday night. The dining room manager was very accommodating and arranged for us to be able to eat our meal in the bar and brought our food down to us. He seemed very stressed.
The room was very nice and they did a nice job cleaning, though they did not empty the garbage or refill the coffee. We had to request more toilet paper and coffee.
Dianne at the barn was AMAZING! She was very informed and able to share a lot of information and we had a great trail ride with her. But she also was not a seasonal employee and had been there for over two years. I can not say enough about Dianne. If it were not for her and the amazing trail ride we did with her, I would be giving a one star.
The real clincher on our frustrating trip was we got up at 4:30am on Thursday 4/29 to be at airport for our Hot Air Balloon ride that we had been so excited for as it was the first time for both of us. We arrived at 6am and they had no reservation for us and the basket was full. I had made this reservation months in advance! I even had front desk email them on that Monday when we were thinking about seeing if could change to Wednesday. The balloon ride was on our itinerary and we had a discussion with front desk staff on when to be at the airport and that we would leave from the airport to SLC from there. I called front desk at 6am on that Thursday as we were left at the airport in shock and told them all of this and that I needed a manager to call me. Though they were very apologetic and said they'd make sure someone would call, no one ever called to follow up. Actually there was no follow up on anything. Which, again, for luxury resort that they are trying to be, follow ups to visits should be a norm. I did submit the feedback form with a ONE star and still no one followed up.
I am extremely disappointed in the management at this point. I believe the employees try, but without training and support, you will continue to get low ratings on yelp and I would think at some point the owner of the resort will see the decline in the resort and the reviews that you are getting. I hope you take this for what it is intended in helping you structure, train, and support your seasonal employees to create a better experience for your guests.