We went to Ruidoso N.M. On June 5th and stayed at the Inn of the Mountain Gods. My wife had been there 25 years ago as a young girl and she had wonderful memories of the area, especially the Inn of the Mountain Gods. We decided to take our three daughters for a family vacation to N.M. And to stay at the Inn.
There had been a forrest fire recently in the area and since it was early in the tourist season we had been told that reservations were not necessary. The immediate area surrounding the Inn had been untouched by the fire and the view was indeed beautiful as my wife had described. I was able to check in with no problems as my family enjoyed the beautiful hotel lobby. We requested and receieved a rollaway bed as there were five of us checking into a room with two queen beds. Our first day and night were restful and uneventful.
The next evening I left the resort for half an hour while I purchased some fishing bait I intended to use in the beautiful lake next to the Inn. When I returned, my wife and three daughters were in the parking lot clearly upset. It seems that hotel security had tried to gain entrance to our room by claiming that they were checking for a dog. My family was all in the room at the time and had not been notified by the front desk that there was any suspicion of us having a dog. My wife and daughters were terrified when someone claiming to be security said they wanted to come in to check for a dog. Our dog was being boarded in Houston and it sounded like someone was trying to rob us in our hotel room! A call to the front desk by my wife verified the presence of secuirty outside our door. When my wife told Myra, the front desk person, that we had not brought our dog with us and that they would have to wait until I returned to search the room and car, Myra told my wife that we had too many people in the room and that we would be charged a higher rate!
We had all been present at the time of check in and had recquested and received a roll away bed!!! It seems that a house keeper named Cecilia had said that she had seen a dog when she was cleaning our room. I informed Myra that the housekeeper needs to keep the room numbers straight and that security had terrified my family by their presence and suspicions. Myra offered no apology for their mistakes and told me that there had been a mistake at check in and that we would have to pay the higher rate. At this time there was no manager in the hotel and I told Myra that they could keep the dog (wherever it was) but that we were leaving. After we had checked out the assistant manager returned and he seemed apologetic but by then our R&R had been soured. Had apologies been offered in a timely and respectful manner I would have had no problem paying the higher rate.
We left Inn of the Mountain Gods never to return again with my wife feeling especially hurt. We checked into the Hawthorne Suites in Ruidoso and it was a completely different experience. The staff from top to bottom was courteous and very friendly and based on my expereince there and I would not hesitate to stay there again.
Has anyone out there had a similar experience at Inn of the Mountain Gods?
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