Post by PT Padgett on Aug 5, 2012 21:21:35 GMT -5
After viewing the Brian Fisher video for RideRoyalBlue.Com I phoned in a reservation for Tuesday July 31 thru Thursday August 2, 2012 using my credit card. When we arrived on Tuesday afternoon (a little after 3 p.m.), Nathan (the owner's son) drove up to the “General Store” shortly after we had tried the door and found the store locked up. He opened up and I went in to register. It turns out that when you make your reservation over the phone with a credit card, they immediately charge your stay to the card. I can accept that but would have preferred to have been told this up front.
We were given the key to cabin #23 and a map on how to find it. We drove up to our cabin and found that there was garbage strewn all along the approach wall with broken beer bottles, beer cans and various other garbage exposed due to animals having ripped the bags open and trailing the garbage up slope from the cabin. After unloading my ATV, I returned to the store to report the garbage mess but could not find Nathan anywhere in the area. They have contact phone numbers posted on the front of the store, unfortunately, neither of my cell phones had a signal. Unless you can access Verizon you won’t have cell service.
Some time after 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday I was able to find Jessica (the owner's daughter) as she stopped by the store. I reported the garbage problem and she said she would have it taken care of.
The problem is that the garbage was still there when we checked out Thursday. Of all the cabins I observed during our stay, ours was the only one with garbage piled up around it. I saw Jessica again when I returned the key for our cabin (she was working at cabin #20) and pointed out that we were not happy with the service we received during our stay. She patiently heard me out but didn’t seem capable or interested in doing anything about our experience. I left after telling her we will not return.
The pros: The cabin was clean on the inside and roomy enough for my party of five. The access to the trails was easy. There was ample parking for our rig and the three ATVs just outside our cabin. With the exception of our cabin (with the garbage) the rest of the campgrounds, cabins, lodge, RV park, etc. were well maintained and clean. We have travelled all six of the Hatfield/McCoy trail systems in WVa and in comparison we found the Royal Blue trails in pretty good condition. The only real negative is the trails are poorly marked but I understand that is a work in progress.
The cons: Although the facility is open seven days a week, they seem only to cater to the weekend customers. This is understandable regarding the restaurant being closed during the week, not enough customers to warrant keeping it open. However, the store is the main check in point when you arrive and it is not open and locating staff is difficult at best and impossible to someone that is newly arrived. A simple note on the door directing customers to where staff could be found or a notice of what if any hours someone could be found at the store would be very useful. The only sign for hours on the store said it was open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. I suspect we were the only occupants of a cabin during our stay and of all the cabins, they assigned us the only one with garbage scattered outside. There were people staying in a few of the RV park sites. Our group included my 83 yr. old mother who has Alzheimer’s and we had to watch her closely to keep her from going out and cleaning up the garbage. For the cabin to have been rented out at all it should not have been left that way for customer’s to see. My concerns were for the insects, rodents and animals attracted to the garbage. Not to mention the potential health hazards. I certainly didn’t want my kids exposed to the broken beer bottles and beer cans. We also found the fire extinguisher outside the front door was empty. This could have been discharged by the last tenant but when the cabin was cleaned it should have been checked.
I feel like we were not appreciated as customers during our stay but tolerated since we had the audacity to show up during the middle of the week. That is a shame and shame on them for the way we were treated.
We were given the key to cabin #23 and a map on how to find it. We drove up to our cabin and found that there was garbage strewn all along the approach wall with broken beer bottles, beer cans and various other garbage exposed due to animals having ripped the bags open and trailing the garbage up slope from the cabin. After unloading my ATV, I returned to the store to report the garbage mess but could not find Nathan anywhere in the area. They have contact phone numbers posted on the front of the store, unfortunately, neither of my cell phones had a signal. Unless you can access Verizon you won’t have cell service.
Some time after 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday I was able to find Jessica (the owner's daughter) as she stopped by the store. I reported the garbage problem and she said she would have it taken care of.
The problem is that the garbage was still there when we checked out Thursday. Of all the cabins I observed during our stay, ours was the only one with garbage piled up around it. I saw Jessica again when I returned the key for our cabin (she was working at cabin #20) and pointed out that we were not happy with the service we received during our stay. She patiently heard me out but didn’t seem capable or interested in doing anything about our experience. I left after telling her we will not return.
The pros: The cabin was clean on the inside and roomy enough for my party of five. The access to the trails was easy. There was ample parking for our rig and the three ATVs just outside our cabin. With the exception of our cabin (with the garbage) the rest of the campgrounds, cabins, lodge, RV park, etc. were well maintained and clean. We have travelled all six of the Hatfield/McCoy trail systems in WVa and in comparison we found the Royal Blue trails in pretty good condition. The only real negative is the trails are poorly marked but I understand that is a work in progress.
The cons: Although the facility is open seven days a week, they seem only to cater to the weekend customers. This is understandable regarding the restaurant being closed during the week, not enough customers to warrant keeping it open. However, the store is the main check in point when you arrive and it is not open and locating staff is difficult at best and impossible to someone that is newly arrived. A simple note on the door directing customers to where staff could be found or a notice of what if any hours someone could be found at the store would be very useful. The only sign for hours on the store said it was open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. I suspect we were the only occupants of a cabin during our stay and of all the cabins, they assigned us the only one with garbage scattered outside. There were people staying in a few of the RV park sites. Our group included my 83 yr. old mother who has Alzheimer’s and we had to watch her closely to keep her from going out and cleaning up the garbage. For the cabin to have been rented out at all it should not have been left that way for customer’s to see. My concerns were for the insects, rodents and animals attracted to the garbage. Not to mention the potential health hazards. I certainly didn’t want my kids exposed to the broken beer bottles and beer cans. We also found the fire extinguisher outside the front door was empty. This could have been discharged by the last tenant but when the cabin was cleaned it should have been checked.
I feel like we were not appreciated as customers during our stay but tolerated since we had the audacity to show up during the middle of the week. That is a shame and shame on them for the way we were treated.
