Strawberry Park Natural Hot Springs — Attraction in Four Corners States

I’m usually not a long review type of person, but given the way I was treated today at Strawberry Park, I had to make an exception.||||If you’re in the mood to be treated horribly by miserable staff who act like they’re doing you a favor by taking your money for the exorbitant entrance fees, Strawberry Park Hot Springs should be at the top of your list for your upcoming visit to Steamboat. ||||If, however, you’d rather enjoy a beautiful day soaking in hot springs where you’ll be treated like a human, then I’d recommend doing what we did today (and will continue to do in the future) and take your business to Old Town Hot Springs. ||||—||||Absolutely horrible experience.||||My wife grew up visiting Strawberry Park Hot Springs with her family on an almost annual basis, starting in the 90s. This family tradition has continued over the years and together with my wife and now our young children, we’ve been to these hot springs countless times.||||Today, during our annual visit to Steamboat, we went through the obligatory reservation system beforehand and arrived on time to the entrance where admission is paid. There was a couple in front of our family, and when they walked up to the counter and let the staff member know their names and reservation time, he scoffed at them and rudely asked if they had a printout or screenshot on their phones (there’s no reliable cell service at this location) of their reservation. ||||They didn’t, and instead of the staff member displaying a bare minimum understanding of customer service (and how to behave like a decent person), he told them that they needed to step aside as the woman behind them (my wife) had her phone out ready to provide reservation details for our party. ||||When my wife showed the staff member at the desk our reservation, he snapped back and asked how many were in our party. We had reserved for 4 of us (my wife, myself, and two of our children who are ages 3+). The staff member insisted that there were 5 of us, as we had our 3-month old baby in our party as well. I explained to him that we would be paying $20 for each of the 4 in our reservation, but that it didn’t make sense to require a reservation (and payment of $20) for a 3-month old who I’d be holding the entire time outside of the pools. ||||He quickly snapped at me, saying “I don’t care, those are the rules.” Not even an attempt at being remotely courteous about it. I’ve never encountered any business policy as outrageous as this - even the most nickel-and-diming businesses understand that charging any entrance fees - let alone full price - for a baby is simply ridiculous. I decided, based on the principle, that I’d instead stay in our car with our 3-month old son and the rest of our party could go in. When I said that to my wife, the staff member decided to continue putting his customer service skills on full display, exclaiming “great!”.||||I began to turn around and get our things ready to take back to the car, when the rest of our party (my in-laws) walked up to the counter to pay for their admission. My mother-in-law brought exact change for their tickets, several dollars of which were in quarters. When she handed the staff member their cash, she was met with a response, “Really, m’am?!” Clearly this staff member is so important that the simple task of counting a few bucks in quarters is beneath him. My father-in-law, shocked at this guy’s behavior asked him, “Are you serious?” At this point, the staff member thrust his hand back out toward my mother-in-law and demanded she take the cash back, and refused to allow my in-laws to enter. With a smirk, he looked at my father-in-law and scoffed “That’s what you get, man!”||||What a miserable person. ||||There was a decently long line of people waiting behind us, many of whom were audibly commenting on how unbelievably rude this guy was being (as well as how insane it was that he was demanding that our 3-month old have a reservation and pay full price). ||||—||||Even after years of patronizing these springs, we will not be returning to Strawberry Park in the future, and I would highly recommend that anyone planning a visit here reconsider. ||||In any other circumstance, I’d try to chalk such an experience up to being an outlier, but in the last few years visiting Strawberry Park Hot Springs we’ve had similar (yet none so jaw-droppingly brazen and aggressive) encounters with staff there. ||||Management clearly not only doesn’t care that customers are being treated this way - I’d guess they’re almost definitely the source of this disgusting and offensive...

I’m usually not a long review type of person, but given the way I was treated today at Strawberry Park, I had to make an exception.||||If you’re in the mood to be treated horribly by miserable staff who act like they’re doing you a favor by taking your money for the exorbitant entrance fees, Strawberry Park Hot Springs should be at the top of your list for your upcoming visit to Steamboat. ||||If, however, you’d rather enjoy a beautiful day soaking in hot springs where you’ll be treated like a human, then I’d recommend doing what we did today (and will continue to do in the future) and take your business to Old Town Hot Springs. ||||—||||Absolutely horrible experience.||||My wife grew up visiting Strawberry Park Hot Springs with her family on an almost annual basis, starting in the 90s. This family tradition has continued over the years and together with my wife and now our young children, we’ve been to these hot springs countless times.||||Today, during our annual visit to Steamboat, we went through the obligatory reservation system beforehand and arrived on time to the entrance where admission is paid. There was a couple in front of our family, and when they walked up to the counter and let the staff member know their names and reservation time, he scoffed at them and rudely asked if they had a printout or screenshot on their phones (there’s no reliable cell service at this location) of their reservation. ||||They didn’t, and instead of the staff member displaying a bare minimum understanding of customer service (and how to behave like a decent person), he told them that they needed to step aside as the woman behind them (my wife) had her phone out ready to provide reservation details for our party. ||||When my wife showed the staff member at the desk our reservation, he snapped back and asked how many were in our party. We had reserved for 4 of us (my wife, myself, and two of our children who are ages 3+). The staff member insisted that there were 5 of us, as we had our 3-month old baby in our party as well. I explained to him that we would be paying $20 for each of the 4 in our reservation, but that it didn’t make sense to require a reservation (and payment of $20) for a 3-month old who I’d be holding the entire time outside of the pools. ||||He quickly snapped at me, saying “I don’t care, those are the rules.” Not even an attempt at being remotely courteous about it. I’ve never encountered any business policy as outrageous as this - even the most nickel-and-diming businesses understand that charging any entrance fees - let alone full price - for a baby is simply ridiculous. I decided, based on the principle, that I’d instead stay in our car with our 3-month old son and the rest of our party could go in. When I said that to my wife, the staff member decided to continue putting his customer service skills on full display, exclaiming “great!”.||||I began to turn around and get our things ready to take back to the car, when the rest of our party (my in-laws) walked up to the counter to pay for their admission. My mother-in-law brought exact change for their tickets, several dollars of which were in quarters. When she handed the staff member their cash, she was met with a response, “Really, m’am?!” Clearly this staff member is so important that the simple task of counting a few bucks in quarters is beneath him. My father-in-law, shocked at this guy’s behavior asked him, “Are you serious?” At this point, the staff member thrust his hand back out toward my mother-in-law and demanded she take the cash back, and refused to allow my in-laws to enter. With a smirk, he looked at my father-in-law and scoffed “That’s what you get, man!”||||What a miserable person. ||||There was a decently long line of people waiting behind us, many of whom were audibly commenting on how unbelievably rude this guy was being (as well as how insane it was that he was demanding that our 3-month old have a reservation and pay full price). ||||—||||Even after years of patronizing these springs, we will not be returning to Strawberry Park in the future, and I would highly recommend that anyone planning a visit here reconsider. ||||In any other circumstance, I’d try to chalk such an experience up to being an outlier, but in the last few years visiting Strawberry Park Hot Springs we’ve had similar (yet none so jaw-droppingly brazen and aggressive) encounters with staff there. ||||Management clearly not only doesn’t care that customers are being treated this way - I’d guess they’re almost definitely the source of this disgusting and offensive...

I’m usually not a long review type of person, but given the way I was treated today at Strawberry Park, I had to make an exception.

If you’re in the mood to be treated horribly by miserable staff who act like they’re doing you a favor by taking your money for the exorbitant entrance fees, Strawberry Park Hot Springs should be at the top of your list for your upcoming visit to Steamboat.

If, however, you’d rather enjoy a beautiful day soaking in hot springs where you’ll be treated like a human, then I’d recommend doing what we did today (and will continue to do in the future) and take your business to Old Town Hot Springs.

Today, during our annual visit to Steamboat, we went through the obligatory reservation system beforehand and arrived on time to the entrance where admission is paid. There was a couple in front of our family, and when they walked up to the counter and let the staff member know their names and reservation time, he scoffed at them and rudely asked if they had a printout or screenshot on their phones (there’s no reliable cell service at this location) of their reservation.

They didn’t, and instead of the staff member displaying a bare minimum understanding of customer service (and how to behave like a decent person), he told them that they needed to step aside as the woman behind them (my wife) had her phone out ready to provide reservation details for our party.

When my wife showed the staff member at the desk our reservation, he snapped back and asked how many were in our party. We had reserved for 4 of us (my wife, myself, and two of our children who are ages 3+). The staff member insisted that there were 5 of us, as we had our 3-month old baby in our party as well. I explained to him that we would be paying $20 for each of the 4 in our reservation, but that it didn’t make sense to require a reservation (and payment of $20) for a 3-month old who I’d be holding the entire time outside of the pools.

He quickly snapped at me, saying “I don’t care, those are the rules.” Not even an attempt at being remotely courteous about it. I’ve never encountered any business policy as outrageous as this - even the most nickel-and-diming businesses understand that charging any entrance fees - let alone full price - for a baby is simply ridiculous. I decided, based on the principle, that I’d instead stay in our car with our 3-month old son and the rest of our party could go in. When I said that to my wife, the staff member decided to continue putting his customer service skills on full display, exclaiming “great!”.

I began to turn around and get our things ready to take back to the car, when the rest of our party (my in-laws) walked up to the counter to pay for their admission. My mother-in-law brought exact change for their tickets, several dollars of which were in quarters. When she handed the staff member their cash, she was met with a response, “Really, m’am?!” Clearly this staff member is so important that the simple task of counting a few bucks in quarters is beneath him. My father-in-law, shocked at this guy’s behavior asked him, “Are you serious?” At this point, the staff member thrust his hand back out toward my mother-in-law and demanded she take the cash back, and refused to allow my in-laws to enter. With a smirk, he looked at my father-in-law and scoffed “That’s what you get, man!”

What a miserable person.

We will not be returning to Strawberry Park in the future. In any other circumstance, I’d try to chalk such an experience up to being an outlier, but in the last few years visiting Strawberry Park Hot Springs we’ve had similar (yet none so jaw-droppingly brazen and aggressive) encounters with staff there.

Management clearly not only doesn’t care that customers are being treated this way - I’d guess they’re almost definitely the source of this disgusting and offensive...