Rustic Rook Resort — Hotel in Alamosa

We stayed one night at the Grain Bin Villa at Rustic Rook Resort and, unfortunately, I cannot recommend this place based on our experience.

From the beginning, communication was extremely difficult. It took days to get responses to questions both before and during our stay. That should’ve been the first red flag.

One major issue was with the sled rentals. We received a text asking if we wanted to rent sleds—something we were excited about and part of the reason we booked here—so we responded yes. But when we received the rental agreement (on the day of arrival), we were shocked to find that sleds were only available until check-out time at 10 AM. Since check-in isn’t until 3 PM, and we were only staying for one night, this made zero sense. We even tried to request early check-in that day and didn’t get a response until 8:30 PM—long after it was relevant. Once we read the rental terms, we didn’t touch the sleds, but were still charged for the rental anyway.

After calling multiple times from time we read the rental agreement to the next day (check out) , I finally got someone on the phone at 6 PM. They did issue a refund (the only positive part of this whole stay), but I spent my entire day at the Sand Dunes anxious that I’d have to fight for a refund because of their completely unresponsive service. When I shared my frustrations about the lack of transparency and poor communication, I was met with a defensive and rude attitude—which seems to be a recurring theme based on their response to other reviews that mention even the smallest complaints.

Then there’s the misleading listing. They advertise a “pull-out couch,” but in reality, it’s just a thin cushion on the floor—no frame, no mattress, not even close to a standard pull-out. I don’t understand how they justify charging extra for guests beyond two when the additional sleeping arrangement is barely usable. I would not recommend more than two people stay in the Grain Bin Villa unless someone is okay with sleeping on the floor.

Unfortunately, the main bed and pillows weren’t any better. If you have back or neck issues, this is not the place for you.

Also, while the listing mentioned “two full beds” in the Grain Bin Villas, this was not yet true. That part was advertised in the general resort description but within the actual unit description it states king bed and pull out couch—and I forgot to triple-check due to how unclear and disjointed the booking process was. That’s on me, but be warned.

Lastly, the free breakfast that’s advertised all over their website? That’s only for certain housing options—not the Grain Bin Villas. Thankfully, that part was clear in the fine print, unlike everything else. The "locally made" breakfast burritos they sell were frozen solid, so I didn’t purchase one and can’t speak to the taste—but I’d be cautious if you plan to rely on the resort for food.

Overall, Rustic Rook has a fun concept but lacks follow-through, transparency, and hospitality. Between the poor communication, misleading amenities, and disappointing customer service, I wouldn’t stay here again or recommend it to others.

The views were great along with the location- but the frustration of lack of communication with the lack of quality of sleep and high price outweighed...

Was staying here for a visit to the Sand Dunes over Memorial Holiday weekend! I was looking forward to the vacation and being away from the City. I would not recommend this location if you are looking for the same.

When we checked in the employee was abrasive and accusative about our pet(dog). We assured him we would keep him on leash and not to worry; yet, even as we walked towards our tent another family was just ahead with their dog off lead. I thought it was odd this was singled out to us.

After a dinner grilled we were sitting out front of our tent relaxing when the same employee called my wife asking if we had checked in. We reminded him that we had, and he stated that was odd as we had a second tent reserved for us under my wife's same first name (unique spelling) with different last name as we were recently married.

My wife explained that back in March when she called to make a reservation, she never got a confirmation email after supplying the money. She called back in April after the name change and asked if a confirmation could be sent or confirm a reservation. The owner related there was nothing showing up and we should reserve a new tent. This made sense at the time in April.

However now as we sat outside of the tent the male employee assured us it was easily seen as two first names easily searchable were here, just the different last names. Best of all - the same bank account was used. The male employee assured us he would follow up with the owner, and we went on with our night.

The following morning at check out, the Owner was very clear in her belief she held no fault in this matter. She supplied us with an analogy, "She is a fast food hamburger place - and if the hamburger is cold when we get it home, that isn't her problem as she met her end of the bargain." She refused to refund the second tent that was reserved, and said that if it had not been a holiday weekend where they were fully booked she may have done different - but as we had apparently reserved two tents (the second at her behest) she refused a full refund.

The main issues here is the business clearly has a search function of some kind that can look up a name as the male employee inadvertently confirmed this. The owner supplied us with the answer they only go by last names which is a lie based off the male employee. The owner then remained defensive and unwilling to even meet us half way at something she had an equal part of blame in showing a complete lack in customer service.

So... using the Owner's own words "If you are a business who sells a cold hamburger to your customers, and gets away with it because you blame the customer, you need to realize eventually the customer's wont come to get your sub par hamburger."

Hope this helps someone when considering where to stay!

I'm sure I'll get a snarky remark from the owner as she has done with previous bad reviews. So I'll end it with some friendly business advice. Read Robert Sinek's 'Start with Why.' There is some good advice in there that will help you with future customers...

I appreciate the updated response from the business*

This is a BEAUTIFUL place - it's a shame however that management and staff lack the customer service skills to go with the amazing property. It is my impression and experience that their response to feedback is giving customers sassy or arrogant remarks (I read a few other reviews and it looks like I am not alone in this). Humility, customer service training and respect for a global pandemic would go a long way at this place. Replying to a customer review about lack of mask-wearing with "Please conciser those who are not able to wear masks for health reasons" is not an appropriate response. If a staff member has health reasons not to wear a mask, they shouldn't be greeting/interacting with customers - they could be performing other duties. This was also my experience with you guys - both the greeter and the manager were lacking masks when talking to me and showing me to my tent. I was extremely uncomfortable the entire time. Did both of those staff members have reasons not to wear a mask? Perhaps - but it is very inconsiderate to guests.

Let's move on to the accommodations... LARGE GROUPS, BE AWARE OF NUANCES. The website let us book one of the Estate Tents w a Roost and said we could fit up to 6 adults. When we arrived, there was only a king bed (for 2 adults) and a ridiculously small "futon" (pictured below) where apparently 1-2 adults were supposed to sleep? Needless to say my husband alone didn't even fit there. The remaining adults were meant to sleep in a detached roost with 2 cots (this was fine and expected). So essentially, two of our adults were SOL - I was really embarrassed as I had been the one to arrange the trip for my out of town guests. We complained upon arrival and the manager on site was really indifferent and didn't offer up ANY form of compensation or make-goods - she was just like, "most people don't have issues with this set-up, I guess we can get you some extra cots". She made me feel like I was high-maintenance/ complaining for no reason and didn't acknowledge their mistakes or their less than truthful/accurate advertising online (this set-up DOES NOT accomodate 6 adults). My suggestion to them is, transform the estate tents that have two queen beds into the tents w/ roosts that you offer to parties of 6 or more (that way you can have 2 adults to each queen bed and 2 adults outside in the roost).

If management changes or reaches out to us to make things right, we will come back - I am a customer success executive and I understand people make mistakes and deserve another shot (but only when they are able to recognize their errors and truly care about the customer experience). Otherwise, better luck elsewhere as the price wasn't worth the way we were treated. Maybe this is normal in Mosca, CO but people traveling from out of state and paying $500+ a night are going to expect top-notch service, accurate occupancy descriptions and a basic respect for CDC...