Chateau Big Bear Boutique Hotel, BW Signature Collection — Hotel in Big Bear Lake

Deciding to head to Big Bear for the weekend to enjoy the snow and ski, we looked through numerous properties and decided to book the Best Western because of its proximity to Snow Summit and the fact that the property featured a hot tub (and other hotels, like the nicer looking Holiday Inn, were all booked up). We called the hotel directly to make our reservation given the short notice, and again were told the hotel had a hot tub. Upon arrival a few days later, the receptionist told us the hot tub was not functioning and had not been for several days, meaning the person with whom we'd booked the room had not been forthcoming about the hot tub. When we expressed our disappointment about the hot tub and described how we'd been told the hotel had one, the staff member did not even really apologize, much less offer any discount or other remedies.

Beyond that little irritating item, the hotel itself needs updating. It's about as charming as a dingy nursing home stuck in the 90s. The faux-chateau feel comes across as contrived and adds to the dated nature of the property. Interior decor is odd and eclectic (in a weird, often tacky manner). The hallways are dimly lit with low ceilings made of cheap plastic tiles. Overall and throughout, it has a gross undertone, despite likely being cleaned regularly: AKA it's time for a remodel.

Our room was decent sized, and the bed acceptably comfortable. We liked the in-room fireplace. However the room's decor suffers from the same dated and forced-chateau styling described above. One of the bedside lamps did not function, which was very noticeable given the lack of additional overhead lighting in the main bedroom area. Awkwardly placed by the balcony door was what appeared to be a sconce, however none of the light switches would do anything to prove our theory correct (as in, if it was a light, we couldn't figure out how to turn it on).

Going out to the balcony, we discovered that the screen door wasn't actually installed but was instead resting against the glass and therefore fell outward when we tried opening it. A moment later while out on the balcony, a neighboring room's occupants came out to similarly find their screen door just resting against the glass, and they too were surprised when the screen fell forward. Of course we all shared a laugh and explained how we too had just experienced the perils of daring to use our room's balcony.

The bathroom--while just slightly better decor-wise than the room and hotel overall--was adequate. The vanity and overhead lighting featured those super cheap CFL bulbs that take a few minutes to warm up and get bright. Our shower/tub combo was your basic motel-sized, all-in-one setup, replete with both a cheap glued-in floor liner (graciously installed after the fact by management to avoid those pesky slip-and-fall lawsuits), and a single, semi-tattered, cloth shower curtain, which hung from an outwardly-bowed shower rod (an arrangement that left us wondering whether or not we were missing a second interior curtain). The shower head, though, was not your run of the mill cheapo motel type; it was big, with decent pressure and good flow that provided plenty of hot water for a good après-ski soaking. Sadly, getting out of the shower, I was immediately let down by the undersized, un-fluffy towels, of which, you're only given two, so doubling up to make up for their quality just leaves your hotel-mate without a means to dry off.

Normally, I wouldn't be so harsh when judging a place like a Best Western (let's face it, you're not staying at a Four Seasons), but given the price we had to pay for a single night's stay--on top of the fancy-sounding Big Bear Chateau branding--we dared to expect a bit more... and our stay clearly proved we shouldn't have. So try another Big Bear hotel if you're able, but if you're stuck staying here because all the other spots are booked, be sure to keep your expectations in check. Next time, we'll make our hotel arrangements with a bit more time to spare......

My wife and I took my mother to this hotel in Big Bear for a Mother’s Day getaway. At first we were impressed with how clean the hotel was and the decor. With that being said, or experience changed drastically the following morning. All night, I toasted and turned because the walls were so thin and someone was in the next room being extremely loud all night. Morning comes and we go down to the lobby for our breakfast. While we were waiting another customer started acting odd and started yelling profanities in the waiting area and trying to pick fights with people. He through something from one of the tables at my mom and luckily it missed her, but barely! My mom went to the blonde older women who was working the desk that morning to make her aware of this situation which was starting to make us nervous because you don’t know what people are capable of, and he was acting erratic. The literal response from this lady was “Well we don’t have security.” And that was it. She didn’t give a care in the world and had NO INTENTION on even checking the situation out. We grabbed our food and quickly got back to our room. About 10 min later we realized that the SAME DUDE who was acting erratically was the one staying next door to us that kept me up all night! He came into his room yelling and throwing stuff around, needless to say we were very worried at this point & decided we needed to hurry up and get out of there. We were literally afraid to leave our room. So we scrambled to get all of our stuff together and when we heard him settle down we booked it! This was all at about 7-8am, we weren’t due to check out until 11am. So our stay was cut short. I was extremely shocked that this women in the front didn’t give a care in the world, and had the nerve to ask as how our stay was when we went to check out literally 20 min max after this occurred! On top of all of this, she wasn’t even wearing a mask. Fine you may have your “views” but you are working and you have customers who have to come right by you, and just because YOU think you don’t need to wear a mask doesn’t mean that the customers feel the same way...so while you’re at work you should adhere to guidelines and do whatever you want on your own time, not while you are at work. Especially because I am high risk. I tried reaching out directly to the hotel with no response, which I than had to reach out to booking.com where I booked through and low and behold after about 4 days of waiting, the hotel had no solution. No sorry, no nothing. Even after they were “supposedly” checking into the situation. Completely unprofessional and I will never return to this hotel again for that very reason. I expect more than just clean, I expect good customer service and at least care of...

I have stayed at the Chateau Big Bear several times in my life, and have usually been pretty pleased.  My most recent stay could have been better.  For one, I reached out after my stay about their gym, which is decidedly lacking in equipment.  I actually took the time to share with the manager suggestions on new equipment that could be purchased with a modest budget  (approx. 10k total) that really would convert the gym from a tired old broken down gym, to something nice that guests would actually like to use.  Other than for a new inflatable exercise ball that was purchased (according to their manager), they did nothing.  A bit disappointing.  They advertise they have a fitness center, and can't make a small investment in their gym for their guests to actually deliver on what their advertising?  I then discovered yesterday on my credit card bill a charge for $80 for parking, for my 2 night stay in August.  Apparently the hotel has decided to start charging for parking in their lot, despite the fact that there is tons of free parking all around Big Bear.  When I booked the room on Priceline, there was no mention of a parking charge, and when I checked in, there was no mention.  I was specifically told that my room was prepaid, and that they were swiping my card only for a refundable deposit.  Not cool.  Parking charges and resort fees are what is killing the Las Vegas business currently, as customers don't appreciate additional bait/switch charges for what they believe has already been paid for.  And what's worse-Chateau Big Bear overcharged me for the parking!  According to their manager Sherri, this was an honest mistake made by a new front desk person, where I should've been charged $40 instead of $80.  And to be fair, they did agree to credit me back the full $80....But I'll say when I asked Sherri about the other folks that may have been overcharged for parking and what was being done, what I got back was extremely disappointing.  It was a perturbed response of, "Well, will just have to do a full audit then!"  Guys, if you see you've overcharged a customer, (particularly on a bait/switch charge like parking), you shouldn't just be crediting back those that actually catch the mistake and take the time to call you, but should be happy to make absolutely sure no other customers were unfairly charged.  Sorry for the inconvenience, but that's the deal.  Not cool, and very disappointing.  I'll increase my rating to 5 stars once the parking charges are removed, (i.e. actually included in the room rate advertised, as opposed to some slick up charge at check in), and I receive back a response to my ignored email from the hotel manager that they have made sure no other customers were overcharged by this new front...