Iron Horse Hotel — Hotel in Blackwater

From the point of view of a history lover, this place is wonderful. It is the kind of place where it is just nice to be and soak it all in. Everyone at the hotel and for that matter the whole town of Blackwater is genuinely friendly. That is one of the things that draws us back to spend time here. At first you just notice how much more relaxed you feel, and then you notice it is because every one you see talks to you, even if you don't know them, everyone is glad to visit, and then it hits you that you haven't seen one person with their face stuck in a cell phone. There is still an easy sociableness and carefree lifestyle that exist in these places that has been lost in the cities. It is refreshing to spend a couple of days in that culture, and just sort of detox.|| This quaint old hotel just adds to all that, whether it is enjoying the great breakfast each day or hanging out in the parlor reading or having a coffee or drink in the back patio at sun set. We usually take some portion of each day and make a relaxing drive on a scenic backroad to one of the nearby historic towns just to buy baked goods, go to a winery, buy a local cheese, or just check out some history. The fun is in the actual drive. You never know what is around the next corner and you're in no rush to get there. Also most of these towns have some tourism and so there are some surprisingly great restaurants.|| If you want to get out of the city and and just slow down and enjoy life for a couple of days, this is a great...

I booked the Iron House Hotel in Backwater, Missouri in early February for the eclipse. I arrived to find the remainder of the hotel had later been booked for a wedding. Nice event but it consumed the entire place. We could not get to our room due to the wedding in process. We waited outside in the August heat. Later the wedding party and guest enjoyed a nice meal and continued to over flow the entire hotel and staff. I finally was able to connect with the owner/head chef and request a reversal of my charge, I was cancelling and choose not to stay. He looked me in the eye and with a smile asked "Is there a problem".

We left and drove the 260 miles back home.

I appreciate the special event of the wedding and understand the owner's economic choice but I had been looking forward to my husband and I staying at the hotel for over six months. I think the least the owner should have done was to contact me to let me know the change in circumstances. I could have then made my decision as to whether I chose to keep my reservation or make other arrangements. At the very least I would have been prepared for the Total inconvience of not having the hotel available to us until late that night.

At the every least I was unfairly treated and at the most...

We spent three days there and had a great time. It is in such a beautiful old building, which I think was built as a hotel over 100 years ago. We really enjoyed driving around the Blackwater and Boonslick area seeing the sights and just visiting with the locals, but we also enjoyed just hanging out around the hotel, having some drinks and soaking in the laid back slow pace of life in the nice town of Blackwater. Especially when the trains go by and honk their horn. It just felt so nostalgic. BTW we enjoyed the local little cafe across the street for a lunch with the locals, and then went to some of the more sophisticated restaurants in Arrow Rock , Glasgow, and Roachport at night. All of which were an easy and really pleasant drive from the hotel. After being cooped up from the virus, it was so nice to get out to the country and enjoy the atmosphere, and lack of crowds. Nichole was super helpful with advice and anything else we needed, and her breakfast each morning was fantastic. Such a nice way to start each day. I would highly recommend the Iron Horse and in fact we are already making plans to...