Clear Sky Resorts - Bryce Canyon - Unique Stargazing Domes — Hotel in Bryce Canyon City

We arrived for our one-night stay in mid-June, hopeful for a unique desert experience. Check-in set a surreal tone: the Eastern European clerk insisted on walking us through all the details in the visitor handbook. Despite his rapid speech in a strong accent, we felt obliged to endure. Somewhat bemusedly, we heard him out but it seemed incongruous, especially since we later saw another guest simply handed the book and told to ask if they had questions. At reception, we inquired about dinner with the restaurant hostess, who spoke so softly as to bebarely audible. We were disappointed to learn the restaurant, which had received good reviews online, was only serving outside because the air conditioning was out. However, the idea of eating outdoors in hundred-plus degree heat was unappealing. We were offered a 15% discount on takeout, so we deferred the decision in case the temperature dropped.||After driving the short distance to our dome—#62, on the far edge of the property at the desert’s edge—we entered the 6-digit code, which needed a few tries due to the bright sun obscuring the read-out. We stepped inside, hoping for relief from the heat. Instead, the dome was just as hot as the outdoors. The AC unit’s display showed 61°F, but this low setting was evidently not enough to cool the dome's inside. Half the dome is glass, so it was evident that a greenhouse effect was making the heat worse. The small roof vent at the top of our dome wouldn’t open, and the manual was missing a page about a remote, which seemed to be necessary to open the vent given it is out of reach. The manager visited our room to check, said that the AC was working properly. When we asked about the closed roof vent, he vaguely claimed it was due to “monsoon season,” though we could see other domes with their vents open. It felt like we were being given the runaround.||We pulled the curtains across the glass but one of them detached from half of its curtain hooks. In any case the closed curtains did not help the space to cool down. It was not until well after midnight that we could finally open the two small windows. While one of the windows was easy to open and shut, with its hydraulically operated spring, the other one sprung open with a force that hurt my arm, and was almost impossible to close later.||We ultimately ordered dinner for takeout. When the meal came, we couldn’t charge it to our room, having to pay by credit card instead. As one of us was still showering the food was lukewarm when we were ready to eat. It was delivered in cardboard but wrapped in aluminum foil, and therefore impossible to reheat in the microwave since there were no plates in the kitchenette. We called to ask the restaurant to provide plates and silverware, since eating with plastic tableware is never our first option. In any case, the restaurant refused. These may seem small things, but in a remote location where guests have no other dining options, they add up. Providing basic kitchenware and allowing room charges would be simple improvements.||Despite these frustrations, the location itself is beautiful. Through the glass dome, the night sky was stunning, even with haze from the Bryce Canyon wildfire. I spotted a rabbit and we enjoyed watching a family of kingbirds nesting in a nearby juniper tree as we ate outside our dome (still too hot to eat inside, and there were no chairs or tables to eat inside comfortably). The feeling of being in pristine nature was, however, marred by small bits of building debris (such as discarded sealant and bits of wood) that remain scattered in the vicinity of the dome. Such carelessness betrays a lack of attention to detail given it would seem a simple matter to have someone go collect this rubbish.||That night, while we were asleep, the AC unit—presumably overtaxed by the heat—began to drip. Since it was positioned directly over the bed, we woke up to water dripping onto our heads and pillows. We had to get up in the middle of the night and move the bed away from the unit just to avoid the dripping. The inadequate AC made for a restless and uncomfortable night.||The next morning, the temperature was finally pleasant, and we looked forward to breakfast. But again, we were told it had to be served outside—despite the cooler air and the fact that wildfire smoke made eating outdoors distinctly unpleasant. Given this, we decided to leave rather than endure another uncomfortable meal.||In summary, the concept, design, and setting of this facility are wonderful, offering a taste of nature for those who might not otherwise camp. Staff seemed mostly like students on summer break, inexperienced, uninformed and sometimes bordering on indifferent if not deceptive. They didn’t seem trained in hospitality or knowledgeable about the resort’s amenities, and certainly not prepared for things going wrong. The facility planners' lack of preparation for extreme weather, missing amenities, and nonchalant staff made for a disappointing stay. Given the cost of this premium soft adventure tourism experience, it was irksome to have a sub-par experience, over-promised and under-delivered. With better planning and a few simple improvements (aside from the AC, which needs a complete re-think), this place could truly deliver on...

Great concept. Poor execution. TERRIBLE customer service.

The view of the stars is impressive, there's no question about that! Although calling this a "luxury" experience and charging "luxury" prices just doesn't equate. The dome is pretty, and again has a nice view of the sky but the below details make the experience frustratin, less than enjoyable, and a complete waste of money:

It's impossible to regulate the temperature. It's very warm in the middle of the day even with the shades closed (no view / no natural light), and the AC and fan on. It's freezing cold in the morning. It was about 60⁰, maximum when we woke up. We ran out of hot water every day. The second day, I ran out of hot water 5 minutes into my shower. The maintenance man came and reset the hot water heater. It didn’t work. There not enough hot water for 2 people to shower back to back. The shower leaks and soaks the bathroom floor and leaked into the kitchenette/bedroom floor too. Also, the only hooks to hang wet towels in the bathroom are above the toilet (the towel would touch the toliet, gross). The kitchenette is a great feature but it's not stocked with a single item - no utensils, nothing, other than instant Folgers coffee and one packet of powder cream. The only place I have stayed that offered instant Folgers coffee was a summer camp in rural Poland, where they charge $17/night for the room. Again, not "luxury." The door to the dome was unlocking and opening itself the first 24 hours of our stay. Literally, the door was open when we returned from dinner and when we woke up in the morning. They did fix it, thank goodness. Domes are not freshend up/turned over daily unless requested (again, not luxury). We requested this as we wanted more coffee (even if it was instant) and needed more towels as most of the towels were used to soak up the flood from the shower. When the room was turned over, they never refreshed our coffee nor did they actually freshened up the room. New towels were left on the bathroom sink and that was it. The dome windows are dirty. There are handprints from the construction workers and writing on the windows. The dome was peaceful and so quiet. It was really nice. Until the last night, when we experienced a tea kettle like sound while we were trying to go to sleep.

Next up, amenities, well the very few that are offered. They did do laundry for us at no charge which we were very grateful for.

The Restuarant: the only nice thing about the restuarant is the view/outdoor location and the nightly live music. Otherwise, it's terrible. We ate there the first two nights of our stay (the second night, due to convenience and the live music). The food was absolutely awful. It was beyond bland, overcooked, dry, and room temperature at best. The cocktails were nice, but it took 25 minutes the first night and 50 minutes (no joke) the second night to get our drinks after we ordered them. As for wine, the server, nor the bar tender knew where any of the wine was from. Finally the bar tendered looked it up for me, and returned with an answer 20+ minutes later. The service was terrible: slow and unknowledgeable. The servers are trying and are friendly, but it seems like they were never trained.

The fire pit and complementary smores are a nice offering. We did enjoy them.

Checkout: we requested a late checkout at 12pm at reception the day before checking out. Late checkout at 12pm was granted and confirmed it would be free of charge via text message. After checking out, I received a text message that they will have to charge the card on file for late checkout. I then called and no one knew what I was talking about. I get another text message that they are charging the card on file for late checkout. I call again and am told late checkout was never approved. I tell them I have a text message confirming it. The women then tells me again it was never approved. This was the icing on the cake and led to this review. I have never been treated so poorly by a hotel in my life.

Would I stay...

After seeing the various social media posts about Clear Sky, we decided to bite the bullet and give it a try. We traveled with another family so we ended up booking their largest dome, the Andromeda.||Upon arriving at the property, it felt like we were in a sci fi film with all the dome habitats. The roads entering the property were gravel and were fine for our SUV and sedan. ||We found the front desk dome and the check in process was pretty straightforward. We received a binder with some information about the dome, our door code, and then drove a short distance from the main dome to our dome. ||We entered our dome and were amazed at the size of the interior. There was an adequate amount of space for our entire party. The beddings were nicely set up and the bathrooms were clean and neat. There was a nice “living room” area for us to congregate in. ||Unfortunately, after getting settled, we ran into multiple issues that negatively impacted our overall experience. ||First off, though the first floor was nicely cooled from their AC units, the second floor was very warm and was very uncomfortable to stay in during the day. We blasted the AC on the second floor all day and it never got cool enough until late in the evening. ||Secondly, the dome itself had a lot of imperfections and issues. There were holes drilled and filled on the steps, shower stalls that didn’t self drain and required us to “push” the water into the drain, showers that would drip all day, the ventilation window that would not open (which then trapped hot air in the dome), and the AC in one of the bedrooms dripped water throughout our entire stay. We talked to the Frontdesk about the ventilation window and the dripping AC. All that was done was the removal of the broken motor from the window and for the dripping AC, they just placed stacks of towels under the AC unit to catch the water. ||Though they advertised WiFi on the property, the WiFi was effectively non existent. The only “reliable” WiFi was in the main Frontdesk dome. In general, this wouldn’t have been too much of an issue, but the only way to reach the Frontdesk from our dome was to call them. But with no cell reception and no WiFi, we had no way to reach the Frontdesk. We ended up having to drive to the main Frontdesk multiple times to raise issues and to get supplies. Oddly, with what little WiFi we were able to get in our dome, the only messages that came through were all the text messages from Clear Sky marketing their additional activities and amenities. ||We did end up having dinner at the property and at least that experience and the food was good. We sat outside in the evening and the weather was great for outside dining. ||We did talk to the front desk about our key issues and we asked what they could do to make up for the issues. Their only offer to me was complimentary breakfast, but oddly, only for half of our party. For a “luxury” resort and for the price we paid, they could have at least offered to cover our entire party. The individual who I raised the issues to said that they would leave a message for the manager to contact me. But unfortunately, I never receive a call from the manager. ||Overall, though the dome was a unique experience, I am not sure that Clear Sky met the expectations that they had try to set especially given the price of their...