Deer Valley Ranch — Hotel in Buena Vista

We were married at Deer Valley Ranch 9/14/24. From the time we signed our contract to the time of our event, the ranch had changed ownership. We only knew about that because the new owners reached out to all the couples who had contracts and let us know. Things seemed a little bumpy at the time for them, but by the time our wedding came around, things were sailing smoothly and I did not have any concerns about our weekend.

We did the Hitchin post package, staying 2 nights at the ranch with most of our guests staying on the property too. This part was the most magical and my favorite aspect of renting this property. It was a fantastic experience for everyone and we were complimented on having one of the coolest/most fun weddings ever due to the accommodations. Most of our guests list was coming from out of state, so giving them this experience was really important to us. Plus, it’s such a beautiful and underrated area, I wanted as many people staying as possible!

Stacey, the property manager, was super helpful along the entire way. We didn’t use a wedding planner, just a day of coordinator, so planning my wedding was a new experience for me and Stacey was always very quick to respond to my questions and always lead me in the right direction. When we arrived at the property she was there to greet us and help all weekend long.

The property itself is stunning. The views are unbeatable!! The chalk cliffs are so unique and the views from the ceremony site are gorgeous in all directions. We hosted our reception in the main lodge, but mostly on the outside deck and it was perfect. Beautiful and we had great weather. We had a food truck and a mobile trailer bar set up outside in the main parking area, none of our vendors were inside, which I think helped keep the craziness down and I do highly recommend that to other brides!!

The lodge rooms and cabins are definitely showing their age, but the staff keep them up nicely. It’s a more rustic experience, which is all about preferences. We loved that, personally. I don’t think there are any TVs. Which we don’t care about, but others have noted that in their reviews. Our room was cooled nicely, no issues with overheating during our stay. The pool (one was drained) and hot tubs were running great and were well maintained.

My only drawback/critique would be the access we had to the kitchen vs what was in our contract. The contract we had stated that we had full use of the entire industrial kitchen in the main lodge and that was our hope since we were needing to store 20+ bottles of champagne and desserts for the wedding. Plus we had our own food for the weekend, as did the other 18 guests staying in the lodge rooms. Upon our arrival, not before, we were told that we had to use the back kitchen space (a much smaller, much less equipped kitchen) only. That we were not permitted to use the entire kitchen. What we had access to was the small kitchen in the back. It had some awkward steps down to it, so we were a little concerned for our elderly guests getting in and out of there. But the main draw back was the 2 smaller/older refrigerators in there. One only had a single rack inside of it, so storage was a problem. Luckily we, and several of our guests, had ice chests to help store refrigerated items. Frustrating, but my point in writing this is to give a heads up to those of you who’s contracts may still state that you have full use, especially if you have florals that need to be stored as well, I would absolutely call ahead of time to establish a plan or plan to bring ice chests for the extra storage space. With the new owners, maybe they do state that in the new contracts that this is the only available kitchen area for lodge guests, so maybe me having an older contract caused the oversight in letting us know ahead of time. But we were able to make it work.

Overall, we loved our experience at Deer Valley Ranch for our wedding weekend and I highly recommend this to other couples, especially choosing an overnight package. Best weekend...

Our family has vacationed through four generations and over 40 years at Deer Valley Ranch. It has been the location for many wonderful family memories over the years. Unfortunately, our most recent experience did not nearly live up to those in the past. Here are 10 reasons we do not plan to return to Deer Valley: 1) change in structure to pay per person, not cabin, and requiring guests to eat all meals on site as part of the cost - this actually resulted in less quality family time than when we were able to share meals in each other’s' cabins; 2) lack of hospitality - from check-in to check-out, there was a general lack of service that even average guests expect; sometimes this was rudeness and blaming guests for mistakes made by their office or staff, and other times this presented as a feeling that staff and owners were too busy to be bothered to attend to the guests; 3) disorganization - there were dozens of errors made by the staff from beginning (i.e. booking) to end. These included not being signed up for events such as horseback riding, even though emails and phone confirmations were made weeks prior, incorrect billing, no replies to email communication they asked for to reserve activities in advance; 4) lack of sensitivity and accommodations for the elderly, those who are pregnant, small children, and persons with physical disabilities. This was extremely disappointing for a camp that advertises a Christian mission. The much anticipated Wrangler's Breakfast was held in a rocky, uneven spot where persons with any type of physical challenge were endangered of falling (unlike the prior spot in a more flat meadow). Guests who had to walk a distance on this dangerous ground included an elderly woman in her 90's, several pregnant women and a few with small children/babies, other elderly folks, and persons with visual and physical impairments; 5) poor communication among staff - on several occasions, guests had made prior arrangements for meals or activities with a certain staff member, but that information was never communicated to other appropriate staffers, resulting in mix-ups for which the guests were "blamed". There were no apologies made even though the staff later acknowledged that error was on their part; 6) meals - under the previous ownership, meals were a delight to look forward to, but not required as part of the paid plan. Items were home-baked with great attention to detail and presentation, served by happy helpers. Meals on this trip were disappointing at best - little was original, home-made, or tasty. While guests tried not to complain, the comparison between then and now was striking. Servers were over-worked, some of the food was soggy, under-cooked or overcooked. Teens remarked that they "had better food at church camp" this summer; 7) upkeep - most of the ranch and the accommodations (cabin and lodge) look just like they did 40 years ago. The little Western town for small children to play in was a safety hazard, with holes in the flooring into which small feet could slip through. Many of the cabins are outdated. The carpeting in several places has not been replaced for decades. While there is a new tennis/volleyball/basketball court with flooring, most of the ranch seems tired and untended to; 8) overpriced - One might excuse some of the other shortcomings if the cost was not so high (an average family of 4 - 5 may spend nearly $1,000 per night to stay on the ranch, with meals included), and pay additionally for activities such as horseback riding, white water rafting, fishing etc... 9) Christian mission - we missed being led in prayer before meals. Sunday church did not focus us on the Lord. The spirit that made us love this ranch seems to have evaporated into a poorly run corporation; 10) understaffed - it was obvious that the college students working were severely overworked, particularly in housekeeping and dining services - not nearly the number of staff in prior years. Overall, this was a sad experience, not reflective of the Deer Valley...

I really want to like this place, but the staff and lack of maintenance make it difficult. On the plus side, the food and location were great. ||The property is in dire need of repairs and is, in many ways, unsafe. One pool was closed for repair and the one that was operational looked like they hadn't cleaned it in ages; green algae all over the sides. Our sons room had an uncapped gas valve. All it would take is for a child to open the valve and gas would shoot out. The outside deck had 2x4s jammed under to help support the rotting wood. Some of the deck rails were so rotten it's amazing they were still hanging on. Good luck passing any kind of safety inspection.||Much of the staff was horrible and in need of hospitality training, at a minimum. One groundsman started weed-wacking right next to our group (which included babies) while we were sitting at the bean-bag area. I told him STOP and we'd be glad to move. He went running off to tell the manager who then came down to chew me out for stopping him! I told her the same thing I told him: we'd be glad to move if they felt they HAD to trim that area right then. We were told they did have to as the grounds people aren't there that often. BS. They were there all day trimming the weeds throughout the property.||One day they set up lunch on the (unsafe) deck, expecting guests to sit in the blazing, high-altitude sun. I told them there was no way we could do that, especially with all the small children and babies. No umbrellas, no shade whatsever. They acted completely put-off and finally allowed us to eat inside an unused portion of the dining room. Of course, not one of their staff ate outside either, all huddling inside, out of the sun.||One couple in our party tried to book a horseback ride and were told it was too late to schedule for the next day. We called Mt. Princeton ourselves and told no problem, they could easily fit us in. Why didn't Deer Valley at least give them a buzz themselves to see? We are still fighting, weeks later, to get reimbursed from Deer Valley for the horseback ride as it was part of our "all-inclusive" package. At first, the manager told us we hadn't paid for an all-inclusive and I told her she was wrong, we had. She continued to argue so we left her office. A few minutes later she came down to apologize; yes, we had paid for all-inclusive. Why in the world would she not assume I (the customer) was correct and THEN go look into it? What hospitality manager assumes the customer is wrong until proven correct? I spent well over $26,000 for our group's stay, at least give me the benefit of doubt!||On another occasion, our group successfully scheduled a ride with the stables through Deer Valley. We then realized that they would miss lunch, as the ride was scheduled by the office during when lunch is served. We went to the office and asked if they could prepare some sack lunches for them and were told that since we didn't give them 24 hours notice they couldn't accommodate us! But they were the ones that scheduled the rides? Couldn't Deer Valley have told our party at that time that they would prepare lunches?||Speaking of food, beware of the Wrangler's breakfast and hay ride. The ride was okay, but very long and we ended up at the breakfast location very late. Everyone had to pee by then but were told that the porta-pottie that was at the breakfast area was not open. But, hey, we were told, there are lots of trees around!||On the plus side, the property location is great and the food was good. We all had a great time, in spite of the maintenance and staffing issues. The Nathrop area is beautiful. My hope is that Deer Valley hires a top-notch hospitality manager that can turn the place around: it has a lot of potential. But, for now, my suggestion is to...