South Fork Lodge — Hotel in Buffalo

I reserved a cabin for 3 nights at the South Fork Mountain lodge to attend a nearby family reunion 3 miles east of this property. I had messaged the owner, Holli, and she was welcoming and friendly on her texts. |Pre-arrival, I asked her if there were hair dryers on site- the answer is no. | |On arrival at 1130 AM, Holli was not on site (I never met her in person). I was told my cabin (Antelope) was still occupied, and could I please return later in day to check in? My family purchased 4 of their amazing cinnamon rolls from the restaurant to take to their house. I was not offered area maps for the abundant National Forests and scenic hiking trails- that would have been more welcoming.||I returned in the late afternoon. The woman at the front counter of the restaurant/gift shop area gave me a key, consulted a property map (?) and directed me "to go to the very last cabin on the left, up this road out front". A gentleman named Pete was sitting at the counter and introduced himself. ||As directed, I drove a short distance past several cabins with names on wooden signs, and past a bathroom area. On the left, the last cabin was without a sign, and down a rocky embankment. I gathered my backpack and overnight case, negotiated the terrain and approached this cabin. I knocked and then eased the door open. inside it was quite dark, with 2 messy clothes-strewn beds in 2 rooms. Obviously, I had been mis-directed and quickly went back to the main lodge, embarrassed, and tired from my travels.||Pete apologized and re-directed me to the correct cabin- 50 feet away.|Now I thought I could relax and rest in the Antelope cabin. ||Not so. I had signed into the internet/Wifi password at the Lodge reception area. Internet worked there. Right across from the Lodge, in my cabin there was no internet. That meant no email, no ability to be called or make calls out, no ability to attend a Zoom internet AA meeting from my cabin. So, I sat in my rental car, drove 50 feet toward Lodge and let my family know the situation. I was too weary to try to problem solve this issue.||The door's deadbolt housing was deeply cracked and the lock could easily have been opened with a quick shoulder shove. Not optimal.||Inside my cabin? Dead spiders and flies throughout. No mugs available to make tea (there was a microwave and mini fridge in cabin). No creamer- even powdered would have been nice. Restaurant closes up at 8 PM, so no one to buy milk from or get a coffee mug. The 2 regular bed pillows were flat, and sheets stained on one side of bed's sleeping area. The beige throw pillows musty and in need of washing. The denim couch was a folksy touch. ||The bathroom was spotless and the shower clean. There are no amenities like shampoo or lotion, so bring your own. ||To get heat, I turned the thermostat up. Immediately there was a loud deep pitched rumble (think diesel engine behind a thin plywood panel door). It would have been impossible to sleep with the heat on and that amount noise, so I opted out of heating the room. The water heater unit was filthy and caked with rusted, crumbling debris on top. Hard water residue evident at the pipes- so I chose to sleep without the unit firing up all night. I also cracked a window for fresh air.||On my first morning, I had to sit in my rental car again to attend my 7 AM AA meeting. When the Lodge opened, I requested and was given a porcelain coffee mug. The young gal at the counter was cheerful and helpful. There was no housekeeping service, and my trash did not get emptied during my entire stay. I found this disappointing.||I spent 95% of my 3 days with family at their private home/cabins 3 miles away. I did not eat at the restaurant. I spent $855.00 for these 3 nights and in retrospect, could have stayed in downtown Buffalo with more ease, better value and comfort. ||If you are looking for rustic and no frills, the South Fork Mountain Lodge is for you. Despite the friendly staff at reception/restaurant area, I do not feel it is worth the price to stay here. The experience could be so much improved with a few...

I reserved a cabin for 3 nights at the South Fork Mountain lodge to attend a nearby family reunion 3 miles east of this property. I had messaged the owner, Holli, and she was welcoming and friendly on her texts. |Pre-arrival, I asked her if there were hair dryers on site- the answer is no. | |On arrival at 1130 AM, Holli was not on site (I never met her in person). I was told my cabin (Antelope) was still occupied, and could I please return later in day to check in? My family purchased 4 of their amazing cinnamon rolls from the restaurant to take to their house. I was not offered area maps for the abundant National Forests and scenic hiking trails- that would have been more welcoming.||I returned in the late afternoon. The woman at the front counter of the restaurant/gift shop area gave me a key, consulted a property map (?) and directed me "to go to the very last cabin on the left, up this road out front". A gentleman named Pete was sitting at the counter and introduced himself. ||As directed, I drove a short distance past several cabins with names on wooden signs, and past a bathroom area. On the left, the last cabin was without a sign, and down a rocky embankment. I gathered my backpack and overnight case, negotiated the terrain and approached this cabin. I knocked and then eased the door open. inside it was quite dark, with 2 messy clothes-strewn beds in 2 rooms. Obviously, I had been mis-directed and quickly went back to the main lodge, embarrassed, and tired from my travels.||Pete apologized and re-directed me to the correct cabin- 50 feet away.|Now I thought I could relax and rest in the Antelope cabin. ||Not so. I had signed into the internet/Wifi password at the Lodge reception area. Internet worked there. Right across from the Lodge, in my cabin there was no internet. That meant no email, no ability to be called or make calls out, no ability to attend a Zoom internet AA meeting from my cabin. So, I sat in my rental car, drove 50 feet toward Lodge and let my family know the situation. I was too weary to try to problem solve this issue.||The door's deadbolt housing was deeply cracked and the lock could easily have been opened with a quick shoulder shove. Not optimal.||Inside my cabin? Dead spiders and flies throughout. No mugs available to make tea (there was a microwave and mini fridge in cabin). No creamer- even powdered would have been nice. Restaurant closes up at 8 PM, so no one to buy milk from or get a coffee mug. The 2 regular bed pillows were flat, and sheets stained on one side of bed's sleeping area. The beige throw pillows musty and in need of washing. The denim couch was a folksy touch. ||The bathroom was spotless and the shower clean. There are no amenities like shampoo or lotion, so bring your own. ||To get heat, I turned the thermostat up. Immediately there was a loud deep pitched rumble (think diesel engine behind a thin plywood panel door). It would have been impossible to sleep with the heat on and that amount noise, so I opted out of heating the room. The water heater unit was filthy and caked with rusted, crumbling debris on top. Hard water residue evident at the pipes- so I chose to sleep without the unit firing up all night. I also cracked a window for fresh air.||On my first morning, I had to sit in my rental car again to attend my 7 AM AA meeting. When the Lodge opened, I requested and was given a porcelain coffee mug. The young gal at the counter was cheerful and helpful. There was no housekeeping service, and my trash did not get emptied during my entire stay. I found this disappointing.||I spent 95% of my 3 days with family at their private home/cabins 3 miles away. I did not eat at the restaurant. I spent $855.00 for these 3 nights and in retrospect, could have stayed in downtown Buffalo with more ease, better value and comfort. ||If you are looking for rustic and no frills, the South Fork Mountain Lodge is for you. Despite the friendly staff at reception/restaurant area, I do not feel it is worth the price to stay here. The experience could be so much improved with a few...

DO NOT STAY HERE. DO NOT STAY HERE. DO NOT STAY HERE. I have been trying to come up with the right words to explain how HORRIBLE our stay was but I think the level of hospitality we were offered speaks for its self. Prior to our arrival we had a few extra friends decide to join us, so I called on three occasions to add them to our reservation because the cabin we had rented says it was only for 4 people, however you did an online reservation it said 8 guests were permitted. We had 6 adults and 3 infants. Each time I called no one really had an answer for me as far as what we should do and the gals on the phone said they would have someone else call me. Assuming they are seasonal staff, and it was an unusual situation so I was understanding. On my 4th call, I finally got ahold of Shasta (who I believe may be the manager). She was so helpful and kind, I verified that it was okay we had extra people and paid an extra nightly fee. Which was no problem. The day we arrived the cabin was a little small so the first thing I did was go to the front desk and ask 1. Can we upgrade to a larger cabin and 2. Asked about parking. We were told only smaller cabins were available for our stay so we kept the one we had and where we parked was fine as long as we were out of the way not blocking the road. Which turned out not to be true, we were the only ones in the resort 2/3 nights we were there. Could have been an honest mistake on the front desk ladies part because she was super helpful beyond that. The next evening, we got an unwelcoming visit from the Owner – WAYNE. He was TERRIBLE – screaming at us, dropping F-bombs in front of our children and completely rude. He said we had too many people, WHICH I PAID FOR. We were using too much water – 2 SHOWERS HAD BEEN TAKEN AT THIS POINT. Infants needed to be paid for as adults – which we were informed prior to arrival was not the case. He was upset at us because he supposedly told his staff at 8am that morning that they needed to tell us to move our vehicles because they were a fire hazard. He had driven by a few times at this point and never said anything himself. Around 5pm they asked us to move at the front desk, (This conversation with him happened as our party was walking back from just talking to the gal at the lodge, so didn’t even have time to move before he came completely unglued.) My personal favorite of his comments was “ARE YOU SCARED TO SPEND MONEY?!” so clearly this place is ran on greed and bad customer service. This is not someone who should be in any customer service business. Wayne got in his side by side and drove off like a child and said he was going to get his wife. We talked to her shortly after and she seemed nice, I showed her my receipt that I had paid extra for everyone and explained what had happened. She told us that she just wanted us to be comfortable and we needed to see things from their side. Which we did and was exactly why I had called over and over again to make a point to make sure we were covering our bases and being fair. If they wanted us to be comfortable a good place to start would be not yelling at your guests. We had zero intention of nickel and diming them. She seemed fearful so I am afraid that her husband was yelling at her the way he was yelling at us, I pray she is safe in her own home. It was a truly humiliating experience for all of us and we will not be back to any of the resorts they run. We learned later that Wayne is known for his hot temper and taking it out on the guests’ vs talking like a mature adult to his staff. Everyone besides him was super nice and helpful, the food at the restaurant looked great but we decided to bring our business elsewhere after being yelled at and they have a nice little store as well. STAFF – I hope you don’t put up with that horrible attitude daily and feel appreciated. The location is pretty and the rustic cabins are very rustic. GUESTS- GO...