The Black Diamond Inn & Social House — Hotel in Carmi

I am updating my reivew, now that I've had a recent stay. (6/25/25) New ownership / management has updated the place a little bit. It still has the same charm and character that one expects from an old house, but given that they made updates, there is still room for improvement.

The room was lacking in outlets. I know it's an old building, yet in the room updates, I would have expected the nightstands to have lamps with charging ports. I had to move the nightstand to find an outlet to plug in my phone at night. I needed to plug it there because with no clocks at all in the room, my phone also doubled as my alarm clock. I shouldn't have to move furniture to find a plug near the bed for my alarm particularly given there are no alarm clocks or any clocks provided.

The website FAQ states "All rooms have Wi-Fi so you may use your own streaming devices, but we do not provide cable TV." Kind of cheap in my view, but fine, I can stream Netflix and try and remember to log out before I leave. NOPE, the TV wasn't a smart TV, so streaming isn't possible! Am I also supposed to travel with my own Roku? They need to get smart TVs in the room to continue with this cheapskate streaming facade!

I'm in the room, I can't stream, so I'll watch local channels. There is an antenna cable plugged into the back. NOPE, that wasn't working either, couldn't get local channels. Uggh.

The absolute worst part of the entire thing was the complete and utter lack of responsiveness. There is NO staff on site. There wasn't under the old ownership either but at least they met you upon arrival and "checked you in" and gave you a personal cell number in case of emergencies. NOW every part of this transaction is via email / website. If there's any problem during your stay...too bad, there is no one to call or reach out to for an emergency.

Is a lack of TV an emergency? No. But I texted and emailed the contacts that were provided to me. NEVER got a reply.

I happened to be in town at the City Power & Water plant. I joked with them that had there been a water line leak in my room or something I'd have to call them to come shut the water off to the whole building since the owner clearly doesn't care about emergencies!

If you are in the hospitality industry, be hospitable. That's all that is expected - and not delivered by this establishment.

Original review from 2022ish (edited for length): Let me begin by saying this was my fourth stay at The Social House in Carmi. I have always found it to be comfortable and pleasant. I'm only reviewing this time in the hope that the owner will read this and make some real changes, return it to what it once was.

As far as B&Bs go, the second B has always been lacking. Historically there has been a wide selection of "fix it yourself" foods. I like a hot breakfast and there just isn't/wasn't much to eat hot. This time though there was a loaf of bread, cheese danish, and some mini muffins. That's it!

Then the room was missing some key items.

1. Trash can.
2. Hair dryer.
3. Bathrobe tie.
4. Proper liquid hand soap dispenser. T

Broken things

1. Shower head.
2. Chipped paint in bathroom.

I really can't understand why I wasn't advised of the shower problems with that room when I made my reservation. Why not offer a room upgrade for the same price or a discount? Better yet - don't rent that room until after it's repaired! There were only two people staying that night and there are 8 or 9 rooms. Don't rent that room!

Like I said, hopefully I'll have the opportunity to visit again and hopefully things will be better next...

Do not recommend! We recently stayed at the Social House while in Carmi for a wedding. We have been to events at the Social House in the past and were shocked to see how unclean & unkempt the house has become. We checked into our rooms and upon entering the bathrooms (one of the basement rooms) we found hair on the floor, toothpaste residue in the sinks and dust/dirt on the side tables - all showing that it had not been cleaned recently. When we texted the manager to share the state of the room she said “they were just cleaned”. I didn’t have any other options for places to stay so I cleaned the bathroom (with my own supplies) and found a vacuum cleaner upstairs & vacuumed our room. Based on how much was in the vacuum when I finished, it was obvious that it had not been cleaned recently. It was not only very disappointing that it was in the state that it was but also that the manager did not seem concerned or willing to do anything to make it right. I would not recommend anyone staying there in its current state and if I had had another option, would have left.||||Leaving this review here since my review on Facebook...

Do not reccomend! We recently stayed at the Social House while in Carmi for a wedding. We have been to events at the Social House in the past and were shocked to see how unclean & unkempt the house has become. We checked into our rooms and upon entering the bathrooms (one of the basement rooms) we found hair on the floor, toothpaste residue in the sinks and dust/dirt on the side tables - all showing that it had not been cleaned recently. When we texted the manager to share the state of the room she said “they were just cleaned”. I didn’t have any other options for places to stay so I cleaned the bathroom (with my own supplies) and found a vacuum cleaner upstairs & vacuumed our room. Based on how much was in the vacuum when I finished, it was obvious that it had not been cleaned recently. It was not only very disappointing that it was in the state that it was but also that the manager did not seem concerned or willing to do anything to make it right. I would not recommend anyone staying there in its current state and if I had had another option,...