Drakesbad Guest Ranch — Hotel in Chester

Our goal is to stay at all of the facilities of the national parks. Drakesbad is unique among those experienced. There are some good features and some bad. First, the good. Because it is so remote the staff is stuck here for the season and they know the park and area. Also, the cabins we stayed in were the units that had two accommodations sharing a building. Our quarters were clean, although we did not have a comfortable chair to sit in to read. Which brings me a major drawback - no electricity to read by (or anything else) either. They give you small battery lanterns (not kerosene as the guidebooks say) to use at night, but they are not bright and very limited. Naturally no place to plug in anything else either. Because the grounds are all dirt, after a day or two the floor of the room gets dirty, but you deal with it. The guidebooks also mention a pool or spa, but that isn't functioning and doesn't look like it ever will again. Back to the dirt. The road from the nearest town is 17 miles and it takes 40 minutes because it is mostly dirt and bumpy. By the time you leave the dirt while have insinuated itself into every crevice or your car and many other places not thought possible. Given no electricity in some rooms and no decent road, it shouldn't be a surprise that there is no wifi or Internet. That wasn't important to me, but just FYI. But the biggest drawback is the location. Drakesbad is in the far southeast corner of the park. The main entrance, main road, and main sights of the park are ninety minutes, plusm away. The north entrance is more than two hours away. The northeast entrance (Cinder Cone, Lava Beds campground) are almost ninety minutes away. So if you want to see more of the park you have to dedicate a big part of your day to driving - on bad roads. There are three trails here, but all together they would take half a day. So you can see there are drawbacks. Offsetting those are a couple of pluses. First, all the meals are at set times and the whole property eats at the same time. You don't have to sit with anyone else (but can) but you see the same people and get familiar. And the meals are plentiful and good. If you are going to be gone during the day they will make up a bag lunch for you. That same camaraderie can if you wish, carry over to evening when there is a campfire and big lobby/game room where you may join other guests. All meals are included in the price of the stay for most accommodations (note that they have a variety). And, as mentioned, the staff is knowledgeable and oriented to the property and its customers. Finally, I'm not a horse person but there is riding for...

Not a bad place, so let me list a few good things about the place first- we traveled during the Covid fear, so first of all the place was clean and all the staff took precautions. The people were wonderful- starting from people at the desk to the manager and the kitchen crew. The location is great (although it feels out in the middle of nowhere), very close to some exciting hiking points. ||Yet, will I stay here again- NO. ||So expensive! We have been taking research trips in the last two years all over California and have stayed in some amazing places. And I am not talking about luxury. The bath place was ugly, it was clean but all you could smell was the cleaning product. The room had no cross ventilation so it felt stuffy even when kept the windows open. Small room, tiny toilet attached to the room- that's fine. Of course it feels like you are back in the 1930's - no power outlets in the room (so if you are using your phone as a camera I suggest take a power bank with you), no internet, no phone network-- all that is still fine. But the bed was a disaster. Horrible super soft mattress, horrible pillows, and the bed made a creaking sound with any tiny movement. NO SLEEP and we both have come back with back pain and shoulder pain! Even that can happen , this is not the first time I have experienced this. But all this for an expensive $875 for two nights! Even if you are a couple and booking a lodge room for two people, they for some reason charge per person! I have never paid so much for a lodge room anywhere. Yes the food is included in the charges, but i can do without three coarse meal when I am hiking. The reason why we like to stay in a lodge is to rest well at night and hike the entire day.... We did manage to have a great trip, even climbed the 800 ft tall Cinder Cone the second day (after sleeping for only 2 hrs) but I would definitely try other places or even...

I’m making an effort to stay at all the old lodges in the various western national parks. Drakesbad is in a little trafficked corner of Lassen Volcanic National Park. The setting is very nice and the area is peaceful and quiet. The guest ranch lets you know up front that the place is “rustic”. But there is a difference between rustic and trailer trash. Unfortunately, Drakesbad teeters towards the latter.||||It is all so unfortunate and unnecessary. This place could be a gem with good management, a clear plan and better organization of staff time and resources. It wouldn’t take a lot of money to make this place significantly better. A good management plan and 3 months it all it should take.||||As it is, the rooms are grimy and dusty. Rustic shouldn’t translate as dirty. There is no excuse for broken toys and games littering the grounds around the main lodge. The pool bottom is thick with black algae and sharp cracks catch the feet.||||The dining room is pretty clean, but disorganized. For example, the food is put out on the buffet without serving spoons. There never seemed to be enough plates and silverware for the demand. The dining room staff always had the air of being in crisis mode and trying to keep their heads down. Overall the food was fine, but a little bland.||||It all comes down to poor management. When I asked a staff member who was in charge, they gave a name but added “when he’s around”.||||I will give a big shout out to Jasmine who made each meal joyful and Shelby who, single-handedly, seems to do the same amount of work as the rest of the staff put together.||||As someone in the hospitality industry for 35 years, I am very familiar with operating similar businesses. Management is key. And all I can say about Drakesbad Guest Ranch is...