Bunkhouse Inn — Hotel in District 1

First of all, I am going to begin my review by saying I have stayed here before and found it to be acceptable, which is why I was willing to stay again. But that all changed this week. And I really thought about it before I wrote this review because I know how hard it is to run a small business and a small town - and I support small businesses as much as I can. But I believe that small businesses should provide the same standards of customer service as other locations. So here is my story! It was about 10 pm when I arrived at the Bunkhouse after facilitating a community meeting (on tourism) in a nearby community. My car said the temperature was -3 degrees. When I went to the office, there was a note on the door with a number to call so I did. The owner told me what room number I was in (#8) and said the door was unlocked, key on the bed, and when i got in there, I would need to turn up the heat on the heater on the wall (not the window air conditioner). I opened the door and the heat was not on at all so the first thing I did was crank it up as high as it would go. Then I hopped on my computer to answer some emails (leaving my winter coat on) while I waited for the room to warm up so I could go to bed. Fast forward to midnight and the room was still cold. I am unsure if the room was so cold to begin with that the little square heater mounted on the wall couldn't keep up or if it didn't work right. When I held my hand in front of it, the air coming out was warm, but definitely not hot. Since I needed to work the next day, I needed some sleep so I decided to see if I could curl up under the blanket (only one with a sheet and a bed cover) and warm up to go to sleep. After 30 minutes, I was still so cold that I decided to go outside to sit in my car with the heater on to warm up. Well, if I am sitting in my car with it running anyway, I may as well be driving, so I drove the 3 hour drive home and arrived at home at 3:30 am. And guess what? I was still charged for the room (I was there for 2 1/2 hours and left because it was too cold) and wasn't even given an "I'm sorry". The only response I got was "Have a nice day" as I was sent a copy of the charge to my credit card. So I guess as long as all is well, this is an ok place to stay, but if you have an issue - forget it. I had a reservation. It was cold outside. Would it have hurt to at least turned on the heater so the room was at least 60 degrees when I arrived? It's not like they weren't expecting me. And I will say I am not a wimp. I travel a lot for work and have stayed at some places that aren't that great. I also tent camp and sleep on the ground on a sleeping bag but then I am prepared for the weather. And I live on a ranch so know how to prepare for being outside working in cold weather. If I would have known how cold the room was going to be, I could have prepared by packing my insulated sleeping bag! But my expectation for a hotel room is that I won't need that. I shared my experience with several others and was told that I should dispute my charges on my credit card, but if I was charged after that experience and after not receiving even an apology, I am thinking they must really need the money to pay the heat bill? In my job, I work with tourism locations and also conduct customer service trainings. So at least I have an example to share during my workshops of what not to do. And I still have mixed feelings about posting this. This is the first negative review I have posted for...

This is the only motel in a town of about 130 residents. There are 8 self contained rooms, and 2 cottages with shared bunk-bed accomodations. The nearest town with a "hotel" is about 50 miles away. This town is compact in its configuration. The main road is paved while side streets offer compacted dirt cover. The motel room was clean but lacked essential items such as a chest of drawers, or someplace to place your clothes. There was no iron/ironing board, hangers, or closets. There was a small table, mini fridge and microwave, along with a TV. Room temperature controls were excellent. Internet connection was spotty. AT&T wireless does not work in this town (no AT&T towers within range.) The motel is ideal for hunters who are essentially "roughing it." In hunting season in October you will encounter hunters in their camouflage gear, hunting apparatus, game-coolers, and orange caps. You will probably stay here if you are driving through and really too exhausted to make it to...

After a week of backwoods camping and sight seeing in Badlands and through Black Hills my graddaughter and I were traveling east across the northern edge of SD in hope of seeing the Aurora. After 7 days, we thought it'd be a good break to get a room for the night. |I called the Bunkhouse and was referred to call the owner on her cell phone. Reservations were made and we beat her to the inn. Called again and she told us to go to our room, the key was on the bed. We can settle up "this evening, or in the morning" (was amazed, who does this now a days?).|Two full size beds that were deeply soft and firmly supportive, no fancy appointments, but clean! (The big chains could learn from), offered wifi, and satellite TV. The owner (DJ) gave us some northern lights viewing locations, but little girl was crashed by 8:00 after 10 min in bed reading. Area was in heavy smoke from Canadian wildfires and later clouds so there was no...