The Mallard Hotel — Hotel in Ducktown

The worst customer service experience I've ever had at a hotel. There were 4 of us traveling, and we tried to reserve a room with 2 queen beds the day before we arrived. We got a confirmation email, but I've never thought to double check confirmation to make sure we had the right room. When we arrived, the room had a single king bed. Thinking it was a simple mistake, we had to call (there is no lobby to walk down to and no one on site). We were 10 hours from home, all tired, and we spent 45 minutes sitting outside at 830 at night trying to figure out what to do with the room. The person on the line first told us the website's room availability can be funny - maybe it was the website, and maybe we screwed up the reservation. I don't know at this point. He kept putting us on hold for minutes at a time while we all stood and waited. He finally got back on the phone and said that there were no double queen rooms available and we could just rent a second room. I didn't want to spend another $300, obviously. I asked for a refund so we could go somewhere else. We were put on hold for another 7 minutes, then got disconnected. Then they called back and said they would not give a refund and offered 20% off a second room. I re-explained the situation, said I'd either like a refund or another room comped. I was put on hold for a few more minutes, and was told they would not do a refund and they would rent a second room for 50% off. We were all so tired and frustrated that we agreed.

Another person traveling with us did eventually get the owner on the phone. He said it was his policy to not do refunds, and that he could have rented that room (even though he had another room available to rent us and there were others empty). 20 minutes after we got moved into our rooms and unpacked (it was after 9pm at this point), he told us we could pack up and leave and he would give us a refund. He also invited us to go ahead and "tell whoever we want". So here we are.

The rooms were new, but the water was only mildly warm, and there was a 1/2" hole through the door beneath the lock that you could see straight through. The AC thermostat was...

Very affordable, compared to Blue Ridge just down the road, if looking for budget accommodations. There is nothing but a Family Dollar and Dollar General nearby, without going into Copper Hill. The Piggly Wiggly grocery store has been closed.

This is what my friend would call "putting lipstick on a pig". The name is deceiving using "Hotel". Hotels have rooms accessed from interior hallways. A Motel has rooms that enter from the outside, like this place does. The concrete steps are in horrible deteriorating condition and the elevators do not work. The room I was assigned, the front door looked like it had been kicked in multiple times. When I arrived at 12:15 am, I also found the keypad to the door dead. I had to call their customer service line and they had to give me the backup code to the lockbox with a key. I had to sit on the ground and use my flashlight on the phone to see the codes, as it's 6 inches from the ground.

Once you get in the room, yes it's a very well done and beautiful room, like shown on the websites. The beds are low to the ground and the slats creak and the bathroom sink did not drain well. The TV is set up with Roku or to attach your own device via HDMI. It took me about 10 minutes to figure out how to activate and make is so I could watch the free Roku TV channels (similar to PlutoTV).

There is a nice outdoor Pavillion area with some fire pits and wood available. Most of them had been used as trash pits and were full of beer cans.

They do have a small gym and a 2 sets of washer/dryer that are free to use. Someone had left some detergent in there.

I was there 2 nights. When I checked out, I was the only car left. There was an older gentleman that was backpacking trying to figure out the lobby and how to make a reservation. I helped him find the pricing online and get a room booked through his own phone. So it can be cumbersome for someone who just happens upon the hotel and isn't prepared for...

I travelled to the area with my husband and two friends for the Copperhill Veterans day rally and chose the Mallard as it was close to the event site and offered a small discount for Rally USA's event. I booked through the hotel's website for a double queen room since there were 4 people in my reservation. I take responsibility for not checking the confirmation email, I just assumed that what I selected on the website would be what we got. I called the hotel number when we arrived and saw one king bed and was told that "sometimrs websites can be wrong and you don't get what you picked" which I could understand if I booked on a third-party site, but I made sure to book through the hotel's website. I was also told that it's the "industry standard" that rooms have to be cancelled within 7 days of the reservation, but I had only booked the hotel 24 hours before we arrived. Initially I was told there was nothing that could be done. Then we were offered 20% off another room. By the time our friend was able to speak to the owner, it had been an hour and we were just tired. We could have been settled into another hotel by then. We were finally offered 50% off another room and took it only because we had an event the next day. My husband and I took the second room (after being told multiple times that the hotel was booked and they were turning people away). The room itself was fine except for the quarter-sized hole underneath the door handle, I'm assuming from when the door locks and handles were changed. It was large enough that you could see into our room and made me uncomfortable leaving my belongings there, especially since there is no office and the staff we spoke to are all off-site. I understand that this is a small hotel and not part of a major chain, but the customer service experience is severely lacking. It was truly a disappointing experience and I would not consider coming back to this hotel after these...