General Palmer Hotel — Hotel in Durango

I spent 6 nights at the General Palmer Hotel for the Durango Independent Film Festival. It couldn’t have been more perfect! The attached photos will give you a sense, but they can’t capture the charm and history that the place has in person. The elevator is a classic old style one that requires a bit of getting used to, with a heavy gate to open and close when using. I enjoyed it occasionally, but the stairs offer a gentle quick bit of exercise at elevation, so I opted to primarily use them. I had a 3rd floor deluxe queen room. The furniture is high quality and the room was very, very clean. I found the bed remarkably comfortable. The heater/AC unit is European style and easy to use with a remote. Great hot water in the shower. Plenty of nice wood hangars in the closet. The photos show that Room 307 has a view that was quite pleasant on the sunny day I first woke up to, then breathtaking after an overnight snow days later. The General Palmer is perfect for train lovers - as the snowy pic shows, the tracks are just outside so you can look out the window, or sit on the balcony (the door is from the hall outside) for a wider panorama. The train is a perfect alarm clock - at 8:am the horn bellows good morning! I loved that. If you want to sleep in, bring ear plugs. . Other than the train, I was surprised how quiet the hotel was, even when it was full on the weekend. I only knew there were nearby guests when they showered or we passed in the halls. The hotel seemed to attract nice people, too. I had some nice conversations at breakfast. The free breakfast is quite good. Over the course of the 5 mornings I enjoyed it, the choices included bacon or sausage, eggs of many styles, potatoes prepared multiple ways (with peppers and onions YUM!), fresh biscuits and gravy, and more. They have a waffle maker setup to cook your own, oatmeal every day with walnuts, raisins and brown sugar, a yogurt selection, OJ and cranberry juice, and dry cereal choices, too. There’s a coffee/tea set-up in the lobby, and they set out warm cookies every day at 2pm. The hallway outside my room had a water dispenser to refill my personal bottle, the at also offers hot water for tea. (They have coffee there, too, but I don’t drink it so I can’t speak to it.) The hotel is in a great location near the historic Durango & Silverton train station, which has a terrific free museum. The Gaslight twin movie theater is at the end of the block. There are many good bars, restaurants, galleries and shops on Main that are easy walking distance. I had a few hours between checkout and departing for the airport so I spent the time in the Library Room (pictured) off the lobby getting work done. With access to the lobby’s tea, chilled water (and lovely restrooms), with great sunlight shining in, I felt very spoiled sitting in the cozy antique chairs. The service I received was outstanding. The housekeeping staff, the front desk (Kaleb!) and managers Amy and Lucia were all so kind and ready to help in any way they could. I called the hotel the day after I left to see if I’d forgotten my glasses. Even though there was nothing in the lost and found, Lucia, one of the General Managers, heard about my situation and took it upon herself to go looking in the room. She found them, reached out and then mailed them to me. She’s the best! I am already looking forward to returning to the General Palmer for the next time I’m at the Durango Film Festival. It’s a delightful trip back in time and a...

DAY 1 OF GENERAL PALMER STAY: when riding into town i was dissatisfied to find nowhere to tie up my horse, no stable boy, my horse was basically left to "fend for itself" After checking in i was very amused to see the call girls standing on the corner waving at me from my window, I watched a large burly man leave with one, who i found out was named Cletus who served breakfast each morning. Cletus was a lovely fellow, only found one of his hairs in my "breakfast stew" when i asked what was in said stew he grunted, shrugged his shoulders and said, "...meat?" four more days of my reservation, excited to see what Cletus gets himself into tonight. DAY 2 OF GENERAL PALMER STAY: Spent my night tossing and turning, unable to sleep, due to concern for my trusty clydesdale Betsy. I noticed late yesterday evening, a pack of coyotes menacing Betsy from a distance. I figured if one of them got too close, Betsy would simply kick it to death and Cletus would have meat for the morning chow. When I finally fell asleep it was to howls and chittering from the coyotes. Upon waking I ventured down to the ground floor and found Cletus dutifully preparing our morning meal. The gravy had a nice tang to it however the biscuits were gritty like my momma used to make. It reminded me of home, i have no good memories of home. Nevertheless I enjoyed my meal and took a stroll down the main thoroughfare and found myself in conversation with the local lawman. With dusty trousers and a smile like a long abandoned graveyard he informed me that some local ruffians had made a mess of the saloon not two nights prior. I inquired as to the physical appearance of said ruffians and the description I received was eerily similar to that of the man who served me breakfast. I was astonished that Cletus had found the time for such shenanigans, between stirring the gravy and each call girl I reckon. I entered said saloon to find an elderly woman with a quiet voice offer me a glass of her finest whiskey, I obliged happily and inquired about the happenings of the previous evening. Only to find out the old woman was Cletus' ex wife and he was drunkenly attempting to regain her love... she denied due to Cletus' many diseases. I made my way back to hotel room and one of the lovely call girls helped me back to my room, she angrily stormed out as soon as she has found out that all my gold medallions were located in my secret spot (Betsy's stomach), and would have to wait a whole three days for payment, (it would take a great amount of coaxing to get Betsy...

Apparently, the Parking Lot here is monitored by a company called Vanguard Parking Solutions, Inc. (which is located in Hollywood, FL apparently). Anyway, this Vanguard Parking Solutions Inc. is a real piece of work. I rolled in looking for a way to go speak w/ someone at the Train station for a couple minutes before boarding. Admittedly, I was in a bit of a rush, and slightly disoriented. But it was nowhere near busy on this Tues morning, so I parked in this area for less than 30 mins to figure out where I was exactly.

Anyway, next thing I know, I get a "parking ticket" in the mail threatening me and telling me I owe them ~$100 or they will refer me to collections, arbitration, legal action (even though it says the organization issuing it is not a government organization, and not subject to criminal or civil penalties). LoL, ... what? Like, get a grip, folks. For reference, I can readily park in a downtown area in a major city for less than $5 easily. Had the ticket been something remotely reasonable, perhaps I would have considered actually paying it, and not taken the time to write this review. But this kind of behavior is completely unwarranted, and could actually impact the mental health of someone who may already be on edge. In all seriousness, you should be ashamed of yourselves.

I mean, wow. Just wow. What a rude, inconsiderate, completely over the top, excessive waste of everybody's time. The fact that this "Hotel" see's fit to outsource their parking to this kind of garbage reflects extremely poorly on the Hotel imo. Figure out a better "solution", folks -- small mistakes happen.

Oh, and the best part. I called the phone# on the ticket, and it goes to an automated message, which then gives you options, but basically hangs up on you. Then, I tried the website, entered the information, ... and it said it can't find that info. I double checked, and tried a couple times to make sure I had not made a typo. It was not a user error.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure I just spent more time trying to address this annoying experience than I did parking there. So perhaps the Hotel will see this review, reflect on their approach, and rethink their approach -- particularly considering there was already another review similar to mine. Clearly, I am not alone in...