Crystal Mountain Resort — Hotel in Enumclaw

If you plan to ride the Scenic Gondola, be sure to verify it's running on their website prior to driving all the way up.

Somehow, this got past me in the entire process of purchasing tickets and so forth.

I purchased tickets to ride it a few days back. I drove 60 plus miles one way, to arrive right at 9am only to find out that they decided to close it for the day today.

The hosts greeting incoming customers on the outside porch/galley area were very kind and gracious and profusely apologetic due to it not being running. Avalanche concerns apparently. (grateful for the concern for our safety)

They both suggested we head into customer service for a full refund and at the same time, ask them to at the very least provide us with a coffer voucher or even better, perhaps a breakfast voucher.

As an owner of various businesses over the course of my life, having deployed elements of technology as a means by which to service our customers, I asked the hosts why in the world an email or even a text was not sent to ticket holders as soon as the decision was made to close it for the day (the decision apparently made earlier in the AM).

Their response was simply, "the email wouldn't have likely gone out yet if in fact that was something they would do". And apparently, they do not.

So in we went. The two staff members, very pleasantly asked how they may help us today.

To which I (attempting to make lite of the situation) said, "Well, you can start with providing me a breakfast voucher due to the fact I drove all the way up here only to find out the Gondola is closed".

Apparently, not funny.

A woman came out from the back and began to ask me a few questions, and then provided me with a lesson/lecture about how the cancellation policy is on the website, I should have reviewed that, and they are under no obligation to provide refunds for any reason, only a voucher for a different day.

I was certainly put off at this to say the least(particularly with the hosts suggesting this as a "make good" option only moments earlier) but I was quite certain to begin attempting to argue the point of the lack of professionalism from such an entity requiring customers to CYA their plans themselves instead of the institution immediately populating an email to ticket holders should such an event occur would fall on deaf ears.

She made it clear it was my responsibility to check their site to verify the Gondola was running for the day prior to trekking all the way up there.

This was definitely a case of "your loss Jack, you should have read the website".

She eventually agreed to make an exception to the "NO REFUND" policy because I reside in Florida and obviously would have little use for a replacement ticket.

I leave 3 stars for only two reasons -The Hosts who greeted me and were very kind and helpful -The two counter agents who greeted me in customer service, also nearly Disney Level pleasant (being from Florida, I KNOW Knock your Socks off Customer Service)

However, I do not see it as if I was done some kind of favor for the refund; and that doesn't make up for the 60 bucks in gas wasted driving up.

If you plan to ride the Gondola, make sure you verify it's running BEFORE you head up. If you are from the area, it was clear to me, you will get bupkis for the wasted trip...other than replacement tickets for...

Personnel: My husband and I chose hard mode for our wedding. We got married at Crystal Mountain Resort in early September 2023. However, we reside on the east coast. We had to be able to rely on our vendors to be communicative, clear, and honest. We worked with Kalela Robinson and Andria Wunder for our wedding. They were a real delight to work with, especially in the final days leading up to our event where my nerves were frayed due to impending bad weather. Thank you to Kalela, Andria, and their incredible staff all over the resort (from gondola workers to their kitchen and serving staff) for the outstanding support we got on our big day! You all were amazing!

Pricing/Admin: Getting married here is expensive, so expect to spend big, not just for your venue fees, but for everything else. If I had a criticism, it would be that I wished I got more thorough pricing at onset. Taxes owed for our 2nd half of venue fees really hurt - this was not included in our original agreement (it just said plus tax). I also wish there were a tool to play with catering costs, headcount, etc.

Location: We selected the Mt. Rainier platform for our ceremony site and the Rafters as our reception site. If you’re looking for an adventure wedding with that wow factor, this is the place for you. Mt. Rainier holds a special place in our hearts, so it was important for us to have a wedding with a view. Unfortunately, weather impacted our view on the day of. However, Kalela, Andria, and their team did a fantastic job of keeping us moving and our guests comfortable.

Food & Drink: Crystal Mountain does not allow outside caterers (except for dessert, I think). They were not cheap but food was great and drinks were awesome. After tasting, we opted for the most expensive buffet option just to get the halibut and prime rib, which was out of this world! Our guests loved it. Instead of cake, we opted for their ice cream sundae bar. Guests loved this too. Definitely get the seasoned fries. They were amazing as a late-night snack at the end of the evening.

Overall, we had an incredible experience getting married at Crystal Mountain Resort. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us and our guests, many of whom flew over from the east coast to watch us tie the knot. Thank...

I have been religiously riding Crystal for about 18 years. I do a lot of snowboarding around North America and Crystal's combo of terrain, snow, and relative lack of crowds (mostly midweek) consistently places it in my North American top 5 (rivaling Big Sky, Jackson, and similar, this place can be really good). I can see your eyes rolling...trust me this place is truly special. So why am I updating my Crystal review? They appear to finally be running this place well. I have complained for years that I can show up on some random day with great snow and conditions and they will have half the mountain closed! No explanation other than lazy, inadequate staffing, or the cardinal sin of "saving the snow for the weekend." This season is the first time they seem to truly have everything open all the time. The other day they were running chair 6 at half speed, which was awesome, at least it was open! In the past they would have closed it for sure. Today conditions started out pretty marginal but things improved and everything was open all day, even the side country. So finally finally thumbs up to Crystal and patrol for coming of age and becoming a ski resort that seems to function and actually support real skiers and snowboarders. I have come up highway 410 much more this year trusting things would be open and they have been! I've brought the kids more and subsequently spent way more money than I'd like to admit in the lodges on food and treats, I've spent more time having après and I've spent the night a few times at the resort (in the past I would never risk spending way too much on a room to wake up to closed lifts).  Bottom line is, I think Crystal maybe finally got the message that more money flows into the resort when it's open.  Thank you for your...