Canyon Country Lodge — Hotel in Escalante

This Lodge is situated on a hill and has beautiful 360 views. The check in person told me they opened September of this year. The lobby has a nice sitting area with a fireplace. Off to the side there is a computer with a printer that doesn't look like it cost to print. The free breakfast consisted of: pancakes, waffles, hard boiled eggs, yogurt, assorted granolas, bagels, white bread, wheat bread, a toaster, assorted jellies, butter, some of the best scrambled eggs that I've ever tasted, and some of the best sausage patties that I've ever tasted, muffins, coffee cake with assorted fruits in the middle, coffee, apple juice, orange juice, hot teas, three types of cereals, and a few other things that I'm sure I'm forgetting. There is a 55 or 60 inch flat panel mounted to the wall with DirecTV in the breakfast area where patrons are allowed to access the remote. The indoor pool is large and goes from 6 inch to 6 feet. There is a whirlpool and two bathrooms in the pool area. Pool hours are from 8a-11p. There's an exercise facility next to the pool. There is a guest laundry facility downstairs with two washers and two dryers. I'm not sure if there is another facility on the second floor. Before I forget, let me mention that there is an elevator. The washer rangers from $1.75-$2.25 per load depending on light to heavy soil. It is $1.75 to dry which is 44 or 45 minutes. The brand is Speed Queen. The beds were incredibly comfortable and each bed came with for really fluffy and firm yet super soft standard size pillows. The bedding was very soft and comfortable. The heating, cooling, fan system was kind of confusing to figure out. I still don't know how I did it but I got the temperature and fan on where it is comfortable in my room. The alarm clock is small and simple. The furniture is actually very useful by having shelving instead of drawers as I never use drawers when I stay at hotels. The room also has a 55 inch flat panel mounted to the wall with DirecTV! Very impressive! There is a small 700 watt microwave and a refrigerator with a freezer that actually freezes the food that you put in there. The shower got hot very quickly and had great pressure and a good spray. I was also impressed that it had a decent sized shelf in there to put bottles on instead of just a few small corners that never are enough to hold my shampoo, conditioner, body wash, soap, razor. The room was overall large and open. It was a very clean and smelled nice when we first walked in. The carpet was not loud and was up to date. The furniture has a rustic feel to it. Throughout the hotel there were a lot of photos of canyons, mountains, and just the beauty of the surrounding Utah outdoors. Check-in was easy and they even gave away little bags of cookies to my two kids. I should also mention that we were here on Christmas Day where in a small town everything is pretty much closed. We had planned to have microwave raviolis and Cheerios that day. This hotel does not have a restaurant but they actually decided to serve taco soup for dinner that day for free! They didn't have to do anything but I thought it was such a nice and thoughtful thing the hotel did for its patrons on a holiday knowing that we all weren't going to be whipping up fabulous holiday dinners. I highly recommend Canyon Country Lodge and if I am ever going through this area again I will definitely stay here. My only fear is that this town is so small and the area seems so untraveled that I don't know if this Lodge will survive. It is a gem within a gem - The Grand Staircase -Escalante National Monument.

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UPDATED: We initially had some issues when trying to re-book dates. It took a while, but they were able to help us sort it all out. Tip for others booking: book directly with the hotel. Most of our issues stemmed from using Expedia and how Expedia charges the hotel.

INITIAL REVIEW: During the booking process, we have found them to be misleading or possibly dishonest. We booked a stay here in March via Expedia. Due to weather, we needed to change the dates of our stay. We contacted both Expedia and the hotel about the best way to do this. We were aware that there was typically a $50 cancellation fee, but both Expedia and the hotel confirmed they'd waive that fee if we re-booked the new dates on the same day. We rebooked within the hour. Weeks later, no refund. Called the hotel and they blamed Expedia, saying they'd been charged by them. Expedia denied any charge. After a little back and forth, the hotel then shifted gears and claimed we didn't re-book the same day, even though we'd re-booked immediately. After that, they blamed the lack of refund on the employee who took my call saying they didn't have the authority to waive the charge (when I was on the phone him, he put me on hold to check with his manager). So that we aren't out a full $100, we're continuing with our plans to stay here.

EDIT: The property owner contacted me through this review and a message through Expedia, but has not responded to my attempts to follow-up.

UPDATE: We continued with our stay and were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the hotel and its staff. The staff was friendly, helpful, and courteous. By far the best hotel staff we've encountered in many years. The rooms were clean & neat. Aside from the double charge on the reservation fee that they still haven't contacted us about (and couldn't resolve during our stay because the manager wasn't in) the hotel was a pleasant experience. It's very spacious and new feeling and is by far the best place to stay...

My wife and I were on a road trip and stumbled upon this hotel as night was falling. Stopped to see if they had a room. One left to my luck. The accommodations were beautiful - you could still smell the "new" when you walked in the front door. Heather was working the front desk and I can't express how nice and comfortable she was to work with - never once did she make me feel like I was being a pain. She went above and beyond to help me with everything that evening. My cell phone had quit working the night before my wife and I left on our trip, so all we had was my wife's cell phone - which ironically we could not get service on as well when we got to the hotel. Because we could only use my wife's phone with wi-fi to contact our kids, Heather kept in contact with me and let me use the telephone at the front desk in order to speak to my kids for the evening. She went above and beyond to help get me information for Straight Talk (our cell provider) and again let me use her telephone to try and rectify the situation. The poor girl was just trying to have a bite to eat for dinner and I kept interrupting her for information. When my phone call ended, I apologized to Heather for continually interrupting her. Even though the gesture may be small to some people, it meant everything to me. She told me to stop apologizing cause I wasn't being any bother to her and she was happy to help. Ya know, I own my own business and I won't go into detail as to how rude and inconsiderate people have become. (That wouldn't be professional.) Suffice to say, I would not hesitate for one moment to stay with these wonderful people again when in the area. Heather: Thank You for being so nice. You truly are a...