Lazy J Ranch Motel - Three Rivers, CA — Hotel in Exeter

Room rate: $185/night ||Positives||The office staff seemed friendly. Overall, the grounds were nice. The proximity to Lake Kaweah was an added plus. The outward appearance of the motel seemed pleasant. It is also a great location to access Sequoia NP.||That said, there were numerous issues. We were assigned to unit #1 (closest to the office), which I DO NOT recommend for the following reasons:||1) Initially, the hot water in the room was lukewarm at best. We asked them to adjust it which they did. It went from low lukewarm to medium lukewarm. Barely warm enough to take showers. Ironically the room instructions say guests are supposed to wash dishes before check out or be charged a fee. How clean can the dishes get with lukewarm water? Should the health and well-being of subsequent guests rely on how well previous guests wash dishes with lukewarm water? We're paying almost $200/night and have to wash dishes? ||2) There is a charge for ice. Never came across this before, ever. See photo of guest instructions. We're paying almost $200/night and have to pay extra for ice? ||3) Cabin/unit 1 is closest to a pen where they keep sheep and goats on site. The view of the lake is obscured by 1) the sheep pen, 2) a large bush 3) two large trees and 4) a window half covered with water spots (made even worse in the morning with glare from the morning sun. The trees provided shade, the bush didn't. Other cabins had the benefit of bushes that were trimmed for better visibility. Not sure why we got this cabin when others were available when we checked in. Several other parties checked in on Saturday (the day after we did) so other cabins were available at the time we checked in. ||4) No TV remote in the bedroom. Had to download a remote app to control volume and on/off. TV instructions (in the living room) as written, did not work. The TV went dark without notice and didn't respond to the remote control. It responded to turning it off and back on - sometimes. There were other times that only way to get the TV to respond was by unplugging it, wait a minute or two and plugging it back in. These were daily issues. Multiply that by the number of days you're there and annoying doesn't begin to describe the frustration. While watching the NBA finals, the TV shutoff with 6:00 minutes remaining in the 4th quarter. Wasn't able to get it to turn on again. Seriously? Note the photo of cables and extension cords hanging from the TV. Not a very neat appearance and could be a safety hazard. We're paying almost $200/night to have recurring TV issues?||5) When the toilet clogged and I reported it to the front desk, I was handed a plunger and a plastic bag to put it in afterwards. Seriously? Never cleared a toilet in a hotel before. Usually, maintenance handles that. We're paying almost $200/night and have to unclog the toilet?||6) On Saturday 6/14, we notified the office of water on the floor under the frig. On Sunday 6/15, we were in Sequoia NP all day, so the unit was available for someone to look at the frig. We arrived back at the room around 4:00 p.m. Water was still on the floor under the frig. Water was in the grout lines all over the floor. Same thing happened on 6/17. We were in Kings Canyon all day. When we got back the grout lines around the frig were wet again (see photos). If anyone looked at the frig there was no communication letting us know. We're paying almost $200/night to have recurring leaks under the frig?||7) There is an envelope in the room so that you can leave housekeeping a tip. If you're simply doing your job, that's not worthy of a tip. Given the cob webs and water spots on the windows they are not doing their job. Note - all units are single story making the windows reachable to be cleaned. Not sure why they don't clean the window during their housekeeping rounds or in between guests.||8) One window in the living room with an a/c unit had a cluster of dead insects and spider webs on the outside surface (see photo). Not the most appealing thing to look at. We're paying almost $200/night to look at dead insects and spider webs?||9) On a Monday morning 6/16 (our third morning) my wife showed me photos of roaches in both the bathroom and the kitchen. See photos. Given the lack of response to the leaking frig, I opted to get a can of bug spray from the front office and spray the kitchen and bathroom myself. I wasn't about to live with this nastiness one minute longer than necessary. Photos also show the dead ones the following morning. No urgency from the front desk when I asked for bug spray. They made a note for the Terminex man. No immediate action was taken. Almost $200/night to deal with roaches?||I do not...

Lazy J is an awesome place to stay.|Very clean, and offers lots of little extras.|We arrived late (10 p.m.) after a full day in Sequoia and Kings Canyon.|The office was closed, but an envelope with instructions to the room and our key to the room were provided on a clipboard outside the office. We were lucky to get a cottage. 6A. It was near the river access. When we booked, we were told we would get 1 qn bed and one full bed. When we entered, we were surprised to find 2 twins in the room also. Everyone in our party of 4 enjoyed their own bed for the evening. A nice perk for a night for my husband and me. |They supplied us with shampoo, conditioner, lotion, mouthwash, make-up remover, a makeup washcloth, and other tolitories. I do wish they had supplied body wash also, but definitely not a deal breaker.|We had a microwave, refrigerator, and coffee pot was supplied. There were also pods of coffee, creamer, and sugar.|We also had a ceiling fan, which was very helpful in keeping the room cool. |In the morning, my son and I went out and visited the sheep kept on grounds on our way to the office. They were friendly, and we enjoyed petting them and saying hi! They have many hummingbird feeders around the front office and tons of hummingbirds to watch.|Make sure to visit the resident cat, Turtle, also. She is very friendly and loves getting pets. She seems to reside in the front office. |I have also been told she has her own Instagram account, too!|Plan ahead for breakfast, as they do not sure anything. Again, it's not a deal breaker. |The one and only negative we experienced was the air-conditioner. It was sooooo loud! And, in our room, it was right above the full-size bed. ||If we ever come back to Sequoia, we will definitely stay here! We stayed at the Comfort Inn the night before and paid considerably more for that room. This cottage was just as nice, if not better. Minus the breakfast. |We did not get to use the pool, but it looked very nice! ||Do yourself a favor, and stay at this local place. You will bot be...

We stayed here two nights in a cozy little bungalow. 4 beds and a full kitchen with cookware. The pool is really nice, the property is well maintained, the rooms are well appointed and the rate is more than affordable for what you get. When we checked in the manager gave us a printed list of all the restaurants and attractions up the road along with details on what they serve, when they're open, and how to get there. This was the most enjoyable hotel/motel stay we've had in quite a while. Absolutely nothing to complain about. How often is it you get to say that about a hotel? Really, when was the last perfect hotel stay you had? It almost never happens. Oh, and there are hummingbird feeders in front of the main office and if you stand there motionless for more than 30 seconds you'll see dozens and dozens of hummingbirds just hovering about right in front of you. Really cool. The creak bed is a short walk behind the property and very interesting to see in the dry season. Just loved this place. Bravo to the owner/operator.

Update: just checked into our subsequent hotel for this trip, this time in L.A. and I'm even more impressed with the Lazy J now. It's the small details. The Lazy J had a 4 port USB charging hub right there on the night stand. Our "swanky" hotel in L.A. didn't even have an available outlet within reach of the night stand. Had to unplug the alarm clock just to charge our phones.

And pillows. Our new hotel has 4 huge fluffy identical pillows on each of the beds. So big and fluffy you hurt your neck when you sleep on them because they prop your head up so high. At the Lazy J we had pillows of every size and persuasion available in our room. Now maybe that's not intentional but the result was I had a better nights sleep at the Lazy J because I got to choose the pillow that was most...