Black Monarch Hotel — Hotel in Four Corners States

WARNING ⚠️

Recently we decided to take a trip up to the Black Monarch hotel for my birthday. A long awaited trip with no expectations and seeing good reviews, we embarked on our journey.

From the outside of the building we couldn't tell what was in store for us, but a sense of confusion and disappointment soon began to settle in. As I entered the hallway leading to the upstairs rooms I thought, hmmm? Renovations? The hall was unfinished and had string lights like a construction site. I began to wonder if this was the right place. After going up the stairs and eventually finding our room, once again we were met with a very cold and uninviting feeling. Literally. This side of the hotel was like an ice burg, if I wanted to sleep in the cold I would have just slept outside and saved myself the trouble. Still, giving this place the benefit of a doubt, we unlocked the door and I will say I was surprised when I saw the Dracula room. It was very well decorated, and so awesome. Whoever the decorator was did a terrific job making the room look incredible. But, once again what looked so nice at first began to show it's true colors.

The first thing I noticed was the bed and look, I am not picky at all. But when I tell you it was like a solid piece of concrete, I am not lying. I thought it had a piece of plywood under the sheets. Once again I was like okay we can work with this. But then once the excitement wore off we realized how cold it was. I'm surprised the pipes don't freeze on this side of the hotel. I attempted to get the baseboard heater to work to no avail. It wouldn't ever reach an operating temperature. I ended up searching for a heater and found a radiant heater in the common area and plugged it in our room. That space heater did work and was able to get the room to a comfortable temperature after a few hours. Next we noticed the remote was missing to the TV and began to search for it. The remote was nowhere to be found, however I did find some old red panties. (Disgusting) Between the bottom part of the bed and the mattress. If you are reading this, they are probably still there and I have the picture. They have little lists posted for housekeeping but I don't think they are ever taken seriously. There was so much dust on the fan I was almost to afraid to sleep under it. It had clearly not been dusted in a very very long time, not to mention the carpet... Even still we gave it the benefit of the doubt.

We took a self guided tour around the upstairs and noticed how much warmer the other side was compared to ours. The right side was like a normal 70 degrees and our side was about 30 degrees. No joke.

Then I thought, I'll take a bath. (It's a shared bathroom) They have a claw foot tub and that sounds nice. Nope. Not only was the tub dirty, but the hot water only ran hot for the first 1/4 of the tub and then got cold and it never got hot again that night. No bath robes as promised.

After spending entirely to long looking for the remote or wifi password we contacted the hotel management to ask what could be done. Which they did provide a solution for, but once again. If this hotel was ran properly none of this would have been an issue.

If I could say less I would, but I want whoever you are that's reading this to take heed and avoid this place until something major is done. This hotel belongs on Hotel Hell with Gordon Ramsay. I was appalled at what they called clean, and at the "Have a nice stay" Sign on the wall. How am I supposed to have a nice stay when you are missing pretty much everything a good hotel needs...

I'm just disappointed, for looking forward to something for so long. I just thought it would have been decent at the very least. This was absolutely unacceptable. The only thing erie about this hotel is what they consider hospitality.

You've...

I'm shaking my head at some of these reviews, but I'll keep my opinion of the low quality efforts of these people to myself. ||||I booked The Black Monarch for two nights during April, 2022. My friends booked two other rooms as well, though one dropped out last minute (and as far as I know, was cool with the refund policy). I stayed in the Black Annis room which was delightfully well done with plenty of lighting and awesome oddities and curiosities throughout the room, though I will admit the kitten was un-nerving, but I just placed a shirt over it and went on with my life. ||The bed was comfortable, with faux animal pelts and plenty of pillows, I felt right at home. I loved the idea of a shared kitchen and wish I had further researched the accommodation's and brought supplies and groceries. The two shared bathrooms were great, no complaints, plenty of room to move around and I very rarely ran into another guest using the facilities. ||My friends who stayed in the Tesla room were equally impressed with the design and spaciousness of the room (seriously it was huuuuuge). It had plenty of natural light and at night had other forms of lighting so it was bright and easy to read before bed. It was well stocked with books including a very cute pop up book that I may have immediately ordered for myself. ||The beds were just as comfortable in the Tesla room as they were in my own. ||||Adam greeted me when I arrived, he was knowledgeable, friendly, and definitely not stand-off-ish at all. He gave me all the info I needed from parking to where to eat, to history of the town and provided a map that was incredibly useful. ||||I'm really excited to see what he, his wife, and comrades do with the original parlor space on the first floor. I'm already working on convincing my spouse to visit this summer. ||||Pros:||- Safe, with chain locks on bedroom doors for extra security||- Fast Internet for us remote workers||- Knowledgeable staff||- Comfortable accommodations ||- Provided travel necessities such as hair dryers, lotion, shampoo/conditioner||- Affordable boutique experience worthy of a lather city in a unique, small town||- In room mini-fridges||- Didn't get annoyed with all my questions and conversations||- Apparently werewolf proof during full moons ||||Cons||- I had to leave ||- If you're not from a high elevation area locally, the town is at just under 10k elevation, acute mountain sickness is very real so make sure you're prepared. I wasn't. (Not a hotel dig, but a warning to other travelers) ||- Locals at the Side Car warned me about it being a full moon and making sure I went to the hotel and locked up and not wander around. Which obviously means that it's a town of...

I'm shaking my head at some of these reviews, but I'll keep my opinion of the low quality efforts of these people to myself.

I booked The Black Monarch for two nights during April, 2022. My friends booked two other rooms as well, though one dropped out last minute (and as far as I know, was cool with the refund policy). I stayed in the Black Annis room which was delightfully well done with plenty of lighting and awesome oddities and curiosities throughout the room, though I will admit the kitten was un-nerving, but I just placed a shirt over it and went on with my life. The bed was comfortable, with faux animal pelts and plenty of pillows, I felt right at home. I loved the idea of a shared kitchen and wish I had further researched the accommodation's and brought supplies and groceries. The two shared bathrooms were great, no complaints, plenty of room to move around and I very rarely ran into another guest using the facilities. My friends who stayed in the Tesla room were equally impressed with the design and spaciousness of the room (seriously it was huuuuuge). It had plenty of natural light and at night had other forms of lighting so it was bright and easy to read before bed. It was well stocked with books including a very cute pop up book that I may have immediately ordered for myself. The beds were just as comfortable in the Tesla room as they were in my own.

Adam greeted me when I arrived, he was knowledgeable, friendly, and definitely not stand-off-ish at all. He gave me all the info I needed from parking to where to eat, to history of the town and provided a map that was incredibly useful.

I'm really excited to see what he, his wife, and comrades do with the original parlor space on the first floor. I'm already working on convincing my spouse to visit this summer.

Pros: Safe, with chain locks on bedroom doors for extra security Fast Internet for us remote workers Knowledgeable staff Comfortable accommodations Provided travel necessities such as hair dryers, lotion, shampoo/conditioner Affordable boutique experience worthy of a larger city in a unique, small town In room mini-fridges Didn't get annoyed with all my questions and conversations Apparently werewolf proof during full moons

Cons I had to leave If you're not from a high elevation area locally, the town is at just under 10k elevation, acute mountain sickness is very real so make sure you're prepared. I wasn't. (Not a hotel dig, but a warning to other travelers) Locals at the Side Car warned me about it being a full moon and making sure I went to the hotel and locked up and not wander around. Which obviously means that it's a town of...