Forest Houses Resort — Hotel in Four Corners States

NOT dog friendly (even though they claim to be), their cleaning company they use do a poor job AND lie. My husband and I stayed in the Cook house (weird layout btw) with our daughter and two dogs. Per their agreement we covered ALL the furniture with sheets we brought just in case our dogs got on the furniture (which they didn't) while staying there ALL the drains kept backing up, the heater didn't work and the gas stove/oven wasn't working properly. I brought this up to Tom at the front desk and this issue was not fixed during our stay. Despite these concerns we tried to enjoy our time their, we spent most of the time away from the cabin hiking in beautiful Sedona.

After being home a few days I received our pet deposit back... Then a few days later we received a letter claiming we left the place "COVERED" in dog hair and that it took the cleaning people 3 hours to clean place. we only used one of the beds, never even touched the murphy bed... so the cleaning people are obviously LIEING that there was dog hair all over the "beds" WE COVERED EVERYTHING WITH SHEETS!! be brought 3 sets of our own king size sheets. Qe took all the sheets off of everything AFTER we swept a final time (with the dogs in the car) the day we left. so there is no way the amount of hair they claim was there could have actually have been there we followed their instructions! 3.we striped the bed before we left. we also put all the things that needed to be laundered in a pile for ease of access for the cleaning crew... Sooo.. if their was hair on the beds, it was from a previous customer! When we FIRST got there, there was already garbage in the trash cans and under the couches.. We have a 10 month old so we check for things like this... babies need a clean environment to not harm themselves! SO obviously the cleaning crew is not thorough.. (especially not "3 hours" thorough. (the letter we cot claimed it took them 3 hours to clean one of the smallest places they offer to stay in... lets do the math... you had "11" buildings to clean from 11 am [however we checked out early so really they had more time] to 3 pm... it seems to me that your tiny cleaning crew was just making excuses for being obviously overworked. my two "large dogs".. I don't have 2 large dogs.... I have a medium sized dog and a larger dog... this gets me to thinking the cleaning crew MAY have confused our cabin with the "Studio" cabin next to us, where those people had two HUGE dogs that were HAIRY like their hair was a foot long hairy. AND those dogs were LOUD; always barking... maybe THAT house had hair all over it... again.. bad cleaning people not taking proper notes for the proper houses. We were barely there!, we spent most of our time out of the cabin in Sedona hiking and enjoying ourselves, the dogs were only there in the cabin when we were, and with us, we brought their own dog beds which they slept on... (the cleaning crew obviously LIED or were super confused as to which "house" they were cleaning....) IF the hair was such a problem WHY would you return the pet deposit, isn't the whole point of a pet deposit to cover any extra work or repairs a pet can cause???? If it truly did take 3 hours to clean less then 1000 ft place, then wouldn't that extra $40 accommodate the workers? ... I tried multiple times to call and discuss this issue with the owner BOB who sent us the letter but have not received a phone call back. They are HORRIBLE about returning phone calls.

if they wanted to "BAN" my dogs for being "aggressive" (our shepherd IS protective of our baby) that's one reason, but to say we left the house trashed and covered in hair is a LIE. we left that cabin in better shape then what we walked into

What seemed to be a pretty good vacation in beautiful Sedona leaves a bad taste in your mouth after this crappy ordeal. We had originally told our family that we should plan a big family trip there next year, but we will be finding other accommodations for stay after...

Let me start off by saying that I booked the Oak House less than a month in advance, so it was already too late to cancel. Probably the best thing that could have happened.

About a week after I booked, I received a letter in the mail with information on everything from Pet Policy and potential bugs and critters, to every single accommodation in the house. Helpful and informative, with a very personal touch. A few days later, I received another letter stating that there was construction in the town of Sedona that MIGHT cause traffic and make getting to my destination a little trickier.

The day comes for me to leave, I pack up and ship out, and make it all the way through Sedona (a good 90+ minute drive), with no traffic problems. But, wouldn't you know it, my car overheats. Apparently, my radiator cap decided to have a sense of humor and escaped like a convict somewhere on that two-lane highway.

So, I'm just a few miles from where I'm supposed to be, and I'm stuck on the side of the road. Immobile, worried (mainly because my kids are with me), and without cell reception, I made a last ditch effort to travel the last few miles to my destination. I dumped a gallon of water in my unpressurized cooling system, crossed my fingers, and got back on the road.

Within a few minutes, I approached a kneeling horse statue, across the street from a giant "Forest Houses" billboard-like sign. I turned in, almost in perfect sync with my temperature gauge returning to its peak. I made it to the front office quickly, shut off the car, and approached Wendy, the sweet lady working the desk.

She could tell something was off. I told her that I was checking in, apologized for seeming a bit diatraught, and explained my situation. Wendy took every opportunity to make things easier. She explain where we would be staying, made check in a breeze, and even went to the extent to find me the number to the car part store back in town. The number that she wrote down was accompanied by the owner's personal cell number, who was going to visiting the town in the morning. She directed me to call both numbers, first thing in the morning, to orchestrate finding the part, and having the owner, Bob, pick it up and bring it back with him.

The truly amazing part, to me, was that when I was returning from the landline the next morning, after making my calls, my story had been overheard by a pair of employees (mother and son). The son had stopped me and said "are you the guy missing the radiator cap?". I said yes, gave him a brief summary of the events from the day before, and asked if there was any chance he was going to town. He said, "no, but I think I have an extra radiator cap in my car." I was very skeptical. 1. Who has an extra radiator cap laying around, and 2. What are the chances that it would actually fit on my vehicle?? Well...he did, and it did.

Long story short (I know, too late), that place, that staff...was and is amazing!!! My little girls and I formed a ton of memories, a memory card full of breathtaking photos, and a special bond with this place. The staff there, having put my worries to rest, enabled us to relax, which was the entire reason for the trip in the first place. The landscape and scenery there is majestic, the cabin was gorgeous and remote, and the people...well, that was the icing on the cake.

Forest Houses is an absolutely exceptional place!!! It was great to get away from the sound and speed of a big city, to get recharged from being "unplugged". I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who loves peace and quiet, appreciates way more than the usual amenities, and doesn't mind being off the grid.

Take some time off, call and book a cabin, don't even think about canceling it, and experience this incredible place for yourself. Turn your trip into a lasting story and a ton of amazing memories, like we did. You won't regret...

Forest Houses Resort is an amazing place. We stayed in the Oak House cabin located right next to the office. We check in late around 8pm, but I spoke to Bob to arrange a late check in. Luckily we arrived just before 8pm, so Bob was still at the office. Bob was kind to turn the heat and lights on in the cabin prior to our arrival so that we wouldn't be walking into a dark cold cabin. Once inside the cabin we were all impressed. On the first floor as soon as you step into the cabin is the kitchen followed by the dinning area. The first floor is an open floor plan so the kitchen looks right into the living area and beyond that a wall of windows to the the outside patio. In the living room there's a huge fire places which continues upstairs to the to the fireplace in the master bedroom. The hallway outside of the master bedroom leads to the only bathroom with tub and shower for the cabin. Past the bathroom is the second bedroom which has 2 twin beds. Just outside the bathroom, the hallway opens up to a loft with a table and 3 chairs along with a sitting area with 2 rocking chairs. The bathroom has it's own heater apart from the main one from the cabin. The 2nd bedroom also has it's own heater. We stayed in middle of May but the weather was colder than usual for May and the main heater was enough for all the rooms and the bathroom. The bathroom also has a blow dryer. And the kitchen is stocked with everything you need to cook and eat. We didn't walk around the grounds of the resort too much but from what we did walk it was beautiful and well maintained. I definitely plan on coming back again. Tip: You pretty much have to book a year in advance especially if you have a particular...