Monarch Mountain Lodge — Hotel in Four Corners States

Stayed in a pet friendly room (I dno if all the rooms are the exact same in quality). I gave it a 2 because of the bed(I'd give 0) but the top 3 Good stuff were really nice features to make me say 2. However I dont recommend this place since the value of sleep is the most important thing.

The Good stuff Dinner at the restaurant-their Dinner was SUPER Delicious! Backside of hotel has some room for exploring with the pups-my dogs liked playing out there, just be careful for the frozen/not frozen water. Arcade games, ping pong table, pool table, sauna, pool, outside hot tub. Great for bonding time. Close to ski resort, but also higher elevation than salido. The shower head has reeally strong water pressure and plenty of hot water.

The Bad Stuff I could not rest on that bed. Worst sleep of my life. The bed was a stiffer, older cheap type. The pillows are normal full bed size, kind of thick and very lumpy. That shuttle is only in the morning before 9:30 and return shuttle time is at closing of the resort(4pm), so if u take a shuttle to avoid the 5 minute drive, u have to stay the entire time. There are no in between shuttles. We just drove ourselves even tho this was originally a selling point for us. But the shuttle is not all day. The windows have blinds only, no curtains. So the early morning wake ups should be on the schedule for Every Morning, no sleeping in iF u wanted a slow morning. The heater makes a lot of consistent Ta Ta Ta Ta Ta Ta while its on, which is all the time. It sounds like random pen taps or something in the heater and its constant. That sound definitely happens every couple of minutes. No WIFI except for at the bar restaurant area. So yeah, no service in your rooms ever. Think of all that entails of, not just sending messages/pic back to family but including unable to comfortably do any last minute researching of sites or planning. No refrigerator or microwave, theres one communal microwave on this floor. The bathroom is super tiny in the room and the sink is outside of the bathroom on its own little tiny corner, all very open floorplan. Unappealing. Breakfast was bland. No hot breakfast. They have meh cereal, bread, bagel, yogurt, grab an orange,...

At first I felt very "iffy" about this place , on the outside it's a little rough , and the door behind the main desk needs to replaced, some how it has a punch shape in it, and maybe someone tried to kick it in. It's slightly disturbing to see that when you walk in especially after traveling so far into the mountains. But even before walking in a man working there walked past our car and greeted us very kindly and told us he would be making breakfast for us in the morning at first this also bothered me but once we got in there got into our room it was a nice experience. True the rooms were a little aged seem to be like from the 70s or '80s . We did have a nice TV and Wi-Fi so it wasn't like you didn't have the normal experience in any other hotel. Our room was attached to another room where my parents were sleeping so we decided to use the bathroom in the hallway I actually found this to be very convenient different but convenient. We slept very well that night and had a great view by morning we went out to the restaurant that was in the hotel in the gentleman that met us outside was there and did a wonderful job making us breakfast. He did everything on his own he made the food he served us our drinks he was our waiter he made it to pleasant experience. And at the time they didn't have gluten-free options which my wife requires to eat but he said that he just ordered them and then they would probably be in the next shipment so they probably now have gluten-free options. I know that sounds like just an excuse for him but he was actually sincere on the idea of having gluten free in his restaurant. This hotel is fully geared for skiing but has the accommodations for common folk that are just trying to find nice place to sleep. It has nice walking trails outside and a staff that will do everything they can to take care of you. I will stay here again. And I got to write my name on the outside of the building which was...

So, we weren't expecting much. We actually had our expectations exceeded. Now that being said. It wasn't perfect. The staff was very kind. The room was comfortable, although we could've used an extra blanket and pillows. We enjoyed the pool, it might not have been the best pool ever, but it was warm and we had it to ourselves which was nice. We really wanted to go in the advertised hot tubes, but unfortunately that wasn't possible. Two of them were broken and in a quite unsightly state. The third had hot water in it, but the water level was low and when we looked into it we could see all kinds of muck on the filter port. We went to the "restaurant bar" if you could call it that, and they only had a mini fridge of bottles of beer for $8 a pop and I think only 3 or 4 kinds. The "restaurant" area wasn't making us excited to try food there. There was maybe one table occupied at a time whenever we walked by the room. However the views from the windows in the restaurant are amazing. You get great views from the back of the building in any room. Beware that there was very little to stop noise from traveling through walls/floors. I could hear the TV on below our room, and we were woken up by rambunctious kids across and in the hallway quite early in the morning. The little hiking trail behind the lodge is quite fun. It's very short, but lots of uphill and downhill and underbrush, not for a leisurely stroll, but also a quick little hike. Great for exercising your dog. And yes, the best part of this place is they are pet friendly, and I think I saw a dog with almost every guest we came across. We loved that they had a game room, but the best was the billiards table in the gym room. That was very fun. This place has "haunted CO hotel in the mountains" vibes and for the rate, we couldn't have asked to much more. Just bring your own food/drinks, hang by the pool/game room, and have a great time with all...