Rancho de los Caballeros — Hotel in Four Corners States

While the experience with my friends for my bachelorette was great (because my bridesmaids made it feel effortless), the process to get to that experience - getting scheduled for activities, confirming rooms, and resolving discrepancies at the front desk - was HARD! In the months leading up to our travel to the ranch, we had a VERY hard time getting consistent answers on the phone. The "policies" or "expectations" seemed to vary by whoever answered that day. The staff seemed to do a dance of "not my job" or "I can't answer" that in order to avoid having to resolve poor experiences.

My biggest concern is with safety. The front desk DOES NOT collect keys or change locks. Guests are encouraged to take keys home with them as "souvenirs," without charge. And there is NO security to be seen. We searched for front desk support at 2am one evening and NO ONE could be found. We walked through the lobby, called for support, and knocked on various doors - it all went unanswered. This means that at any time , a prior guest could enter the property, unquestioned, and use the old keys to enter rooms, and NO ONE would be around to answer the call for help.

At a high level here are some other examples of what I mean on poor processes and logistics: We had activities cancelled (because of "not enough sign ups"), that we were then 'encouraged' to sign up for onsite (because they had no sign-ups) The spa was impossible to get ahold of on the phone and after being told that they would not have enough staff to support our group, they came back to us with high priced options without appropriate time for us to add it into our itinerary. Even though we booked our rooms months in advance, they "accidentally" cancelled my matron of honors reservation and then proceeded to down-grade her reservation (with her 4 children under 8) to the lowest tier room and still tried to charge full price - not to mention that the door didn't have an appropriate weather seal, no way to keep out the bugs, and was placed next to the service entrance that woke her family up at 6am every morning. The archery equipment was old and the arrows didn't fly straight The roping didn't even have a dedicated space or engaging instruction The 2-hour ride through the AZ desert in 108F, didn't have any water provided The employees could be heard in public places complaining about the guests None of the activities had any dedicated shaded areas to accommodate the desert heat (we huddled next to the car for archery, under a single tree for trap & skeet). The waitress in the dining room complained about splitting bills The room had a MANDTATORY tip of $65/day and all we got from housekeeping were towels (not even newly made beds or the option to opt out). I found out later that this tip primarily goes to the front desk.

Overall, I wouldn't have enjoyed anything if my bridesmaids didn't buffer me from all the challenges. They went above and beyond to accommodate for a "luxury" resort that didn't live up to its name. It felt like being nickled and dimed (and conned, if I'm honest). Even when promised that the front desk manager would oversee our check-out, he was called into a "mandatory, unavoidable" meeting (without backup). The F&B manager was off, the GM was OOO, the supervisors didn't start their shifts until 2 hours after checkout, and we were left without anyone to rectify the problems, until we demanded it.

I gave this place a 2, instead of a 1, because the cookout was beautiful, the onsite food was good quality, and the guitarist at the cookout made our group feel special. The F&B/Ops Manager was the only one that heard us out AND took action on a poor experience. however, the rest of the weekend was truly a shame, because I would've recommended the beauty and location, but the overall experience was...

Our group spent literal hours with the front desk to fix our bill and what we were charged for our stay and activities. There were random activity charges front desk couldn’t explain. Our negotiated room rates were not reflected in the final bill. After back-and-forth and back-and-forth, missing family breakfast, our prepaid life coach meditation sessions, and an internet snafu leading to income loss I felt insulted when I was offered $25 a night for my rooms after personally spending over two grand on top of the thousands our group spent. Staff at the front desk were incredibly frustrated by our attempts to fix the bill before checking out. Definitely not the standard of quality we expected or anticipated.

Communication with the resort absolutely sucked. After the communicating with sparse response we booked a connecting Bradshaw room at second tier level. Without any warning or a heads up we were downgraded to the lowest level of rooms. We were placed in 101 and 102 by the main service entrance that was in full swing due to the wedding weekend occurring. The night of checkin the front desk charges me for the expensive room rate. I had to spend time every day of our stay at the front desk trying to get things straightened out.

I have attached two pictures. One is of our room door, where we have incredibly large gaps along, almost the entirety of the door and an extra big hole where the deadbolt is. Not only did we experience the AC not being able to keep up with the heat, we had a hornet enter our room. We did request to be moved a number of times throughout the weekend but nothing was provided.

Our internet/wifi completely stopped worked Monday morning. The front desk said they were unable to help us. My husband missed an important work meeting, my kids’ were unable to be easily occupied while he worked and I was waylaid at the front desk trying to get my bill to come out right.

An incident with a guest ruined one afternoon as staff failed to communicate expectations. Poor communication with staff, numerous Rancho Del Los Caballeros staff stood around and watched me be berated without stepping in or reaching out to a supervisor.

The archery equipment was dated and the little feathers on the back were all bent and the bows’ strings were overextended. We paid full price for the activity.

We were so limited in who could provide compensation for our experience and time as every single manager was unavailable. While we were assured that if we paid in full now, we could have potential compensation at a completely later day this was not reassuring. We had incredible difficulty with reaching concierge, front desk, the spa, and having our calls or emails returned in a timely manner. Wayne mentioned that this was an issue many of the guests at the resort were experiencing, the validation and explicit commiserating of the resort’s short comings was unprofessional.

Wayne offered an agreeably (Wayne agreed) insulting $75 as compensation for an atrocious dropping of the ball on the resort’s part throughout our booking and stay. I was dismissed by Wayne. I was told my credit card was on file and he would run it regardless of my inability to speak with a supervisor. I was strong armed into a situation which could’ve been avoided and...

This ranch reminded me of Hemingway's Montoya hotel, the locale for aficionados. If you enjoy horseback riding or golf, or want to learn, I couldn't imagine a better place to go - the backdrop is stunning and the staff are fantastic and extremely accommodating. I went with my younger son. Neither of us had much riding experience, but were immediately put at ease by the skill of the wranglers. They try to have some variety each day with lunch cook outs and team penning, but you can easily enjoy a morning ride and afternoon activity every day without getting bored. The golf course is intertwined with the ranch, but it's well designed and not intrusive. You can easily get a day pass and hit balls at the range at any time, and the assistant pro fit my son in for a great lesson (he made a point of making it enjoyable, at his level, and stoking his interest). We had excellent instruction at the archery range, who made us feel right at home trying something new. ||The food is decent, and I felt there was real value with the meal plan (which includes an amazing breakfast buffet, as well as lunch buffet and three course dinner). The dinner menu didn't change over the week, but they offered daily specials. The steak and game (I had the elk one night) were perfectly cooked. On the evenings my son was too tuckered out for a sit down meal, they were great about bringing the food over to our room. We also found out quickly this isn't a vacation spot for sleeping in. The morning buffet closed promptly at 9am, with the expectation most guests were getting their day going by then. I was surprised there wasn't a children's lunch menu, but the staff were extremely helpful again when my son couldn't find something to eat.||The room itself was clean and very comfortable, with a ton of space, and homey atmosphere. There really wasn't much in terms of luxury or extras, but the emphasis was really on getting you out and about the property. The concierge and front desk were extremely responsive, and had nothing but positive interactions with them. ||Overall, we had a wonderful time. This place feels like a real...