The Winchester Lodge — Hotel in Fredericksburg

Hi,

We booked a stay recently for my boyfriend’s birthday at the Winchester Lodge. He paid for the reservation actually, and also booked us for a spa day and dinner at Sage. On our arrival, which was late due to taking a wrong turn on our drive in from Dallas, we arrived around 8pm. It was a long drive in, as we reside in Downtown Dallas.

Thankfully on our arrival they did provide a late arrival protocol and we were able to quickly obtain the keys. Once inside, my boyfriend was unhappy with the appearance. From the pictures it looked a little bit more fresh, updated, and larger inside. I did reserve a dessert tray for him, but we had no forks or silverware to indulge. I tried to break off a piece of cake with my hands because we were hungry after that long drive. We then proceeded to try some of the truffles instead and when I bit into it found the candy inside to be “moldy”. I immediately spit it out and saved it to show the staff the next day. My boyfriend proceeded to take a shower, and although tall nearly fell getting into the oversized tube. He complained about this too. So far we were not off to a great start. I then tried myself to take a shower and noticed foreign hairs around the tub, not what anyone wants to see. As we went to bed for the night, there were foreign hairs all over the pillows. So we removed everything off the bed and turned in for the night.

I went first thing in the morning to try to salvage the trip as much as possible. At the end of the day, I had just driven multiple hours to get there and did not want to leave. I had a spa day, dinner at Sage, and a wine tour waiting for us on the proceeding days. The staff was very understanding about the moldy candy, to which I provided and hairy pillows. My significant other was also sneezing all night from the furry pieces in the unit, and the staff offered to have us stay at the Evers house instead for more space and for a better, more clean environment. They were very helpful and I appreciated that. However, when asked about shortening the stay to 2 days instead of 3 they told us about the cancellation policy and that we would not be refunded anything. Of course my significant other was upset due to this and didn’t want to spend any additional money with their company. He obviously holds the purse strings here, and there was nothing I could do. So he requested to leave and I drove back to Dallas for four-five hours instead of getting any spa treatments, dinner or wine tour.

So far, my boyfriend has received multiple charges for roughly $500, and we were wondering if there are any more pending charges. We are hoping to receive a response to this soon. This was a terrible experience for me, and we just want to move on.

Pictures of what we experienced are...

If you read the 1-2 star reviews you will see a theme of disappointment. The Winchester advertising is such that people come with high expectations and unfortunately they just don’t materialize. The front desk is very friendly and accommodating. Housekeeping is very responsive to any request you make. Unfortunately, the rooms, or at least our room # 10, was less than satisfying. The rooms simply are not clean.. Quite a bit of dust, floors are sticky, throw pillows are gross and the shag rug in #10 should be torched. I question whether or not Housekeeping even vacuums that rug because I stepped on something that really hurt my foot and while I couldn’t find it, neither my wife or I felt safe walking, barefoot the rest of our time there. Previous reviews mentioned the shower and how it’s awkward and unsafe and I completely agree with that assessment. While they have added a grab bar, the logistics of getting in and out are just silly. And I doubt that one out of 100 customers use the jacuzzi tub anyway and they should be just pulled out of there. Also, there is no exhaust fan in the bathroom. The morning basket could be a wonderful treat but the food is subpar. We stayed six nights and only enjoyed one or two of the baskets. It’s a shame because a great deal of effort obviously goes into those baskets. The location, while close to downtown is not the best because you have to walk all the way around the hotel to get to downtown. The views from the inside rooms are of the parking lot and the upstairs views pretty much look over a small creek. Overall, we spent $2000 for a six night stay and certainly would not do that again. There are a number of rooms actually on the downtown that have been remodeled and are available to rent. They would be a better choice. Like some of the other reviewers, we are mostly just disappointed because we really wanted to like everything about the place and unfortunately...

This place is old and not worth the money.

The bathroom on the first floor while the bedroom is on 2nd floor is horrible for people that use the bathroom at night. My spouse and had to sleep in the uncomfortable sofa bed which is 20 yrs old with a mattress that sinks, is uneven, and uncomfortable.

The bathtubs is retrofitted along siege the shower and it’s shows. The tub is very high, there’s a homemade step carved into the faux marble walls that is a fall/slip danger for those getting in but especially getting out of the tub. The tub is deep that you have to straddle the tub like horseback to get in and out. What a joke. The shower comes out of the ceiling and since it spays, there’s a homemade drain on the top trim of the tub which looks cheap and unsanitary. Don’t waste your money. I wish I just stayed at the Hampton or La Quinta. Pictures of this place are deceiving as the rooms are tiny with not enough space to move comfortably. Think of a studio in New York or LA or a flat in England that’s super narrow.

All the furniture truly is more than 20 years old.

Dangerous getting into and out of tub/ shower.

Bathroom inconvenience for people in master that’s on second floor.

See images of the poor quality of the bathroom fit and finish.

Broken bathtub jets.

Wanted to just leave after first night but..

No refunds policy.

Update 1: Housekeeping cleaned trash and replaced towels, left only 1 washcloth when 4 of us here, didn’t pickup/replace 2 dirty coffee mugs on the table or clean up the soap scum left from our soap for which there isn’t a soap dish in the first place. (We haven’t left yet)

Update 2. After setting up the sofa bed for the second night, I realized it is broken. Your head slopes down and your neck...