Mounthaven Resort — Hotel in Graham

I hate giving unfavorable reviews, and I'm sure the RV spots are wonderful, but we really thought the owners at this "resort" could put a little more effort into the Spruce cabin. Let me start with the positive:||||PROS: Very close to Mount Rainer National Park / Showers were hot / Owners were very friendly||||CONS: It was very hard getting confirmation that we had lodging. We reached out 3x to make sure we had reservations, waiting 3 days before reaching out the first time, before we got an answer back saying, yes, we had 5 nights reserved and "sorry, I got busy and your email slipped off my radar". Okay, understandable. We were just thankful we did, indeed, have lodging as places were filling up quickly. / Fast-forward to the day we arrived. Check in was between 4-8 p.m. We arrived at 5:30 p.m. No one was around - office door was locked with two envelopes taped to the door with keys to cabins for people checking in - ours was not one of them. We immediately panicked thinking we did not have reservations. Were finally able to get ahold of the owners who were in the next town eating dinner. She apologized for "missing" that we were coming in that evening and had her son run a key out to us for our cabin. Whew. / Pillows are F L A T. / I had to clean the refrigerator before we could put our food in it as there was leftover food particles from the previous guests. / There was so much frost in the small freezer (with no door) we could only put two water bottles in it. / Coffee pot hadn't been washed - still had coffee in it / There was a little dish soap to wash dishes but nothing to wash with. We had to use paper towels. / SMALL shower / We stayed 5 nights - no fresh towels were offered. / Grounds were junky in areas.||||Let me end with saying we were thankful we had a place to lay our heads every night after hiking during the day. We just thought the attention to detail was lacking, at least for our cabin. I will be the first one to admit I have no idea what goes into running a business like this one, but it would appear this business is being run but the seat of their pants and they are only doing what they have to...

After playing phone tag with the reservations, trying to make a 3 night reservation for August of 2020, 6 months in advance. When they finally got back with us to confirm the reservation we were told that we would have to pay for a 4 night before we were to check in so they could have 100% occupancy in that space. There was a 1 night opening between the party before us and when we were to check in. We were told that it would be too hard to book 1 night and that if we wanted the 3 nights we were required to purchase the 4th night even though we would not be staying there.||||Do they not understand how business works and making reservations? No hotel or rental can guaranty 100% occupancy for their establishment by forcing others to pay for days they don't need! What hotel or any other RV sites does that? It's just NOT done. It's 6 months away, someone will come along in a 6 month period and need that one space. But it's WRONG of them to force guests to pay and reserve spaces they don't want or need in order for this resort to have 100% occupancy. WRONG||||WE CANCELLED THE RESERVATION AND MADE ONE IN THE PARK INSTEAD.||||Not going to be forced to pay an extra $60.00 plus tax when we can't use the space. NO...

Earlier this month I joined Backcountry Journeys on a photography workshop in Yellowstone National Park. This was my third workshop with BCJ, with several more booked for the remainder of 2025 and into 2026. The picture making opportunities in Yellowstone were as good as one could hope for, with BCJ having engaged a slowcoach driver who is himself an experienced photographer. BCJ's workshop leader on this trip, Tiffany Taxis, is also an accomplished photographer, with extensive experience in the Yellowstone ecosystem. I have toured with several photography workshop companies, and in my experience BCJ's workshop leaders do an exceptional job of being attentive to the experience their guests are having, providing guidance and input where helpful. They may also at time be photographing, but not in a way that would suggest that capturing images for themselves is their top priority. First and foremost, workshop leaders should be available to their clients, helping them to have the best photography experience possible. In my experience, this is an area...