Paradise Inn — Hotel in Graham

Stinks to write this review because the location and inn itself are awesome and can't be beat. But after staying here once and interacting with staff, who were I suppose confused on a single very important policy, I just can't recommend this place. I'll acknowledge early on that the policy in question is not something that would be commonly hit by patrons, so this review is basically me just explaining my story and closing my chapter on this property.||If you're reading this review, you may already know that booking a reservation here can be really tough. Not only is it expensive (I paid $649.28 for two nights), but it's very popular, meaning that you may not be able to easily find the same room type for multiple nights, unless you keep looking over multiple days and people end up cancelling. I ended up making 4 reservations, each for a single night (a couple for the same night, as other people cancelled), just so I could get rid of 2 of those reservations such that I would ultimately have 2 nights, back-to-back, for the same room type. To do this, I was "penalized" $15/night for cancelling 2 of my reservations. I knew of this fee when making the reservations, but that doesn't make it an easier pill to swallow. I'm just a simple person trying to get 2 nights in a row somewhere. I'm not an unreasonable person, and totally understand that I may have been holding one of those nights at a time when someone else was trying to book such that it was unavailable, etc., but that was just personally what I had to do to get 2 back-to-back nights. That increases the total cost of my visit to $679.28 for 2 nights.||Upon arriving, I let the girl at the front desk know that I had two separate reservations, both for the EXACT same room type. She said that they couldn't be combined, which is standard, and that I'd just need to remind them in the morning such that they could let housekeeping know not to clean the room. I would technically check out and check back in and pay a separate fee for incidentals, but I would stay in the exact same room the second night. If only it were that easy.||The morning of the second day I did as instructed and headed to the front desk before breakfast to remind the staff of my second reservation. Oh how the tables had turned. A different girl at the front desk told me (as did the other lady at the front desk, in training I think) that I would absolutely need to fully check out, including getting everything out of the room, and check back in once a new room, the EXACT same room type, was cleaned. I asked her politely a second time, just trying to advocate for myself a bit, and reminded her that the room type was exactly the same, but she held her ground firmly. I'm not a "go get the manager" type of person, so I relented. She ensured me that the room we'd be moving to was given to housekeeping as a priority cleaning room, and as such, I was the first person of the day to write my name down on the "please call me once my room is ready" list. It baffled me in the moment that the preferred course of action was to have housekeeping staff clean an extra room, my first room, rather than just letting whoever took my first room go to what would be my second room.||How naive I was to think that the new room would be ready in an hour or two. We checked out of our first room between 11-11:30am, and weren't alerted to the new room until between 2:30-3pm, almost standard check-in time. You may be thinking "Wait! You're at Mt. Rainier! Swallow your pride and go out and hike for the day instead of sitting around like an idiot!" Totally fair, but as I was traveling with my 15-week pregnant wife and 16 month old son, that's unfortunately now just way more easier said than done, primarily needing to factor in a nap for the little one as well as prioritizing the warmer weather in the mid/late afternoon when hiking for the kiddo.||By the time we got all our stuff back out of the car and into the new room, it was around 3:30-4pm or so, just barely enough time to let our son get a little 30-40 minute cat nap (his other nap options were either in the car or on a couch in the lobby) before we headed out to hike for around an hour and then turn in for dinner. This experience alone soured basically the entire stay. We asked the one gentleman that we saw working behind the desk about the policy as we caught him walking around and he confirmed that the policy was not what was imposed on us, so 50/50 on staff members knowing whatever the correct policy was.||Not so much a gripe, but breakfast and dinner in the restaurant is mostly "the only game in town", so be prepared to pay dearly. When we were there, it was $32/pp for the breakfast buffet and $37/pp for the dinner buffet. The dinner buffet was the same both nights, so mostly ate the same stuff again. It was good, but I wouldn't say fantastic, though the selection was varied. There is a cafe onsite that sells cheaper fare, but I didn't really feel like eating deli sandwiches or pre-made salads for dinner.||All in all, I probably wouldn't stay here again. The entire experience was soured just way too much. I fully acknowledge that this came down to a one-off policy experience that was interpreted by staff incorrectly and won't happen to most people. But for almost $700 for two nights ($900 for two nights if you include two dinners and one breakfast), it's just a matter of principle in that I can't recommend it.||Adding a single photo here just to illustrate the two different rooms. You'll have to take my word for it that they were the same type, referenced as "Standard Triple Room" in my booking...

My son and I stayed here for 1 night at the end of our 8-day trip to Olympic NP and Mount Rainier NP. I only started looking for rooms in early April (for a mid-July stay) so options were v limited. At first I booked a single queen room (private bath) at the National Park Inn, but with repeated checking, a 2-twins room with shared bath opened up at Paradise Inn, and I switched.||The reason for switching is because I want the Paradise Inn location, and you'll understand why as I explain later. I paid extra for the breakfast-in-paradise option that includes breakfast buffet.||My 4* rating is: 3* for room; 5* for location||First the not-so-great:||Our room is on the mezzanine floor of the main building, which is 1 flight of stairs up from the lobby. Room is quite small, almost as small as the hotels we've stayed in Japan. There is a small sink in the room. They also provide toiletries, bath robes and slippers (for the shared bathroom/shower facilities). However, there is no shelving at the sink for toiletries - it would be so much better if they put a shelf there. I had to put my toiletries bag on the bed when I need to wash my face or put sunblock on or brush my teeth. There is a small desk by the window, with chair, and a tower fan (no a/c in the Inn). The window is quite small with an unattached screen that sits precariously on the window sill. The curtains are thin. It was pretty hot the day we arrived; so the room itself was 77F. With the window being so small, it was difficult to get outside cool air to come in. We ended up keeping the window and curtains open all night and put the fan on the table to try to draw in some cool air. Even with that, the room temp was still 75F in the morning (whereas outside was in the 50sF). With window and curtains open, that means hearing vehicle noises from the outside, and sunrise is 5am (I wore eye mask and ear plugs).||The walls are also pretty thin. The people over in the next room had white noise on all night (ocean waves) and I could hear the whooshing sound through my earplugs.||There are only 2 shower stalls per hallway (maybe 20 rooms?), and only 1 bathroom per gender with 2 toilets for 2 hallways worth of rooms. Neither the shower stalls nor the bathroom look that nice... I had imagined they would be similar to those at Old Faithful Inn...NOT! There was a line for shower in early evening when everyone came home from hiking. Anyway, it was okay for just one night but I wouldn't want to do this for additional nights.||Paradise Inn doesn't have wifi, but cell service works well (Verizon). There is no other amenities in the room - no coffee maker, no mini-fridge, not even a hairdryer.||Parking!!! As everyone else complains, there is no dedicated parking for Inn guests. Luckily we didn't arrive until 5:30pm, so we were able to find a spot not too far when someone was pulling out. I was shocked to see the parking lot still full at that time. If you try arriving any earlier, chances are you have to park at least 1/4 mile or farther away. So make a point to arrive on the later side to check in.||Okay now the good parts:|The Lobby is quite beautiful and has lots of couches to sit around. Someone plays the piano every afternoon. There is a mail drop, a gift shop, a coffee shop (6a-10p) and the Inn restaurant. The restaurant is first-come-first-serve. We went at 6pm and were given a beeper; got seated 15 minutes later. ||Yes, the food is expensive, just like any of the national park restaurants I have dined in! They have to truck in the food a long way, and they have to house all the staff who works there! That's why it's expensive! My son got the burger ("good") and I got the mushroom pasta (v good). I took up their upsell offer of an additional piece of salmon on top of the pasta. The salmon they get comes from a local tribe, and it was very good. Dinner for 2 of us, no drinks, no dessert, was $93 including tax & tips. Yes, it is expensive but I thought the food was good. ||The breakfast buffet (starts at 7am) selection isn't bad. Eggs, bacon, sausages, blinis, french toast, various pastries, fruits, yogurts, oatmeal. ||We also picked up a sandwich from the coffee shop for lunch. An italian cured meat sandwich was $15. ||The best part:|The location! That's what we paid for, the location! Even with eating breakfast at 7am, then packing and checking out, we still got to Skyline Trail trailhead by 8:20am. If we had stuck with National Park inn, it would have been a minimum of 30-min drive. If we stayed even farther out in Ashford, that would be minimum of 45-min drive, not including waiting in line to get inside the park. And not to mention trying to find parking. Even at 8am the parking lot was full, so you'll be parking 1/4 mile or more down the road. Because we got an early start by staying at the Inn, we finished hiking the entire Skyline Trail Loop by 12:30pm.||So in summary, it was worth it for us to stay at Paradise Inn, even in a twin room with shared bath. I probably wouldn't want to stay more than one night there unless we have our...

Not sure I can fit everything...||1. Arrived to check in, and because the parking area near the entrance was coned off, parked in the alternate lot, some 1500 feet away. Asked "Bianca" if we could temporarily place the car at the cones, to unload, she said it was not permitted, and recommended we call a porter. She then tried to explain how parking passes worked, but I was so confused, I asked to see a manager. In a few minutes, Assistant General Manager (AGM) "Maria" showed up, along with a porter. Maria said that Bianca was new, and incorrect about the unloading, and that we could have unloaded at the entrance. Since we'd already parked, we used the porter. Maria apologized for Bianca's lack of training.||2. After checking in, we went to the small cafe in the lobby to purchase food for dinner. Cafe was staffed by two people (around 7 pm), but one staffer was |rearranging items in the cooler. Meanwhile, the other staffer was creating 6 complex latte orders, and therefore couldn't attend to the growing line. Without me asking, Maria showed up, clipboard in hand, and I asked her why the staffers were rearranging items in the cooler when they were already full? She disappeared into the back and returned to say that the staffer rearranging the coolers was going off shift soon, and that's what they do (the cafe closes at 10 and I would think they could work on the coolers then). Maria said that the staffers would need additional training and Maria told the staffer to stop, and instead deal with the long line of customers. One I got to the register, I was told to microwave the item for only 30 seconds or "it will explode", despite the clear warning on the package to heat for 90 seconds to avoid dangerous undercooking. After 30 seconds the item wasn't even warm, so I followed the directions and added 60 seconds. I hope others disregard the staffer's advice so they don't get sick. Now, properly heated, the item wouldn't fit on the tiny plate, extending out to possibly burn one's hand. Maria was still there, and she said that these two employees would receive more training, and further seemed to agree that rearranging already full coolers was not called for. But these workers are essentially unsupervised and have no time management skills. ||3.Right after that, while I waited at reception to request a bag of ice, the customers ahead of me were complaining about a very SERIOUS security issue.  While sitting in their room, another guest, who had the key to THEIR room, entered and shocked them.  I watched this interaction as the desk clerk shrugged and said "Sometimes we change people's rooms and the system doesn't get updated".  No apology--he seemed to be telling them it just happens sometimes.  Wow.||They asked for a manager, and he said that although he had a radio, it wasn't at the desk, so he couldn't contact a manager. I suggested that they ask for Maria.  The staffer gave them Maria's cell number and they left.  I asked him how he could summon help since he forgot his radio, and as the sole clerk on duty, couldn't leave to retrieve it. His answer:  a shrug. I assumed the other guest did contact Maria on the cell, and for the third time, there we were. Discussed this room key issue with Maria who indicated that the clerk was incorrect to suggest that the system doesn't update room assignments, and that (obvious to you readers by now) Maria said "There are multiple training issues and with the comings and goings of the staff, proper training is very difficult. ||Unlike other Park concessionaires, like Xanterra, Aramark and Delaware North; Rainier Guest Services (a subsidiary of Guest Services Inc) is the absolute worst concessionaire we've experienced. We've experienced the above mentioned others who are far better. ||4.Our advice (if you must stay at this Inn: deadbolt your door at all times, cook your microwave food carefully, and park wherever you want in order to unload. And tell AGM Maria hello for us---you'll likely...