Eagle Mountain House & Golf Club — Hotel in Jackson

Our son and his fiancée planned their wedding and reception at the Eagle Mountain House in Jackson, NH over the 2024 Columbus Day weekend. Several of us arrived on Thursday night in anticipation of a beautiful wedding on a peak foliage weekend in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Our room was dated, paint peeling off the walls in several areas, no refrigerator (though you could rent a small one for $20/night). No big deal…its an old structure with other somewhat charming features…and we were eagerly anticipating a family wedding. A new building across the parking lot from the hotel called the Carriage House hosted the Friday evening rehearsal dinner that was very nice. On Saturday morning, wind gusts blew a tree across the power line that feeds the resort at about 6 am. Guests woke up to no power, no running water, and dark hallways and stairwells. Everyone was anticipating that the power would be restored sometime soon…it was not restored until 18 hours later! Come to find out, the well pump that supplies water to the resort facilities does not include a backup power generator. The main kitchen and the new Carriage House kitchen do not have backup power either…so no food preparation can occur during a power outage and food spoilage is in play because refrigerators and freezers are powerless. How unbelievably short-sighted! Guests had to navigate their way through dark hallways and up/down dark stairwells because there was no emergency lighting… a clear safety code issue/violation. Guests had but one flush to dispose of personal waste. Within a few hours the entire resort began to smell like urine and feces due to the unsanitary condition of having no running water. We started to become very concerned about the resort having the ability to host a wedding and reception later in the day. Our son and future daughter-in-law were in a panic thinking about all of the guests already at the resort and the many more traveling to attend the wedding later that day. The resort wedding planner, Linda, assured us that she was working on a backup plan (why wasn’t there one already in place for this scenario?) but stated that she was not hopeful of finding a backup location to host the reception because this was “the busiest weekend of the year”. Linda suggested we move the wedding and reception to Sunday…a ridiculous idea that we declined for a myriad of obvious logistical reasons. By late afternoon, everyone associated with the wedding were in full panic mode as the resort staff simply shrugged their shoulders and said they were unable to do anything to solve the problem. Our oldest daughter, with 6+ years as a wedding and event planner, came to the rescue. After several frustrating conversations with Linda, she took matters into to her own hands and found a nearby location to host the reception…a place Linda had told her she had contacted earlier and said was unavailable! Our daughter saved the day. The wedding and reception happened. It would not have if Eagle Mountain House was left “in charge”. Unfortunately, due to the busy weekend, no other hotels had rooms for our guests following the reception…wedding guests had to drive several hours home after a very long and stressful day. If you plan to stay at Eagle Mountain House, make sure you read all of the reviews before booking. It’s an old run-down facility in dire need of upgrades…not just for aesthetics, but for safety and reliability in case of power loss. Joel Bourassa, the resort general manager, refused to reimburse our son and daughter-in-law for resort reception services not rendered as a result of the power failure. The resort does not care about you, your safety, or your wedding...

Very poor management and emergency preparedness. Woke up early during my stay there on Oct. 12th and power went out between 5:30 - 6am. It was a windy morning, but I can’t imagine this was the first time this hotel experienced a power outage due to blustery weather among the White Mountain range. I was shocked to find out they didn’t have generators. When I returned to the 3rd floor that morning it was black out dark in a couple of the hallways - the emergency lights didn’t work and with the emergency doors shut (no handles on the doors, had to reach high to open them by their stoppers) you could only see in sections that had windows. My husband and several guest we crossed paths with walked into a table on the third floor where the emergency lights were not working. No hotel staff came around to the rooms to check on guests while we were there or let us know what was going on. Off site management did not send any emails or call us during the day to let us know they did not have a plan to accommodate guests if power did not come back on. We were 5 hours from home and uncertain for most of the day if the wedding/reception we were there for would go on. Without water, things seemed to get pretty unsanitary quickly as the day went on. In the afternoon, not too long before the scheduled outdoor ceremony, we noticed a sign posted in the lobby stating that we couldn’t stay there. We scrambled to pack our stuff & take it to the car while we still had daylight. At checkout, the front desk wouldn’t give me a hand written receipt as I requested. I asked for them to email a receipt once power was back - they never did. I think they charged me for 1 of 2 nights (didn’t get the full accommodations promised). The show went on thanks to the Groom’s sister who worked her butt off that day to find another venue for the reception. The Christmas Tree Farm saved the day!! The venue was tight for the party size (hard to get around tables & no dance floor until people cleared out) and most people had to leave right before or after dinner to make it home safely. Surely not what the bride and groom planned. At the end of the night, the family had to pack up the Christmas Tree venue & drive hours home. From what I’ve been told, Eagle Mountain House has not reimbursed the bride & groom for services they did not receive - the bride and groom should not have to pay for the power going out and EMH not being prepared. A very poor business model and awful way to...

I really wanted to enjoy our stay here, but there was just too much wrong. Our family got the "king suite," which had a king bed and a queen sleeper sofa. The sleeper sofa was horrible. You could feel the metal springs pressing right against the surface of the mattress. Companies make nice sofa sleepers now, but this was exactly what you think of as the stereotypical horribly uncomfortable sleeper that leaves your back hurting in the morning.

The room also just had too much wrong with it. The window air conditioner made an annoying scraping noise and had mold in the vents. I reported it when we went out in the morning after the first night of our stay and was told it would be taken care of. When we got back in the evening nothing had been done, but the kids were too tired to deal with the hassle of trying to change rooms. So, that just led to a second night of bad sleep for me.

The bedroom and living room also didn't have blackout curtains, which is just really annoying when you have little kids. The pull down shades were ill-fitted for the windows and somewhat broken. The room darkening curtains were only in the bedroom and didn't really do much to darken. The bathroom window had a screen in it that was attached to nothing and fell out when I pulled the curtain shut. The decor was shabby and the lamps were cheap with different color shades.

I also had an annoying issue with the breakfast. The card in our room said breakfast was complementary on Tuesday and Wednesday. When we were presented with a bill after we ate at the buffet I went to the front desk and had to argue it. Apparently there was only a free breakfast if the buffet was closed and they provided it in a box, but I have no idea how I was supposed to know that. They did comp it for me, which was nice, but it was just frustrating to have to argue it and feel like I was being cheap.

It's really too bad because it could have been really nice. The building is a grand building. The room was very clean with the exception of the vents, which makes me think it was more of a problem that people weren't being told to clean the vents than the cleaning staff not being competent. If the room had been refurbished and the issues with the AC and breakfast hadn't happened, we would have...