The Mountain Club on Loon - Loon Mountain Condo Resort — Hotel in Lincoln

---- Dated ---- Very dated decor and furnishings (think 1985). Not kitschy or charming, just funky and kind of gross. An apt, two-word description would be: Popcorn ceilings. Seriously. There are popcorn ceilings. It's cute when it's your grandma's condo you're visiting, but not in 2024 when it's costing real money during your vacation. ----CREEEPY experience when checking in ---- Hotel staff person brought my bag to my door, with two quick knocks and no wait for a response, the staffer barged into the room. Fortunately I wasn't naked or there would have been a serious problem. I was too stunned to give the guy a stern talking to. Either way, how could this possibly be an accident? Staffer seemed like a creep trying to peep at people.

----The Food ---- was Golden Corral-quality, at best. Dinner was all pasta and potatoes and chunks of stuff swimming in random sauces. Some kind of instant fruit punch served in paper cups in yet another very dated dining room. Random slices of Sarah Lee-type pound cake with a bowl of canned fruit filling next to a plate of cheap gas station cookies.

---- Breakfast ---- Gross and ice cold. Seriously. Multiple people said the same thing. Only compliment that I could fairly give is that the food didn't make me physically ill, even though it was nothing short of a joyless slog through what is essentially a carpeted, grade-school cafeteria. But this experience is created for hard-working families who are about to be charged way too much.

---- Staff ---- Nice, but you could tell they knew they were working in a dump and were tired of dealing with unhappy customers. They all just had their heads down and tried their best, seemingly knowing that if they caught someone's eye, there would be a complaint they couldn't resolve because the place they worked just wasn't managed well.

---- Beds and Rooms ----As some people mentioned there are Murphy beds in the rooms, which is understandable, since skiers often pack hotel rooms and just want a place to crash. But be warned, the beds are only marginally comfortable, the bedding is old, very chintzy, and also just kind of gross, like everything else. Window unit ac was loud, but functional enough. After forty years of skiers and tourists crashing here, maybe someone should be inclined to rebuild some of the wreckage? The party has been going on for a long long long time here and it's seems like the hosts have just simply given up. To be fair, it does seem like the staff have been trying to clean these dingy rooms, so tip of the cap to the workers.

---- Design ---- Everything is just kind of crazy here. Hotel floor numbering is ridiculous and defies description, and the layout is confusing. It's hard to not get turned around and accidentally discover something else that's just not good. Getting around is like being in a casino with twisting, turning corridors that won't let you find the way out...while also never getting to win at poker.

---- Quirks ---- None of these quirks are in any way charming, they're just dumb. It's almost like someone with a lot of money checked out a library book with pictures of an 80s ski resort and said "I can build that" and no one said "No, you can't" and then the same owner slipped into a coma and the hotel just kind of kept on operating on its own, somehow, like some sort of zombie ski lodge. It's just bizarre here.

---- Reality/Game Show??? ---- If the same weirdo that barged into my room with my luggage came back and said "Just kidding, you're on a new reality show we're calling 80s Hot Tub Ski Resort, Locker Room, and Hotdog Stand", then things would make more sense. But that hasn't happened...

Overall I enjoyed my weekend stay, but there were some interesting concerns that brought my review down to two stars.

I don't mind paying higher prices for a nicer experience, so for me, the price wasn't the problem. The problem was the value of the experience for the price.

What amounted to around $200/night was just about what I expected from a Super 8 Motel, unfortunately.

Upon arrival, we were greeted with a welcome packet full of strange vouchers, offering things like free breakfast and $25 off dinner. On their own, they would be nice. But they saw fit to throw "20% gratuity added" to the end of every single coupon. Of course we believe in tipping when appropriate, but the necessity to include a 20% gratuity on absolutely everything, including a nebulous un-priced breakfast seemed a little bit like a cheap ploy, like they were nickel-and-diming us while simultaneously trying to offer us an economy option. This hotel has a severe identity problem and needs to decide whether it's going to be a luxury option, or an economy stop.

The rooms were bare, no artwork or decor on the walls. (literally none, my girlfriend and I thought it was weird). There were very few poorly placed outlets, we ended up moving a couch and unplugging a lamp and an unset clock to plug in cell phones. The clock was unset by the cleaning staff. Probably because everybody just unplugs it to charge their phones.

There were only two glasses in the room, which is odd, since economy hotels come stocked with more. We ended up calling the front desk for extra cups.

There was a balcony, which should be a good thing, but the furniture out there was old, dirt, cheap plastic walmart chairs, and made being out there very uncomfortable.

The pool is advertised as heated during summer. It was September 3rd, so it should have been exactly the time of year the pool was being used. It got chilly during the evenings, and there was zero sign there was heat in the pool. It seemed like an average pool. Having stayed at the North Conway Grand Hotel for the same price, you come to expect a pool kept around at least 70. No such luck here.

The hot tub was laughable. The first night, they completely drained it, due to "pH level problems." The second night, it was full, but not terribly hot, and it was like a weird pit in the ground. It only fit a small handful of people, so I didn't want to stay in it anyhow.

If we were stopping by on our way somewhere and needed a quick overnight for ECON prices, this would've been an excellent experience.

But for these prices, there's a much better destination at the exact same price point: North Conway Grand to say the least. I also have my eyes on the...

My review is a bit long, but I believe it can help a lot of people regarding what I went through. I bought 2 nights on Groupon for a total of $328. When I arrived at the place, I was very well attended at the reception, and I was assigned to my room on the 13th floor. When I got there, there was a door to 2 neighboring rooms, and you could hear the noise from one room to the other, which didn't bother me, especially since I didn't have children. Simple room, without a minibar, equipped with air conditioning and cable TV, and also a coffee maker. The room and bathroom are from a time ago, but functional, however the shower was of very low quality. Everyone knows that people who travel for more than 2 hours need a good and relaxing shower, but the plastic and low quality shower is terrible. At the reception we received 2 vouchers for a 50% discount on breakfast, and 1 voucher for a 25% discount on lunch or dinner, as well as a $50 voucher for a $100 massage.

At breakfast, the place was very spacious and the breakfast was 2.8 to 3 stars, but the service from the staff was excellent.

We left after that and went to the cable car, $35 per day per person and you can ride it as many times as you need during the day. The attendant, Ana, is a lovely person, she explained everything with great attention, care and dedication. 10 stars for Ana. She should be promoted! At lunch, we ordered a Caesar salad with salmon, a side of beef and 2 drinks, where we discovered that the 25% voucher only covered salads and burgers, it did not cover the meat ordered as a side, so far so good, but the waitress at the restaurant, which is a small bar with tables and not a restaurant, forced us not to use the voucher, because it did not cover the additional meat, but even so she did everything she could to not take the voucher, and we paid about 75 dollars for a Caesar salad, a horrible beef, 15 dollars, a drink and an orange juice. Absurd. The pool, the bar attendant is nice, the pool is nice, and we went back to the room, we did not have breakfast at the hotel the next day, because paying 35 to 40 dollars for what they have there is not cool, we went out and had breakfast in the city, it was much more worth it. We checked out well before the check-out time, as we were a little disappointed by the place. I won't say I wouldn't go back, but the tricks in some situations left us embarrassed about our stay. Apart from the bar/restaurant, the staff are 10/10. But I think the supervisory team should improve the experience for new people who have never been there.

Anyway, that's...