Gonzo Inn — Hotel in Moab

When I travel, I skip the chain hotels if at all possible in favor of local, family owned businesses. Big corporations take enough from me, I hate forking over more hard earned money when I could support local people working hard to make a life for themselves. This place is everything I love about small, boutique motels. Every single person that I encountered here, from the front desk to housekeeping and the cafe staff was top notch. If you are travelling with pets, kids or just like easy access to an outdoor space, do yourself a favor and book a creek side walk out suite. If I had a dog this would have made things a thousand times easier but our pooch had to stay home on this trip. My boys and I loved being able to just walk outside though. The kitchenette was fully equipped with dishes, towels, paper towels, a microwave, fridge with freezer and keurig machine with coffee pods. The beds were the most comfortable I have ever slept in at a hotel/motel. I slept like a baby every night. The bathroom could have used a bit better lighting in the shower but other than that was perfectly, spotlessly clean. The entire suite was beautifully decorated and very inviting. Zero complaints about the room or hotel cleanliness.|The location of this motel is also a huge plus if you are looking to be close to downtown but away from traffic noise. Since this is tucked at the end of a street with no outlet, you definitely don't feel like you are in the middle of downtown. The parking lot is a bit of a tight squeeze but it's definitely worth the hassle. The pool and patio space is also a huge plus. We swam in the heat of the afternoon a couple times and the pool was cool, refreshing and spotlessly maintained. |One of my favorite things about this hotel besides the location, room and staff was the awesome breakfast cafe. The staff worked so hard and did a great job even when I watched people being completely rude to them. Everything is cooked to order so patience is the key people, this isn't McD's. So, if you book a room that includes breakfast vouchers, make sure you use them. My only criticism is that with as early as people like to be up and at the parks, I did wish they started serving at 6 and not 7. The staff was completely overwhelmed at times between 7-730 and I think having an earlier opening time may alleviate everyone coming at once and put less stress on them. I also think having prices listed including tax would help people with the vouchers. I found the prices right in line with other eating establishments in the area and you could get many things with the $14 voucher, you just had to take into account for the tax when you were ordering. Only one day my family went over our voucher amount because I was dying for a latte and ordered one in addition to my breakfast parfait. |I would not hesitate to recommend the Gonzo Inn to my friends and family and would happily stay here again on my next trip to Moab. Its proximity to the downtown, hospitality, quality and charm are...

Note: We have not stayed at the Gonzo Inn, so this review is strictly about their booking process and communication.

We chose the Gonzo Inn to host our wedding guests, including close friends and family. We contacted them a full year in advance to set up a room block and requested a specific suite for ourselves (the bride and groom). We were told it was available and would be held for us.

From the start, the booking process was clunky and outdated. Guests were required to print and fill out a physical form, write their credit card info, then scan and email it back. We flagged this as a security concern and asked if they could use a code on their website’s booking site instead, something their site already seemed built to support. They told us that they would hold the requested rooms and work on adding a booking code for guests.

After two months of delays, unanswered emails, and inconsistent communication, they eventually told us they had updated their website to allow for discount code booking. We were relieved, until we learned that the suite and several of the other requested rooms we had been promised were already booked. Turns out, they never actually reserved any rooms for us, despite months of emails and calls confirming otherwise.

We were told this happened because their Group Sales & Guest Experience Manager had left, and our request had “slipped through the cracks.” That was the final straw. We informed them we’d be working with another hotel.

Six months later, they emailed us again, asking for an update on the room block despite us already telling them we were out. We reiterated how unprofessional the experience had been. They apologized and promised to “make it up to us.” That was January 2025. We never heard from them again.

In the end, we found a different Moab hotel that actually understands room blocks and how modern websites work.

TL;DR: The Gonzo Inn’s booking process is outdated, disorganized, and unreliable. If you’re planning for a large group or an event, we can’t recommend them - there’s no guarantee they won’t give your rooms to someone else.

And to the Gonzo management: We chose you because we wanted to stay there. If our request was too complex, you should’ve told us upfront instead of stringing us...

Overall we had a good experience here, and would normally rate 5 stars. Almost everything was perfect, but there were a few instances where the staff made us feel a bit unwelcome.

#1: we booked the Gonzo Inn because it had EV charging spaces for guests. However, during one day when we wanted to charge before our long trip the next day, the hotel staff were blocking both charging spaces in non-EV cars, even though there were dozens of free spaces in the parking lot. One staff in a large truck claimed she was "saving" the space for EV guests, yet she didn't move her truck until over an hour after I told the front desk that the EV spaces were blocked. So strange for the staff to do this. It feels disrespectful.

#2: we traveled to Moab with our bicycles, and the Inn is right on a beautiful bike path through Moab. However we were surprised to find out that they have a policy of not allowing bicycles in the room. I understand that some people may be disrespectful and create a mess with muddy bikes, but we are always very clean and never had a problem bringing our bikes in any hotel in the US. The policy should be against leaving mud or dirt and not against bicycles altogether. They have a bike room but it's not open until 7am, and we were planning an early ride. When we asked, the staff was flexible and let us keep our bikes in the patio once they saw they were clean, but it definitely felt like we were being treated like children.

Those two things aside, it's a great cute hotel with a wonderful pool. Our room had a small but nice patio overlooking the pool. Everything was clean, the bed comfortable, the linens are high quality, the breakfast is excellent, they have good EV chargers if you can get to them, it's far enough off of the main street to be quiet but close enough to walk everywhere. There's a bike path that will take you throughout Moab and all the way to Arches National Park. The Moab liquor store is directly across the street. Everything else...