Kick Back Ranch & Event Center, LLC — Hotel in Montgomery

So many pros and cons about this place! Let's dive in! We are from the city. We were looking for a hotel in AL and came across this ranch. I was immediately blown away by the reviews, location, pictures and description! When we arrived, we felt the same way! The amenities gave us an experience that was 10x better than ANY hotel for about the same price (or less)! Con: as we were getting comfortable, I noticed a urine stain on the fitted sheet and mattress cover on one of the beds. Now, usually I'd complain, but instead, I stripped all of the beds, took everything to the (ON SITE LAUNDRY ROOM: PRO), used my money, and washed everything. I added some personal items to fill the last load. As I am loading the laundry, I'm making conversation with the laundry attendant. When I came back to put the clothes in the dryer, I noticed that one of the washers seemed to have missed the rinse cycle. When I asked the same attendant about it, she said, "that machine has been broken for two weeks. I'm not sure why they took the sign off, but I had a funny feeling about it, that's why I didn't use that one." Immediately, I thought, "that would've been nice to know beforehand." So, I threw it in the dryer and came back to run it all through a second drying cycle. When I came back to pick up the linen, everything except my personal belongings were there. The office said they'd asked around and checked the cameras and they have no idea what happened. Still, I was loving the place and inquired about a long-term stay. The owner called me to tell me that she'd look into it and give me a call the next day. The next day, she texted me to tell me she had no further details, but she'd add me to the list. Personally, I thought that was a little unprofessional, but just brushed it off (maybe that's how they do things here, I'm from a different world). My kids had spilled some crumbs on the floors, so I asked for a broom. When I swept, so much dust filled the room that I had to air the room out. There was also hair in my shower and my fridge 😞 speaking of the shower .. this is the ONLY thing that made me reconsider another visit or living here... Today, the shower curtain rod fell on my four year old's head! I tried calling the office, but couldn't get through. So, I quickly drove to the office to notify them. They brought my daughter an ice pack that had been sitting out so long that it was actually like warm water and they had someone come out and fix it. It was only then that the owner saw fit to finally meet me face to face to discuss moving in long term. That left a bad taste in my mouth. Lastly, we went to the game room to enjoy a game of pool and air hockey, but one of the balls were missing and the air hockey table didn't work. 😞 Now, to balance it with some positives... The park has two playgrounds and hammocks. Very convenient! Tables and campfires everywhere. The staff are exceptionally nice! Great conversation and helpful! They respected our privacy, which I LOVED! Some would stop for conversation, offer to take pics and videos of our family, one even found me some lighter fluid and a coffee pot for our cabin. The water is as clean as you can expect it to be in this location. I did have the cabin right next to the pool and literally saw someone out there every morning and almost every night cleaning and treating the pool. The waterslide automatically shuts off around 8pm and one night, we came to the waterslide and literally two mins later, it turned off. Talk about some disappointed kids! The security officer was on duty and was kind enough to turn it back on for us. I can say that this is a people friendly place. It was a bit of culture shock for us, but we realized we don't need as much as we have to be happy. It was so peaceful. I was able to clear my mind and just enjoy life without the stress and worries...

It has been a disaster for our event.

When we first came to the office to check in and figure out where the event was set to be, they charged us for a day pass and we headed out on our way. Before we got to our cars, the manager came up to us and accused us of smelling heavily of weed. (We don’t smoke)

Later on I found out that she had been hounding other members of our party to fleece parking tickets and day passes even though they had already been registered.

Our event was meant to be at 2:00 but was pushed back because the AC unit was not working. Imagine trying to get ready for your grandfathers birthday and retirement when a DUAL PISTOL WIELDING SHERIFF waltzes in to to take a look at the AC unit that should have been worked on months before when this event was booked.

Up to this point I looked at all these flagrant failures in southern hospitality as awkward and even a little comical. But things only got worse as time went on

We checked into our room at 3 and walked into a hot, musty, smelly, damp room with multiple dead bugs on the floor. The AC unit was unplugged, the DampRid moisture collecting bags were full and should have been emptied weeks ago. The single bed rooms of course don’t come with a bathroom so heads up for that.

When we went to the office to work it out, they offered a two bedroom lodge for an 85$ up charge. That wouldn’t have sounded too bad if it wasn’t for the fact that the original price difference for those rooms would have been 30$ so taking that deal would have been highway robbery.

We decided not to stay in either of those rooms because it would be cheaper and much nicer to stay at a hotel downtown and get a day pass the next day.

Back to the event venue, the sheriff and hvac technician had made no progress on the heat. Fans had to be brought in and over 3 hours after the event was supposed to start, they were still charging Freon into the unit.

We tried to carry on with the event and celebrate the end of our grandfathers long career in the military but we had to cut the entire thing short because it was 90 degrees inside and our great-grandmother was nearly passing out from the heat. She could’ve been seriously injured.

We move out of the death-trap venue building unceremoniously

In conclusion you don’t want to be here as a veteran, as a POC, or as a person with standards.

Here are a few more gripes

A woman almost ran over my little brother because he was trying to stop her from running over his brothers phone (Unsuccessful) (Both brothers are alive, phone is not)

Being shown political anti-solar energy ads??

Advertising their church sermon to us by text?

Ceiling paint is chipping off

Cracks in the walls

Holes in drywall where toilet paper holder used to be

One of the blinds was replaced with a large fabric, held up by thumbtacks

It was so hot that our balloons were randomly popping and the icing on our cakes had begun to melt before we could even start. The entire event felt like it was inside a microwave...

My husband, I and our service dog lived here for 8 months. In short, a couple moved in wanting our spot. They kept calling the owners on us with untruthful accusations. The wife kept talking to me one morning while I was trying to load my car for work. I asked her to please just leave me alone. She would not stop. I just kept loading my stuff and asked again to leave me alone. The next day I get a call from Mindy, the owner while at work and she let's in on me with several slanderous accusations. She tells me my dog must be removed from the property by that night and if we do not comply, she will call the sheriff. Not once did she ever discuss anything with me prior to this day. I tell you Mindy is the most unprofessional person I have ever met. Talk about accused, charged and found guilty without a trial. We never had words with anyone or were ever warned by the owners. I assure you, the ones who did what we were accused of is still there!!!! My husband did have a civil conversation two days before with the owner's husband and thought they had an understanding. ????I must take this moment to thank Mindy because I did not like her from the first time I met her. We LOVE our new home. We have LOTS of water pressure!!!! I mean my Dawn makes bubbles in the sink!!!! FREE WI-FI!!!!!!! Mindy advertises free wi-fi. What a joke. We have a foot more room inside our motorcoach. The power was so low there we couldn't get them to slide completely out!! Every time I cooked there I flipped a breaker. We can use all my appliances at one time now!!!! We have grass and a picnic table. Clyde, our service dog, is welcome and has a huge field he can run in. The owners are so kind and welcoming. Our first night here in our new rv park the owner said they close at six but come on back, he'd be drinking a beer on the front porch and so we joined him!!! The good lord has blessed us with some great friends from Kick Back and I hope we never lose touch. Thank those who loved and accepted us and Clyde. We will never forget your blessings on us.

I failed to mention the owner, Mindy showed up on our lot as soon as my husband got home from work (the same day i received a call at work from Mindy with her accusations)with the park manager and the security guard carrying an assault rifle!!!!! Really???! OMG!! We basically kept to ourselves but welcomed anyone that stopped by. We never were even talked to before this day!!!! Just can't wrap my head around such cruel and ridiculous...