Aspen Cove Resort — Hotel in Parowan

​"MIGHT LOOK ELSEWHERE!" My wife and I and another couple rented two (2) rooms for two nights in mid-May 2018 (guaranteed with 1 night's pre-payment/room, or $130 ea.), all a part of an 8-day Nat'l Park tour. Our experience at the Aspen Cove Resort was THE ​WORST​. I was just going to let it go, but ​today I​ decided to call and share our experience with the Owner ​(​because I see this place as having promise​). Unfortunately from the onset, the owner (Richard) met my call with a very defensive posture and never acknowledged​ even​ one issue that I conveyed. So sad...and what a lost opportunity. In brief: The GOOD's: Communication...The owner called us before our arrival to confirm we were still coming (we arrived about 1.5 hours later than we thought, or around 8:15 PM). Beds were comfortable and the sheets appeared clean. [Found out later that he was waiting on us to arrive so he could go home, likely why he called. We do not believe there were any other guest within the Lodge building, nor did we see any evidence of such guests.] THE BAD's: No staffing after hours (nor phones or cell service). For us, that meant we were on our own from 8:30 PM until 8:15 AM the next morning (no problem...so we thought). I asked about breakfast and was told by the Owner that he would be in around 8 AM (well after we planned to leave for Nat'l Parks day-trips). Before he left, I asked if coffee was in the rooms and was told he would leave a pot at the base of the stairs. Owner left to go home upon following our arrival. Fortunately, I discovered before he left that we only had 1/4 roll of TP in our room. Now, THE ROOMS - they were very dated and filthy dirty (floor carpet gnarly, neither the windows...nor the cobwebs on them...had been cleaned since 'who knows when' (hallway windows and floors were the same), rusty fixtures in bathroom, a really nasty upholstered gold-velour chair with holes all over (only chair in room, along with the 2 beds and 1 table...that is all). Our friends in the other room did not even have a small table. NO ​THERMOSTAT​ in either of the rooms. It got cold on night #1, ​but ​we were OK. On night #2, it got very hot in the room​,​ so we opened a window around midnight. The next morning, we (both rooms) were greeted by dozens of buzzing Mayflies (​because apparently, there were no screens on the windows​ ​and Mayflies hatch there twice/year). Next morning around 6:30 AM, we found a 4 cup pot and coffee at ​the ​base of stairs in the building's small foyer (yep, for ALL guest...which was the 4 of us). The Restaurant and Lodge were still locked, so we had to go upstairs to fetch water​ each time (no ice bucket)​. ​The exterior of the Resort was equally (poorly) maintained (see photos). Trash, drink cans/bottles​ and bird poop​ everywhere​ (that, at least, could be hosed off every so often). At check-in, guests were greeted on the Front Porch by the Owner and his friends ​sitting in dilapidated chairs and recliner (all billowing smoke, which we had to walk through to check-in. A years-past used Hot Tub sat empty and debris-filled​ on the side deck​. Shall I go on? It is, at best, this is a Fishing/Hunting Camp that you might expect to pay $50/night for, but then and only then, with FULL DISCLOSURE that it has "fish camp" quality accommodations. But a "Resort" ... it is not! The Owner concluded​ our call ​ by saying., "What did you expect​?​", to which I replied..."How about some of the basic amenities that one might expect to find at a place advertising itself as a "Resort" ​and charging $130+/night for​! Things​ like​, say,​ ​some degree of cleanliness, a thermostat, screens on the window and a chair that does not look like it was passed over at a Flea Market 10 years ago". It is a beautiful lake...but we were placed in rooms facing a dirt bank (with trash and the road/highway some 15' out or window). So sad. Best of luck to you, you...

I REALLY wanted to like this place. I REALLY tried to be understanding. It's a small place. It's remote. But some things just can't be overlooked. We knew our keys would be taped to the door because we arrived late. No problem. We met staff from the bar who were SUPER helpful - let us know if you need towels, the restaurant's open until 9 and the bar is open until 10 - FANTASTIC ... on Wednesday night. Thursday night, new crew in the bar. Towels? No, you will have to wait until the lodge opens, we run the bar and restaurant, we can't help you with the lodge stuff. By the way, the restaurant closed early (there is NOWHERE else to eat for over a half hour drive). So ... if we had KNOWN the restaurant was flaky and closed when they felt like it we would have made other plans. If we had KNOWN that some bar staff will get you towels and some won't, we wouldn't have put our towels on the floor, we would have hung them up (also, if you aren't going to have daily linen changes, you should probably put a sign to that effect in the rooms).

So ... the first night I was stoked, thought this might be a cool place to come in the winter. Second night, convinced me I was never coming back. I'll stay in Cedar City and make the drive. This place has no air conditioning and baseboard heat you cannot control from your room (they provide a little space heater). No cable. No satellite. No TV period unless you want to watch one of their fifty or so DVDs. I didn't come here for TV, so I wouldn't mention it except that the service sucked SO incredibly bad that I might as well disclose ALL the warts. Gravel parking lot. No elevator. No light in the stairwell. Hot tub looks like a place they would film the murder scene in a real crime television show. Marijuana smoke smell in the hallway. Uncomfortable beds.

You have...

We stayed here earlier this week and were completely shocked when we checked in. Nothing was what we expected it to be. The owner falsely advertised this property. We booked two rooms for one night and had originally planned to stay a second night. However, when we checked in, the owner offered to let us see the room before we paid for the second night. Who does that? This is what was actually waiting for us:

The hallway smelled like smoke and urine and the the carpets were dirty. When we opened the door that led to the stairwell at the opposite end of the hallway, we smelled feces and saw what appeared to be rat poop on the window sill. Our blinds were broken in our room and provided no privacy. The shower head was leaking water and there was pubic and head hair in the bathtub. Nothing appeared to be very clean except the beds and sheets were probably new. There was no air conditioning, no television and limited furnishings. When we opened the windows to get fresh air, all we smelled was smoke from the owner smoking right below us.

We were trapped. There was no where else to stay and our family had been on the road for hours. We had already paid for our first night but canceled our second night.

If you are a fisherman, this might be a slight improvement from sleeping in a tent outdoors but this is no place for families. When we confronted the owner as we left the next morning (after a terrible night), about feeling misled, he was defensive and in complete denial. He drives a Porsche, what a con artist!

This place has a kitchen and advertises that they cook food. We will be checking with the Utah health department to see if they...