Hines Mansion — Hotel in Provo

I emailed the following 2 weeks ago and checked to see if the new owners responded. They haven't, so I'm going ahead with my posting. It's too bad they expect to profit off of everything the Schicks built and now want to coast.

Hello Hines Mansion!

I spent last night (12/30/23) in the Lodge room with my wife, celebrating our 24th anniversary. This is our 4th time coming to the Hines to celebrate our anniversary. I was GREATLY disappointed with the value received for the price I paid.

If you notice Google reviews, the ratings were generally around 5 of 5 during the time the Schicks owned/operated it. It appears they sold out only 2-3 months ago, and the Google reviews have dropped substantially to 1-2 stars since then.

The Schicks did a fabulous job which is why I have been a repeat customer. Unless something changes, I will probably look at other options, never come to Hines again, and tell my friends/family to not stay there. Your website sets expectations that you are not able to deliver right now. So I suggest you update your website and lower your price. Or... up your game to deliver at the same level (or better) than the Schicks did. This isn't a threat, but I'm telling you from a repeat customer's perspective that you can't expect to treat customers this way for long, and decide to charge the price you do.

Have you ever heard of "Voice of Customer" or know what that means? Look at the reviews and know that WE are paying YOUR salary (or helping YOU to break even on your investment), and we work hard for our money. So please take our feedback seriously because I want Hines to succeed. I see another recent Google review for the Lodge that mirrors ours exactly.

This is our experience (the Lodge room in the Hines):

Pictures of the Lodge online are of an entirely different room than the one they currently call the Lodge.

Pictures show a couple of robes we could lounge in. No robes were available

Carpet was WAY dingy, stained, and needs to be replaced. Rug was severely frayed

The room was ICE COLD when we first walked in! There was a small portable heater we had to turn on and wait for it to heat the room a bit, but it never heated the bathroom at all. It was also a bit noisy so we turned it off while we slept and ended up FREEZING and getting little sleep! There was only a sheet and a thin bedspread. Wouldn't have been too bad if there were an extra 1-2 blankets! We kept thinking the heat would turn on (we saw vents in the floor) but it never did- even though we turned on the space heater to warm up. Who sells a room with no heat in the middle of winter? If the room isn't usable, let alone comfortable, don't offer it!!

No breakfast anymore. This was always a nice little touch to help you feel you're getting additional value for the high price you pay. Your website has recently stated you will start offering crepes for breakfast. That's great, but until then, please discount my rate. Even making a small fridge available with some yogurt and other basics wouldn't have taken much effort and could still be called a light breakfast. Better than nothing!

I searched everywhere in the kitchen for what used to be a hot chocolate bar. Very disappointed to not find one!

Where are the little candies and treats? Nothing.

I don't think I should pay such a high price (over $200) for MUCH LESS than what I've received in the past.

I figured I would give you my feedback before posting a Google review to see if there is anything you can do to "make this right" for me. Unless I hear from you soon, I will post the comments above along with a review of 1 out of 5 stars, like nearly everyone else did over the past couple of months.

Thank You, Paul Pulley 4th...

*UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT * I sent an email to the property that goes unanswered, so I will shared the same message here:

We have been coming to Hines every year for the last 4 years since we've been married and we were very excited to come back once again. We noticed that recently the prices had gone up a bit, but with all the wonderful things included, we were happy to support our favorite anniversary tradition. On arrival we noticed a few changes, but were hopeful that business was going so well that some upgrades were needed. The charm was diluted a bit when we saw the "upgrades" done to the beautiful living room, with memories of grabbing little treats from the entry way to checking out the old books and seeing a few photographs through the stereoscope left out on the coffee table. We made our way to grab our key, only to notice the cooler filled with bottled waters and sparkling cider was removed. A delicious cider was a staple for our stay that made the night truly feel like a fancy celebration. One of our biggest disappointments, which wasn't mentioned in our confirmation email when we booked our stay, was that no breakfast would be served. This was a tradition we loved, where we might meet another guest with a fun story to tell, or the wonderful person cooking breakfast would be so fun to get to know and share memories with. We are understanding of the changes being made, but to be charged the same amount for a bed and breakfast to only be receiving half of that experience seems a bit unreasonable. Continuing on to the kitchen, we always dreamed of staying here on a double date with friends and playing board games on the dining table, sadly the area looks like it was changed to a cocktail or buffet table. We searched for the hot cocoa/ coffee/ tea bar, but we noticed that all of that was also removed. I was also sad to see the antique tea pots and tea cups were no longer there to admire. Walking back to our room felt a little less magical this time. Thankfully not too much had changed about the rooms. I'm not sure if DVDs were available to borrow anymore, the case seemed to be closed up. I also noticed the his and hers robes missing, we used to lounge around in those during a break from enjoying the tub. I hadn't brought my usual make up remover because there had always been a little toiletries kit in the bathroom including a make up remover wipe. That was a minor disappointment, but in addition to everything else missing, my experiences was pretty dampened. With all of that mentioned, I'm not sure I feel it's fair to charge the same amount for more than half of the experience being removed/discontinued without any warning. I saw on the note that it was mentioned on the site, but that information isn't available to those of us who did not order through the direct Hines Mansion website. To go over what was missing from our experience that we had had in previous years: -Treats in the front room -Books to browse -Photos to look at through the stereoscope -coffee/tea/hot cocoa bar -dining area to enjoy treats/play board games -BREAKFAST -bottled waters -sparkling cider -his & hers bathrobes -make up remover wipes

I don't want this stay to be our last. This place holds such a beautiful place in our hearts and so many magical memories were made here. I sadly don't see us returning in the future with so many parts of the experience missing and the cost remaining the same. I hope that most, if not, all perks will return so that future guests can enjoy the same magical experience that we had at a fair price. I hope this place retains its charm and character and that we can feel comfortable coming back again to experience the...

The perfect room for anyone wanting to wake up early! As soon as it starts to get light, the window above the door acts as a spotlight shining on the headboard. If you're worried about sleeping in, don't worry, because the door from the room leads right into the kitchen where they begin making breakfast at 7:30. I wouldn't worry about sleeping through that as it'd likely be pretty difficult to not hear anything through the 120 year old walls and door.

I cannot recommend this room to anyone who is unable to take out their hearing aids for the night.

Don't bother sticking around for breakfast, you'd be better off driving the 4 minutes over to the Village Inn. It's sad to say, but the food there would probably be better and at least that way you won't have to sit at a crowded table. It is guaranteed you'd get more than a fruit kabob, 2 pancakes, a 1/4 cup of extremely overdone eggs, and a shriveled up sausage. Something you might expect your 8 year old to make.

There are only a couple things I expect from a good b&b: a clean comfortable room/bed (thankfully, this expectation was met) a nice place to sleep in and have a relaxing morning (0 out of 10) a restaurant quality breakfast (0 out of 10)

I really can't describe how disappointing the morning of our stay was. The night before was great. I loved the external entrance to this room, the jetted tub, and the private bathroom. The main house is gorgeous. It's filled with all sorts of fun antiques. The staff is friendly, but unprofessional. I didn't expect to be served breakfast by someone in their pajamas.

The main issue with our stay was in the unsettling morning. The worst part of this is that the staff was well aware, from the time we checked in, that we'd be woken up by the noise of breakfast in the morning. If there was any mention of this fact on the website or even a courtesy email after making the reservation, I wouldn't be so upset. The ridiculous breakfast wouldn't have bothered me as much and I'd have had a better day. Most likely because I would have booked a different room, one away from the kitchen where sleeping in would have been possible. However, receiving notice of the impending morning disruptions at time of check in makes it impossible to change rooms when all rooms are already booked.

I had a terrible stay in the whispering willows room. I would assume the other rooms would be better. However, everyone is served the...