Mountain Village Resort — Hotel in Stanley

My review is for the “tent camping” only. I cannot speak for the lodge itself nor the hot springs, as we never had occasion to use them.

I regret that I cannot recommend this location for tent camping.

My partner, two small kids, and I booked a tent site for two nights for $20/night plus fees. About $45 all together. We’d never been to Stanley before. The Mountain Village Resort website boasted unbeatable views, proximity to the Salmon River, and access to a private hot spring. Great!

We arrived later than expected (around midnight), checked in, and tried to navigate to the area as instructed. We did a couple loops and didn’t see anything resembling a camping area. Believing that we were simply disoriented in the dark, we stopped back at the check-in desk to verify that we were in the right spot. The gentleman assured us we were. (He was professional to me, though for reasons that will become clear, I was quite upset. I appreciated that.)

The so-called “tent camping” consisted of a small patch of sod right in the parking lot. And when I say “in the parking lot”, I mean IN the parking lot. On one side, you have asphalt-paved parking for guests staying in the Lodge itself. On the other, you have the RV parking lot. No trees, no privacy. No individual fire pits. Totally not doable for a night with temps around 28 degrees. We were later told there was communal fire pit on the other side of the property, but this would’ve been useless to us.

There was one lopsided portapotty way off to the side of the RV parking area. It was virtually invisible in the dark. Not a path light nor safety light in sight. We drove past it at least twice.

Ironically, the floodlights from the Lodge glared right over the tent area. They were so close and so bright, it would’ve been impossible to pretend you were anywhere other than where you were, a literal parking lot. The thought of pitching our tent there in the freezing cold, without a fire, squeezed in between RVs and paved parking, where people undoubtedly take their animals to relieve themselves, felt like quite a humiliating prospect. At this point, my exhausted kids were crying.

I expressed our disappointment and concern to the desk attendant. No way we could stay out there. I asked about room vacancy. He told us that the Lodge was booked to capacity. No rooms available. When I tearfully told him that we hadn’t driven from Boise and paid $40 to stay in a parking lot, we were told there was “nothing they could do”.

This all happened during COVID-19 designated campsite closures on Memorial Day weekend. We had nowhere else to go, unless we wanted to turn around and try our luck in a different city. We looked everywhere. Eventually, we literally just pulled over and passed out on the side of the road. It was a rough night.

The next morning, we returned to the Lodge to let them know we would not be staying the second night. No refund was offered, not even a future stay credit or something. We scarcely got an apology. We did not use the hot springs or any facilities at all. My partner and I both work in the hotel industry, and never in our combined years of work have we EVER seen this happen. It was a very disappointing experience.

My partner and I both feel that, as far as the tent camping area goes, the advertising is misleading. I’m not a high-maintenance person, I’m just saying that REAL campsites go for around $15/night in Idaho. This area is not worth a single penny, much less $20/night plus fees. I wish we had been financially compensated, even if just for the second night. :(

I assume and hope that the rest of the Lodge is better, but I strongly advise against the tent camping there. Provided there’s not a government shutdown in place, I recommend driving down Hwy 75 a few more miles and you’ll find beautiful,...

We came up for the Idaho State Snowmobile Association State Ride first part of March, and stayed in one of the more expensive rooms down the road from the main hotel. The only reason I'm giving a 2 star, and not a 1 star, is because it was a nice room with the rustic feel you want when staying at a hotel in the mountains. But several things went wrong.

I walked in the bathroom and noticed the towel rack looked a little unstable. I barely touched it and it came of the wall.

I cooked my oatmeal in one of the bowls in the room. After a few minutes of eating my oatmeal the side of the bowl randomly broke on me. My two sons witnessed it and it kind of freaked them out.

The water pressure in the bathroom sink was minimal. Barely more than a trickle.

With the shower, the hot water ran out FAST! It lasted about 3 minutes. So I had to finish with a cold shower.

Worst of all is this - As a courtesy they give the guests a couple of water bottles and bottles of whiskey in the room. Well, I don't drink and my boys (both under 21) certainly don't drink. We went to the office to see if they would be willing to trade the bottles of whiskey for something we could drink, like more water bottles. The first lady we spoke to said sure, they could make the swap. We didn't make the swap then but decided to do it later on when it was more convenient for us.

We came back that night and a different lady was working. We told her the other office lady said we could do the trade. She said they could NOT do the trade. I was a little surprised. I told her we DON'T drink alcohol and it's a simple accommodation to provide good customer service. She insisted on no trade. I asked to speak with the manager. The manager came and I told her the first lady we spoke to said we could make the trade. NOPE, she still did not allow the trade! I said "That's unfortunate", and she said "Yeah, it is". She was referring to it being unfortunate that the first lady told us they could make the trade when that was against their policy. I was referring to the fact that they refused to MAKE the trade.

COME ON PEOPLE AT MOUNTAIN VILLAGE RESORT!!! This is simple customer service! One of your customers should never have this kind of experience. Accommodate your customers and they will come back. Don't accommodate them,...

The hot springs were a fun experience. My sisters and husband enjoyed them. I was unable to join them as it’s a five minute walk and I had a bad knee. That’s where our positive experience ended. I stayed in the room to watch TV. The TV didn’t work so I went to the front desk and asked the clerk to call someone to take a look at it. Her response was “it was working yesterday “. She called Mike the maintenance employee and he said he will be there in a bit. I waited 45 minutes then went back to the front desk and she called Mike again. She said he must have been taking a nap and will be there in a little bit. When Mike finally arrived he was very rude and acted as if we were inconveniencing him. He started working on our keycard lock and we reminded him he was there for the TV and not the door. My husband tried to tell him what we were experiencing with the TV and with his back to us he put his had in the air to shush us. He fussed around for a few minutes and said your TV doesn’t work and someone would be out tomorrow and look at it.

The next day when checking out I let the front desk manager know of my experience and she said “ so you’re saying my husband was rude to you? I said if his name is Mike I said yes. She then yelled MIKE! He came around the corner and she asked if he was rude to me. He said no. He also lied and said he came by my room when I first called and knocked on the door and no one answered. Then another employee shoved a piece of paper showing where I initialed acknowledging that the Internet isn’t always up and running. When I acknowledge initially that I told them I wasn’t talking about the Internet, I was telling them their TV didn’t work. But more importantly, I was complaining about the rudeness of the front desk and their maintenance person. The front desk manager didn’t appreciate that I complained about her husband, then told me I was no longer welcome to return to their hotel. I’ve been in the hospitality business all my life. When our guests check out of our hotel, we ask how was your experience. We want to know if there is anyway we can improve the experience of our guests. I strongly suggest recommending another hotel in the very cute town of Stanley. Rudeness is...