Torrey Schoolhouse B&B Inn — Hotel in Torrey

Terrifying and gross (which is sad because also quite pretty)

The Torrey Schoolhouse has some really excellent elements: the one large downstairs room is roomy and bright, the renovations were obviously done with care, the garden is quite attractive. Heck, even the rather weird massage chairs that are placed in every corner were greatly enjoyed by our 12 year-old. It's pricey but not overly so. The coffee is ok, the rooms are reasonably spacious, there are plenty of good towels.

There are also negatives other than the big ones - we'll come to those! - that are off-putting. Breakfasts are not as good as the hype suggests - and on the one morning when we needed to be at a wedding event and could not make the mandatory 8.30 (sharp!) breakfast time, the suggestion was that the hostess might "microwave you a McMuffin if I have time" (!). Although the rooms feel reasonably clean, it's not thorough - when we were checking that we had packed everything and looked under the bed as we were leaving, we found not only enormous piles of dustbunnies but also someone else's underwear (gross!).

The big reason to never return? The owner (and she frequently reminded us that she was the owner), Ty. She greeted us, unmasked - seemed odd for a hotel - handshake, a bit jittery but whatever. Later that day I ran into her at the coffee and said "I figure it goes without saying, but you and the staff are all vaccinated, right?" [In case of future context: this was September 2021, the very height of the delta covid variant, death rate in Utah increasing daily. Masks mandatory in any normal hotel.] To which her response was to scream at me. "I don't have to tell you that! Why would you care? I take a probiotic so everything is fine!" I explained calmly that I asked because there we are in the middle of a pandemic - duh! - and she confirmed that she was not vaccinated but "I follow the science and keep you safe."

While screaming at me, unmasked, indoors. Yeah.

She did say that she would be willing to try to find us alternate accommodation (which we would have taken her up on, were we not in town for a wedding that had booked every room!) and that they would wear masks when preparing and serving food. Oh, and "I have a doctorate!" [I am neither making this up nor exaggerating, alas.] The doctorate turns out to be in social psychology; I should perhaps note that my doctorate is in neuroendocrinology, my background is in biochemistry, and I work alongside the NY RNA institute on - among other things - covid. So... yeah.

Then she went into the kitchen, from where I can hear her telling the staff "ha! I told him we would follow the science!" Her son - the porter of the B&B then emerged, also unmasked, and approached very aggressively, stopping just short of me and loudly asking "Well? Am I more than six feet away from you?" I suggested that we might open a door to increase airflow (and in fact he did so). Will (the son) is resident in the B&B every night; based on his aggression towards me, I would not want to be a single traveller there.

To be fair, most of the staff were pretty good about masking during breakfast. The exception was Ty - no matter how often asked not to, she would come right next to us and then take off her mask to talk! So I tried just keeping away from her - but (and again, I am not making this up) if anyone was not seated at the (9-person) table at any time, she would immediately stop all of breakfast for everyone, say that she was "waiting to issue a tardy ticket" and refuse to allow anyone to eat or serve.

I mentioned the '8.30 sharp.' There's no flexibility - if you're not in your seat at exactly 8.30, no-one gets to eat until you are, and if that timing doesn't fit for you, well, too bad. The fresh fruit was fine; the "turkey bacon" that appeared every morning was rubbery and odd; the egg-based entrees were ok.

I'm out of space. In short:...

Not quite what we had hoped for. We stayed in the Writing Room, a fairly small room. We understand that when staying in a B&B, you really shouldn’t expect much for a tv. But since Torrey, Utah, in late October, has very little nightlife, we were looking forward to a relaxing evening watching Netflix (which is advertised on their website as being part of the amenities in each room). When I contacted the host, he said “Netflix recently made it to where all TVs that aren’t new are unable to get Netflix, but you should be able to still get 14 channels”. No such luck, we weren’t even able to get one channel. We did enjoy reading in the parlor (no comfortable chairs in the room). And speaking of chairs, the Shiatsu massaging recliner did not work. I didn’t realize until the next morning that it was connected to the light switch by the bedroom door (might want to include that in the instructions for operating the chair). The bathroom was small and the shower curtain had mold/mildew along the bottom, which is a pet peeve of mine. Several of the restaurants that were recommended were either temporarily closed or out of business. I’m not sure if that was due to Covid 19 or it being the end of the tourist season. Breakfast was good, served at 8:30am sharp.

While on our trip through Utah, we stayed at five different B&Bs over a 9 day period. Unforunately, Torrey Schoolhouse was a disappointment, not the luxury inn that is advertised on the sign at the front of...

My husband and I recently stayed at the Torrey Schoolhouse B&B Inn for four nights. Upon our arrival, my husband started to feel a bit under the weather, so we asked if we could come down to breakfast late. Ty, the owner, was very gracious and accommodated our request. By that afternoon though, my husband was feeling even worse, so upon hearing the weekend was going to be a full house, we decided to forego breakfast completely so that we wouldn't expose everyone to his germs. When I called Ty to let her know, she was super sweet and offered to have our breakfast delivered to our room instead. It was so kind of her (and Will!) since the breakfast was one of the reasons we booked this B&B! So although we didn't get a chance to have the "true" breakfast experience by mingling with the other guests, we at least got to try the delicious food.

Besides the wonderful service, the rooms were clean and spacious, the location was perfect ("heart" of Torrey but off the main road), and the grounds were lovely (I spent an afternoon in the backyard while my husband slept the whole day).

It's so miserable to be sick when you're on vacation, but Ty and Will made Torrey Schoolhouse feel like our "home away from home" and I can't recommend this B&B enough! Thank you for the...