Hunter Inn — Hotel in Town of Hunter

Hunter Lodge caught my attention when friends of mine raved about their stay there a year ago.||When looking at prices to stay the week of "Easter Break" I found them to be quite reasonable. However, there are things to watch out for including a "lodging tax," "other taxes" and the strangest of all, an "amenity fee" of $20 per night for what the heck I don't know. What amenities? This was a complaint brought up in a prior review that the hotel vowed to look into, but I guess not hard enough to remove it. ||We brought our dog, so paying an additional $70 pet fee for two nights was understandable. That's a very common fee for hotels.||It's just a bit crazy that one gets attracted to a reasonable rate only to see all these fees tacked on.||That's enough about that.||Overall, we found the lodge to be an enjoyable, comfortable stay. Nothing about it screams "premium." The rooms are basic but a bit dark (due to being painted in green and with limited lighting). However, the bed was very comfortable, the shower was quite nice and the room included a mini-fridge which allowed us to store our dog food and kept our drinks ice cold. Our room was a "Deluxe King Patio" which was located on the ground floor with a view of the mountain. It was nice to be able to open the door and let our pet out. There is a pet bag/garbage receptacle on site which we thought was nice and we made certain to clean up after our dog. ||Being it was a pet-friendly room two dog dishes were sitting in the corner ready for us to use. That was a nice plus.||Kudos to the hotel for embracing digital keys. There is a digital key app that you need to download to use your phone to unlock the room. It worked great for the main room entrance but unfortunately, not the patio door. Hopefully, the hotel will upgrade those locks for digital key use. ||It was nice to have the room cleaned and towels replaced for each of the nights we stayed. Thank you for that service. ||A continental breakfast is included in the stay, featuring bagels, cereal, muffins, and coffee. While the coffee was the only item that seemed fresh, the food was sufficient to fuel your morning routine. Breakfast starts at 8 am, and I'll second the suggestion by another reviewer that the hotel consider an earlier start time, as many guests prefer to leave the hotel earlier. Unfortunately, to date, the hotel hasn't taken that suggestion to heart.||There are these beautiful pictures of the fire pit on the hotel's website and we were disappointed during our two-night stay it was never lit for the cold evenings. We were told it only gets lit "by request," but that comes with a bit of guilt in having to be the one to ask the staff to go to the trouble. There is a familiar quote, "if you build it, they will come." I think the hotel should have made more of an effort to make the first move in starting the fire pit -- especially with the amenity fee that is being automatically tacked on to the bill. ||The hotel makes for a wonderful "home base" for those that want to ski or hike. Being we visited in April, the weather has been perfect for several hikes we did at Kaaterskill Falls, Windham Path, Ashokan Reservoir, and Diamond Notch Falls. ||The one issue we did run into was that there weren't many places to eat in the area. While we considered eating at the hotel's tavern, it had an extremely limited menu of only a handful of items. We went to Tannersville and found everything closed during our stay. We ordered a Pizza from MaMa's Pizza (which was very good) and on another day we ate at the Hunter Mountain Brewery which had a very diverse menu with food that was good, but far from great. It just seemed, for some reason, that following Easter, the area felt like an abandoned ghost town with empty roads, empty restaurants, and closed shops. Fortunately, there is a Topps supermarket open four minutes away.||Overall, we enjoyed our stay and plan to return. The staff were friendly and it was nice to return to warm cookies waiting for us when we returned for the afternoon. There was also an effort made to keep us alert with text messages that were regularly sent to our phone asking us how we were enjoying our stay, if we needed anything, or alerting us that the driveway was being maintained and advising us where to park. ||I would just like to join another reviewer in asking for more clarification on the "amenity fees"...

A few things to keep in mind here since the reviews seem to be a bit all over the place. This place is a give and take.

1. Is this place a little dated? Yes, but it is centrally located right next to the mountain and within 20-30 minutes of all the "things to do" within Hunter and Greene County. Give and take there. If you can overlook some of those things (little chips in the walls, some dented ceiling tiles, carpeting in the rooms, etc) this is the place for you.
2. The beds and sheets are fantastic but the shower is smaller and feels old but water pressure is great.
3. The view. Get a balcony if you can, being off the ground has advantages but we were on the ground floor and while not ideal, it gives easier access to the car and fire pits.
4. The fire pits are a great amenity. Highly recommend starting one early in the morning and taking in the mountain, sky, and coffee (if available).

The last point is perhaps what drove me to write the review, customer service. I don't understand the previous reviewers who mention that they were rude or unfriendly. We signed up for their text messaging announcements and were texted before arrived asking if we had questions. Texted again once we checked in to see if the room met expectations which led to a conversation via text that led to the Hunter Inn going above and beyond to accomodate our situation. They texted again the next day to ensure that everything was all set and texted again after check out to check in on how we felt about everything. This was the more proactive and responsive hotel/inn services that we've experienced.

If you're looking for a place that is close to the mountain, has some charm, and you're okay compromising on not having everything be brand new and finished and you're okay with something that may feel dated (but not dirty), this is a good...

My wife and I had a good long weekend stay here. We appreciated the ramp to the front entrance, but did not appreciate the 20 steps down (my wife had been advised of a "few" steps) to our "ground floor" room. It was bearable only because our huge room faced the rear of the lodge, with a view of the mountains, and had a door which let us go directly to our car in the parking lot. It's also how we left the lodge with our heavy rollaway, without having to navigate steps. The big bed mattress was lumpy, the bathroom sink area had no door to the rest of the room, but did have a door to the shower and toilet. Unfortunately, I could not open it from the inside without straddling the toilet. The shower had plenty of hot water, but to dry yourself, you have to come out to the sink area. Blackout curtains were appreciated. Breakfast items were minimal for someone like me needing gluten-free: flavored yogurts and Cheerios. But I always bring G-F Kind bars with me when I travel, so that, plus yogurt, and available apples and oranges, along with very good coffee, was fine. We skipped dinner here, again because of the limited menu items, but I appreciated the sign that said "No dogs during breakfast and dinner," unlike the situation at the Prospect restaurant at Scribner's across the street, where you share great gourmet food at a veritable dog pound. The covering newbie barmaid one night was charming, even though she needed a guide to make cocktails, while the regular part-time barmaid the next night was equally charming, as...