The House on the Rock Resort — Hotel in Town of Wyoming

I was here early in the season, so the place was really just waking up from its long winter hibernation. I think the lodging portion might be open year-round, but the services aren't. The pub in the golf course clubhouse officially opened the day I was there, April 27th. Prior to that, it was only open when the golf course was, so hit and miss. Even now, they close early, around 7pm. They had a fairly good menu, but nothing fancy. Burgers, wraps, sandwiches, wings, typical pub fare. My burger was good. The actual sitdown restaurant, 400 Springs, was only open for dining on Fri-Sat-Sun, but fortunately they were also open for breakfast on Friday. It was very good. They go to expanded hours after Memorial Day.

The location of the property is wonderful, in a secluded valley surrounded by high bluffs. The rooms have balconies with fairway and bluff views. Very pleasant. Other than the occasional smack of the ball and voices of some last minute golfers, all I could hear was birds and owls at dusk. A few deer sauntered through. Very cool.

My room was a king suite. It featured two rooms, one a living area with a hide-a-bed couch, tv, table and chairs and kitchenette, the other a bedroom with a nice chair and another tv. It had a door that went out to the deck. The bathroom had a makeup sitting area and shower/tub with whirlpool jets and a separate room with the toilet and sink. It was retro, but well maintained so it didn't feel too dated. The bed was very hard and lumpy, needs to be replaced, and there were two long, thin and uncomfortable pillows for the entire king bed.

I was one of only 7 guest rooms booked that night (I overheard the restaurant staff), so the $160 nightly rate seemed a little steep for what is technically still the offseason, but it was nice. Despite the lack of other guests, my room was distractingly loud due to some sort of mechanical issue that kept starting and stopping. At first I thought maybe it was a laundry machine of some sort, but why would they need to do laundry all night? So I never did find the source.

The pool area was large, with not one but two decent sized indoor pools plus a nice hot tub. The max depth of the pools is not even 4 feet, so that stinks, but I had the entire place to myself. There is also a seasonal outdoor pool. There is an area in the lobby that looks like it used to be the lobby bar, but now sits empty and unused. Must not have been enough drinkers to have the lobby bar and the golf course pub. There is a spa too, that was also closed, but looked like it does open at some point, probably once peak tourism season arrives.

So other than the noise and high cost I really enjoyed my one night here. Being a city dweller it was nice to sit out on the deck and hear nothing but nature. But planning is the key. Time it wrong and there will be no place on site to get a drink or a bite to eat. It's only a few minutes into town, but still, when I think "resort" I think amenities. I understand that it doesn't pay for these places to be open if no one is there, but then the prices should reflect that.

I would definitely...

This place is so breathtakingly awesome but has been left alone for too long and needs much updating and maintenance. The room: It was ok. The design and layout of the room is so cool! It felt clean but there were stains on the carpet and rust on some of the fixtures. They did update the tv at some point with a flatscreen that is mounted on the wall and took away whatever dresser or tv counsel the old tv sat on. The wires all hung down into the now empty space below the tv. The couch and the bed mattress were worn out. The soap dispenser in the shower was completely empty. There is a little kitchenette, which we did not use but it is nice to have a mini fridge and coffee maker if you need it. We had a room that overlooked the golf course and the balcony had two chairs and a little table. The sliding door from the room to the balcony wouldn't lock so they had some weak tension bar contraption as "security". The view was excellent and the place is so serene and quiet! The resort: The pools are closed due to a leaking roof which apparently has been known for some time and ignored. There is a very cool looking bar in the reception area of the hotel that hasn't been open in at least 5 years (we were here 5 years ago and it wasn't used then either). Last time we were here they had a restaurant, which we learned was leased by a private chef but he has long moved on and I imagine it is due to the decline of the entire property. We were there over an October weekend. The location is everything! It's off the beaten path but still close to many area attractions. The fall colors were still there, not at their peak but still beautiful. You would think they would've been busier. But there wasn't anyone around. The place seemed empty. We ate at the bar one night and there was one singular bartender who was also the cook. He did a great job taking care of the few people that were there while also running over to the food prep area to cook. Food was good for bar food and we got egg sandwiches (very good) to go the next morning also cooked up by the only bartender that was on site. The staff we encountered at the bar were great! The front desk staff were ok. We did not golf but it does seem like they actually do maintain the golf course, but that is all. And what a shame because if the right people ran this place and did some marketing it could really be something! If I had to give stars based on the room alone, I would have given one. But I based my overall rating on the whole resort and possibly even gave an extra star...

The staff was fantastic, and the hotel seemed well looked after. There was a candy wrapper left in our room, but other than that it looked like it was cleaned pretty well. The biggest down side was how small everything was. I'm 5'8" and the shower was barely tall enough for me. The toilet was very low, it felt like I was falling down before I finally contacted the seat. The countertop is also very low, I had to crouch to get my hands under the faucet. I have a bad back and it was difficult to get down low enough to wash my hands. And the pocket door was super heavy and kind of difficult to open and close. But, they did have a nice little vanity, which wasn't needed, but I bet there are a lot of people that use and appreciate it. The bed was a normal king size, but it would have been nice if there were easy to access outlets for the cpap machine and to charge our phones. And the tvs... they were maybe 22-25 inch flat screens. Probably a decade old by the looks of them, but entirely serviceable. Everything worked well, but it seemed like the last upgrade this place had was over a decade ago and nothing has been done since then. Which is fine. Everything worked. Just don't expect anything state if the art. They had a wide selection of available soaps and lotions, but they were all heavily scented and perfumed. If you have allergies, they don't have any unscented or sensitive skin options available. Please remember to bring your own soaps, shampoo and lotions and conditioner, as the items are not even available for purchase. We did not use the pool, but they have a great looking indoor set up. They do have suits avaliable for purchase, but they are the typical one piece. Nothing for the more modest that prefer fuller coverage. We did eat at the turn pub grill. The food was probably the best we had had all weekend. Nothing fancy, just good greasy bar food. The bartender was stellar. He didn't even give me a funny look when I asked for jelly to go with my grilled cheese. I looked at the menu for the upstairs restaurant, it was...exceedingly fancy. I'm not a fancy girl, so I went back to the pub. But the upstairs restaurant did let us purchase a cup of milk, which I need to sleep without heartburn. I very much appreciated having that. The biggest takeaway from our stay, was the staff clearly love this place...