Pelican Spa — Hotel in Truth or Consequences

We drove a thousand miles to stay in a particular room, the most expensive one... and it was worth it to pay for the one room that would fit our vacation needs on this trip. I've been a guest at this place since they opened decades ago. A loyal return customer. Gave tons of people referrals. It's been one of my favorites for a long time.

Two months ago, we made reservations and paid half down in advance to secure the reservation for a 7 night stay. I called the night before our arrival to confirm our room and to ask if we could check in a pinch early. Night staff said we'd have to call in the morning to see what time the guest in the room was checking out.

Per instructions, I called again the day of our arrival and left a VM with my phone number and explained we were checking in to that specific room and might be there a bit early. Asked for them to call back to let us know. No phone call. We thought all was well until we arrived.

We checked in at the office and were told our room had been sold to someone else. A film crew that apparently took over 90% of the rooms in late April. Front office staff claimed it's an "industry standard for hotels to move guests from one room to another" and then told us the owner decided it was worth the money, that they'd been moving people for weeks, and we should be glad they even found a room for us to stay that long.

Their remedy: a room one quarter of the size, with half the sleeping space, for half the price of the room we reserved two months ago. When we said no and asked them to put us in the room we reserved and move the people in our room into the one they tried to foist upon us, they said nothing could be done and that we should feel happy and grateful that they had found us an accommodation at all.

I have never encountered staff as rude as these two people were. They made no attempt to contact me directly. They blamed me for not knowing this change had been made because they sent an email. The email subject line, once I scrounged it up from my spam folder, was "confirmation reservation #..." Hardly any indication that a person would need to take action, not that I saw it until after we arrived.

I felt hoodwinked - why? Because if the person I talked with the day before we checked in didn't bother to inform us we wouldn't be in that room. The people working the day we arrived had my number, knew we were expecting to stay in the Loft and didn't bother to call me back.

And why would it be to their advantage to wait to tell us until we arrived? So that we would have come all that way and have no viable alternative other than to pay them half as much for a quarter of a room. If that.

So, we found an Airbnb instead. But no access to hot springs because we weren't guests at the Pelican.. And we had to cut our planned vacation time in half because there were no available rooms in town the Memorial Day weekend on such short notice.

We drove a thousand miles to stay in that room. And they didn't care at all. They treated us like we were in the wrong for refusing to take the alternative they'd already arranged.

It's all about the money for Sid, the owner. Too bad he and his staff don't seem to care about loyalty and return customers. Money may talk, but it walks, too. And at this point, there's very little incentive I can see to give the Pelican Spa another penny. You ruined our vacation. We drove a thousand...

Pelican Spa lost all magic! I've stayed at the Pelican many times, wanted to "upgrade" so splurged for one of the "nicer" rooms. Room was cleaned with harsh, smelly cleaners had to air it out immediately. Also the smell underneath the cleaner was cigarettes. The towels provided in the room were very ratty and worn. We stayed in the dragon room, the sheets had dragons on them and were like plastic, on sale at Walmart kind of sheets. No Covid precautions seemed to be taken other then tacky bleach water spray bottles were all around the room. Upon check in one of the night managers assured me all soaking tub/rooms are cleaned immediately after use. I asked how do I know if the room has been cleaned, he again assured me they are cleaned immediately after use. The next morning I went to have a nice relaxing soak. What sounded like a party started happening outside the door of the soaking/tub room. I was wrapping up my time in the tub anyway but definitely felt rushed as many people were just standing outside the door talking loudly. I opened the door to find 12-14 people some in the next door room and others right outside the door none of these folx were wearing a mask. I got out of there quickly and asked if things have changed with respect to keeping the area by the tubs more quiet, etc. One of the women who worked there informed me a baptism was happening this was mid morning during soaking hours. Keep in mind the tubs don't open until quite late so it seems a private party especially with so many people, could of come outside of the regular business hours. In my rush to get out of there I left a very nice sweatshirt behind. The sweatshirt was gone. No lost and found no trace, none of the employees (the ones who clean the tub rooms IMMEDIATElY after use) had seen it. The night manager started aimlessly looking around for it, like I hadn't done that already and made no effort to contact the baptism party to ask if someone from their party took it, no effort was made. Magazines which can't be sanitized were left out, the rooms were getting turned over immediately, it's like Covid isn't happening in T or C. The sweatshirt was $60-ish and I was refunded about that, they wouldn't honor the fact the room was stinky or any of the other complaints. They rented both of the rooms on either side of our room when it seemed there were other rooms available. No safety guideline were being followed. It's sad as I've enjoyed past stays here but for the price and the quality you get it's not worth it. I look forward to checking out other places from now on. I will never stay at the...

PLEASE GET NEW MATTRESSES! And sheets and towels. This place would be so great if they would invest in things like that. I love the artistic use of vintage things, the colors, the artwork and the price. But dang they really need to keep up with those things if they’re going to call themselves a spa.

The price is great and the fact that it’s dog friendly makes it a great fit for us. The rooms are so cute and I love that it’s not a grey and white modern disposable looking place like even the most expensive hotel rooms.

I’ve stayed at the offsite apts, Pam, and a room right by the office. These are things to be aware of.

The tubs are first come first serve. The staff is great and you can tell they really care about each guest. Rules and procedures are very clear and I appreciate that! I’d bring your own towel because theirs are very clearly ready to be used as rags. They provide water in washable cups, which I appreciate for not using bottles of water…..the planet thanks you. The tubs are made of concrete/plaster located in private small rooms and it’s fairly quiet. The soak is what this place is for! I enjoyed the soaks thoroughly.

The rooms are all very very different. So my opinions are based only on the rooms I’ve stayed the last three times.

All rooms…Be prepared for dust and check your mattress, some really need to be replaced. Unfortunately with these older properties they’ve acquired there is really no way to keep up with the webs, ants and dead insects without a deep cleaning in each room every time. We’ve noticed that the rooms are in desperate need of DEEP cleaning. Otherwise the bathrooms and kitchen areas are clean. The towels, again, should be retired. New towels and washcloths are very much needed, bring your own if you’re picky about this. The ac units are ok. Not great in the middle of summer, but adequate for the rest of the year.

The surrounding environment outside is very pleasant. It’s nice to have somewhere to sit and just be at peace. There are several areas to do this comfortably. And generally seems that other guests pick up after their pets. There’s a dog park about a block away if you have a dog. Also a nice pond with free fishing for 12 and under, 65 and older, and disabled people. Very cool.

Overall. If you’re ok with the flaws and go into this with low expectations you’ll have a good time. You can’t beat unlimited soaks (I recommend going during the week since it’s less busy). And again, the staff is really friendly.

Oh, other reviews mention bugs. We only saw ants and spiders around the outer...