Moose Creek Ranch — Hotel in Victor

We visit the USA every year and have stayed in a few cabin style properties in different states but never on a ranch so we were looking forward to our stay at Moose Creek.||Sadly we were very disappointed. We did get the impression from the name, photos and information on the website that this was a working ranch. It isn't. It is a kind of ranch style holiday and RV park and function venue that charges top end prices. The horse riding (extra cost) is outsourced at extra cost. Yes there are a few quirky types of accommodation such as wagons and an airstream that are different but still priced at the same or more than the cabins.||So, what did we get for $498 a night? We booked one of the 2 Rendezvous cabins. We chose cabin 1 as it had a king sized bed and a 'soaking tub'. To describe a standard sized bath with no extra depth or length as a soaking tub is misleading.||Moving on. The cabins are supposed to offer views of Moose Creek Canyon. Well, they don't. The look out onto the grass area outside the main lodge. Furthermore instead of being set back in a private location, the cabins are right next to each other enabling you to have a full view into your neighbour's accommodation. The airstream is right behind cabin 1 and both cabins are very close to the barn which is used for functions.||What was the cabin like? Well, it appeared to have been remodelled recently although the bathroom still had the original sinks, toilet and bath/shower. The limescale clogged shower head notes a special mention (see photo). You definitely get that 'home away from home' feeling when you realise that for $500 a night, there is no housekeeping, so you have the pleasure of making your own bed, tidying the room and doing your own dishes in the bathroom sink (ick). If you fail to do the latter you will be hit with a $25 fine (see photo). We were wondering how having guests clean glassware, cutlery and plates in the bathroom sink for the next guests meet health and hygiene standards? Hmmm.||And oh yeh, there is no airconditioning and the room does get rather hot. The overhead fan und=fortunately does not provide much respite from the heat.||On to the facilities on offer that are included with the added 16% 'resort fee'. Breakfast consists of store bought bagels, instant oatmeal in a plastic pot and 'fruit' which was a bowl of apples on our first day and nothing on the other two days. By the way, you also get to make your own breakfast....just like home. Oh and if you want pastries for breakfast you have to pay extra for those too. A pretty poor effort. ||The other amenities appeared to be wifi (like anyone charges for this anymore), a pool table, a sauna which was a Swedish log type portable cabin that required booking and needed time to heat up. We did get one Smores kit for our 3 night stay which we could have used at the so called 'fire pit', which was not an attractive purpose built area with comfy seating, rather a few logs tossed in a hole which offered tree stumps to sit on. The firepit felt like an after thought.||Do you get the eBike hire included or even at a reduced rate offered as part of the resort fee? Nope. You pay $75pp to hire the bikes for a half day.||What about the positives? Well, the cabin included a decent bottle of red wine for a reasonable price which we purchased and yes we remembered to wash our glasses afterwards in the bathroom sink. The pizzas at Penny's pub were good at around $22++ and tasty.||We travel a lot and always try and do our research on our accommodation. We decided to pay the high nightly price to stay at the ranch as we mistakenly thought it would be a working ranch in an idyllic location and we would be staying in a secluded luxury fully serviced cabin with great views that we could enjoy from our private porch. We thought the resort fee would include amenities such as free bike hire, nice outdoor garden areas with comfy seating, home made cookies/cake offered in the afternoons i.e. the sort of extras you expect for an added fee.||We don't often give a one star review on this platform but the business model of this property is to offer as little as possible whilst charging for everything on top of the already inflated room rates. And to put a surly note in the cabin threatening a fine for unwashed dishes just left a sour taste in our mouths.||What should should have been a relaxing break in a picturesque rural setting in a luxury cabin turned out to be what felt like a corporate money grab. Shame it has put us off ever booking a...

Sleeping accommodations: We stayed in a Conestoga wagon. It was nice enough. The aisle going from the sleeping area to the bathroom and to the eatery area is really tight, but doable. (Would not recommend for anyone over 250 pounds. And absolutely not handicap accessible.) It was all about the experience and that we had. It was difficult to control the temperature and we were either too cold or too hot. It was a neat sleeping arrangement and cool memory for the kids. Bathroom area was nice and spacious.

We had to borrow a lighter from our “neighbors” to start a fire due to our matches being recycled junk and the lighter in our box being out of fluid. Lucky to have nice people staying next door so our kids could enjoy that part of our stay.

Ground activities: Worse horses we’ve ever rode. We make horseback riding a must do when traveling to get an authentic view of the lands and it’s an activity that our entire family enjoys. We’ve rode horses all over the country and I will say that these horses were either hungry, tired, or ill-trained or all three. I’ve never felt nervous about myself or my wife or my kids riding before, but on this occasion I did. Also, the trail lacked any particular views or wow factors. It would have been nice to have rode in the pastures under the foothills or even beside the creek. We were constantly getting hit with tree branches and felt more like “being lost in the woods” mixed with “hiding from the law” as it was literally in the middle of nowhere. Not worth it. Wish we would have rode in Big Sky, MT or in Cody, WY. Lesson learned.

The swing out front is broken. My wife and I enjoy swinging in the evenings, but it was a safety risk to swing. Disappointing.

Not enough play areas or games outside. Other visitors were playing and there was not enough multiples or variety for all of us to take part. Our kids played for about 15 minutes before we decided to give others a chance to do the same.

Need to add more things like movies under the stars, music, evening family games or activities hosted by staff, or star gazing equipment.

Food: Breakfast should not be called breakfast. I think that actually pisses people off more than it makes someone feel like they are getting an amenity. (Or at least for me that’s what it did.) What they provide is burnt dried out pastries and not even all of the ones listed for sale at a up cost. I don’t mind paying for something to eat, but paying for something good to eat is a lot better. The other things offered were just snacks or what I would consider toddler food. No drinks available other than coffee, but there was NO coffee in either of the pots so I guess you choke. And they do not provide coffee in the afternoons which is mind boggling. Most coffee drinkers drink coffee in the afternoons as well. Ice cream was okay. It was messy. And with toppings costing extra- you really don’t want them to all be sliding off or falling on the floor. It don’t make for a good experience. I would skip the food here and go to town to eat or drive on to Jackson, WY.

Service: The front desk employee of the establishment was nice enough and helpful when asked for items that were needed in the room. (Referencing to the younger blonde lady.) The owners were not nice. Being a business owner, I’ve always made it a mission to treat every patron with appreciation and kindness because without them there is no business. I don’t see these folks having that same motto. They seem to be skimping on any and all updates, improvements, keeping things up, or giving back to their customers. I’ve always worked hard to keep a good balance between what I put in my pocket and what I put back into my business to ensure that the last customer gets the same experience as the first customer. That’s...

First let me say that if I went here on vacation and just wanted one cabin that it would be a wonderful place to spend a weekend if not a little pricey. But for a wedding venue - the preparation leading up to the wedding - was awful! From all of the planning and preparation for the wedding moose Creek ranch was the ONLY thing that I was stressed and frustrated about. She had me give her a list of everyone that was coming and where they were staying at before they called moose Creek. This never seemed odd to her that me, as the bride, would contact everyone see if they would like to come and then have that highly inappropriate and uncomfortable discussion about whether or not they can afford to stay at these cabins. And then I was told not to let my guests call the moose Creek ranch until I had given her the completed list, so while I was creating the list I would have to tell them that "when I finish making my list I'll let you know when you can call them." Even then she would not even look at this list that she made me create and she would email me several times a day as it got closer to the wedding and she would ask me questions about where people were staying when the list that I had put together were on the spreadsheet that SHE emailed to me and had me fill out! Nobody really cared which cabin they were staying at (except price) and who was staying in the ones next to them. They were just happy to be there like everyone else. It was completely time-consuming, and a huge waste of time that made me feel like a hotel receptionist.

Also when getting the tour and actually signing papers we missed the part where it said that we would be paying for all of the rooms that were not booked so we had an extra almost $3,000 bill on top of the price of venue! Like I said the cabins are pricey. And even though we had given her the list almost two weeks before the wedding she wouldn't open up the empty cabins to the public until the day before the wedding weekend, and even then she only opened the cheapest. (Fair warning: she said that she never does this, so I really don't know if she does that for everyone. Be prepared.)

If this doesn't bother you then this is a beautiful place to have your wedding. All of my families and friends that could afford to visit us over the weekend had a great time. We had the ceremony outside, the dinner inside, and the dance in the barn. It was just the way that I imagined. So as long as you're not booking moose Creek ranch with your pennies pinched, and being a hotel receptionist doesn't bother you, then I think you would love it too.

Also just so you know my family was coming in from all over the nation, so to help them save money my parents we're making breakfast for everyone that came to our wedding and the main building kitchen was...