The Lodge at Montgomery Bell — Hotel in White Bluff

Worst hotel experience ever, and I used to travel weekly and stay at hotels as part of my job. I chose this resort over much cheaper accommodations because I thought it would be peaceful given that it’s surrounded by woods. Upon check-in shortly after 4pm, the hotel clerk attempted to put me in a room on the 1st floor. After confirming with the clerk that this would be on the ground level where anyone could walk up to my “balcony” (which was to be more of a patio), I told her that I would not feel safe so wanted to be on another floor. I was then offered the 2nd floor; the clerk assured me that it was indeed off the ground. I was disappointed to get to my room to see that my room was next to the outside-facing stairwell & steps and the balcony was approx. 2 feet off the concrete steps and walkway outside. Even my grandmother could have easily climbed up my balcony to my door. My room was also an (unrequested) adjoining room. I did not feel safe at all as a female traveling alone. This was the noisiest hotel stay I’ve ever had. I was woken up at 4:30am Thanksgiving morning to the sounds of what I can only assume was furniture being dragged across the floor as the kitchen staff prepared for their holiday meal guests. I called the front desk to inquire, asking if they could perhaps wait until maybe 8am to move furniture (I don’t believe any meals were scheduled until 11am). They were kind enough to stop and resumed at 6:30am. Fantastic. The noise - kitchen noise too - continued throughout my stay so I left the night before checkout, it was that miserable. I got very little rest and very little sleep. The noise at this hotel was unacceptable. I had an artificial noise machine, earplugs, and the tv going also to drown out the noise. Oh, the tv remote crapped out on my last day; I was then required to watch VH-1 and VH-1 only because the remote no longer functioned properly. A large gnat (mosquito?) visited my room on my 2nd day. Also the room was dusty - I have photo proof which is interesting because the hotel clerk conveyed that lake view rooms weren't cleaned so that's why I was offered a lower level room. I guess my room was cleaned weeks ago and dust settled. I paid $500 for the “privilege” to stay at what is considered a resort to have the most unpleasant, unrestful stay ever. I have stayed at this lodge before & had a peaceful visit. A suggestion to future guests is to not let them put you in rooms below the 4th floor if you’d like some peace and quiet; the lobby and restaurant are on the 4th floor. So...

I stopped in to get information on the wedding packages, entered the hotel and saw two people at the front desks. I waited for about a minute before I announced myself. I wasn’t greeted or even acknowledged. Neither person looked up at me until I walked up to a desk where the person was eating. I asked for more information on wedding packages and the person just handed me a folder with a business card. I asked if the restaurant was open and was told no, because of the snow. (Side note: I drove about an hour to get there and I had no problems due to the snow. The whole park was plowed and de-iced- kudos to the grounds maintenance team). So I then asked if I could walk around and look at the space…. I instantly regretted that decision because it took all the lovely details in my head of my wedding and put them in a far far away place in my mind.

To my understanding, this place, lodge, restaurant and bar is newly renovated- so why wouldn’t you keep in clean or take pride in this area. Approaching the restaurant, you see a trash can overflowing, apple cores on the tables and trash that had not been picked up amongst the tables. The floor was sticky and food/garbage was not sweep. Honestly looked like the tables haven’t been wiped down and the floors haven’t been properly cleaned in months. Windowsills were full of dead bugs, fingerprints on the big windows that overlook the lake and tacking Valentine’s Day decorations over-exhausted the renovated space.

I’m still beyond disappointed in the lack of customer service, hospitality and professionalism I received. I saw a hiring flyer on the door and I know why. Why would you want to work with people that don’t take pride in their job or their surrounding. Who would want to work in a mess and with people who treat other people like they aren’t even in the same room as you. It seems to me that this place needs a management overhaul and some hospitality coaching. I would be embarrassed to have my family and friends experience anything similar especially if I paid for the service.

I’d like someone for the state to contact me about my experience. I’d love to share more because this place has so much potential and could draw so much revenue...

We have stayed at this Inn several times in the past and it has been great. We like to stay there because they allow pets and have a restaurant on site. So, we called and made a reservation for a pet friendly room for one night. On the drive up from Georgia, we looked online to see how late the restaurant was open because we were planning on having dinner there. The website said that the restaurant was closed for renovations. Once we found this out, we called to cancel our reservation because there is nowhere near the park to get dinner. The woman on the phone said that we could not cancel the reservation and that we would be charged if we did not show up. (Even though they didn’t tell us about the restaurant being closed when I made the reservation)!

We had to eat gas station food on the way to the Inn as there are no restaurants near there. When we arrived, I walked in to see the entire hotel in shambles. There were sheets of plastic hanging on the walls and boxes lining all of the hallways. The lobby was closed and the only thing in sight was a card table and a woman as the front desk. I expressed distress that I would have to pay $148 to stay in this mess. The woman then told me it would be $20 more because I had a pet! They didn’t tell me this on the phone. The woman gave me a room key for the first floor. I went downstairs to find the entire floor, including our room, under construction. The halls were full of trash and debris. The doors of the rooms had all been removed. Our room was empty except for a pile of Sheetrock and trash on the floor. The bathroom had no tub, shower, sink, or toilet.

I went back upstairs and asked for my money back. The woman said she wouldn’t charge my card (after she made us drive all the way out there because she wouldn’t cancel our reservation). She said to my husband, “I guess the room wasn’t good enough for her). We then had to drive another 3 hours that night to find another place to stay.

They should close this inn if they are doing extensive reservations. They should at least inform people of these renovations if someone calls to book a room. Not to mention, the front desk staff didn’t even realize the whole first floor was under...