The White Horse Pub — Restaurant in Orcas Island

(UPDATE)

So the owner used his time to respond to this review for “clarification” and much like the service the business didn’t provide initially, neither did the response provide what was indicated. For starters this generic, lack of accountability, missing the forest for the trees response was also just copy and pasted as a response to another bad review for the same thing. So we can clearly see how much it meant to connect on a personal level when you couldn’t even be bothered to write a unique reply. That being said, let’s “clarify” the reason for the review in the first place. It was given because you and your staff showed zero empathy or willingness to do business despite giving several assurances you would. As a matter of fact, they locked the doors on me (first to arrive from party) in front of me. No explanation, no conversation. Nobody was operating under the assumption you were a private event space. Not sure why you needed to call attention to that several times. What we *were operating under was a verbal commitment you gave to the bride. Not once, not twice, but three times. Then couldn’t be bothered to administer as much as a phone call stating you had changed your mind or any other sort of conciliation. The establishment we DID take our business to, wasn’t a “private event space” either and they had ZERO warning we were coming, let alone the two months plus you did. They greeted us with open arms and rose to the task. To summarize, your clarification missed the mark wildly because you missed the point entirely. It’s about principal, lack of empathy and an otherwise complete lack of honor as it pertains to your word. Since you couldn’t be bothered to reach out and give a heads up the day of or this “clarification” posthumously I see no reason to alter or change my initial review but rather add my own clarification to your HR branded / template based response. I hope you see the point in all this because your first response has us the moons distance apart in terms of seeing eye to eye on this.

My sisters wedding after party was supposed to be here. Several conversations were had months, weeks, and days before confirming so. Upon arrival they told us all they are closing and not honoring the arrangement that was made. For them to turn away the service of 60 people is beyond me. The review stands. Can’t say anything good because of how they chose...

My wife and I recently spent two nights at the White Horse Saloon in Spirit Lake, Idaho. I'm not sure if it was the fact it was during the "off season" or what but it could have been much better. We started out with a 15 minute wait for the bartender to go find the manager in order to check in. No big deal but kind of an off start. A nice young fellow came from down the street and after a few more minutes entered the "lobby" (2 shop vacuums and a propane bottle type of lobby) he asked my name without giving his and had us follow him to room number 9. The first thing we noticed were a number of dead stink bugs. In the light fixtures, window sills, carpet. I know that these bugs are quite abundant in this area however a quick vacuum job would have been nice. There was also, a pretty big batch of long dark hair in one of the bathroom drawers and some sort of crumbs in a bedroom dresser. Not sure if they were left there by someone or deposited there by stink bugs? Should have been cleaner. Before meeting our kids for dinner across the street, my wife asked one of the servers in the saloon if they could possibly do a little cleanup. She said that she would talk to the manager. When we returned for the night, all the bugs, hair and suspicious crumbs were in exactly the same place. We slept well with some trepidation of whether or not our sheets had been changed before our arrival and in the morning I took a very enjoyable shower. After an eventful day, we returned to find our coffee pot had been removed during our absence. We inquired and were told that they needed it elsewhere and didn't know that we had booked two nights. That pretty much inked the two star rating. I think that the potential is there especially after looking at the website, thus the second star. Lots of amenities shown that didn't exist during our stay. For the price, I would not book again without some simple and much needed improvements (a TV and hand soap would have been appreciated). The people that we met were all very nice but didn't resolve any of our concerns. At my age I don't usually don't give reviews, however, at times it seems prudent to do so if it helps...

If i could give ZERO stars i would. I was in contact with the White horse pub about hosting my after wedding nightcap. Two months out I called and talked with someone about putting down a credit card and they assured me I did not have to do that two weeks I called just to confirm that they had me down on the books and they said yes absolutely we have you down. THE DAY BEFORE after my rehearsal dinner we all went in and had a few drinks and they told us they would see us the next day. THE DAY OF MY WEDDING! My husband went in to have a drink pre-ceremony they told him he had the nicest bartender it was going be a great night. After the wedding a group of us went over and the bartender told us that we had to leave because she was closing for the night when I tried to talk to her she basically shut me out and said there was no reservation or card put down and that we had to go. All in all i will never go back there or suggest it anyone. ( they aren’t an event space i know this but when you’re reassured multiple time you’re welcome with your large group it’s extremely disappointing) we had guests arrive promptly at 10pm to tell them we were on the way and they we’re denied. I was informed multiple times they stayed open until 12am so you’d think getting there at 10pm would be...