Far View Lodge

Location, location, location is about ALL I can said positively about this hotel. The hotel opened over a week ago for season with limited rooms open. They decided to put all guests in the rooms with no views. Seemed odd since there were many other rooms to choose from. When we entered the room, we were even more disappointed. No TV, internet was spotty. The pillows had no pillowcases. There was no soap in the broken soap dispenser. The bathroom was smaller than a cruise ship bathroom. What really shocked me was the big hole in the sidewalk directly outside of our room which would have taken out anyone’s ankle unfortunate enough to step into it.. We had dinner onsite which was, frankly, better than we expected considering the room. I really believe that the only reason anyone stays there is proximity to the park. But beware and don’t have high expectations or you will be sorely disappointed.

Imagine planning a vacation to one of the most incredible parks in the USA. There’s a lodge you can stay overnight where you will be close to beautiful sites. But when you get there you are greeted by the exhausted staff at the desk. They inform you that somehow you have two different rooms under your name but from two different locations in the USA. I only have a receipt for one and only paid for one room. Bizarre. Next we are informed that we need a reservation for dinner. Dinner was only offered between 6 to 9 PM. The lodge was full of guests and this was the only option to eat. We got a reservation for 8:45PM. Food was great. Service was slow from an exhausted but friendly server. I believe the lodge was suffering from end of season staffing shortage. Our room was comfortable and was decorated in South West motif. However, the walls were very thin. We could hear people walking around upstairs. Someone’s alarm went off early in the morning and took forever to shut off. The shower was freezing cold. But the worse part was staying awake all night listening to scratching in the walls etc.. Found out they have a severe mouse infestation in their buildings. For health and safety reasons that building should have been closed until this issue could be resolved. Book at your own risk!!

The Far View lodge is incompetent. We are on a driving tour of the US (eventually after recovering lost luggage from British Airways who were worse than useless) and had booked our stay in advance. Just before we left the UK we were informed that the hotel was being closed when we were due to stay. This was booked back in February, so its poor they only gave us such short notice (2 weeks). However, having now read some of the recent reviews, maybe we were saved from a miserable experience as it sounds like the staff are rude and the place dirty. Our stay in the Strater Hotel in Durango instead was lovely.

We stayed here 2 nights. The only thing to recommend it based on our experience is the view and proximity to Mesa Verde. From a disorganized and unfriendly check-in to a hostess at the dining room who was actually rude when we asked about walk-ins (she said she actively avoided them, and wouldn’t even tell us if there was a walk in possibility), to smeared dead bugs on the walls in room, bathroom and shower, to the dirty floors this was an unpleasant stay. The company that the National Park Service has contracted out to is an embarrassment to them. I would not recommend this hotel at all.

On a bus tour I tried to get a table for dinner they asked did I have a reservation. ,I said no I came in on a bus tour. They could not seat us until very late. They told me to complain to our tour bus director. Who should have had us make reservations. The exact conversation was repeated by staff