My husband and I stayed at the Robinhood Resort from the 1st to the 3rd of January 2008. We had researched online for a comfortable Hotel that would also meet our business needs since it was only partly a vacation stay. Because of good ratings and the fact that they listed free wireless internet access among their amenities we booked a room and also confirmed via phone that the room would met our needs.
At the check in counter we witnessed another customer being helped by the female receptionist in a friendly demeanor. As soon as she turned to us however her behavior changed. We are a young and sportive urban couple and by no means scary or offensive at first glance. Since we had never stayed at he place before and had never met the receptionist we could not have caused her mood swing. Or could we? We happen to be a mixed race couple…
We were put into room 10 and were quite shocked about the all over run down appearance: Worn out and partly broken furniture, drab looking decorations and a wall color that at some distant point in the past must have been white. The bathroom was last updated some when in the sixties and the bed sheets and comforter were downright scary. We also decided that it would probably not be wise to use the fireplace (a feature that I had looked forward to) since the wall and ceiling above it was blackened form smoke that left the fireplace through the room rather than the chimney.
Overall the hotel room did not look anything like the photos that the hotel posted on the internet. And since the resort was not fully booked there would have been alternatives. So we assume we were placed in there intentionally. The only reason we did not demand a different room on the spot was that we had an appointment to attend and no time to deal with the matter.
In the evening we wanted to catch up on some business and tried to access the internet. No connection was available. When my husband called the receptionist about it he did not get an apology and offer to fix the problem as one might expect. Instead he was rudely told that the internet access was not guarantied. However she said she would restart the modem. If it worked, fine - if not, well, it wasn’t her problem. We were rather speechless. We had chosen this hotel over other places because of the internet offer. We had also called about it and received a confirmation. And no, we were not able to log onto the internet later that night.
When the next evening came we tried again and there was no wireless network running. Again my husband called. We had assumed that a hotel in that price range would show some effort to accommodate its customers - but far from it. The same receptionist answered and said in the same rude way she had displayed before that this wasn’t her problem. My husband reminded her that the internet was listed as an amenity of the hotel but she stuck to her position saying that it didn’t matter what was on their webpage, that she simply didn’t guarantee internet access, and that she would certainly not apologize for the lack of it. She also told my husband that she was not willing to talk with him about the matter any more – and hung up on him!
This is by far the rudest treatment we have ever received in a hotel (and yes we have been to Russia). Most shocking to us was the idea that the receptionist most likely was the owner. The fact that we had never stayed there before in combination with her behavior and the terrible room she placed us in lead us to the conclusion that our “special treatment” from the first minute in the place must have been do to the fact that we are a mixed race couple. We simply had no chance to offend anyone in any other way.
So if all members of your family are blond, blue eyed, and harbor a special love run down shacks you may consider staying there. For everyone else: stay away. There are many nice places in Big Bear in the same price range, which actually welcome customers.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Would I recommend this hotel to my best friend?
no way!
I recommend this hotel for:
An amazing honeymoon, A romantic getaway, Girlfriend getaway, People with disabilities, Older travelers, Great pool scene, Families with young children, Families with teenagers, Tourists
I do not recommend this hotel for:
Young singles, An amazing honeymoon, A romantic getaway, Girlfriend getaway, People with disabilities, Older travelers, Great pool scene, Pet owners, Families with young children, Families with teenagers, Tourists
I selected this hotel as a top choice for:
Business meeting / Event, Other