Storyteller343020
8 oktober 2023
the views. The challenge now is that the place just gets more rundown every year. By rundown picture peeling paint, windows that either won't open at all or won't stay open, torn and/or stained seat cushions. Dust and spider webs are constant. Rooms are “moderately clean” and bare bones in terms of comforts (though I have to say the sheets very nice.). Breakfast has always been mediocre at best but OK and somewhat understandable given no real kitchen. All of this has been acceptable in exchange for the setting and reasonable prices, especially off season. So, what’s changed? The prices this year and especially next year are now exorbitant, even in the shoulder and off season. So, the “tacit deal” for decades between lodger and guests: that we accept rustic/beat-up in exchange for access to a lovely spot with reasonable rates (given the added cost of a ferry ride and equipment rentals) has come to an end. Shockingly, a few years ago, the owner had a seriously good expresso coffee machine installed and it was heaven. As good or better than any mainland coffee shop. IT MADE UP FOR A LOT, ESPECIALLY AS PRICES STARTED RISING PRECIPITOUSLY. I forget when it broke but maybe 2- 3 years ago. It has never been fixed so now we have barely mediocre food and BAD coffee (COFFEE NOW WORSE THAN IT WAS BEFORE THE MAGIC MACHINE). Again, the expressos were the one thing that was way above average and a treat on chilly mornings. So why finally offer one exceptional thing in the way of food and beverage and then let it, like so much else at the banning house, fall into disrepair? Especially now when the prices fit a level of lodging where exceptional coffee and other amenities would be a given. If you are going to charge Ritz Carlton prices, even with those views, how does management justify stained and torn furniture and coffee that tastes like instant when at least THAT can be fixed? We expect rustic with somewhat limited comforts at TWO Harbors. Guests let this and the greater lapses in conditions slide because they were offset by the combination of setting and reasonable cost. But now with the process having gone sky-high it's harder to accept the decline in the lodge and the offerings. It's also sad to see this wonderful and historic structure rotting before our eyes. The staff does what they can, but the maintenance and amenity issues, like non-functioning windows and great vs. bad coffee, are above their pay grade. Like someone else who has recently posted a negative review, I can no longer recommend the Banning House Lodge to friends and indeed now actively warn them of the adverse changes that beset the place vs. cost. Rustic is one thing: blatant neglect and dirt is quite another. Lastly management has consistently neglected to enforce reasonable sound levels, child behavior constraints and quiet hours which, although posted, are never enforced. Once again, people spend money on ferries and parking, expect and put up with extreme rustic-ness, in e
Vertalen