A Garden of Dreams = Awful

[TBTexas]

Just wanted to warn anyone who is considering staying at A Garden of Dreams in ES. They advertise as private cottages but when we arrived our room had two connecting doors to the owners house. Slow drizzling water pressure with mustard yellow sinks and shower. We had made our reservations in May for a two night stay so they charged my credit card for one of the night immediately. Unfortunately a day before we were to be leaving we had a death in the church. I took part in the funeral on Friday at 2:00 and we left for ES at 5pm. We arrived at A Garden of Dreams at 4:00am. 6 SIX hours later the owners are beating on the door at 10:00am telling us that checkout was at 11:00. They returned to beat on the door at 10:35 to remind us that they needed us out of the room by 11:00 because the room was booked for the night. They were rude and did not care that we had a funeral or that we had arrived late in the morning, They charged us for two nights even though we could only stay one, not even offering us a break or discount, it was horrible. We are preparing a letter to submit to the Chamber of Commerce.
Beware of A Garden of Dreams it can become a [B]Nightmare[/B].

[Cheesecake]

How terrible..........

Don't forget the ES BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU........along with the C of C.

So sorry for you......you are at their mercy it seems.....argh.

[eslover]

I am so sorry to hear that you had such a bad series of events that day(s)

I have to say, though, that you have not discribed the place or the people that I know to be A Garden of Dreams. The suite does have [B]one[/B] connecting door to the owners home, however it is locked and bolted on their side and locked on the guests side. This door is in the dining room and is never unlocked while guests are staying.

The owners are about the farthest people from rude that I have ever met. And I've never known them to rush anyone out of lodging. In fact I can attest to guests staying over time and their not saying anything, simply waiting a bit longer than they should have to in order to clean and set up for the next guests. They are known to go out of their way to make people comfortable and at peace while staying at Garden. In fact my mother is staying in the suite as we speak (the last two nights) and has been having a grand time.

I wish you had had a better day(s) prior to your arriving at Garden. It would have made a big difference in how you saw your hosts and your accomidations. My condolences on your loss.

Do not give up on Eureka Springs because you had one bad experiance and do think about the chain of events that led you to Garden that day. With a day/days like that to deal with no one is starting out happy or at peace and may be unable to reach that point seeing everything that happens with clouded, grieving eyes.

I do suggest contacting the owners as well. Simply reporting your thoughts on a posting board they may not even be aware exists is hardly fair. Have you ever spoken to them and told them how disapointed you appearently were? That would be the right thing to do here in my opinion.

Best of luck in the future.

ESLOVER

[Stvshll]

www.aGardenofDreams.com is the website for our chapel and lodging facility for whoever is interested in our information about how we like to do business.

This couple called the day before their arrival to ask what our cancellation policy was if they could not be here the first day of their stay. We explained again what we had sent them in their confirmation. We also explained that since it was Blues weekend here we could probably rent their suite for both Thursday and Friday nights and returned their deposit, but would not be able to book just the Thursday night that they would not be able to be here. I was then informed that there had been a death and this was the reason they could not be here on Thursday (remember this is Wednesday). They thought they would still be able to be here on Friday, and that they would call Thursday to make the decision about Friday. Our heart felt condolences were expressed to them, and we told them that by holding the reservation awaiting their decision about arrival they would still be charged for the full stay.

They called again on Thursday to say they would arrive very late Friday night, and they arrived about 4:00 AM on Saturday morning.

We try to accommodate all who come to A Garden of Dreams and will provide late check-out and early check-in when we can, which is always agreed to in advance. On Saturday we had already scheduled a wedding in the afternoon and the bride was arriving at 1:00 PM to check into the suite to prepare herself for her wedding.

Saturday at 11:00 AM I knocked on the outside suite door that is on the deck leading into the suite. (This is a 3-room suite that adjoins our residence with a single connecting locked door to the suite dining room.) The gentleman answered and I explained the situation about our next guests checking in at 1:00. When he asked what time checkout was I again told him it was 10:30. I then offered my condolences and asked him who had died. He explained it was an elderly gentleman, a member of his church, who had been in the hospital for some time. He had wanted to be at home so they had released him and died shortly thereafter. He then explained the old man was a very nice old man and that our guest and his wife had done part of the funeral service. I told him that we needed to get in and prepare the suite for our next guests, so we would appreciate their vacating as soon as they could.

At 11:45 AM I once again knocked on his door. I gave him a coupon for $50 off their next visit to help offset this limited visit, and also asked him when they were going to be able to leave as the bride had already been by to see if she could get in earlier. He said they were getting ready now. Indeed they did leave twenty minutes later.

I am sorry these people did not enjoy their stay here. I am sorry they have felt the need to try to hurt our business rather than expressing their complaints directly to us. Sometimes there are no completely positive solutions. As innkeepers, we have a commitment to all our guests, not just those who have unexpected events arise. We would have been glad to reschedule their visit. We would have let them stay later into the afternoon, if we did not already have a commitment to our wedding couple and their guests.

It’s interesting to note that while the housekeeper was waiting for our guests to vacate, they did take the time to heat and eat the fresh breakfast food we had left in the refrigerator for them. And since they had a long trip to Branson ahead of them, I am glad they took all the pre-packaged cereal in the pantry to eat on the way.

I’m so looking forward to the time when everyone takes responsibility for their choices and actions rather than expecting others to simply accommodate them when circumstances and decisions change.

The last thing: We would like to offer a 10% discount on a stay to any who would like to see our mustard yellow sink and shower (it’s really more of a retro Harvest Gold that’s actually on its way back into vogue! “So just how would you decorate around Harvest Gold fixtures, and what colors would you use?” you may ask. Well, we figured it out!). Simply mention you read about us here and we will be sure to accommodate you. Of course, be sure to let us know if you need an early or late check-in or check-out!

Steve & Gerry - A Garden of Dreams, Eureka Springs, Arkansas

[onlemee]

I understand the difficulty that was no one's fault reallly, but I think the remark about the cereal was really uncalled for and casts a little shadow on your good intentions.

[QueenAngie]

1st time I quickly read this thread,
I thought it was written

"Slow drizzling water pressure with mustard yellow stinks"

Glad I reread it and got the full intent.

Checked out the website and it looks like a lovely facility.

[Cheesecake]

There are two sides to every yellow sink/stink.......

But, Ill pass on the 10% and the smug attitude......the cereal remark, just lost it for me.

I was all for the disgruntled renters, and the ruffled innkeepers, kissing and making up, cause......this happens more than we care to admit.

But the cereal remark was over the top.........

[Stvshll]

You are right... the cereal comment was rash and unprofessional.

Sincere apologies,
Steve & Gerry