Blue Mountain Rivergrass
We left disappointed
This was our family’s 3rd summer in Blue Mountain. Previous two years we stayed at the Embarc facility but they changed their timeshare packages and we could no longer choose them. So we rather than give up on what was becoming a family tradition to go Blue Mountain each summer we looked into other options and decided that Rivergrass should meet our needs.
We arrived at 3:30pm only 30 minutes before check-in. They told my wife that they could check us in but couldn’t give us the room number until 4pm. They would text or call us at that time with the room. This seemed like a unique use of technology at first. But that illusion quickly faded. When we hadn’t heard anything by 4:15pm we called and found out the real reason they wouldn’t give us the room was because it wasn’t ready. Apparently, the previous occupants didn’t leave in time. I understand that these things happen but I don’t appreciate the deception by Blue Mountain. They gave us a revised room ready time of 5pm. We asked and received permission to use the community pool while we waited.
My 2 and 4 year old and my wife had a good time in the pool. Although I had to use the skimmer to clean some nasty floating blobs out first. See the attached pic. And this despite the fact there was a paid pool attendant who I guess was too busy chatting with other guests to find time to keep the pool clean.
Finally the call came at 5:20pm with our room number. Because it was again after the time we were promised, we asked for some compensation and received a small discount on our first night. I really feel that we should have simply been told the truth about the situation as soon as we arrived at 3:30pm and we should have been offered the discount or some other compensation without having to ask for it. This would have completely changed the dynamics of the situation and would have avoided us having a negative first impression.
We had a two bedroom unit and we found it to be clean and mostly enjoyable. The beds were nice, the kitchens had 95% of everything you could need, and the sound proofing was noticeably impressive. We could hear a few footsteps from the people above but they were muted and we couldn’t hear anything at all from the unit next to us. The decor was a little bland but that’s not a big deal. The units could really use a flyswatter to be included as there were at least a dozen flying around.
Other small issues we encountered was that the neighbor in the building beside us apparently lived there semi-permanently and had been given permission to own pets, despite the facility claiming to be pet free. So we got to enjoy the wonderful barking of a pair of pugs every time they were let out. Which of course made our patio less enjoyable to sit out on as our mere presence would cause the dogs to bark. The patio itself was quite small and was rough around the edges. It looked like other units had nice wooden decks rather than weed filled pavers like ours.
We ended up leaving a day early partly because our “vacation vibe” had been thrown off right from the start, partly because of the threat of rain for the next 24 hours but also because the pool had been padlocked closed with no sign indicating why. We had to call to find out it was under maintenance. Maybe it was to figure out what was causing those gross hairballs? But we were provided no warning, explanation or timeline as to when it might reopen. And finally the last reason adding to our early departure was the construction happening outside our unit. Workers were busy paving the pathways around the complex. I suspect it was this last reason that resulted in us not having to pay for our final night when I checked out. I didn’t even have to ask. In fact the reception girl didn’t actually ask either, she simply made a phone call, advised the person on the other end that a guest was leaving early, and then hung up and discounted us the final day. Almost like they knew that guests would be upset…
I’m the first to admit that the majority of what I’ve written above is a one time thing. The guests who were next checking into the same room we were in probably had a great time. The pathways would be all freshly paved. The pool would have just received “maintenance”. They definitely would have been checked in on time since we were gone a day early.
I just wish that the staff had demonstrated some sort of caring about the situation. But I didn’t get that at all. All they did was make my unpleasant stay with them a little less expensive.