Disappointing Experience -- Great Concept, But Not Worth $300+…read more
We stayed at Surrey Resort in Guerneville for one night on Saturday, August 8th. I really like the resort's concept and was looking forward to the glamping experience. Unfortunately, for what we paid--over $300 for one night--the experience fell well short of our expectations.
I want to start by giving credit where it's due. The woman at the front desk was very nice and accommodating. We were attending an event from 1-8 PM, and she graciously allowed us to check into our tent early, which we greatly appreciated.
Unfortunately, things went downhill from there. When we returned to our tent after the event, we found several spiders inside and had to spend some time getting rid of them. My wife is definitely not a fan of spiders, so that wasn't exactly the relaxing end to our evening we were hoping for.
The tents also provided very little privacy from the neighboring guests. We could clearly hear the couple next to us talking until around midnight. Then one of them started snoring so loudly that, at first, we honestly thought there was some kind of wild animal outside our tent.
If you need to use the bathroom during the night, bring a flashlight. The walk to the bathroom is very dark, and you'll definitely want one.
We finally got some sleep, only to be awakened around 6 AM by a barking dog and several roosters doing what roosters do. We were pretty exhausted at that point.
We got dressed and decided to grab a cup of coffee from the main building, only to find that the employee responsible for opening the place and starting the coffee had apparently lost her key and was sitting outside waiting for someone to help her get in. We ended up having to drive to a nearby shop to get coffee and breakfast.
When we returned to pack up, we discovered there was only one shower for men and one for women. The women's shower was occupied, so unfortunately only I was able to shower before we left.
As we were leaving, we also walked past the dog that had been making all the noise, despite the property's no-dogs policy.
I understand that this is a rustic/glamping-style resort, and we weren't expecting a traditional hotel experience. However, when you're paying over $300 for a single night, you expect the overall experience and amenities to justify that price.
For us, there were simply too many issues during our one-night stay: spiders in the tent, very little sound privacy, excessive nighttime noise, barking and roosters at 6 AM, limited bathroom and shower facilities, and difficulty accessing the coffee in the morning. We left feeling exhausted rather than refreshed.
The friendly front-desk service and the concept itself were positives, but unfortunately they weren't enough to overcome the rest of the experience.
At over $300 for one night, we simply don't feel the experience provided good value, and we will not be returning.