Possibly the worst lodging experience of our lives. We should have known something was wrong when the proprieter of the hotel had to drive 15 minutes in to meet us to check in. They do not live at the hotel and I now understand why. But what it means if there is a problem there is no one there at the hotel to help. You are on your own.

When we checked in it was freezing in the lobby - I would guess about 45 degrees. The owner said that the furnace had gone off but that she had started it and the hotel would be warm in a little while. Maybe she meant June.

We were promised a roll-away bed but instead we were given an army cot with no apology or explanation. At the same time we were pointed to a large cabinet of blankets which probably saved our lives.

When we asked about the half-price ski vouchers that you get when you stay at any ouray hotel, we were told that she did not have any and instead of her going to get some, she told us to go to another motel in town and get them there. The person at the motel we went to knew nothing of this arrangement but was sympathetic enough to give us the vouchers anyway.

There was a small space heater in our room that we immediatey turned on full and left for dinner and to go get the ski area vouchers from the other hotel.

When we returned the room was no warmer at all - the space heater was too small and the ceilings too high for any heat to be felt at all. We got into our ski gear and attempted to sleep - my son sleeping on the cot could never get warm so we all got into the double bed and slept fitfully till about 5:00 am when we got up, grabbed our stuff and got in the car to warm up.

There was no phone in the room and no one at the hotel at all - so no way to call for help and express our difficulties to anyone.

We were scheduled to stay another night but there was no way we were going through that again.

The worst thing about the whole experiece was the level of customer service exhibited by the proprieter of the hotel after I called her about this. No apology, no expression of sympathy. She said she would have to think about what she would do to make it right, then never called me. When I called her back, she said that we were given a space heater and ski vouchers and what else did we expect her to do.

In my opinion it was as bad as it gets, a bad situation, which sometimes happens, but the worst customer service imaginable.

Good luck to you if you stay in the Historic Western Hotel - take your sleeping bag and don't expect any service. You are on your own. You have been warned.