My family Loves the Lodge. we spend 4th of July there every year, and our main goal is to relax, and not have any plans. I have a 16 yr ols, 12 and 13 yr olds. they all three love the lodge also. My son plays golf, and my girls and I go to the spa. It is a wonderful place to escape the heat in Texas. I'm surprised, there are several "bad" reviews. we have been going there for 5 years, spending 4 or 5 nights, and never have experience rude staff. Know before you go- I would never accept a room at the "pavillion" it is .5 mile down the street, and I mean straight down. we don't stay in the main building either. there is another building called the "retreat" that is across the parking lot. The Lodge is our destination, not a stopover. Maybe you need to stay a few days to really "get it"

We were referred to The Lodge by a friend from the area and were severely disappointed. Our first room in the mail lodge was small, cramped and had a defective bedside lamp and a TV struck by a snowstorm. After asking for a decent room we finally settled on a fourth one that had more space but no reading lamps by the bed. Stressed out after finally settling in we went to the bar before the time for our dinner reservation. We were greeted by the one person behind the bar who told us, "I can't wait on you now because I have a large party in the dining room and these two people here are before you!" There was a table of 10 in the dining room and no other service person in sight other than the hostess. Reacting to the inhospitable greeting we canceled our dinner reservation and went to another local restaurant where we found a much friendlier atmosphere and crowd. The Lodge is not worth a stay at any price !!

I would have given this facility a higher rating except for:

There are no elevators in the lodge. For people that are in their 70's at an altitude of 8600' it is demanding to climb 3 floors. That fact was not noted anyplace on their website.

When we arrived, the air conditioner in the room did not work. It was necessary to move us to another room. All facilities in the room should have been checked to ensure that everything was in good order. Not to have done so is, in my opinion, inexcusable.

Even though I have been critical of two items I must say that it is a beautiful facility with a breathtaking view of the trees and mountains. I would like to stay there again, but only on the first floor.

When we booked, we thought we were staying in the Lodge building itself. But when we got there, we were informed we'd be staying in the pavillion half a mile down the road. No one had told us this in advance and their website didn't say anything about it. The room itself was clean and comfortable. It took about 10 minutes for the hot water to get hot and I thought the shower was too small. Their restaurant had a really good breakfast for a decent price. The whole experience was ok, and now we can say we've been there, but I don't think I'd stay there again. It just wasn't worth the money.