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Thunder Valley Inn: Traveler Reviews

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Reviews of Thunder Valley Inn

( 5-6 of 6 )
“Okay, but wouldn't return”

Thunder Valley Inn

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2 of 5 stars
SaintCharlesTim
St Charles, IL USA
Sep 20, 2004
17/26 found this review helpful

My friend and I visited Thunder Valley Inn in September of 2004. The location is nice in that it is within a short drive of Wisconsin Dells, yet in the country. We were first given a tour of the grounds, letting us know that we are welcome to come into the Main House and help ourselves to coffee and cookies.

The “Wee Hus” was very nice with it’s own bath and shower, TV with VCR, and really plenty of room for two people, even though the website emphasizes it is small. You can borrow from a large selection of videotapes if you like.

The food, made from scratch as the website says, was truly average at best. It was okay, but it was not so great that you would walk away remembering it. To have something to measure it by, I think Denny’s serves a better breakfast. The emphasis seemed to be on a lot of sweet, sugary stuff, so maybe it was just my personal taste. I don’t even recall what we had for dinner, so that tells you something.

There is an area to walk behind the restaurant. There are some old rusting farm implements that, I think, give some character and age to your surroundings. But the old mattress box spring has to go. Not like things were terrible, but there was trash that should be picked up.

Thunder Valley Inn has a variety of books denouncing George Bush and conservatives in general. A flyer on the gift shop door announced a Democratic rally. One of their autos had a bumper sticker announcing “EVERY Child Left Behind: Vote Democratic”. I was tempted to point out that John Kerry voted for the “No Child Left Behind” Act, but I doubt if the owners would want to be bothered with the facts.

A chalkboard outside made mention of how Bush stole the election. Another scribbling said, “Go back to Chicago”. Okay, and I’ll take my checkbook with me. To be fair, I think it was written by a guest, not the owners, but the owners created the tone for this type of hostility in what one would think would be a friendly, relaxing atmosphere.

As you correctly conclude, I’m a conservative, yet I think I would feel just as annoyed if the reverse were true because we came to the Dells to temporarily escape current issues, not be confronted with them. I’m surprised a business would unnecessarily risk annoying and alienating customers.

I was tempted to not leave a tip, instead leaving a note saying that I would have to use that money toward the additional taxes they feel I should pay. If I knew for certain the owners would be the one cleaning the room I would have done that.

Sincerely,

Tim Hughes

This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
SaintCharlesTim's Summary
Date of Stay: September 2004
Member since: March 07, 2005
  • My ratings for this hotel are:
    • 3 of 5 stars Value
    • 4 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 3 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 3 of 5 stars Service
I recommend this hotel for:
Young singles, Older travelers, Families with teenagers, Tourists

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Management Response
thundervalleyinn, Co-owner/Co-manager
(Management representative)
Apr 5, 2007
Thunder Valley Inn is so proud of the warm relationships we've developed with our guests and our local Dells neighbors. In fact, over and over again our guests rave about the incredible farm family hospitality they encounter at our inn. To read this hostile review is shocking to our entire business family--and we are so sorry that this guest felt unwelcome, certainly NEVER the intention of a B&B with our history of lovely customer connections! A response to his particular concerns:

1. The flyer this guest saw on the door was not for a Democratic rally. It was a local event called Fighting Bob Fest (in honor of progressive turn-of-the-century Wisconsin Senator Robert LaFollette, whose wife, Belle LaFollette, was from the Sauk County area). The event poster was brought to us by a neighbor and provided a wonderful opportunity for locals and tourists alike to hear from candidates for local, state, and national office, Robert Kennedy, Jr., authors, and many more notable national guests. Music and food added to the fun. Putting up a poster about this local event is not unlike the posters we would put up for Automotion in the Dells or the Wo-Zha-Wa Festival, or the Polka Fest, etc. It is just another option for our guests.

2. Thunder Valley Inn provides a variety of magazines, books, newspapers, videos/dvds, etc. for our guests. Our guests love that they have these options! Furthermore, our guests and employees do, sometimes, put bumper stickers on their cars. That is something over which we have no control. Regardless of the bumper sticker, our guests are going to receive a warm, gracious welcome at our inn.

3. We do have a very old chalkboard (saved from a one-room schoolhouse) that has been attached to an out-building. There, we encourage the children who visit the inn to draw pictures and write messages. Sometimes guests in either the B&B or restaurant write silly things on the chalkboards. . . we simply try to clean the board as often as possible. Remember, 2004 was a contentious political season and we can't be responsible for the great range of opinions and beliefs our guests may have.

4. We are glad that the guest decided to tip our wonderful housekeeper. She is a gem and we so appreciate the beautiful job she does for us.

5. And, finally, Thunder Valley Inn serves a full farm breakfast to our B&B guests. On Saturdays guests can enjoy breakfast from 7:30-11:30 AM and order from a huge breakfast menu--options from Fruit Platters to Family Style Breakfasts, Norwegian Pancakes, organic/steel-cut oatmeal and much more. On Sundays, guests can partake of the Smorgasbord Breakfast from 7:30 AM-1:30 PM. This has just about anything they'd want! Wonderful, wonderful. During the week, guests are served a full farm breakfast of wholegrain pancakes, scrambled eggs, fresh homemade cinnamon rolls, homemade/wholegrain bread with our own strawberry-rhubarb jam, baked apples, etc. Yummy!

As Nancy and Mark M. from Milwaukee wrote to us last season, "Another enchanting and delicious evening at Thunder Valley! We always love it . . . Thanks from us 'city folk' for sharing the beauty of your farm and life."

Sincerely,
Kari Nelson
Thunder Valley Inn
Wisconsin Dells, WI
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
“A Gem”

Thunder Valley Inn

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4 of 5 stars
A TripAdvisor Member
Castro Valley, CA
Jul 11, 2004
6/9 found this review helpful

We thoroughly enjoyed the 3 nights we spent here. The layout (separate buildings for meals and lodging) offered the social interaction of a B&B with the privacy of a motel. The staff was hospitable and informative. The breakfast was the best we've had at a B&B--we ordered the family style every time. We're glad, though, that we'd go down to eat around 8:00 a.m., because by 9:00 or so the restaurant (which is also open to the public) would be pretty crowded.

The Scandinavian theme provided interesting fodder for conversations between ourselves and with other guests and our hosts. We chose the inn for the farm animals on site and enjoyed the pony, goats, peacock & peahen, turkeys, rabbit, etc.

We loved the fact that the building we stayed in had a kitchen downstairs. This provided a lot of flexibility for our dinner/dessert choices. We really appreciated the trees surrounding the inn and the feeling of being in a park, especially since we were visiting the Dells which has an artificial, tourist-y feeling downtown. Yet, the drive to downtown took less than 5 minutes and parking was easy to find.

We would definitely recommend this spot to people we know, and we would go back just to be at the inn.

This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
This TripAdvisor Member's Summary
Date of Stay: June 2004
Member since: March 08, 2005
  • My ratings for this hotel are:
    • 4 of 5 stars Value
    • 3 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 2 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 3 of 5 stars Service
I recommend this hotel for:
Older travelers, Families with young children, Tourists

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Reviews of Thunder Valley Inn

( 5-6 of 6 )
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Thunder Valley Inn Address

W15344 Waubeek Rd., Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965