Michael B.
2/5
This place is the perfect example of "Government Owned" vs "Private Owned".
I come here around 3 times a year, so don't get me wrong .. I do love this place, but I wish it wasn't a OK State facility. I work in the hospitality industry, so I work with hundreds of hotel owners around the country. There's a major difference in customer service, and overall maintenance of a privately owned lodge, and one that is government-run.
Once you open the doors and walk in the front doors, you'll notice it's QUIETER than a library when you walk in. No light-volume ambient music .. There are 2 TVs, neither of them are ever on.
When I say it's quiet . I mean, awkwardly quiet. Like you walked into someone's home and disturbed them kinda quiet.
The ladies at the front desk give the same friendly customer service you expect at the DMV when renewing your driver's license. They're not rude .. just don't expect, "Good evening sir! What brings you to Beaver's Bend? Is there anything I can get you? That's a lovely coat you're wearing! Please let us know if there's anything you need ok" No ... none of that, and hardly any small-talk. The overall mood of the staff seems "sleepy" when you walk in.
Since the renovation they did a couple of years ago, the rooms HAVE been updated, but they still have the same old furniture and equipment. The hair dryers are 20 years old, and have 20 years of other people's funk in them. The lamps on the nightstands are the same that have been there for over a decade.. The plugs in ALL of them are loose. you have to squeeze the prongs together on your plug to create the tension needed for your electronic devices to stay plugged in. This is in every room, I know I've stayed in all of them. I bring extra power strips because of this.
*** BATHROOMS ***
I figured after the renovation, they might make the bathrooms larger .. Why Because in most, if not ALL of the upper rooms, there is a HUGE amount of extra room where they could've ENLARGED the bathrooms! The bathrooms are TINY!! I can't overstate that. They are EXTREMELY small bathrooms! While you're sitting on the bed, you look across the room, and you're like, "dang .. look at all this extra room with NO furniture .. why couldn't they just extend the bathroom" ?
I have no idea how government run lodging facilities are run .. I mean, for a private owner, you invest your own money into your property.. but here? I mean, did they run out of OK tax dollars to buy new furniture? The rooms STILL HAVE THE SAME 20-year old furniture and beds!
If you check in a night, and it's dark, if you got one of the suites whose door faces the parking lot, you're good .. but if you got one of the suites whose door faces the lake, best of luck walking in the dark. There are NO lights illuminating your path around the building, or up the sidewalks. Take your flashlight. Without moonlight, you won't see your own hand in front of your face.
*** CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST ***
What is this? In a privately owned lodge, it consists of eggs, bacon, sausage, and sometimes a waffle maker.. then your choice of various cereals or pastries. The breakfast lobby would lure you with the smell of breakfast!
Here? You smell the lobby, or maybe a freshly mopped floor. There is NO fresh breakfast available. Their "Continental" breakfast includes your choice of Raisin Bran, Lucky Charms or Cheerios .. Or, Chef Pierre assorted pastries .. or a cooler filled with yogurt, Hillshire Farms microwavable sausage kalaches or microwavable biscuits.
While eating breakfast, there is NO TV in the general lobby area .. they have it placed on a wall WAAAAY on the other side of the lobby upstairs toward the front of the building -- WITH NO REMOTE CONTROL .. I asked the staff .. Nobody knows where the remote is.
They did a great job of giving the "Great Room" a modern look.
The old arrangement of the lobby was MUCH better before the renovation. Since renovation, the lodge now looks like a modern tourist "visitors center" .. Not like the cozy cabin feel it had before.
