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Swan River Inn: Traveller Reviews

360 Grand Ave, Bigfork, MT 59911
Hotel amenities
Swan River Inn
Ranked #7 of 9 Bigfork B&B and Inns
3.0 of 5 stars 15 Reviews
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15 reviews from our community

    Trip type
Traveller rating
    2
    2
    0
    0
    11
Date Rating
chicago
Contributor
11 reviews 11 reviews
Reviews in 7 cities Reviews in 7 cities
4 helpful votes 4 helpful votes
“My Back Still Hurts”
1 of 5 stars Reviewed 7 September 2010
2
people found this review helpful

We stayed in the "Portofino" apartment, which is operated by Margarit from the Swann River Inn, for one week and my back is still aching. The decor of the place is nice, but, for some reason, the owner decided to skimp, big time, on the bed and pillows. The mattress is a no-brand one that she must have bought on the cheap, and the pillows are as flimsy as can be. For me, having a comfortable bed is the single most important thing when I travel, and this place fails that test miserably.

After 3 nights in the bed, I moved out to the couch, which wasn't much better. We both came away with sore backs and necks. Mine was so bad I actually had to go the doctor. If the owner invests in quality bedding, this place would actually be decent. The only other problem is that the "sofa bed" is about 3 feet long- which was OK for my 3 yr old- but totally inadequate for anyone larger.

  • Stayed August 2010, travelled with family
    • 3 of 5 stars Value
    • 3 of 5 stars Location
    • 1 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 2 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 3 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 1 of 5 stars Service
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Ask travelguy1972Chicago about Swan River Inn
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Sarasota, Florida
Reviewer
4 reviews 4 reviews
Reviews in 3 cities Reviews in 3 cities
4 helpful votes 4 helpful votes
“"NOISY, NOISY, NOISY"”
1 of 5 stars Reviewed 18 August 2010
4
people found this review helpful

We stayed one night after leaving Glacier in the arabian, went to bed early, all the rooms in the inn back up to the kitchen we had to suffer banging, clattering and pounding from 9 pm to 11 pm then at midnight the cleaning crew started till 3 am more noise the garbage was hauled out right below our room with botles banging and crashing when he missed the dumpster. Needless to say it was the worst nights sleep of the trip and in the top five of all time no one there in the morning to complain to, dont think it would have mattered.

  • Stayed August 2010, travelled as a couple
    • 1 of 5 stars Value
    • 1 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 1 of 5 stars Service
Was this review helpful? Yes
Ask wes34240 about Swan River Inn
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC

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“Margrit ruined my wedding! DON'T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE!”
1 of 5 stars Reviewed 18 June 2010
3
people found this review helpful

Wow! Interesting to see all of these other complaints, wish we would have seen these before we booked our wedding! Granted we planned our wedding about 2 months before we had it there. When we first called Margrit gave us a very reasonable offer and let us know that we were the only wedding that evening. A couple days before she started acting very strange and we realized that she had double booked another wedding but she assured us that everything would be okay....well it wasn't!! She made us delay the wedding an extra hour or 2 (we originally booked it for 3 I think) THEN our guests waited over 2 hours. I don't think I walked down the aisle till after 7:30 ! There was so much other ridiculous stuff that went on...Margrit is a horrible greedy person and she should be ashamed of herself! She will not be getting any of my business and I hope you don't give her yours either!!

  • Stayed June 2008, travelled as a couple
    • 1 of 5 stars Value
    • 4 of 5 stars Location
    • 3 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 1 of 5 stars Service
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Ask melrose22 about Swan River Inn
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Tucson, Arizona
1 review
6 helpful votes 6 helpful votes
“Do not spend money at the Swan River Inn”
1 of 5 stars Reviewed 2 May 2010
6
people found this review helpful

Do not fall for this trap. The Swan River Inn, while enchanting and quaint, is a mirage. The place is owned and run by Margrit, a money-grubbing, ruthless, disrespectful woman. We spent over $15,000 to hold our wedding at this cute little inn on the lake, and the aftermath was a nightmare. It started with our honeymoon suite; we booked all the rooms at the inn for close family and ourselves. When I called to review the bill and discuss wedding plans, she had already double-booked our honeymoon suite to someone who we didn’t even know and asked us to figure something else out. The real nasty stuff happened after the honeymoon. On the night of the wedding, we paid the initial and what we understood as the final bill she had given us. Weeks later, though, she sent another email with new charges, totaling $1600. We promptly paid them in full. Months later, we realized no one had remembered to get our toasting flutes and serving silverware from the night of the wedding. We asked Margrit if she knew their whereabouts and after a quick search, she said she didn’t have them. A few months later, after questioning everyone we knew, we emailed her again with pictures of our property asking her to look again. She then admitted to having them and submitted another bill for around $400.
She nickel and dimed us on fees, which were not in our contract. An example of this was prior to the wedding we agreed to let our guests tip for service at the bar so we wouldn’t pay gratuity for the drinks. During our reception the tip jars were out, and tips were given generously. But months later, Margrit denied our agreement and insisted that we pay an added 18% gratuity on the food and beverage bill. She even added gratuity charges to the self-serve keg. After the last added charge, we tried to reason with her and she asked “Are you so poor that you can’t pay $400 more?” She verbally insulted me and my husband, calling us ridiculous and told us we were putting words in her mouth. She called our wedding “just a business deal” and threatened to take us to small claims court for the remaining balance. She held our toasting flutes and serving silverware hostage until we paid her what she wanted! Margrit is savage when it comes to money and will do anything to get it. We will not be dining or staying at the Swan River Inn EVER AGAIN. Do not hold your wedding there and do not stay at the Swan River Inn. She will find a way to get any money she can out of you. We have countless more examples if you want to know more.

  • Stayed August 2009, travelled as a couple
    • 1 of 5 stars Value
    • 1 of 5 stars Location
    • 1 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 1 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 1 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 1 of 5 stars Service
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Ask MontanaLove about Swan River Inn
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Cedar City
2 reviews
Reviews in 2 cities Reviews in 2 cities
5 helpful votes 5 helpful votes
“This place is a dump!”
1 of 5 stars Reviewed 18 September 2009
5
people found this review helpful

We had to circle the building twice to figure out where to check in. We finally went upstairs to the restaurant and waded our way though a bunch of drunk wedding guests to the bar to ask where to check in. The first staff person had no idea and she got another employee to help us. We checked in at the bar! While waiting to check in, a number of disgruntled wedding guests approached us with complaints thinking we were working there. Our room, the "Country French," was located around back. The porch was a piece of stranded concrete that we had to hop up on. The door was nearly blocked by the trailer hitch of a long-bed truck. Our first sight of our room revealed pock-marked doors (every one of them!) This added an unfinished touch to the K-Mart Country French decor. The wallpaper was peeliing, the fire sprinkler system nozzles were protruding from the wall and unfinished and there was no hot water for a shower. The wedding was extremely loud with music blaring and drunk wedding guests stomping back and forth in front of our open windows which BTW did not have a handle to open. At $155 for the night, this is the worst value we have ever experienced. We wouldn't go back if they paid us!

  • Stayed September 2009, travelled as a couple
    • 1 of 5 stars Value
    • 1 of 5 stars Location
    • 1 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 1 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 1 of 5 stars Service
Was this review helpful? Yes
Ask andyjanetevening about Swan River Inn
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC

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Additional Information about Swan River Inn

360 Grand Ave, Bigfork, MT 59911
Price range (per night):* 105 AUD - 214 AUD

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