The owners were helpful yet gave us privacy.
Beautifully decorated- well supplied kitchen and baths
Quality bedding-clean and cozy

For the past 3 years, a group of families from Houston had made it a tradition to go to Tin Star every summer, and rent all the cabins. The past 2 years had been great. We always use the large house as a gathering/eating place, then can go off to our individual cabins for sleep or privacy. It's not fancy, but they are cabins, and worked very well for a casual get away. We had never had any problems at all.

Now comes 2009. The place was filthy and in poor condition. Upon arrival, we got to work. Washed every dish in the main house, even scrubbed out the drawers. Two of the houses had hornets nests on the porches, one even had a birds nest in the chimney. Tons of bugs and spiders inside. There had clearly been a lot of rodent activity in several cabins, with droppings on the countertops, and the "decon" packages under the sinks were empty. Oh well, it's a cabin, and we made the best of it.

We filled up an inflatable pool for the kids, and were having a great time. Saturday (our first full day at the cabin) a ridiculous woman showed up and started wondering the property like a warden. She asked if we had permission to fill up the pool. I said no, and that it hadn't even occured to us to ask. "I'm going to have to charge you extra." Um, no ... we paid over $2K to rent out the place. If we filled up the tubs in the place (which no one would debate was okay) we wouldn't have used as much water!

Sunday, the same woman showed up as we were leaving, and did her same routine of wondering around complaining about silly things like "did you ask permission to use the umbrella?" She informed me that she is charging $30 to my credit card for the water. I told her to show me anything on the website or emails for booking the place that says there is an "excessive water use charge" Then we left.

Keep in mind, it was an inflatable pool, and there was no damage to anything at all ... even for draining the pool, we were careful to dispurse the water in such a way that there was no mud. (and it was inflated in an area of dirt/weeds under some trees.)

Sure enough, she charged me $30. I called and spoke to some guy who said he was the "PR director" and he apologized, said he would call me back. He didn't. I called my bank to dispute the charge, which requires filling out paperwork (clearly more than $30 worth of trouble) So, I sent Tin Star an email to express my disappointment in them, and to question the wisdom of losing a $2,200 / year customer over $30. No response.

Enjoy the $30 TIn Star. What a bunch of idiots. Competition is fierce for cabin rentals in Fredericksburg. How sad to see what was once such a great place decline so drastically. You can do better than Tin Star!

My husband and I recently spent two nights at the Tin Star Ranch. It was a random choice from suggestions made at a booking agency. It turned out to be a good choice.

We arrived at sunset, after crossing a couple of cattle guards off the main road about ten miles north of town. Two wild hogs and a few head of cattle greeted us at a low water crossing. The hogs headed off into the sunset but the cows remained, setting the mood for the Tin Star.

We were delighted with the outside appearance of the cabin and not disappointed when we stepped inside. The living/kitchen area was an adequate size and its crowning glory was the limestone fireplace for which cut logs were stacked on the front porch. Two comfortable reclining chairs and a coffee table, along with a TV/VCR/DVD on a corner table completed the furnishings. No movies were provided so bring your own if you think you can stay awake to finish it. The kitchen area had a refrigerator, a microwave, a two burner stove and a metal sink with a faucet meant to resemble an old style pump which was a nice touch. The dining table was antique wood and the chairs were said to be replicas of some Teddy Roosevelt had in his lodge in Montana. The chairs were a bit low for the table, or maybe the table was too high for the chairs, but let’s just say it was easy to rake in the food we cooked on the provided gas grill.

The bedroom had what turned out to be a very comfortable queen size bed with nice linens. In the same room was a round Jacuzzi set into a limestone frame. It also had a “waterfall” feature through which the water flowed into the tub. The bathroom had an oversized shower and both were furnished with thick towels.

The Settler's cabin has an upstairs area which I never saw. It is up a set of outside stairs and my husband, who went up just to see what it sported, said it had a comfortable area with a bathroom, sleeping arrangements for 3 more people, a closet, a small kitchen area.

The grounds were well kept with stone walks to each cabin lined with lamps to light the way. Oak trees were abundant and an Eclipse windmill completed the ambience.

Everything seemed really great until we turned the Jacuzzi on and discovered that there was only lukewarm water. We heated water on the burners in the pots in the kitchen which turned out to be dirty, with dried food inside and out, to finally get the water in the tub hot enough to bathe because the shower water was cold. That’s when we discovered the rather disgusting ring around the tub. That behind us we climbed into the bed for a really restful night’s sleep in the country air and quiet.

In the morning we called in the problem about the water and within FIVE minutes of the call the owners were knocking on the door. We also mentioned the dirty dishes and they were apologetic about the problems we’d had and the first thing we knew the owner himself was crawling into the Jacuzzi with bleach and scrubbed it to a shine! Then he tackled the hot water heater and fixed it. The next thing was a brand new set of cookware to replace the dirty, unmatched pots.

The rest of the weekend was wonderful. The soak in the Jacuzzi the second night was heavenly, with candles in the sconces on the wall.

When visiting here, it’s best to remember that it is not a bed and breakfast and breakfast is not provided. We knew that in advance and took our own food which we rather enjoyed cooking at our leisure. There is no soap or shampoo provided which I have come to expect in first class accommodations.

There is a banquet room of which we were given a tour. It is an excellent facility, with oak furnishings and a beautiful oak bar. It is perfect for a wedding or a reunion or any other gathering of up to 350 people. There are even sixteen rooms on the second floor with bunk beds and separate bathrooms with showers which can be rented along with the banquet room. A huge commercial kitchen is available for your own use or for a caterer’s.

Also on the grounds are false front buildings of Old West vintage, complete with the Alamo. These shells have a shooting range behind them which is used by SASS—Single Action Shooters Society—who hold regular competitions on the ranch.

The Tin Star Ranch is a nice place. Really nice. The setting itself, in an oak and cedar covered valley, with a year round spring fed creek running through it is worth the price. There were some problems in our cabin, which were remedied as soon as they were brought to the owners’ attention, but I’m wondering why they existed in the first place. Hopefully the owners recognize that a very close eye is required to keep an accommodation such as this up to par with others in the same price range and in the future there will not be the inconveniences we experienced.

We will return to the Tin Star. I think anyone would enjoy a visit here as long as they recognize that there might be some inconveniences, nothing major, and that the owners are willing to remedy those.

The Tin Star, about 12 miles north of Fredericksburg, TX, is really a bunch of different Possibilities. There are rooms in the "Lodge", there is the "Ranch House" that sleeps nine, and there are 5 nice rustic cabins that sleep two to 6 (depending on the cabin). We stayed in the "Settlers' Cabin". The Settlers is suitable for a couple, downstairs and it also has a queen sized bed and a twin sized bed upstairs. The upstairs is completely "separated from the downstairs. Access is via an outside stairway. In addition to the two beds, the upstairs has a small fridge, and a three quarter bath (shower, sink and toilet)

The downstairs has a full bath, with a pedestal sink and a walk in shower. In the bedroom is a nice, comfortable queen sized bed and a big Jacuzzi! The sconces on the walls around the Jacuzzi and the limestone surround are both nice touches. The water enters the Jacuzzi by way of a foot wide "Waterfall".
In the "Living Room" there is a coffee table, a TV table, two recliners and a wonderful limestone fireplace. It is comfortable and rustic. (Rustic in a GOOD way!) The dining room/kitchen is really just the other half of the livingroom space, but it is functional. There is a table, four whimsical cowhide and horn chairs (I understand they are replicas of the ones Teddy Roosevelt had made for his hunting lodge in Montana.) and a kitchen cabinet. The cabinet has a two burner ceramic cooktop, a microwave and the sink. There is an antique cabinet next to it with a good supply of dishes flatware and glasses. There are pots and pans under the sink. On top of the dish cabinet is a coffee maker and toaster. The requisite utensils, spatula, can opener, cork screw etc are all available. There is a good sized refrigerator which is nearly new.
The table might have been just a little tall for the chairs, but it was not an issue.

There is a small TV set with a satellite receiver and a DVD/VHS player.

Outside, on the capacious wrap around porch, there are two wooden rocking chairs and a gas grill.

It was a little too cold to sit out the two nights we were there, but I can imagine how nice it might be in the spring and early summer.

It was quiet and restful and we really enjoyed our stay. There were as many as a dozen deer on the property, in plain sight at one time. The deer are fed corn to attract them. There is a resident horse and a long horn bull, both of which come to visitors to beg for goodies.

The stay was not perfect. There were a couple of houskeeping and maintenance issues. As soon as the owners were notified, they came in MINUTES and completely resolved these issues to our total satisfaction. It was spectacular. You can really tell - They care about their property, about their guests and about their reputation. Absolutley first class. I will stay here again, given the chance.