We made the mistake of just reading the first few rewiews...make sure you read them all. There seems to be two sets of hosts...the warm and caring ones and the "Others." We found the latter. They made us feel like intruders.
Our son& his wife, very thoughtfully gave us a 2 night stay at the Husum Highlands Bed & Breakfast as a gift. When I called to make a reservation in June, the wife, Carol, was very grouchy and said that they do not have any weekends for us (voucher said it was good through Sept 30), but if we wanted 2 weekdays, they could work it out. She also went on for way too long for my liking, about how they wished they had never signed up for Living Social and that you guys take all their money and they don’t make anything off of these deals. I was mortified, to say the least. We were in a very precarious position, due to the fact our son gave this to us as a gift. So I said OK, let’s make it a weeknight visit.
This would be the first of many times I excused their horrible behavior. I asked, since we weren’t getting the weekend for 2 with wine, can we at least upgrade to the “suite”. She griped and griped, then said if we pay another $50 to make up for the difference, she will do it. I agreed to that. Then, she calls back and says she just talked to her husband and they are charging $50 a night, for a total now of $100. OK, again, to try to avoid a bad situation with this gift our kids gave us, I complied. Then when I emailed to confirm, Jerry, the husband, writes back and says he is also going to charge us an additional $20! Now we’re up to $120 out of our pocket, for 2 weeknights, no wine, and a lot of griping from Carol & Jerry about how they aren’t making anything off this.
So, my husband and I drive 5 hours to get there, knocked on the door, and this crotchety, sour faced, unfriendly man just stands there. No “hello, can I help you”, or "Welcome, come in", he just stands there. Feeling awkward, I say are you Jerry? He answers in a bark, “Last time I checked!” It went downhill from there. He insisted when we walked through the door to go no farther until we provide payment of $120. No tour. No friendly talk. No hospitality. Just give me the money. He then took our credit card and charges us the $120. Then he says “follow me” and takes us up three flights of stairs to a little bedroom and the “suite” was a bathroom in the hall and a daybed in a nook, all open to the third floor. Again, no tour or offer to relax in any other part of the house. Just the 3rd story “prison” We ask if there is a key in case we come in late. He says “no locks on doors, inside or exterior”. He said the place was safe but since we had no idea who the other guest would be, were we to trust them too, to all of your belongings while we were out for the day? Great, now we are really feeling creeped out. He disappears back down the stairs, after informing us that breakfast will be at 8:30, and that’s all we saw of him, thank goodness!
We walked aroung the garden, then got back into our car and left. There was no way we were staying there with creepy “hosts”, and no locks on any doors. Also, this place claimed to be close to everything, but it was a half hour drive to civilization and part was on an old dirt road.
I called Jerry when we left and told him we will not be staying there due to their intense lack of hospitalityand not even pretenting to make us feel welcome. We then asked if he could please credit us our $120 back, as he was going to keep the money from Living Social that our kids paid. He again complained, like it was OUR problem they chose Living Social and then into the fact that Living Social only gives them 20% and that they (Stockwells) have to make their money, so no, he was not going to credit it back to us.
What the Stockwells are offering does not match up to their advertising at all. They are scamming people with hidden fees that they conjure up, not to mention that the whole premise of a B & B is HOSPITALITY has been totally lost to them. They do not know what the word means and they are downright creepy. It reminded us of something like out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie. We drove a long way to stay there and anticipated a good time. Instead, I’m sorry to say, it was a huge disappointment and very stressful. More than anything, we felt devastated to have to tell our kids the truth; that the gift they so thoughtfully gave us was not going to be used. We operated in more than good faith. The Stockwells did not. A B & B without hospitality is really no B & B at all....and hang onto your pocket book.
Room Tip: There are NO locks on the doors and the entire upstairs is easily acessed by just walking up the sta...
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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
15 May 2012
We wish to respond to (Creepy Crotchety Crook) It has been our policy to bend over backwards to help our customers book a room. When the guest called to book a room with a Living Social voucher, which thay recieved from their Son, it was after the June 30th 2011 voucher expiration date.
The guests stated that Carol was mean or upset when in fact Carol felt sorry for their situation and was trying to give them something that they did not deserve. She explained that because of the need to book full paying guests during the high July and August season perhaps we could bend a little and offer a weekday stay in late September. She confered with Jerry and called the guest after working out the upgraded price of an additonal $50. per night plus the $20. tax that Living Social does not collect from the guest when they purchase a voucher. In addition there upgrading to a larger room shows they were not opposed to paying more money for a stay. Carol did not need to go to the trouble to offer a stay or to explain our business to them.
The 600 square foot Melanie Suite is pictured on our website. It is a large area, not a "prison". The suite is not up three flights of stairs. It is up two flights of stairs. It has a main bedroom with solid Douglesfir, vertical grain five panel french doors which separate the bedroom from a sitting room, alcove area and a private bathroom. Off the sitting room is the 14 x 8 foot alcove with a daybed/couch and dresser and large picture window which look out over the water fall and into the forest. The views from the Melanie Suite are outstanding and show all four directions since it is the entire top floor of the home. Guests look out from the picture windows in the bedroom over the White Salmon River Valley and Mt.Hood. Amenities in this, the nicest guestroom in the home, include Queen bed with pillow top mattress, bamboo linens, Pottery Barn decor, TV, VCR, DVD, (housed in a beautiful armoire) Wi-Fi, cheval mirror, telephone. bathrobes, refrigerator, coffee maker and coffee packet and chocolates. The main sitting area has a wicker love seat, wicker chair with large pillows for both.
The guests arrived early before the last bit of cleaning was finished by Jerry. Carol was at work and he hurried from his work to meet them. When they came in, they asked if this was Jerry and he quipped "The last time I looked".
When they left to go for a drive, they drove awhile then called to say that they would not be back and would like to get their money back after staying for some time in the room. We have a 5 day cancellation policy which is stated on our website and on any confirmations that we send by email. The guests did not complain during their stay in the room or their walk around the gardens. They called and said that they would not come back because of our lack of hospitalilty. The fact of the matter is Carol was not home to give hospitality as it was before the 4:00 check in and she cannot be home before 4;00 and Jerry was still quite busy getting the guest rooms and house finished for them and for the other guests who would check in later at 4:00. We don't have a staff to do these jobs. There are just the two of us doing the cleaning, yardwork and taking care of the sheep, cattle and chickens.
Jerry offered that they could sit down in the parlor and relax or look around the gardens. He was not finished with all of the rooms but their room was ready.
The guests say in their report that they did not get a tour. They did not ask for a tour. The guests were told where their breakfast would be served and at what time. They were given information on where to eat dinner. The restaurants in our area are 10 minutes drive. We do have a one and three fourths mile of hard packed gravel road which is maintained by our county. Anyone who visits our website will see many photos of our property and of weddings which are held here. These photos attest to the fact that our location is rural and offers country appeal.
We have offered a quiet farm atmosphere and have treated our guest as kings and queens for the past 12 years and have had guest from all over the world.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC