Black Bear Inn

What People are saying

Zen? None here...

MMS_81on 03/08/2017 01:13

I tend to never waste my time writing negative reviews, but I promised Krysta (one of the inn keepers) that I would write them one. Let me tell you why…

My husband and I arrived on a Sunday afternoon, where Krysta greeted us saying, “Oh, I didn’t think we had anyone checking in today…” We didn’t think anything of it, but after-the-fact, I feel I should mention this. Seems like something she should have covered up, not letting us feel like, oh, did we make a mistake? (But we didn’t, and we were, indeed, in the system…and booked for the next 4 nights…)

We checked into our room, ‘I am Radiant,’ and we really dug it. It was located at the end of the hall, where we not only had the deck facing the view/mountain road, but it also had it’s own private deck off to the side. Score! ..we thought. It was nice and quiet for the first two nights we were there. No neighbors in the room next to us…until the 3rd night.

We had had a busy day that day, which wore us out and we were in bed by 9pm. As we were falling asleep, we heard that we had new neighbors in the room (Dazzling) next to us. We could hear what they were saying, plain as day. The talking continued for about an hour, which then turned into immediate LOUD…and I mean comically-loud, snoring. It was non-stop, back and forth (between the 2 people in that room), all - night - long. It was like they were in our same room, so loud. Did I mention their snoring was LOUD?!

We basically lost a full night’s good sleep. And isn’t that what Lotus’ mission is about, being a wellness center wanting their guests to leave with good health, vibes and be zen? …which includes getting a good night’s sleep, right?! So my husband and I decided to check out a day early, as losing a night’s sleep wasn’t cool - at all. So we made other plans, packed up and went to talk to Krysta about us checking a day early due to their paper-thin walls, which wasn’t our fault. It is a huge flaw in their room structure and they should take care of that. We expected Krysta/staff to have a little compassion and understanding in that their customers weren’t satisfied. We asked to not be charged for the final night we decided to not stay. She refused to give us our money back due to their 14 days notice policy, which I understand, if we were leaving due to our own reasons, but the reason was their fault and issue, and they should have good customer service and respect the reason for leaving.

Instead, she offered to move us to another room. I said no thank you. We already lost that night of sleep and had other arrangements made. She said she would talk with another owner to see if they could issue the refund. We left. I then checked our bank account, as we weren’t even 1 minute down the road, and the full amount was already posted as charged. I emailed her asking for the one night refund again, she responded she could give us free 2 nights at another time. I said, no thank you again, please just refund us for this one night. Nothing. So you, the potential customer, got this book-of-a-review to warn you to don’t expect a good night’s sleep if you choose to stay here.

Very upset

Cheryl Son 19/06/2017 16:26

I booked a room for two nights June 16 and 17. Then my husband told me he had already booked another room closer to where we were visiting. With in an hour he called and cancelled this reservation. Last night I checked my account and there is a charge of almist $300 from Lotus. I need to know how to get my money.

Lovely, peaceful, friendly

Steve Con 18/06/2017 04:28

My wife surprised me with a last minute trip out of town. We live close by and are regulars to Bolton, but this was our first stay at Lotus Mountain. We were greeted by friendly loving faces and hot tea. We stayed in "magical" which was a lovely space to connect and rejuvenate. I highly recommend a visit to Lotus Mountain if you wish to connect with your partner and leave the day to day behind you. Prepare to disconnect from the world around you and connect with the one you love.

Work in Progress

MarkTwainMeon 25/05/2017 04:03

My wife and I just stayed here in May for 3 nights. It is definitely a work in progress, as other reviewers have noted. To try to reconcile the very different perspectives, I would say if you're looking for a cookie-cutter, high standards hotel experience like a Sheraton Express, then this is not right for you. This is more like a New Age inn and retreat center (as the name suggests). First the good...the inn is very welcoming and is clearly a labor of love for the owners and the small staff. I thought it had a great spiritual vibe and relied on that to ease me over the various inadequacies. The breakfast was healthy, local and delicious. The bed was fine and the room was adequately large and quaint. It's located on the access road to Bolton Ski Resort so it is remote and there is a substantial climb to it but in summer it was no problem. The price at $80 per night -- at a time when nearby Burlington had UVM's graduation ceremonies -- was good value.

As I say, the negatives were outweighed by the positives with one exception, being the lack of any insulation between our room (named "Dazzling") and the next one. I don't know whether this is true of all the rooms but we literally could hear each word uttered the couple in the next room (who were speaking in a normal tone). In fact, in the dark, it became clear that we were not even separated fully from the next room as the top of the partition (not a wall) showed a long gap where light entered. Because the couple were polite and sleepy, this was not a showstopper for us but it would prevent us from returning. We found it strange that this would be accepted by the owners since they must have had complaints from other guests.

Another issue is that the inn is not clean. At breakfast, the coffee mugs were sometimes dirty. My utensils came wrapped in a used napkin with food stains on it. The table was not wiped from the day before. There was dirt on the floor of the dining area and flower pots clumped under the tables.

Also, we were locked out of our room on the second night when we returned at 8:15pm to find that our key -- which we had handed back (don't do this!) -- could not be found. Our massages were not available on the first day when we scheduled them but they were rescheduled to the next day and were wonderful and very reasonable at $80.

The bathroom in our room did not have soap or shampoo or any kind of cup. Now this may be because most of their clientele bring their own products but it was inconvenient.

However, with the exception of the room insulation, I would repeat that the positives outweighed the negatives. I just think it's a shame that the owners don't correct what are easily remedied deficiencies since they seem like very nice people. Perhaps it's because they are so young and spiritual, they don't realize that their guests may be on a more traditional wavelength?

Women's Retreat

Wendy Don 14/02/2017 19:40

Had a fabulous weekend and enjoyed the women's retreat. Warm and friendly staff, very good vegetarian food, cozy and comfortable and clean rooms. They have an outdoor hot tub and an indoor sauna also. Great stay.