Trouble In The Catskills

[greenwald]

I immensely enjoyed my time spent at the 2009 'Colors in the Catskills' rally, held at the Hunter Mountain Resort.

However, I feel the need to highlight a bad experience with a local lodging establishment, should fellow forum members consider visiting this fine BMW venue in future years.

My son and I had made reservations with the Forester Lodge, located just two minutes away from the entrance to the rally grounds, and advised them that we would be arriving quite late (probably around midnight EST) due to an Iron Butt run we were attempting.

They had the room keys taped to the office door as promised upon our arrival, but when we opened the room, we found it already occupied. They had given it away to other patrons.

The office is not staffed after hours.

An "After-Hours Emergency Hotline" was called....several times.... and no response - it was obviously not being monitored.

Several messages were left on their voice-mail...........never returned any of our calls.

We had to backtrack 60 miles thru the mountains at night (in the rain and completely exhausted) to eventually find available lodging in Oneonta, NY, and then commute 120 miles roundtrip each day to attend rally festivities.

When we did find someone staffing the front desk that Sunday, he (weekend college student) apologized and I received one pint of NY maple syrup for our troubles.

Have waited ten days for the owners to contact me (if only to offer an official apology in lieu of fuel compensation).......nothing.

My advice: AVOID the Forester Lodge in Hunter, NY if you plan to stay in the area for any reason. Their reliability/responsibility rating is near zero, in my opinion.

 

[jnerges]

When we did find someone staffing the front desk that Sunday, he (weekend college student) apologized and I received one pint of NY maple syrup for our troubles.

Seriously, pancake syrup? That must be some really good stuff.

 

[SNOONE]

Mistakes happen, but at least own up to them Forester Lodge.. This inconvenience at the least is worth free nights for a week just to make up for this comedy of errors and their inconsiderate attitude....Not even pancakes, just the syrup?

 

[testinglogin]

Ugh. I'd be pretty unhappy if I were the person who got the room, as well - Having the place leave a key to my room taped to a door and then having someone come into the room at midnight. Then again, I wasn't in my room at the lodge at midnight, but you get my point...

 

[Holly]

Good thing the occupants of the room weren't armed and trigger happy.

Holly

 

[rvb1019]

Or just plan old gettin' busy!kiss

 

[kgadley01]

I think I understand what happened. someone dropped the ball. did you reserve your room using a credit card? if you did not, most Motels and Hotels will only hold the room till 8 or 9 pm.

 

[greenwald]

I think I understand what happened. someone dropped the ball. did you reserve your room using a credit card? if you did not, most Motels and Hotels will only hold the room till 8 or 9 pm.

Yeah - I reserved with a credit card, and even called them on Wednesday to confirm all was in order.

Still waiting for my credit card statement to make sure they didn't 'charge' me for not abiding by their cancellation policy, even though they are the ones that canceled on me.

I did my part.....I showed up, but never again at that establishment.

We all 'drop the ball' from time to time, but especially in business, you need to make it right.

"Nothing travels faster (or further) than a bad reputation."

 

[Brettendress]

My solution, always carry a small tent and a zero degree sleeping bag. Came in handy this past weekend at Cass Wv. But really that would suck. Were they BMW people? cause I woudl have ask to sleep on the floor LOl

 

[texanrt]

Yeah - I reserved with a credit card, and even called them on Wednesday to confirm all was in order.

Still waiting for my credit card statement to make sure they didn't 'charge' me for not abiding by their cancellation policy, even though they are the ones that canceled on me.

I did my part.....I showed up, but never again at that establishment.

We all 'drop the ball' from time to time, but especially in business, you need to make it right.

"Nothing travels faster (or further) than a bad reputation."

I can partially relate. My recent SS1K from Houston to Cincinnati could have turned out the same -- we confirmed our room for late arrival --- arrived after 1:00AM and the night clerk says he'd cancelled our reservation -- depite the fact that we called that very day to confirm the room. Fortunately, they had a room available otherwise we'd have been searching for lodging in the wee morning hours too. Getting back on the bike after an 1,100 mile run (the last 300 of which were in the rain at night) wasn't a pleasant thought. Glad I didn't have to explain that one to my riding buddy.

 

[greenwald]

My solution, always carry a small tent and a zero degree sleeping bag. Came in handy this past weekend at Cass Wv. But really that would suck. Were they BMW people? cause I woudl have ask to sleep on the floor LOl

Sadly, I don't think so.......the room looked trashed, with boooze all over the place, food and empty beer bottles on the floor and generally, quite a mess.

There were a fair number of BMW's in the parking lot, but at that hour, my son and I were not of a mood to go 'begging' for emergency lodging. They deserved their sleep, so we called my daughter in CO (two hour time difference, so she was still up) and she fired up the internet to provide phone numbers to start calling, while we waited around in front of the office for almost an hour (for a 'call-back' from the Emergency After-Hours number we had left messages on!).

Everybody seemed booked, and it wasn't until Oneonta, NY (60 miles to the west of Hunter) that we found a two-night vacancy.

Numerous deer along dark mountain roads in the rain made the trip back there less than pleasant, but a great rally and friendly MOA members made the weekend worth it.

 

[unkski]

Trouble in the Catskills

Hay Greenwald;
Sorry for your trouble and no excuse for the Royal cock up at the Forester.

As a member of the BMW MOA you must carry the anonymous book with you when you travel. If you had looked up the Hunter, New York State listings you would have found me in the Village of Hunter less than one mile from the Forester.

Since I already had 3 Rally riders staying with me we would have made room for two more.

Hope to see you next year.

Harold G. 96 R1100RT

 

[greenwald]

Hay Greenwald;
Sorry for your trouble and no excuse for the Royal cock up at the Forester.

As a member of the BMW MOA you must carry the anonymous book with you when you travel. If you had looked up the Hunter, New York State listings you would have found me in the Village of Hunter less than one mile from the Forester.

Since I already had 3 Rally riders staying with me we would have made room for two more.

Hope to see you next year.

Harold G. 96 R1100RT

Thanks for the kind words. Too tired to have even thought of that option, so sorry I missed out on your hospitality.

Perhaps next year, things will go better. Obviously, I won't be making any reservations at the Forester Lodge.

Not so much as a peep from them since the snafu, so none of my hard-earned dollars headed into their pockets, that's for sure!

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, but spent some time in D.C., seeing the sights. Even scored an escorted (Secret Service) tour of the White House, so I straightened out the new President on various issues.

Ride Safe and endure Winter.

 

[Friedle]

Trouble in the Catskills

Hello K.M. and all the others who came to the Colors in the Catskills 2,

This complaint was about the most major screwup in an othersiwe stellar weekend. When I read about it, I contacted the Greene County Tourism director to ask her to look into the situation. Copied below is my initial inquiry and Tourism's response. Sorry it took me a while to post this, but I have been off line with some computer problems.

I hope your Iron Butt ride went better than your arival at the destination. I also hope to see you back at the Colors 3 next October.

Michael Friedle
BMW MOA Ambassador
Colors in the Catskills Chair
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello Michael

I asked the Hunter Chamber of Commerce to look into the matter of KM
Greenwald's complaint (the Chamber has more impact than our office on the
local lodging establishments). According to Jennifer O'Brien, the
owner/manager, they did have a room reserved for Mr. Greenwald and it would
have been available when he arrived, unfortunately the wrong key was left at
registration. The front desk clerk was on duty until 11.30pm and when she
noticed that Mr. Greenwald had not arrived, she tried to call him on his
cell phone and left a message (presumably Mr. Greenwald didn't hear the
phone ringing because he was riding ...). The emergency line - as luck would
have it - was malfunctioning and so no one was available by the time he
arrived. The hotel has offered a free room night for a future stay; that's
the best they will do because they are not prepared to offer cash
compensation. They had quite a few BMW attendees staying at the hotel and
they had a trouble-free and satisfactory stay. The TWO pints of maple syrup
the Forester offered were not intended to replace a cash compensation, they
were just meant as an apology. I don't think there's much more that we can
do and I would suggest that Mr. Greenwald should take the Forrester up on
their offer of the free night for next year's rally. I am also very
distressed by the fact that he couldn't find accommodations within a short
ride; had he been more familiar with "greenetourism.com" he would have been
able to find listings of hotels in the Windham area (only 8 miles away)
instead of having to travel all the way to Oneonta. I don't know if this is
something you might want to consider but your website could show
"greenetourism.com" more prominently for lodging searches. I am also quite
willing for you to publish our home number (our house is one mile from
Hunter Mountain) in case of any attendee having a problem with lodging or if
in need of technical assistance and that number can be available 24/7.
We're already in the Anonymous Directory so we're quite happy to have our
contact publicized on your website for the Rally. Hope this will help for
next year. Let me know if you think there's something else I can do. Happy
riding and best wishes for the coming holiday season,


Daniela Marino
Director, Greene County Tourism
700 Route 23B, Leeds, NY 12451
Ph: 518-943-3226 Cell: 518-965-0438
www.greenetourism.com







----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Friedle" <mfriedle@verizon.net>
To: <dmarino@discovergreene.com>
Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2009 3:12 PM
Subject: Rally Forum - BMW MOA


> Hello Daniela,
>
> I just wanted to once again thank you for all your help at the Colors in
> the Catskills 2 event at Hunter. The response on the BMW MOA website and
> other motorcycle forums has been overwhelmingly positive. People had a
> great time in spite of the weather difficulties, and are already talking
> about coming back next year.
>
> The only negative thread I have found so far concerns a rider and his son
> coming in from, I think, Wisconsin who arrived late in the evening to find
> the Forester Inn had given away his room. The link below will take you to
> the thread. Would you be able to contact the Forester for their side of
> the story and to see if they have managed to contact KM Greenwald to
> discuss the situation? I would much rather see this thread end with a
> positive posting from Mr Greenwald than be the only blemish on the shining
> apple that was CIC 2.
>
> http://forums.forums.bmwmoa.orgdisplay.php?f=11
>
> Thanks for your help in this matter.
>
> Michael Friedle
> mfriedle@verizon.net
>
>
>

 

[greenwald]

Thank you Michael for getting involved with the 'Forester situation.' You certainly went above and beyond in your efforts, and I appreciate that, as it typifies the dedication of the MOA's leadership corps.

Understand that I have no complaints about the event itself: well organized, friendly, fun things to see and do and definitely worth a return trip. It truly is colorful, and the food was great!

As for the Forester 'offer' of a free night's stay, that has never been communicated to me, so from where I stand, "What offer?"

Perhaps not the 'positve ending post' you hoped for, but no contact from the Forester equals no confidence in them either. FYI, I have re-contacted Greene County Tourism directly, but thanks again for your involvement.

As for Colors In The Catskills - great event not to be missed!

Hope next year is even bigger and better - Ride Safe.