Travelin_for_fun6009
August 3, 2024
The Red Lion provided the worst experience at a hotel that we have had in many decades. We were part of a tour group staying at the hotel for 5 nights. Upon arrival in our room, surfaces clearly had not been dusted/wiped and the interiors of the drawers were dirty. If there was prior notice to tour participants in pre-program communications that daily housekeeping would not be provided, I did not see it, and there was no mention of same at check-in. Minimal service in the form of daily clean towels and trash removal was provided to some--but not all--tour participants. Several participants reported having to make trips down to the pool to get clean towels on multiple days. One morning, I made a specific request to have the beds made and, in preparation, folded the pajamas at the upper corner of each bed, only to find the beds unmade when I returned in the afternoon. I was told by the front desk that if “anything, even a sock, was on the bed,” housekeeping staff is instructed (as a matter of policy) not to make beds. That “policy” was also not disclosed in the hotel room or upon check-in. But, that “policy” is certainly a convenient excuse for not providing the customary hospitality services to hotel guests, even in response to a specific request. Reactions of our fellow tour participants to the Red Lion’s slovenly and unhygienic lack of housekeeping services ranged from merely disgusted to apoplectic. After the program concluded, we remained in Kalispell for two extra days—but not at the Red Lion as we’d previously planned. It was then that I learned that the Red Lion’s failure to resume a reasonable level of upkeep and hospitality services after the pandemic is an “open secret,” well-known and readily acknowledged by Kalispell locals. Visitors to Glacier National Park would be well-advised to consider other comparably-priced chain hotel options.