The Bed with no Breakfast, Idyllwild, CA
Strawberry Creek Inn Bed and Breakfast, The Bed with no Breakfast
http://www.strawberrycreekinn.com/
My husband and I took a road-trip recently to the beautiful Idyllwild, CA for a peaceful stay in a bed and breakfast, on our way from Sedona, AZ to Palm Springs, CA. We decided to spend the night in Idyllwild due to raves of the artsy little town in the Southern Californian mountains, about which our friends had informed us glowingly. While driving from Sedona, I researched online for the perfect bed and breakfast for us to try. Following the advise of various reviews, we decided upon Strawberry Creek Inn Bed and Breakfast….bad move!
Upon arriving at the inn promptly at afternoon tea-time, there were no inn-keepers to be found. As a matter of fact, we couldn’t find anyone at all who was employed by the inn until the staff began to arrive after 6pm. We were then told that we needed to wait until our room was prepared for us, and were asked to go into town to find dinner- they had no recommendations for dinner venues. No wine and cheese, hors d’oeuvres, pastries, tea or coffee were on offer.
After we returned from dinner, we found our room to be filthy, drafty and ill-equipped. We were promised on the website that our room would be equipped with a wood-burning fireplace; we were given strict written instructions in the room not to burn wood, and only to burn the starter log which was placed in the fireplace. Should we wish to burn another log during our stay, that would cost us (if we could find anyone from whom to purchase a second starter log). As it was cold outside, we were forced to run the noisy and antiquated (somewhat scary) space heater throughout the night as we slept. To make matters worse still, the toilet began to run incessantly during the middle of the night, which made me remove the lid, reach inside and adjust the toilet- not quite luxury and peacefulness, as was promised in their website. The gardens and outdoor living spaces were overrun with weeds and rusty furniture, dead potted plants and mangy stray cats.
We hadn’t lost hope of a nice stay, however, as we had read about the fine cuisine the inn-keeper prepares for gourmet breakfasts for the inn. We believed that the morning meal might redeem the stay into something a bit better than awful. We popped into the dusty and dim main house at 9am anticipating the cozy aromas of breakfast wafting from the kitchen….no innkeeper nor employees were to be found- the only other people we spotted were a few of the other guests sitting silently (there was no music) awaiting breakfast. There was no coffee made, no pastry tray, nothing.
We left. Do not bother spending time or money at this B&B. There are plenty of charming B&B’s from which to choose in idyllic Idyllwild, CA. You have been warned.
wanderlustlady 