fpalamont's Reviews

Questionable water. Irresponsible management.

I've already told Sierra Lodge's management that I'm not interested in false accusations, so I temper this review with an explanation that I can't prove that my immediate experience after I left the hotel was caused by my experience at the hotel. I have to say, however, that my concerns over what happened and the way it was handled led me to believe that the Sierra Lodge is, at best, a questionable establishment.

My friend and I traveled to Three Rivers from San Diego to begin our backpack into Sequoia National Park the next morning. We showed up at 11:30P.M. and were checked into our room with the usual protocol. Nothing out of the ordinary was mentioned or special stipulations were discussed. My friend and I immediately , being exhausted, went to bed. In the middle of the night I woke up, went to the bathroom in the dark and drank some water from the faucet in the bathroom and went back to bed. The next morning I returned to the bathroom to notice a sticker on the mirror with a message that read something like "Don't Drink the Water". I was understandably concerned at this point . I had noticed bottled water in the room but had assumed that it was an added amenity that I would be charged for. I had to go to the front desk to inquire as to whether or not the bottled water was free or not. I was surprised that it was, in fact, free. The reason why it was free, was because the water had been deemed undrinkable (!?!?!?!?!?). I've never been to a hotel that has undrinkable water, but moreover, I felt as if I should have been advised of this before I booked, or at the very least, the night we checked in. I'm under the impression that management had decided to try and avoid telling people about this hoping that people wouldn't ask or care to know.
While traveling to the park, within an hour of leaving the hotel, I began to feel sick. A slight nauseated and persistent feeling stayed through the beginning of the hike. Six miles in, I began to have stomach cramps and began vomiting more violently than I ever have before. Later on that night, without getting into to too many details, the stomach ailments grew and I continued to vomit. The next morning, after a difficult night, I finally began to feel better after around 11AM.
After I returned from my trip, I wrote a concerned, but fair letter to the Sierra Lodge telling my story and asking for at least a partial refund of my stay. I received no response. Then I sent an email asking them to respond but also letting them know that I would contact the appropriate people who I thought will need to know and want to know. At this point I received a letter that discounted my concerns and made assumptions about my being "aware of the stickers".
Take my experience as you will. I concede that it's possible that my illness was not caused by the Sierra Lodge's water, but I have never been sick like I was that morning and have to raise real concerns over a hotel that has to display a "Don't drink the water" sticker and makes no effort to tell people who will potentially stay at their hotel about water concerns. Be weary, be very weary.

Reviewed on: August 24, 2007