Blanco River Hotel

Apr 1st, 2024

Pros -Spacious, clean rooms -Modern amenities and furniture in rooms -Convenient location -Room available at last-minute booking at a competitive rate Cons -As of Thanksgiving 2023, this hotel is currently under construction (lobby & various places) -Be cautious when booking through Expedia or a third party. Hotel told us they received the reservation in their email but would not honor the Expedia rate due to a processing error. They granted us the military rate as a consolation, after we asked, but this was still more than the Expedia rate. This still did not sit well with us. Only upon us asking the staff (Laura) did she inform us at checkout (after multiple futile conversations) that a manager could input the over ride to grant us the Expedia rate. Had she offered that to us from the start, or input the override herself, perhaps Id be inclined to write a more positive review. This was a pretty bad customer experience and I encourage guests to exercise caution when booking here through a third party. I see other guests have commented on this same issue, so it has not been corrected to date. This was a waste of our time and felt like mind games and a rip off. Ultimately, they refunded the difference the next day, but man they really dropped the ball and need to have a procedure in place to prevent this from happening again to others in the future. I didnt even want to stay and enjoy breakfast that we paid for, I was so disgusted. If it werent for the nice rooms and the refund, Id be giving this a one star review and would encourage folks to stay elsewhere. I hope this issue gets fixed asap!
Nov 16th, 2023

An absolutely abysmal experience. We stayed here for one night. Upon check in they charged a much higher rate than my reservation that I made months prior. The individual at the desk stated only a manager could look at the booking details (I would hear this many times in my repeated contacts with this place). That night we were woken by the fire alarms going off at around midnight. We were advised that it was a false alarm and "probably someone smoking". Upon returning to our room we were then treated to the sites and sounds of a group of firemen smashing open the ceiling of the room across the hall. This went on for 45 or so minutes before they presumably found what they were looking for and departed. After finally trying to relax and fall asleep we were again woken by fire alarms going off at 4-5 am. Again we evacuate, again we are told "false alarm". Upon speaking to a manager at the front desk to check out, she was fairly nonplussed by our experience and complained about how she had to come into work early at 7am and deal with a destroyed room. Presumably she was not woken multiple times in the night so I found it hard to feel very sympathetic for her? No offer of compensation for the night of no sleep or hassle of overcharge. I finally got refunded the amount a couple days later, but then was charged again twice the amount of the refund. After calling multiple times and being told only a manager could investigate the issue and apparently none are around except for a couple hours each day, I finally got ahold of a general manager who sounded apologetic and assured me within 10 days I would get a full refund and likely some credit towards my room rate as well. She promised to email me as soon as the refund was complete. 2 weeks later I again reached out, as I had not received any communication or refund, and was again forced to leave a message for a manager. A day or so later, I finally got a refund for the second overcharge, and no further credit, or communication was ever extended to me. The room was ok, the bathroom was dirty, and the breakfast lacking. I strongly advise against staying at this location.
Oct 29th, 2023

Oct 5th, 2023

TLDR: Hotel overbooks and will give away rooms reserved days in advance Booked a room 2 days before my trip. The day of my trip, called at noon to let them know I would not be there until late evening, and was told they placed a note on my reservation and it was all good. That evening when I arrived, there was no room available for me. They had overbooked the hotel and given my room away. They stated that they processed a full refund for me. Then had another hotel they are connected to price match my room. I had to drive an hour out of my way for a place to stay that night, as other nearby hotels were booked out due to it being last minute during a festival. Two days later, I had to spend over an hour on the phone with expedia support while expedia got in contact with the hotel, as no refund had been processed/approved. Expedia was unable to assist me until the hotel approved a refund, and it took multiple attempts for someone to answer for the approval.
Sep 28th, 2023