Best Hotels near Saluda Gem Mine Wicks & Wares, Saluda

Relatively remote, the environment can also

We arrived without a reservation - wanted to see the property before doing so. The owner greeted us at the front desk and before we knew it, we were getting out our credit card. I should have waited. I had just realized that I left my wallet and car keys at a McDonald's over an hour back. We didn't bring in anything but ran up to look at the room and were inside a total of 15 seconds. We touched nothing. Upon arriving at McDonald's, driving in rain with no cell service, we decided it was too late to go all the way back and called to cancel. Just over an hour had passed. I was told by the woman who answered that Scott was gone for the day. Umm, okay. Is there not a manager on duty I could speak to? NO, Scott is the owner and she would call him and call me right back. What? No manager on duty? Hmm. Another reason why I won't book a small hotel again. She didn't call me back so after 20 minutes, I called again. She told me she couldn't reach him but I made sure she canceled both nights anyway. We weren't returning. I sent an email and this is the response. Please know that we reviewed the video / audio surveillance footage regarding your check-in or interaction at the Front Desk last Thursday....The 7th of July at 4:20 PM. Please know that we also reviewed or listened to your recorded calls to the hotel thereafter at 5:46 pm and 6:06 pm. Ms. Noriega, please know that our cancellation policy is a mirror image of the ”Chain Hotels”. You referenced why ” You don't book with Independent hotels”. In closing Ms. Noriega.....Upon a ”Complete Evaluation and Review of the Situation and Communication Thereof”.........We are sorry but we must adhere to our cancellation policy. Sounds like they have sent emails like this before. They reviewed audio and video footage and listened to the calls? Like really? We are talking about $130 here! Geeze. I understand they have a cancellation policy but I booked at the front desk - didn't even make a reservation - and wasn't told. He was FULLY aware of how upset I was about my keys and wallet being so far away after driving for HOURS. Even still, it was a Thursday night and they could've made an exception. I wasn't keeping anyone from booking a room. They had plenty of availability. Just an average run of the mill hotel next to the interstate - not to be confused with a ”lodge”. I was swayed by the high review score and the amount of them but in actuality, it seems to be too many high reviews for what we saw when we arrived - that should have been a red flag.

Great service and location

I hate doing bad reviews, this wasn’t a nice hotel. It has a great pool, but the whole place is old. And poorly kept. It has carpets, and it’s not as clean as we would like it. The carpets and the room. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a dump. But it’s not great.

Friendly, helpful and professional staff. The room was clean, quiet, and the breakfast was nice. The black-out blinds actually blocked the sun and the bed was comfortable. Located conveniently for my work. Lindsey and Salma were exceptional. Great job to the entire staff. This is where I'll stay when work sends me to the area again.