Frederick "justfred" H.'s Profile

I wasn't expecting much - my mom booked this for our family for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner.

The place is interesting faux old west facade.  We were turned off by the "hanging", but enjoyed seeing the animals in the corrals, especially getting to pet the big small pig.

Drinks at the saloon were overpriced as expected.

Dinner was actually better than I thought it'd be (having read the reviews) - metal trays, ribs and barbecue chicken, beans and biscuits, but they were all quite good and there were seconds, all served with a sense of humor.

The show was also well done - a quartet of skilled country musicians playing mostly old standards I know by heart, with a side of corny comedy that the kids enjoyed.

I don't know that I'd go back, but we did have a fine time.

Loved the trail up to the slickrock - we did about a mile and a half round trip, and got up on the "shoulder" of the bell.  

Quite a few people - this was "black friday" morning.  Was fun to make rockpiles, even though it does sort of litter the landscape.

Couldn't detect any vortex energy, myself (shrug), but it was a nice place.

We went here for Thanksgiving dinner with a family of seven.

The staff were all very friendly; our waitress was over-friendly to the point of being obsequious.

The setting was BEAUTIFUL.  Four stars, just for that - tables outside by the creek, wandering ducks, fall leaves above dropping on the table.  Unfortunately, the propane heaters wouldn't stay lit, and it was mid-afternoon November, so it got cold.

The dinner menu prix-fixe offered several choices for each course, for (I believe) $80.  Sadly, none of the items we had were all that impressive - was disappointed, since I was expecting a lot better food in such a wonderful setting.

The shrimp and scallop appetizer was probably the best part of the meal.

For the first course, I chose the snails - I've had them before in the usual style, but these were battered fried balls of yuck.  The alternative chestnut soup was oversalted.

My main course was the filet mignon, which was mediocre - with a scattering of mushrooms that were overcooked and barely edible.  The bacon confeit was tasty.

The traditional turkey dinner - how can you possibly ruin this?  Several of our party had this, and frankly I could have done better and I'm not a cook.  The gravy was grey and flavorless, the stuffing wasn't tasty, the turkey meat was adequate.  I know, it's got to be pretty unexciting as a chef to have to prepare such a boring standard, but I would have hoped they could do it with some flair.

My wife says she enjoyed the fish.

The pumpkin pie wasn't as good as what I can make at home, either.

But the worst part was the bill, which included an automatic 20% gratuity for parties of 6 or more.  This alone isn't surprising, but the way the bill is printed makes it looks like the tip is being charged twice.  I wonder if this is an Arizona law?  It seems really declasse.  The servers did a lot of work, especially since the dining area outside required hiking up and down stairs and across the patio for every item - and they were nice enough to take our picture, and we had kids and one or two special requests - I'm not saying they didn't deserve the tip, in fact I might have tipped more than 20 - if the invoice weren't such a mess - and by the time we got it, it was dark,and my dad had a really hard time even reading it.  At least the mandatory valet parking was no-tip-accepted.

Stayed here for several days around Thanksgiving.  The major draw for us was pet-friendly, which it was, and the fabulous view, which was fabulous.

The units are fairly dated; it's nice that they have fireplaces and small kitchens.  The bed was really hard and uncomfortable, and the comforter was slippery so it kept sliding off during the night.

The kids enjoyed the pool.

We got to drive by the airport mesa vortex about a dozen times, and hiked it twice; one day we did the airport loop hiking trail which was a fairly easy four miles, my favorite part of the trip.

We rented a "Tom Car" to try putting around on off-road trails.

The vehicle was okay, though a lot more "gutless" than I expected - about 25 miles an hour uphill.

A 2-hour rental was $150, which seemed pretty expensive.  We were able to go on one short trail, and a longer dirt road.  My wife enjoyed it.

The guy that helped us wore a second amendment t-shirt, and had a pistol strapped to his belt.  This seemed really strange for a tourist town, and frankly creeped several of us out.  He was fairly friendly otherwise.

We had breakfast here before thanksgiving.

I thought the coffee was adequate, the coffee cups are strange.

There are 101 omelets on the menu, but a lot of them seem strange - peanut butter and jelly?

I had biscuit and sausage gravy with a side of bacon; the bacon was good.  The burrito was meh, the corned beef hash was meh.  The salsa was decent.

The kids liked the chocolate chip pancakes.

For some reason my Dad came back again the next day, and was even less impressed.

We stayed here in September, on the way between Green River, UT and Yellowstone.  Got a deal on the room from the online place.

Our main reason for picking this hotel was the spa, and we weren't disappointed.  My wife had a pedicure and a massage; I used the showers, hot tub, sauna, showers, hot tub, showers, and grooming products to clean up after a week of hiking in southern Utah.  Spa was included in the price of the room.  The pool was under construction; our room faced the other direction - away from the Tetons, overlooking the horse corrals, which was fine.

The room was nice; we were tired.  The bathroom was especially beautiful, lots of rock decor.  The restaurant seemed nice enough, but a bit fancy for our tastes, so we got a bite in the ski village.

The hotel was adequate and inexpensive.  The beds were comfortable, the rooms were quiet.

Only two stars because the whole place smelled like nasty cover-up chemicals; my parent's room stank of perfume, and our room smelled like onions.  Bleh.

Stopped here after a day of hiking in south canyonlands, so I was sundazed, sweaty, hungry and thirsty.  So I guess three stars are just because it was ok.

The waitress was incompetent.  I asked for beer samplers, and she said she could only serve two at a time - but then didn't enable me to do so - instead I got a pint.  The guy at the next table got two samples at a time.

The beer was pretty good.  For Utah it was outstanding.  

Sandwiches were acceptable, non-memorable.

The place does have interesting atmosphere; we enjoyed sitting out on the patio.  I bought a t-shirt.

I often find myself choosing whether to go here or Five Guys, since they're relatively comparable burgers.  Thing is, Elevation is grain-fed organic beef, Five Guys is standard corn-feed beef food product.  They're both good, and I actually like the toppings on Five Guys better (as well as the peanuts!), but I think Elevation's actual burger is a bit tastier, and I know it's better for me.

I don't eat fries, so I can't comment (since I think all fried potatoes are poison), and I prefer to leave off the bun.

In n out is Harris Ranch beef, which is supposed to be better, but to me doesn't taste as good - I usually choose the "Grilled cheese animal style" meatless version.

Don't sit too close to the grill, or you'll smell like cooked grease for the rest of the day.