Rib Mountain Inn

Just no. If you used to come here, that ownership is gone. I arrived on a prime ski weekend to an empty lot with one abandoned car and one usable one, and there was nobody around. Every room looked empty except one with its door open, and that wasn't a pretty sight. They may not be closed yet, but it feels like that's coming. Marriot is a couple of miles away and nice. Don't plan to stay here like I did. They don't even answer either of the two numbers I found.

The location is undeniably amazing, and the room was clean and well stocked. I had no major problems I couldn't manage myself, which is why I'm giving three stars. This place has been loved by plenty of happy guests over the years, and it must be demanding to maintain. Still, at $300 a night these days, I expect more. I'm paying more because of inflation and getting less. I have great memories here, but next time I'll try somewhere else. I hope reviews improve next season, and I'll be checking. This property could be a gold mine with someone providing customer service up front. I've stayed at RibMtnInn five times in the past decade. Management seems to have changed hands, and customer service is almost nonexistent. I can't figure out how to reach a staff member since the phone numbers have disappeared except for an emergency number that might reach the foreman. I did briefly reach maintenance about a room issue, so someone did respond, but a 70% response rate on Airbnb is unacceptable. There have been website changes, and whoever owns the property seems to want as little hands-on involvement as possible. The lobby hours are listed, but nobody was there when I visited during those hours. Breakfast was offered two years ago and every year before that, so I counted on it and had to scramble to find something. The hot tub is confirmed closed for the season. Maintenance may be difficult, and I think the new owner just doesn't want to deal with it. The Airbnb listing stretches the truth a bit by calling this ski-in/ski-out. You can walk to the lifts easily, but it's a quarter mile carrying your gear. I've made that walk countless times in ski boots, for context. You'll do your first couple of runs with your jacket open. Nobody is maintaining the trail to the parking lot either. It's covered in trees and debris, and someone could clear it with a chainsaw in an hour. The attention to detail is gone. I texted a number I was given about an in-room issue and said I was a guest. They replied, "you have the wrong number." I told them I was staying at RibMtnInn, and then they gave me a different number. I can't understand the lack of basic reasoning. I don't know who I was talking to, but they were clearly associated with the place. I'm over the Airbnb model. I booked a hotel expecting hotel service, and that didn't happen.

There was no communication from the Inn at all. The hot tub had no water and couldn't be used, and no staff were on site. I had to call an emergency number to get the code for our room. There were no breakfast options, so we had to go out to buy breakfast. After it snowed, they didn't plow the driveway and left three vehicles stuck. I loved the place when we stayed two years ago, but we'll be looking elsewhere from now on.

We've stayed here several times over the past few years and never had booking trouble before. Now I've called the front desk more than 50 times to check a reservation reference number for early February, and nobody picks up. The third-party booking system can't show availability either, and sends you back to a dead front desk line. Did all the availability move to AirBnB? I checked there, but the hot tub and sauna details are missing. This is disappointing. Without ski-in/ski-out, we'll go with Lutsen.