Triple Creek Ranch Darby Montana

 I have been remiss in posting new articles.  Covid-19 has cramped my style.  With no travel, I ran out of what I considered new ideas.  Fortunately, the travel bug would not let me go so I now have a series of articles to share with you.  We just returned from a wine seminar in Montana and I will have at least 4 articles out of that for you.  Here is the first one regarding our stay overall at the Triple Creek Ranch.  I hope you enjoy what is forthcoming and will keep you posted.

Triple Creek Ranch, Darby, Montana is a Relais & Chateaux property and as Tom Selleck says in his latest reverse mortgage ad this was not our first Rodeo.  We stayed at Les Pres d'Eugenie, Maison Guerard and had 3 meals a day at Michele Guerard's 3 Michelin star restaurants and went with high expectations Triple Creek would be close to the same experience.  It was not.  It is hard to review any place today due to COVID-19 as the virus has severely impacted everyone and I am sure made it difficult for even 3 star Michelin establishments to deliver consistent high-end services so I am willing to cut everyone some slack.  The highlight of our trip and the reason we went in the first place was to attend a Kistler and Spotswoode wine tasting and it was in fact the best part of the trip and all of the tastings and grand finale dinner were excellent and worth the trip.  The final dinner was a triumph and the peak experience of the weekend.  Our cabin was very comfortable and the wood-burning fireplace cleaned and ready daily was a treat.  The spa bathroom was one of the best we have seen.  When you arrive they tell you anything you need just ask and for the most part this was true.  The day we left unexpectedly the roads were covered in inches of ice and we had only rented a standard car so to get off their mountain requires about a one or two-mile drive down the mountain and they drove our car down to the base of the mountain which exceeded our expectations.  Housekeeping was excellent and met all of our requests the first time and every time.  After the weather turned we noticed they were able to give some guests winter coats for activities and I don't recall being told that in advance but if I had I might not have taken some of our winter clothing as we have been to the mountains yearly and know to be prepared which we were.  At the ranch, they have an extensive list of activities you can participate in at no additional cost but our time was limited by wine seminars but again the day we could have done something there was a sudden early season blizzard that dumped a foot of snow so we were cabin bound watching movies which were fine.  The one outdoor activity we did do was very over simple but was fun but brief.  Unfortunately, there were two or three issues that severely detracted our enjoyment of the trip.  The maintenance of our cabin was unsatisfactory.  It was almost as if nothing had been inspected prior to our arrival.  We were given a golf cart that was dirty, had not been cleaned, and even worse did not function properly.  The engine cut off causing us to spin out of control on a patch of ice.  We were given a new cart that worked and excuses that maybe it was not preparing the roads properly but the fact remained it should not have happened.  We had a coat/robe rack in the room that clearly was cheaply and incorrectly mounted that fell off the wall and maintenance came and mounted it back on the wall correctly, but upside down with the coat hooks pointing towards the floor.  The food was plentiful and good and the beef was excellent but it was not 3 star Michelin dining.  And of special concern evening service was poor, unprofessional, and unacceptable.  Every dinner our entree had to be sent back as it was not served as ordered.  At least one service staff was loud, overtly friendly to a fault, and unprofessional.  A simple request for coffee required this staff member to recite for over 5 minutes everything she had to do to bring a simple cup of coffee.  The staff was young and in our opinion poorly trained.  House wine choices were few and not the best.  To get a better bottle required a purchase and though their wine list was good prices, as usual, would be considered somewhat high.  Constantly we heard the words, "Sorry about that", awesome, and perfect.  It seemed that if they said the word "perfect" enough you would leave thinking everything was "perfect" and again it was not.  We had breakfast in our room daily and service there was excellent and lunch service was excellent and served by the same staff that covered lunch.  Breakfast and lunch service was one area we gave an additional gratuity to.  Sadly nothing for dinner staff.  The price we paid was significantly higher than other Relais & Chateau properties we have stayed at so understandably our expectations were high and only met in a few areas.  I might return but one incident at the end completely soured my impression.  My wife left an inexpensive pair of glasses and an electrical outlet extension behind and the staff found it and they contacted us on what address to return it.  They also requested a credit card to pay postage.  I'm sorry but again that is poor customer service.  For what we paid per day they could afford to cover the postage for two small items.  In addition, I doubt we would have used a different address than the one they had.  Good customer service would have been us receiving the items a few days later with no notification and a thank you card for staying and here are some items you left behind.  So our final impression is a facility that favors profit over people and staff does not seem to pay attention to detail.

This is an update on Monday, November 2, 2020.  I was contacted by the general manager, David Macilmraith after I posted this review after he read it on his own survey website.  He was very helpful and interested and reassured us that our concerns were valid and he had already made on the spot corrections to improve service.  He actively made amends and I was very impressed with everything he did to make things right.  Frankly, I have for years posted reviews to basically have them ignored and this is one of the first in memory where the facility immediately took us seriously and used our suggestions to improve and it speaks highly of them.  I would highly recommend anyone travel there as I can verify Triple Creek Ranch is dedicated to the best and will make it right.  I now firmly believe our experience was an isolated incident and won't happen again and feel good about returning next year.  I had a very similar experience close to 30 years ago with American Airlines that was handled in a similar positive manner and to this day I still fly American Airlines and in fact, this trip was on American Airlines.  Clark and I wish to thank David for his immediate attention to our concerns.