Marfa Hotels

Riata Inn, Marfa, Texas: Incompetent and unprofessional

Unprofessional, incompetent, a clear and present danger to the public. These are the nicest things I can say about the management of the Riata Inn located in Marfa, Texas.

If you are considering visiting the Big Bend area, the people and places are Wonderful. We lived in the area for several years and know the caliber of people that live and work in this area but if the Riata Inn is your last resort in the Marfa, Alpine, Fort Davis tri-town area, drive the 90+ miles to Fort Stockton and get a room there.

While attempting to make reservations for my wife and daughter to travel to the area to visit our alma mater, we found that the Riata Inn was the last hotel in the area to have vacancies during that spring break time frame. I make regular business trips back to the area and while I had never stayed at the Riata Inn myself, co-workers had previously stated that it was a decent enough place so when we called and they had a vacancy, we made the reservation. After about 10 minutes, we realized that we had forgotten how late it would be if my family chose to visit McDonalds Observatory prior to their departure so rather than trying to find another hotel farther north, they decided to see if their stay in Marfa could be extended one more night. A second call to the Riata Inn insured my wife that their reservation had been changed to two nights and all was well. We found out later that this reservation transaction had been conducted by the owner himself.

After a wonderful visit to the area’s University and a beautiful evening at the observatory in the Davis Mountains, my wife and daughter returned to Marfa for their second night only to find that their room had been rented to and occupied by someone else and their bags had been unceremoniously set out in the lobby which was locked for the night. Attempts to call the hotel to see what was going on were unsuccessful with over 30 calls from my wife and myself going unanswered. The local police were finally called for assistance after many more calls were made to find that no other hotel in the local areas had vacancies. My wife, at this point, was willing to simply make the drive to Fort Stockton for the night but the incompetent management of the hotel had locked her bags in the lobby with no way for her to retrieve them. After many more telephone calls and assistance from the local police in trying to find a responsible party to unlock the lobby failed, my wife and daughter were forced to spend the night in the car in front of the hotel.

The owner who had taken the reservations and then insured us that they had included the second night blatantly lied. To compound the problem, they decided to leave town and had no one on site during the night. Unfortunately and as much as I love the area and the people in the Big Bend country, the insufferable morons working at this hotel put my family in an unpleasant at best, blatantly dangerous realistically situation by failing to provide for the reservations and services promised. They also left the guest that were in the hotel in a precarious situation had any of them had an emergency during the night.

While I continue to love the area and continue to make frequent business trips to the Marfa and Alpine, Texas areas, I will never stay at nor recommend the Riata Inn. My coworkers have been informed of the situation and also plan to avoid this establishment in the future. There are many fine hotels and businesses in the Big Bend area but the Riata Inn as managed by Richard Creasy, is NOT one of them.

If you feel that this level of incompetence is unacceptable, please feel free to send them an email at marfa@riatainn.com and let them know you read this review. If you want a safe and enjoyable trip to one of the most beautiful places in the world, visit the Big Bend but take your business anyplace but the Riata Inn.

Unique Quality: This establishment is unique only in the unprofessional management of the business.