Forever Resorts

[KwaiChang]

Back in Flag after doing my first rim to rim. Stayed at The North Rim - now Forever Resorts.

Personally I would avoid this place like the plague. HORRIBLE customer service from the front desk. NO information passed along when checking in. I will say this tho - there are some individual people there that were the best!

My buddy and I checked in after hiking up the North Rim - we had drinks, dinner (waitress screwed up the order so it was 45 mins before we got our entrees AFTER our appetizers.) the back to the bar for a nite cap. Got back to the room only to find out the mice were busy and chewed thru my pack on me......OK - lemme get this straight - they charge 175 bucks for the room and the can not be bothered to at least mention that there might be mice in the room so make sure you take care of your food in your packs??? I can totally understand there would be mice - I got no problem with that my issue lies in the fact that they took 3 times to be told before anyone did anything in the room (set trap) and that the uppity attitude they took with me. I am one of the most understanding peeps in the world - I have been involved with some form of customer service all of my working life.

2 full days later and I still have yet to hear from the Resort Manager and he HAS my number......just all in all a bad experience.

Soooooo - what are my other options if I wanna stay on the NR? I spoke with several French hikers who mentioned a place but were not able to relay the actual name......anyone know??

[Sun_Ray]

Hi Kwai, welcome back... I do hope you tell us more about your trip! No surprised to hear what you had to say about the service at the N Rim Lodge as I've called them several times this week and have not been impressed. I'm going to be there soon and was calling to verify dinner reservation and set up shuttle to N. Kiabab trail head. Was dropped, transfered to the wrong ext, and helped by folks who knew less than I did. Discussed with my wife and we came to the conclusion that it's staffed by seasonal folks who just started on May 15th. Does not say much about there training .Many of the older cabins have a space under the door than mice can easily craw through. So sounds like I should take my pack with me to dinner. On your question about other lodging, I know of none you can use without having a car to drive to or camping at the lodge area.

[KwaiChang]

I will be posting triplogs as soon as I get some more time - did some fantastic hiking......first day was supposed to be Hermit to Dripping - ended up being Waldron to Hermit to Dripping - best hike of the week!!! Did SK down - my buddy blew out his Achilles tendon which really put a damper on the rest of the week - did the moonlight river walk - THANKS Sirenna! - and some various strolling around at Phantom - then up the NK - - shuttle back to SR (BUMMAH!) then on the way back to Flag we stopped at Red Mtn - that was a cool lil walk....nice views.

Like I say I will post triplogs when I am back home - leaving for some scrambling in Sedona in a few......

[PaleoRob]

Dang, when Forever took over from Xanterra a few years back, they were doing a good job. Sorry to hear that they've slipped.

[Canyonram]

Kwai,

Sorry to hear that you had a bad experience with Forever Resorts. As SunRay mentioned, the seasonal staff just arrived and the waitress/kitchen staff are probably still learning the necessary flow to serve customers. And, as PageRob mentioned, the service contract for the North Rim was taken from Xanterra and given to Forever Resorts for some of the exact problems you describe.

What is not acceptable is the response by the motel staff to the mice in your cabin. An illness endemic to the area is Hantavirus---a very, very rare disease but one that can be fatal. The virus is spread via dried mice feces/urine. When dust containing the virus is disturbed it becomes airborne and then inhaled. There have been a few cases of Hantavirus at the Canyon (do a simple internet search on 'Hantavirus Grand Canyon.') One case involved a river runner who startled a mouse while it scampered across his sleeping face. The mouse urinated and the victim inhaled the virus from the urine.

Any sign of mice in the cabins should have been taken care of long before your arrival. During the winter, the motel is staffed by winter care takers and one of the duties is to keep the mice under control. The other lodging leading into the Park suffer similar problems. When I conducted Enviornmental Health Inspections (years ago during the early Hantavirus outbreaks) the cabins at Jacob Lake where literally infested with mice. I've had the misfortune of investigating several Hantavirus deaths over the years here in Arizona, so please read up on the symptoms. Also, no need to lose sleep----incidental exposure is not likely to cause a problem---it is chronic exposure to lots of dried droppings/urine that appears the most probable route or innoculation.

The Centers for Disease control has ample information regarding Hantavirus: http://www.cdc.gov/hantavirus/
Pay particular attention to the disease symptoms---if you come down with a severe 'chest cold' get to the doctor and let him know that you have a possible exposure to Hantavirus as a result of vacationing in an area where Hanta has been documented in the local mice population.

The current public health officer who monitors the concessionaires at Grand Canyon: Kyle Wright, Kyle_ k_wright@nps.gov and phone 928-638-7355. You should contact him and let him know your information. He is responsible for inspecting the motels and seeing that they are in compliance.

In the meantime, I'm curious to hear your trip details.

[KwaiChang]

Canyonram - I am s l o w l y posting my adventures - starting with the easy ones first. Since my buddy was hobbled with a lame ankle our expedition was cut quite a bit short. I learned many many useful things tho for the next adventure. So far just a quick and dirty comment about Red Mtn and Doe Mtn is all I have posted. These were done post Canyon. I am working on trying to get caught up here at the work place and have my rentals to catch up on too so it might be a lil later in the week before I get to my 3 main Canyon endeavors we undertook.

Thanks for asking tho!!!!

[KwaiChang]

Canyon Ram - for some reason I can not send to Kyle's e-mail - I tried several versions of his last name and nada. Any ideas?

Whoops - I think I go it - Kyle_K_Wright@nps.gov - thanks!!!

[Canyonram]

That's Wright.

[KwaiChang]

Whoa Nelly!! - Forever Resorts came up HUGE!

Big props to them - it took a bit of cajoling and a few e-mails but Forever comped us our rooms and paid for my pack!

I'm a fan now - hopefully this will trickle down the food chain some so no one has to deal with what we dealt with.

Thanks Forever.....