10 of us stayed here to help restore power in the area. This COULD be a beautiful place, but it has problems right now. We waited 35 minutes for someone to come to the desk and check us in. The young man finally came out of the elevator with nis young blonde girlfriend. Our room had no telephone, we stayed four four nights, and never did get a phone put in. All five rooms had to get towels and washclothes at the front desk. It is a shame, there is a ton of money in this building, but it is all for not!

The Appalachian is located in the remote town of Vernon where there is nowhere decent to eat and nothing to do in the off season. The front desk staff was bored, unhelpful, and not very friendly. The Appalachian has been under construction for several years and still isn't finished yet. There's no food offered on-site--not even a continental breakfast--and the staff advised me that the restaurants are still under construction, but they have two functioning realty offices on-site to sell you condos and rooms on the property. There weren't even vending machines on every floor, just on the 1st and 4th. There was only 1 functioning elevator to service the whole building, including the underground garage. The "year-round" outdoor pool was closed and covered, and we couldn't enjoy the outdoor jacuzzi because it was too dark outside as they have very few functioning lights. The carpets in the halls and rooms were filthy. We checked into our room to find the previous guest's opened food in the microwave! I was willing to overlook that until we turned down the sheets of the bed and discovered the sheets and blanket were covered in hair. It was clear the sheets had not been changed since the last guest left! The room had no cable or internet access, and the staff advised me that only some of the rooms have cable/internet which the staff alternately blamed the ongoing construction and the building running off of a generator. We moved to another room where the cheap, hospital-like sheets were clean but the thin bedspread was covered in stains, as were the chairs. The mattresses are hard as a rock, the towels are cheap and scratchy, and the sheets are cheap and thin and there aren't any fitted sheets. The "fireplace" in the room was merely a set of plastic logs that were lit orange in front of a piece of glass with a hologram of a fire; it didn't give off any heat. The cleaning staff didn't bother to replace the coffee for the coffeemaker, or even empty the coffeepot. I expect more when paying upwards of $200 per night. The whole place was chintzy, creepy, and dirty, and I can't believe they're trying to sell the units for $130,000 (or more) apiece. Stay away!

Our suite at the Appalachian was nice. The kitchen well equipped and there were plenty of towels. The underground garage is a plus for winter guests, you won't come out to find a snowed in car and the garage is heated. However, besides the pool facilities (includes hot tub and sauna) there is nothing....no restaurants, no bar, no activities, no convenience store, not even a coffee bar!!! And there are none within walking distance. This situation should be remedied when all the current construction is done. In the meantime, take note and be prepared. The lack of any facilities makes this place as cozy as a high rise. On more thing...they have the firmest (hard) mattresses I have EVER encountered.

Appalachian/Black Creek Sanctuary is the only game in town in Vernon, NJ. Basically we were obligated to stay here to attend a wedding at Ballyowen Golf Club. The preferred room rate for wedding guests for Appalachian was $220! Really, this is Vernon, NJ not NYC! Even tried to Priceline a room, nope. Opted for the two bedroom townhouse at Black Creek Sanctuary for $310 and shared it with another couple. Townhouse had queen beds, no kings, 2 bathrooms, living room with a sleeper sofa, fireplace, kitchen, dining room. Pretty standard, nothing fancy. Worst part was after the wedding we got on a crowded shuttle bus that seemed to take forever to get to Appalachian. We ask the driver if he is going to Black Creek next and he plays stupid saying "I don't know where that is!" We told him he better figure out where it is, and fast. He makes some calls and has us wait and get on a different shuttle bus. Black Creek was literally 5 minutes away. What an idiot. Based on value, service, location and sleep quality this place gets a 2. No idea why anyone would want to come here unless it was for a wedding.