Over the last several months my fiance and I had been looking forward to a friends wedding which would be taking place at this resort. We saved and blocked off this particular weekend with both of our employers as a great chance to use the vacation time we had earned. Our first night there went fine, we stayed in one of the lodge condos and sat out on the deck listening to music via my fiance's new Ipod Touch. The next morning we plugged the Ipod into the charger in the wall and I noticed the Ipod on the bedside table as we left thinking- I guess we will be ok leaving it out as there is no housekeeping or anyone with access to our room. I thought this as there was no "do not disturb" door tag offered. We walked to breakfast at the nearby lodge and upon returning about an hour later- I noticed the bed had been made and trash taken out. We gathered our stuff for our bike ride for the day and when we went to get the Ipod touch- saw that it was missing. We turned our room upside down. There is no way someone could take it from housekeeping (we thought) but after looking for the last half hour and then realizing that someone had actually taken the cord in addition to the Ipod- leaving just the plug in the wall- is when we realized it was actually stolen.
The head of housekeeping was decent with us and went through all the trash and laundry insisting something like this had never happened. We weren't comfortable "accusing" anyone- but there was no around it- the Ipod was stolen and housekeeping was the only option. (There were 3 girls in our room for the job.) The police were called, and a report was taken. The 3 girls were called out to the site leaving my fiance and I in an awkward position as they were questioned right outside our front door. Of course they denied it, of course they did not have it on them or in their belongings. It had been over an hour or more since they had been there and they were called specifically to our condo. Of course the guilty party would get rid of the evidence. The policeman was very helpful and respectful and suggested we go to the administrative office to inquire about the next step and what could happen re: repayment or some form of compensation. The woman we spoke to was insulting, patronizing, and when we asked if she could call us after she speaks with the police officer- she said "Well no, I won't call you- you can call me." What kind of customer service is this?! We are the guests- you are the management- we have now spent hours of our vacation on something terrible that occurred in your establishment. You can call us back- that's basic courtesy.
No report back to us and now it is Sunday- we go to check out and again inquire about what can we do? An item was stolen from our room that was worth $300. Of course we didn't want housekeeping to return so we went without. We spent our time here trying to make the best of a terrible feeling after being robbed, and we were treated with disrespect. The final offer made to us as compensation? "I will give you $20- you can go and get breakfast, how's that?" How is that?!?! Terrible. DO NOT SPEND YOUR TIME OR MONEY HERE-THEY DO NOT VALUE YOU AT ALL.

BBR is a great place to relax and play outdoors with family. We had a great trip with extended family--lots of swimming, biking, running, horseback-riding, playing sports, etc. It is a great facility for these purposes, and also has golf, soccer, disc golf, tennis and other sports available. The facility is laid out with bikes and pedestrians in mind, and we felt that our 9-year-old will be able to ride around on his own within a year or two.

There are a lot of "camp"-style services available--sports, crafts, parents' night out, etc. These are very reasonably-priced and we found the staff friendly.

Re the negative reviews: the cabins were mainly built in the 1970s, so yes, they date to that era and may be a put-off for some. We didn't mind and, in fact, found our cabin very comfortable, so it may be hit-or-miss. We cooked our own meals or went to Sisters/Bend to eat, so cannot speak to the food or staff at The Lodge. Similarly, we did not use the Spa.

In short, we loved the experience. It is perfect for families and those who love sports/the outdoors, and we plan to return next year.

Gorgeous location. Generally a nice place, but somewhat worn and noisy. Think Best Western, but with (outdoor, not persons-lacking-in-hygiene) bugs. Good room set-up, but poorly remodeled. Holes in walls where pictures used to be, poor paint jobs, etc. None of that was a big deal. There was a dead beetle in the bed, dead moth on the floor of the bathroom, two spiders in the shower and a bird feather on the floor. This may be a little hard to prevent in such a natural part of the world, but generally seems like it could have been cleaned up. It was much more annoying that we could hear EVERYTHING loud and clear from next door. We could make out words in conversation and footsteps were somehow magnified into tromping. I might recommend to a friend, but would tell them to consider other options.

My husband and I stayed here a few years ago for our Anniversary, and we were absolutely horrified with our experience.

We had heard good things about them, so we were really excited, but when we arrived, our room was totally outdated in 70's decor. I believe a lot of the units are owned, and rented out like timeshares. Unfortunatly, we were stuck with a unit that was not kept up. But it gets worse, shortly after arriving, I layed on the bed, and noticed a terrible smell!! It smelled exactly like cat urine!!! All of the bedding smelled like this, which totally grossed me out. We called the main office, to see what we could do, so they said they would send somebody out. About a half hour later, a man, who could barely speak English, comes to the door, holding a huge garbage bag full of our new bedding. He handed over the bag, and took the old bedding and left. Here we were holding a garbage bag with bedding, looking at the stripped bed, and were just amazed that they actually made us make our own bed..I was totally frustrated!

On the last day there, we wake up, only to realize all the power is out, and that the alarm clock that was supposed to wake us up didn't, so we were really late getting out of there. Nobody called us to see if we needed something or to make sure things were okay. We tried to get ready in the dark, and my poor husband had to take a cold shower in the dark, because the power had still not come back on. We finally left, and thought it was all over, but...

As soon as we got home, I realized we had both left our nice wool coats in the closet, back at the hotel. It had been a much warmer weekend than expected, so we ended up leaving our coats in the closet the entire time. But because of the power being out that morning, it was darker, and we were in a hurry to get out of there, so we forgot to check the closet. I called the Black Butte Ranch to let them know we had left our coats. They said they would send somebody to get them, only when they called back, they said there were no coats left in the closet. I explained to her that I was postive we left them there, but she acted like she didn't believe me. I asked her if anyone had checked into that room yet, and she said no, the only people that had been in there was the housekeeping staff. Of course the housekeeping staff denied taking the coats, so here we were with our favorite wool coats missing. The most frustrating part, was that the people that we were dealing with, acted like we were bothering them, and didn't really take us seriously. After talking to numerous people there, they finally said they would refund one nights stay, but compared to price of our coats, it didn't really compensate us. Plus, the rest of the experience was still terrible. A friend of ours, who worked at a nice resort, told us that if were unhappy with our stay, we could contest the charges through our credit card company. We ended up calling our credit card company, and explained the situation, and they were thankfully able to refund the entire trip.

We cringe everytime we think of our stay at the Black Butte Ranch. For those of you going there, just be sure you get a room that has been kept up, and don't forget to check the closet before you leave!!