I took a couple of days in Estes Park with my 2-year old daughter to give my wife some hands-free time to relax. I'd been to Estes Park many times, but never stayed overnight before since I live only an hour away.

I had read in some of the reviews for other Estes Park hotels that there is a bit of "tourist fatigue" which shows itself as a rude disregard for the experience of the guest, and that's what happened to me at the Silver Moon Inn.

Before I get into my complaints, let me say that the location of the place is good. You can walk into the heart of town in 2 minutes and the creekside placement is nice. I also liked the swings and slides they had outside...or rather my 2-year old liked them, which was the main thing. They also have a selection of video tapes which you can borrow for free and play on the VCR in the room, as well as some games.

The included breakfast is juice boxes or bottles and plastic-wrapped muffins and pastries. Not fancy, but good enough for my purposes this weekend and they didn't promise more.

Now, to my problems with the place:

First, I was quoted prices for two different rooms which were above the highest price they show on their web page. I do notice that they say "holiday rates may vary", but I find it very misleading to say that the room's price range is $76 - $96 and then charge $99, or $125-$150 and then charge $159. Anyway, I agreed to the price less a 5% AAA discount, so other than slightly misleading marketing that wasn't a very big deal...just annoying.

I got a room next to a staircase, which is when it started to become clear that the place is built with very little sound insulation in the walls or ceilings. I could hear people walking up and down the stairs most of the evening.

The real sound problem came during both mornings I was there. The people above me were early risers. I should be clear that they weren't behaving badly. They were just getting up early. They took showers starting around 6:15 in the morning and it sounded like the water was on in my room. And when they walked around...not stomping or anything...I could hear every step. The first morning, it woke up my daughter as well, and I can tell you that it's not great fun having a 2-year old who was awakened almost 3 hours too early. The second morning, she slept through it, luckily. I wasn't able to get back to sleep either morning as the showers and walking continued on and off until about 7:30.

So, if you stay at the Silver Moon Inn, you'll either have to take the risk of an early riser above you or else get a room on the 3rd (top) floor and be willing to walk up and down 3 flights of stairs each time you come and go.

I went down to the office at 7:30 AM, when it's supposed to open, to grab some of the juice and muffins for the room but the door was still locked. At about 7:38, I called from the phone outside the office and the young man (maybe 20 years old, probably the son of the proprietors) said he was still doing some things in the back. I told him that there was a young girl standing outside the office without a jacket on, very cold, waiting to get in to return a game to the office. (Not to mention that I was there without a jacket...and I didn't mention it.) He said he'd be right there, but then proceeded to take several more minutes while the 9-ish girl was standing there shivering. Then when he eventually got to the door, he didn't even open it even though he must have seen the girl with her hands full. He just turned the lock in the door and walked quickly away. Even though the real insult in that little event wasn't to me, it bothered me much more than how they treated me when I wasn't too pleased...as I'll describe now.

I mentioned to that guy and to an older man, whom I would guess to be his father, that I was fairly unhappy having been woken up at 6:15 both mornings, and that I hoped they'd do something for me with the room charge. The older man said he would.

When I went to check out, I found that they had taken off $9.90 from the bill (for two nights, not per night). It was still the surly younger guy behind the desk. (Maybe he had a big night out on Saturday, as this was Sunday morning and he looked like he just got out of bed.) He said to me "I'll take another 10% off your bill, but we'll ask you to find other accommodations the next time you come to Estes Park."

It's not easy to stun me to silence, but that did it. I complain (politely) about being woken up at 6:15 two mornings in a row and suggest that $4.95 off a $100 room may not be a fair solution and their answer is to ask me not to stay there again? Well, at least that is a request I can gladly comply with.

It's too bad the Silver Moon Inn treated me that way. They have a fair bit going for them, as I mentioned earlier. But when you go to a town that's a tourism-based economy it is not uncommon for people to get jaded and rude...even to guests who live only 40 miles away. (And those are probably the last guests you'd want to offend as they could be frequent customers.) I wasn't expecting the Ritz-Carlton, and the room was fine even if not large, but the behavior of that one young man is more than enough for me to be able to say I can't recommend the place.

I planned a trip for my mom, sister, daughter and neice to Colorado as a distraction to the anniversary of my father's passing a year earlier. Our first night we stayed at the Silver Moon Motel, Estes Park, CO. I didn't know what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised when we arrived and found this family owned motel nestled between a beautiful stream of crystal clear mountain water and a mountainside. We enjoyed the scenery, Aspen trees were yellow, pinecones all over the ground to stow away and take home. The owners' son worked the evening shift and was so pleasant and helpful. We were all exhausted from travel, but a few of us wanted to take a scenic drive, he made a perfect suggestion to drive short loop through the national park where he saw about a hundred elk that morning, then down to Bear Lake. We enjoyed this drive just before sunset and saw several herd of elk grazing - beautiful drive!

Breakfast was packaged pastries, perfect for grabbing on the go to drive the park for the day. Rooms were not the same old drab rooms you are accustomed to, but our room had special "artsy" satin bed coverings - a double glass door right by the stream and a window we could open and hear the stream right outside. Everything was clean and well maintained. Our whole crew enjoyed that spot very much and I will definitely return! You should too if you are a budget traveller and like something nicer than Motel 6, but doesn't kill your pocketbook.

Stayed 3 days at Silver Moon Inn on recent trip to Colorado. Our room #105 was small, however we were advised of this when making reservation. Should have booked earlier. We did have a king sized bed, which management is changing soon. The bed took up half of the room. However, the Inn was very nice, plenty of pastries, fresh coffee and juices every morning. It's a wonderful location, at the edge of the busy tourist street, just a short walk to the heart of the town. We saw elk walking around
a small park right in the heart of town, took many great pictures.
The front desk was always helpful and friendly. Especially peaceful was sitting outdoors right next to the brook that runs through town and in front of the Inn. Room was cleaned promptly
every day, always looked nice when we returned.
Estes Park is at the base of Rocky Mountain National Park and we drove to the summit one day. Weather cooperated and we truly enjoyed our trip. Highly recommended....

Stayed at the Silver Moon Inn on Sept. 15th and 16th. I found this Inn on tripadvisor. The rooms were very nice. Stayed in both sections. The new section with gas fireplace was very romantic. Fell asleep to the peaceful sound of the Fall River just outside the room. Owners recommended dinner at Marys Lake Lodge--excellent food, music and view of the mountains. The hot tub was great after a long day of hiking. ENJOY!