Big Bear Cool Cabins

Edit: Bump from 2 to 4 stars. Management called to apologize and gave us our initial 2-​night reservation at the price my dad initially made reservations for. I’m not sure if we’ll risk going through Cool Cabins again, but I appreciate their responding to his concerns in a real way.
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I’m 25 years old and my family has been booking with Cool Cabins pretty much my entire life, but we will never use them again.
My dad made a reservation for two nights for the July 4^th weekend. He received multiple notices of confirmation, including an email from Cool Cabins themselves. He let the family know, we put it in our schedules, and we were looking forward to a nice trip. Later, someone called him and said that the reservation was not possible because there was a minimum three night stay. Nowhere was this mentioned during the reservation process or even after in the confirmation email. They sent over alternatives that were neither in the location we wanted (near the lake) nor pet-​friendly, as our original cabin was. All they could say was sorry. Why in the world would a well-​established rental company be making such rookie mistakes?
The icing on the cake, however, is that when my dad went back online to check if maybe he had missed something in the reservation process, Cool Cabins had jacked up the price of the cabin and STILL didn’t mention the 3 night minimum stay anywhere.
Cool Cabins should hold themselves to a higher standard. I’m giving two stars because at least they apologized and sent alternatives, but this should really be an uncomplicated procedure. My family has been camping and using cabins for years. We never expect 5-​star hotel service or facilities, but we’ve never experienced such fundamentally poor planning from any reservation service, big or small.
There are tons of other cabins and reservation services in Big Bear. Use someone else.

The cabin we’re in has a great location. Has a real cozy feel.
It seems a little run down tough. The pans in the kitchen are rusted or broken and there aren’t many chairs on the patio still in tact. The showers barely put out much hot water, but at least the rest of the bathroom is clean.
I’m glad there are board games and bar games. Along with decent TVs. Overall an average place.

Cool cabins is our home away from home in Big Bear. Staff is great, cabins are beautiful and always clean. This time up we got a beautiful 4 bedroom cabin which has internet but unfortunately no TV. Fortunately all it took was one phone call to Cool cabins and James was here within the hour to hook us up. Thanks James for such great service and for always taking care of us.
Highly recommend cool cabins for anyone coming to Big Bear. Big family or just a romantic getaway for two Cool cabins has the perfect cabin for you.

Big Bear Cool Cabin’s service is okay. What I hated was the cabin that I got. Should you get a cabin, do not get the Alpine Jewel if you have a regular sedan. The driveway to the cabin is not level. It will scrape the bottom of your car for sure once you make the ascend or descend through the driveway. It is also quite far from the town. The cabin is okay. I just hated the driveway!

My husband and I stayed in the Red House in April 2016. The Red House is in Big Bear, about a 10 minute drive from the Village in Big Bear Lake. As our stay was during the off-​season, we were looking mostly to relax with our dogs and this was a wonderful choice for us.
I was able to take advantage of a promotion during booking where I got one night free. The cabin was better than advertised. It was clean and comfortable, and the kitchen had almost everything we would need for our stay. There was a nice sized, fenced yard for our dogs. The listing only mentioned a dvd player, however the cabin had cable tv and netflix. The only issue we had was the handle on the BBQ broke during our stay.
I accidently left an item behind when we headed home, and the Big Bear Cool Cabin staff was super helpful and shipped it back to me.
For a relaxing vacation in Big Bear during the off season, I definitely recommend staying with Big Bear Cool Cabins, in the Red House.

If you don’t mind staying in a cabin that is dirty and doesn’t have a working tv then this is the group for you! We rented a 4 bedroom home, although one of the bedrooms you could barely stand up in (slant ceiling) we paid a total of $ 640– for ONE night! Granted it was a holiday wkd in winter but still you’d think at that price for one night it would at least seem clean?!? Sunflower seeds on the couch, broken thresholds, all dishes had a layer of grease! Also the dishwasher would not stop beeping– we had to leave it propped open to make the noise stop! To top it all off we had to pack out our own trash… take it to the local dumpster in town– what a pain! We alerted them to the broken tv as soon as we arrived– the acknowledged said someone would come by and nobody ever did! We continued to call and ask for someone to fix and nobody came:(which is a problem since I had my 3 kids along and all were sick:(
We stayed at «Big Bear Base Camp»

Rented a cabin in mid January. Price was high and the cabin was an absolute disaster on Peak Lane. Non of the doors inside the cabin closed. We are morning news people and the morning news are very important to us, so we chose a cabin with TV. But the TV did not have any channels, only dvd’s (and the dvd’s were mostly damaged). The jacuzzi only got warm not hot. It was so not cozy, we left a day earlier than planned!

We had a one bedroom this week rented. Boulder bay suite. It was decent the outside wasn’t presentable. Kind of dirty and the locks sucked. The kitchen and bathroom were clean. The bedroom was okay the bed sheets weren’t that’s clean and the room itself was dusty. The fire place was a little bit of a mess and the balcony was all over the place. We enjoyed the partial view of the promised lakeside. Not much to see from where we stayed like they promised. So be careful with the pictures they post.

We just got back from Big Bear and the Cabin Grey Squirrel. We had a blast. The cabin was great. The owners care about their place and it showed. Had nothing but easy and great transaction with Cool Cabins. Even got free rental on snowboard equip plus discounts on more. Only recommendation to owner of Grey Squirrel was a cheap small vacuum. It killed me to leave dirt on the nice Forrest free. Carpet. I just wanted to run a vacuum for big stuff.
THANKS AND WE WILL BE BACK

UPDATE — — — –After numerous emails with Jackie the manager, she finally was able to find my past reservations, and confirmed I should’ve received 20% discount on a future reservation.
Jackie mentioned that they don’t normally apply a discount after so long but would be willing to «honor» it for a future visit within a year. In 2013, when offered this, i was told there was no expiration date!
I asked to apply the discount to this current visit… it took her all day to reply with this:
«Unfortunately the owner of Mountain Memories does not accept discounts on his
property so I cannot apply to your recent reservation. I would have to apply the 20%
to a house that is okay with such a discount. I am sorry that I cannot do more.»
WTF kind of response is that??? ITS NOT THE OWNERS FAULT YOU HAVE INCOMPETENT PEOPLE WORKING FOR YOU!!! YOUR BUSINESS SCREWED UP AND SHOULD TAKE THE LOSS!!!
MORONS!!! DON’T USE THEM. YOU WILL BE SORRY. READ THE REST OF THE REVIEWS!!!

Did we find someone else’s white splotchy stains on the bed we had to sleep in? Yes. Yes we did.
I wonder if the faulty construction of the railing falls outside of building code.
Edit 1: Dreamscape cabin 2÷5÷2016
Edit 2: 22 days later and Big Bear Cool Cabins’ response is: «Thank you very much for getting back to us with that information, I will contact you soon.»
Are the stains sill there? Possibly.

Went here for my 30^th birthday. The cabin was amazing. We didn’t ski but if we did the location was perfect, right at the bottom of the hill. We had private parking and an amazing fireplace. They even made sure we had fire wood. The check in and check out process was quick and easy. The rooms were comfortable and clean. It was an amazing get away. Thank you!

I am currently staying in Happy Bear cabin. I can’t even get started with how awful my experience has been. The worst part is that since obviously no one has stayed here this WHOLE winter, the three flights of stairs to get to the front door were nearly impassable for my family of 7. This house is on a dark secluded hillside and there was no warning about the 15% grade black ice parking, and no light left on for people arriving after dark. We even asked about the parking in the office and they said «it won’t be a problem».
But honestly this is my fault. I have stayed at cabins in Big Bear three times before from different sites, and had good experiences. I noted when looking through cabins on their site, that every single cabin had comments erased!!! I knew it was suspicious. I should have checked Unilocal… I am going to complain tomorrow morning. I will update tomorrow on the response.

Like most customer reviews, I have too many complaints. They are by far the most unprofessional company I have ever dealt with. My nightmare started off with reservations. I locked in my reservation with credit card 1 week prior to check in. Due to my after hours check in, a customer service requested a copy of my driver lic # and copy of my credit card emailed to them so they can send cabin address and instructions on lockbox. I was a bit hesitant but no options so trusted that they will handle my personal info properly. Worst mistake ever. Waited 2 days and no instructions sent. Called back and a rep confirmed she received my email and will send instructions within 1 hr. Waited 1 day and no instructions. Call again and they cannot find my email. Now I worried one of their employees took my personal info and went shopping… How can 1 rep confirm my email received and next day nobody can find my email with personal info. Urrrr. One rep had the nerve to claim I must sent to wrong email… Wtf? Are you serious? I kept calm and asked the last rep if she can ask all the employees who I spoke to when they get in at 2pm and call me back asap. 4pm and no call. I had to call back but still no answer what ever happen to my email with personal info. I gave up and let it pass. Canceled my credit card thanks to cool cabins incompetency.
I finally get the instructions and arrive to the cabin at 3am. The lock box codes they sent me were incorrect. We were stuck outside for over 2hr. No emergency contacts anywhere on the contract or website. Called all the #s and no pickup. Finally decided try texting all the #s out of desperate measures and a auto text arrives with emergency #. Wtf. Don’t you think putting a emergency # on contract is a wise idea? Finally got in contact with someone and received the correct code. Finally got into the condo and it’s a filthy mess. The bathrooms are dirty, the floors never been swept nor mopped, and the sheets smelled. I don’t think they clean out the cabins after each customer visit.
On top of that, in contract it states $ 50 trash penalty if not disposed. What a joke. The joke on us is there is no where to dump trash. You have to carry your trash in your car and drive about 2 miles to their rental facility to dump it. Luckily for us, we paid off a business near by to dump it in their trash. Who in the right mind will haul their trash in their car?
I left a message regarding my dissatisfaction when you call for checkout but no response yet. My guess is after they ready this review, they will respond in a heartbeat to salvage their already pathetic Unilocal reviews. You have been warned. Stay away.

STAY AWAY FROM THIS RENTAL COMPANY!!! THERE IS A REASON THEY HAVE THE WORST REVIEWS IN ALL OF BIG BEAR!!! THEY HAVE THE WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER!!! YOU’VE BEEN WARNED!!!
My family and I had booked a cabin for Christmas eve and Christmas, and since it was a holiday we had to pay for the holiday pricing. It wasn’t cheap. We got to the cabin and the first thing we all noticed was the SMELL. It smelled like old shoe from 1962. Hey that rhymes. lol. The cabin had not been updated in decades, the appliances where ancient and the beds were mad of limestone. Worst night sleep of my life. There was dust and dirt everywhere and the blinds /​curtains wouldn’t even close. this place was in such bad shape that it shouldn’t have even been offered for rent.
We got there and started preparing to cook Christmas dinner, we had everything set and ready to go, turned on the oven and waited for it to pre heat. And waited. And waited. Yup thats right, nothing. It never turned on and all that food went to waste.
It gets better, the home was so old that the breaker for the heater and other lights would turn off every 15 minutes. Like clock work. Keep in mind it’s 9 degrees outside and I have to get up, put on 5 layers, go to the side of the house, find the breaker box, and flip the breaker. EVERY 15 MINUTES!
I called management and they said said that they would sent out someone to look at ALL the issues and gave me a 5 hour time frame. This was not acceptable and we knew that we would never use them again for any of our cabin rentals. We declined and was offered 20% off our next stay? Next stay!!! Are you kidding me, after this experience I wouldn’t send my enemy to stay at your cabins.
So there it is. I’ve stayed in Big Bear Cabins over 20 times and this was the worst cabin /​experience /​customer service I’ve ever had.
STAY AWAY FROM THIS RENTAL AGENCY!!!
And have a Happy New Year!

1^st time booking with Big Bear Cool Cabins (last minute too during a holiday weekend) My group and I was very pleased to book with Big Bear Cool Cabins.
We were coming from San Diego and directions were easy to follow filling out forms (printing online) and upon arrival we worked with Carrie. She was super nice and very informative. Our check-​in only took about 10mins; quick, easy, friendly.
Our cabin was 3 bed one bath. good size living room. Quite a nice quaint comfy place. 1 night. 01.02.16 for about $ 470 total during the day after new years day 2016
**Checking in via Unilocal you get a free bundle of firewood with fire starter kit.
**Office open till 10pm
Overall:
A nice stay for the night. Close to Bear Mtn. About 2 – 3 miles from the lake. Close to the village. Pricey during the holidays. Will do business again and will remember to ask for Carrie.

*see updates at bottom for final resolution*
My god I wish I read the reviews before renting from this company. Please read the other reviews with the same theme about the rude office staff. They were great when they were collecting the money up front but once you’re there, they could care less about your experience.
We rented Serendipity Haus for 2 nights at a cost of over $ 2k. The price was not an issue as the guy that helped us out over the phone did a good job of finding us what we were looking for. My wife had family coming in from Mexico so this was a gift to them and the rest of my in-​laws.
They drove up Tuesday and I met them at around 10:30pm on Tuesday night. I arrived to find the entire family bundled up as if they were going out in the snow! The temp was at 62 degrees inside the cabin. There was a man working on trying to get it working explaining that an earthquake earlier in the day caused the problem. Later I found out the outage occurred well before the earthquake.
After about 90 minutes, he conceded that he couldn’t fix it. He dropped off some firewood and would have someone else sent out. The next guy shows up about midnight. This guy we were told was from a heater repair service. He spent about 30 minutes working on it. He came inside and said it was fixed. We felt some warm air coming in and asked what was wrong with it. He said, «It was broken. Now it’s fixed.» Thanks for the info buddy, because the minute he left, the fans turned off and the warm air stopped again. By this time everyone was bundled and asleep so we waited until morning. Halfway through the night the heAt kicks on and gets to about 75, so everything looks good. By the time we all wake up, the heat stopped again and the cabin is back to the mid 60s.
My sister in law calls and they say they’ll send someone out. After about an hour, I decide to make my first call. Just like the other reviewers mention, the office staff is completely rude. I was speaking to the reservations manager who really could have cared less that we have an entire family of people freezing in one of their cabins. No apologies. No compassion. Just monotone responses about how all she can do is send us more wood (which so far has yet to arrive) and another repairman in an hour maybe. I don’t even get to ask for a supervisor when she decides that she’s done listening to me and sends me to her manager.
The manager reiterates that a repairman should be out within an hour. I get a half asked apology from this woman too. Meanwhile we are still sitting here in the cold.
This is by far the worst experience we have had with one of these companies in Big Bear. Ridiculous experience considering the money spent. A little empathy is all we would need to give them time to try to resolve this. The reservations «manager» needs to find a job outside the service industry. I will post an update to this to share the resolution.
*Final Update*
The final temperature reading upon checkout was 58 degrees so now that the stay is over and we got through the holidays, I decided to call to get some resolution.
I spoke to Trish, a reservations manager (I assume this is a different reservations manager than the one I spoke to during the stay) I calmly explained the situation and she apologized and offered a refund of $ 200 per night. About 20% off the stay and a 15% discount for a future stay, which I accepted, rather than arguing for more.
Again, I understand the issue was not entirely under their control, the biggest issue was the lack of empathy over the phone by the original representatives that took the call but everyone that we escalated to, offered empathy and attempts at resolution. I hope they look at the reviews stating that there are some employee issues of rudeness and handle that accordingly. I also hope they take the suggestion of having some portable heaters on hand as a temporary solution for when this happens again.

I am so disappointed…
I’ve stayed with cool cabins many times but my last experience was so terrible that I will never be back.
Our friend authorized us to pick up the keys for her and sent an email of authorization and all of the necessary documents.
The girls in the office were SO RUDE. Specifically Kayla. We literally had just walked in and said she had provided the information. The staff were so rude and said they didn’t get it, the found part of it, then complained that it was our fault for not getting the specific name of whoever we had spoken to. Apparently when a business is so disorganized it is on the customers to track our calls and employee names.
When they found that we had indeed emailed all the info, they changed the story. They said they needed something from her for authorization and said an email would work. When they saw their mistake they said no, it must be a handwritten letter with a signature. Why not just tell us what was needed when we had called in advance?
Kayla, time to work on your customer service. You should be fired and we will not be back.
Even if they were frustrated, there was no need for her incredible rudeness.

Had a wonderful stay at the viewpoint cabin which is owned by big bear cool
Cabin.
Came up last weekend and originally I booked a smaller cabin but once my friends found out the numbers got larger so I called to upgrade to a larger cabin and they made it very easy.
I was able to just go to the cabin and open the door with lock box. The place was just like the photos and the view was amazing. The grill was full of gas and we had a BBQ and the jacuzzi was already warned and ready for us to use.
Overall, we had an amazing experience and we will certainly be back. If your looking for a great three bedroom cabin close to everything I would recommend Viewpoint Cabin.

We stayed at Rincon Cabin, which allows dogs and has its own hot tub. We found the cabin to be clean and decently stocked with blankets/​towels/​coffee filters/​toilet paper etc. I believe it sleeps 4, but there were only 2 of us and it felt very spacious. We booked last minute for Labor Day Weekend 2015 and got very quick responses from the management company (Cool Cabins) before and during our stay. Pictures and details listed on the website were accurate to life, we didn’t feel there were any surprises. Cabin was typical for a rental but had everything we needed for a weekend getaway.
Overall we had a great time! It had a very good location, had a couple restaurants, market for last minute supplies and a brewery walking distance and was only a 5 min drive into town (about a mile).
Only a couple of minor inconveniences; there was a pet fee that we didn’t know about until we had to sign the agreement, it was $ 10 a day extra which for the weekend wasn’t bad but could get pricey for the whole week, the other was just that you have to drive your trash to a local dump site at checkout, but I’ve heard this is typical for the area and might be a local ordinance.