MacCallum House Inn

We have been coming to Mendocino for many years and had always wondered about the MacCallum House for dinner. This time around we decided to try it. To be fair we are seasoned travelers, good home cooks, and are always looking for great food and wine experiences. The potato/leek soup was this weird brown color, not sure why but it was a bit off putting. The seasonal salad was delicious with the pomegranate and candied walnuts. The pork chop entree was a true disappointment. While the pork chop was perfectly cooked the quality of the chop was not that great. The cut had a lot of gristle and fat so the actual edible part was small. We were not that hungry so it was fine, but I would not order it again. The spatzle that it was served with was downright gross. It was dry, in fact so dry that we ordered a side of gravy ($2) to make it edible. I make spatzle at home all the time and would be more than willing to share my recipe with the chef. If the chef wants to stick with his, he should make the side of gravy standard for the dish! The service was good for our table but I felt very sorry for the people behind my husband because their service was so bad that the waiter comped them a dessert. The ice cream is delicious here because it is made in a French style so it is very creamy and rich. Not to be missed!

Our room had 2 problems. 1) the door key didn’t work properly, which the management knew. Several times we had to call the front desk, which was 4 blocks away, to open our door. 2) Our room was not cleaned very well The spreads were thrown on the beds and the bathroom wasn’t cleaned.

The fried CHICKEN was served to us COMPLETELY RAW. Not a little pink, but completely raw pink flesh! My husband had to bite into it to notice! The waitress apologized but the manager told her we still had to pay for it. PAY FOR RAW CHICKEN! Needless to say I refused. Talk about unprofessional and adding insult to injury. They could have made us seriously ill! We will never be back. On top of it all the rest of our food tasted like old pre-made food you would get at a bad wedding. The steak was barely warm, dried out, and pre sliced.

I stayed at the suites of Mac Callum house, in the upper part of town. The place, building and views are very beautiful. This is not a cheap place, we are talking $400+ a night. The bedding is simply very very bad and quite frankly unacceptable for this price range. There is no duvet, just polyester sheets (or a cotton mix at best), with one of these brown, old blankets that not even hospitals have anymore. To me and many others bedding and mattress are the most importantly things, so I encourage the hotel to take care of this if they want to charge these prices.

We spent two nights in the MacCallum house suites. These are located a car ride away from the main hotel, where you check in. There are two steep staircases to get to the front desk, which we climbed, with suitcases. When we got to the top the desk told us our rooms were not in that building. No one offered to help us with our luggage, despite the fact that there were staff around. When we finally got to our building, we found another two flights of stairs to get to our room. No staff present at the second building to assist with luggage. It would have been nice to know this when we made the reservation. The room itself is very dated, with no air conditioning, which is a problem in the summer months. The bathroom is poorly designed and the tub had mold. The sink and the tub did not drain well and we wound up taking showers in ankle deep cold water. We asked the desk to send someone up to fix the drains and despite being told someone would come up, the situation was unchanged. When I called the front desk to ask again about this, no one answered, at 2:30 pm. So I gave up and am writing this review instead. Normally I would speak to a manager before writing a review. We had a good evening meal at the restaurant but breakfast was difficult. Breakfast is included in the room rate. When I asked for a cappuccino, I was told it wasn’t included in the breakfast. Not given an option to simply pay for it. I said I didn’t mind paying extra for it. When I asked for the oat milk cappuccino I had had the night before, I was told they had no oat or soy milk. When I said I had had an oat milk cappuccino the night before, the woman shrugged and then produced the desired coffee. My husband asked for orange juice and was told there was none, period. He later asked what someone else was drinking and she said grapefruit juice, which he then had to ask for. Allof this was aggravating and simply unnecessary. The same woman added a 30% gratuity onto the bill (for the cappuccino). Who needs this at a so-called luxury accommodation? We will not return and I advise others to avoid this place as well.

Finishing up a delightful two-night stay at the MacCallum House! We loved everything about the place, from the beautiful gardens to the comfortable, clean, well-appointed rooms, and the delicious meals in the restaurant. Best of all--the warm welcome and thoughtful hospitality, which made our visit memorable. We'll be back, we promise.