River View Garden Resort - Monte Rio, California

Jenifer H.

SOLO WOMAN TRAVELERS BEWARE. The owner, who goes by Jay, is unprofessional and creepy. He constantly asked me if I had a boyfriend and when my other guests will be arriving. He then made a remark about wanting to be friends. After my stay, he asked if the phone number I had on my booking was my actual phone number. The entire interaction made me very uncomfortable.

As others have mentioned, the place is not maintained. It is not worth the $100+ a night.

The property sits on a beautiful view and access of the river.

Liza G.

Wish they would have honored a refund as I was promise, I also would have taken 1 night stay as I believe the other rooms have been redone (according to Jay), I do not like giving bad reviews. Jay was super nice, but the room was sub standard to say the least.|The back stairs put me off a bit, the patio (not the one pictured), was ok and the room decor was pretty eclectic. So meh...ok we had a place to sleep. Had to drop our luggage off and get the the BBQ In Rio Nido to meet up with family. Got in late and went straight to bed. The refrigerator made so much racket it was hard to get and stay asleep. Got up to shower and meet the family again, but the shower had black mold in the bottom...so no shower for me. As I looked around I saw how unkept the room was. see my photos, The pictures on this site and the pictures on their site was not our room. We packed up and I took the key to Jay, he was apologetic and asked me not to leave a bad review and the owner would give me a refund. I have contacted them twice since with no response, so my guess is they don't care.

Alison M.

My friend And I checked into this hotel. I made the reservations through hotels.com. And it seems to be the most affordable and on the river location. Immediately when we drove up to the residence, we saw 3 Turkey vultures and no cars. In sight period this was a foreboding and an omen. Not to stay here, but we still went inside. We looked for the office to check in. When we went inside, there was a lovely Indian man and the office smell of. Curry of some sort period he gave us the key to room 19 and we went up 3 flights oupstairs. When we went into the room, we saw an old couch with horrible flowers. On the left, we saw a 1940s air conditioner. On a luggage cart, we saw an old microwave. And we went over to the bed and immediately. My friends that check for bed bugs period the room had no odor of sanitation or cleanliness. It was dark and murky. We opened all the windows to try to let some light in. None of that helped we went outside to look at the "river" and it was more of a green lagoon where people go to die, which is probably why there were so many Turkey vultures around. we went over to the area of where people are supposed to relax outside and look at the "river." There was Turkey vulture poop all over the patio. There were spiders everywhere the umbrella had never been put up.The deck was dirty. The door was held together by a wire hanger that had been twisted to form a hook around a nail. The bathroom was rusty, and ||Moldy. We left within 10 minutes to an AirbNB.

Margaret A.

For what we paid for the room, I was expecting a bathroom that had a shower bigger than a bread box (literally),a sink in the bathroom. A little bit more lighting. The views were great, and was close to where we had to go for a wedding.

Sunny S. R.

We were beyond excited we had spent 3 wonderful days in bodega boy and decided to extend our stay another night the only vacancy we found was here at River View upon arriving the outside area flowers everything was so beautiful. We were greeted by the owner of the place whom from the second we got there micromanaged how and where we park was told we couldn’t check in at 2:00 like the reservations said. No big deal we went to lunch and came back we got into our room where Which was decent but by far nothing special. The bathroom door was locked and we had to use a safety pin to unlock it, there was a sign in the bathroom to not flush your toilet paper! That’s disgusting and uncomfortable for anyone to do. We were told by the owner that the water was safe to swim in but within 10 min a local yelled across the way that there was toxic algae (blue&green) when we then got out of the water and went to shower off when we realized we were only provided two towels which were obviously hand washed and air dryed. We went to sit by the water and take pictures at 6pm we were told that we are too loud when all we were doing was laughing. Then we went to our room to play cards and listen to music which we were then told no music alloweded!! This place is for elderly people who want to enjoy looking at the River and enjoy peace and quiet. There is nothing nice about this place the coffee is watery and when we went to leave we were told that we would be charged for a towel that we used to clean an orange juice spill. Mind you the towels are crunchy and hurt to wrap around your body. The owner is very rude the cleaning is done by him with a disgusting old dirty vacuum that he leaves in the open for everyone to see. I felt gross walking on the floor.

Pam B.

I have stayed here twice this summer to get away from my busy life in the Bay Area to enjoy nature and being near water. In my opinion and having experienced it, this hotel has one of the best riverfront settings in Monte Rio. A nice lawn area, chairs to sit in to view the river and beautiful gardens on the property and complimentary kayak usage for guests while staying at the hotel. This was my little oasis this summer and a secret I almost hate to give away. Jay, the owner, works very hard to make you feel at home. Some rooms have small kitchens and refrigerators, there's even a BBQ to use. At this property, it's all about location. If you want to relax and be riverfront, with a great host, look no further. Sure, the hotel can use a little updating to modernize, however, you can choose between a great location with a reasonable price or paying more for a more modern room without all of these great grounds, gardens and amenities. That's your choice. I've chosen location, river views, peaceful kayak paddles down the river and a friendly atmosphere with a great host--twice! And I'll be back.

Lynn C. S.

The driveway is very hard to see - we passed it by twice! Once in the parking area, all was well. It's a very small property, I believe only 10 guest rooms, and three stories tall with no elevator. Our host accommodated us with a first floor unit. We were right on the river and could walk down to the water's edge. Some people went out in canoes to paddle around.
The unit itself had a fair amount of deferred maintenance. But the bed was comfortable and the area was very quiet.

Shannon F.

Such a nice, relaxing place to stay! Right on the Russian River and such a cute little place! Jay, the host, is the nicest guy!! He was so kind and loved my puppy, he was so excited to see her everyday! There are kayaks to use, chairs and a hammock to relax in, so quiet and calm. We had a lovely getaway! I have no doubt that Jay would be more than happy to help you with anything you need! Its in a great location, 15 minutes from the coast and so close to vineyards and wine country! It was exactly what we were looking for, we'll definitely return in the future! Thanks Jay, Ripley can't wait to see you again, but she will be so much bigger next time!!