My family and I stayed for 5 nights at the "resort" the week before Christmas, 2010. The trouble started when we checked in and the couple running the place was rude to us before we ever had the keys in our hands.

The first night, the heat in our cabin would not turn OFF. It was miserable. When the lady came to look at the heater the next morning.... she fixed it by removing the thermostat.... now we had NO HEAT for TWO days. She brought us a space heater and suggested we make a fire (the cabin documents clearly state that there will be a $15 charge per day for using the fireplace).

The breaker for the water heater kept tripping so we had no hot water three times during our stay. The breakers to the half of the cabin where the bedrooms are would trip every time the hot tub (filled with grey water) kicked on - or if you tried to use the hair dryer.

The most disappointing part for me was when I learned that Ski Apache had dropped the price of lift tickets in half that week....and we were not refunded the difference of the cost of the lift tickets. This amounted to $150 per day times three days!!! (The resort is invoiced after the fact - per Ski Apache - for the redemption of the vouchers, so I know he had not purchased them at the higher price!) The people at Ski Apache also commented on how rudely they were treated by the people who run the "resort".

Another irritating situation was when we returned the helmets my daughters used after their first day of skiing and he wouldn''t refund the helmet rental fee for the last two days of ski trip. Granted it was only $6 per day - but it is the principle that he had them in his possession and was still charging us.

My kids looked forward to feeding the horses - and when we went over to visit them - we couldn''t stand the stench of their dirty accommodations. Their eyes were matted with yellow pus and they appeared to be neglected.

I booked a cabin the mountains. I expected a cabin in the mountains - and not a 3 star hotel.... but I would NEVER have paid this much money to stay in a place like this. I was very disappointed, and offended that NO EFFORT (besides the delivery of a space heater) was made to make us more comfortable.

Ruidoso was beautiful and the mountain was amazing. Everyone in town was cordial and welcoming. We will return - but not to the Alto Hombre Gordito!!!