D&D Brewery and Hotel... for us great place with unfriendly staff

SoloHobo

My goodness, you are a nasty piece of work, aren't you?
Do you "flame" everyone who posts here that doesn't meet your standards, whatever they are?

Bob Dale forwarded a letter to me because he is upset that his business has been turned upside down by his soon to be ex-wife. At his request, I posted it. Yes, I would consider that Bob's attempt at damage control. I have no idea who the other posters are, nor have I had contact with any of them.

Who died and left you in charge? Or just possibly, are you the competition from down by the lake?

The reality is, the business has issues and honest travelers posted their concerns and issues.

Until they are corrected, it seems Mr Dale has to live with the problems stated above.

For posters out of the blue to come here and make one post to pacify Mr Dales request is obvious, and biased.

Nasty? No, how about diligent in keeping the forum a honest network of people sharing their observations and advice out of free will and desire to help others, not post sham stories and disappear back into cyber space.

RGR8Apples original post is unsolicited and he has a history on this forum, unlike the sham onetimers trying to repute his story.

Nasty- Thats more a fair description of how Mr Dale speaks to his native Honduran employees, according to the poster.

It's not just SoloHobo who is a tad suspicious about the flood of new posters leaping to his defence - I am too. Unfortunately in a place like this it's impossible to know someone's credentials until they have posted a few times. Obviously people have to start somewhere, which is normally with questions. If their first few posts are solely to defend someone who is being criticised, then it certainly smells of an orchestrated campaign.

I'd like to add that I'm in Honduras at the moment, and I've found it a wonderfully friendly country wherever I've been, and the people I've met, both local and expat have always been charming and friendly. I didn't stay at the brewery myself, but I met an English traveller in Copan who had phoned Mr Dale to make a reservation only for him to be extremely rude to her on the phone.

I know he's having a hard time at the moment, but being rude to staff and customers is not going to make the situation any better.

Also, considering he is going through a divorce at the moment, is defaming his ex-wife on a very public internet forum really a wise way to cool down the situation?

And yet another first time poster has joined just to promote this establishment (See "Places to stay/go as a Single Female Traveller") without adding another single of information.

You're right, lockedintheattic, SoloHobo isn't the only one who doesn't buy all this.

All of you "Holier than Thou" people who think you are someone because you have posted to this website more than once. Actually, as nasty as each of you have been to "first timers" I am surprised that anyone comes back here. You all "Assume" that the folks who are posting for the first time are the same person. Assume all you want, you know what that does......and assuming that Mr. Dale has requested that I post here is absurd since I haven't spoken to Mr. Dale in many, many years!

With the attitude that one receives from SoloHobo and the like, one might question if you were not one and the same person?!?

I am sorry you feel that way, but considering all the NEW post are only defending Mr Dale and D&D Brewery are only posting on ONE thread, ONE subject, ONE Branch. What conclusion should people come to? Coincidence? They dont seem to have any other motive, or need.

Why would anyone want to post anywhere else on Lonely Planet? So that they can be questioned and critized by others who have posted more than once. I was going to post about my travels to El Salvador, England and Ireland but with the attitude that I have received from posting here several times, it seems to be a waste of my time. Thank you for making this a GREAT experience! I hope that on other threads there are not people like you to discourage newcomers.

Actually, SE Asia and Thailand and the USA are all the same, as those I also post on and see it daily.

You dont seem to realize, but a trip report or post conveying ones travels is a great way to share your trip. But there are also post on the LP Forum, that have other motives. Its very obvious the ones that have a agenda, they tend to be 1st time posters, and the case above, this a blatant attempt to defer these biased post and keep things legit.

If you take the time to read back a few days here, you will see three 1st time post making trip reports and overviews of their travel, at which I took the time to thank them for posting, and maybe some people made other comments to support or suggest other advice based on the posters opinions. Its too bad many of these the trip reports posted just get lost and buried back in the anals of the postings. The really good ones, and informative ones that pertain to info we rarely get and the guidebooks dont have up to date info, like Darien Gap crossing, I post a link to then on the FAQ at top of the branch. If you read the FAQ at the top of each branch, you will see its the regulars that add these many times, to keep fluid situations up to date for a traveler, especially places few people go, well off the beaten path, but important none the less.

People can make up their own minds as to the intentions and motive of a post, I am only pointing out the suspicious nature of the above post by these phantom 1st time posters.

Its up to you to share your travels on El Salvador, England and Ireland, but some branches people dont post trip reports, some branches they do. I have always posted my trips on a given forum even its just a camping trip to Kentucky. If it helps 1 person have a better vacation or trip, then thats cool with me. [http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?messageID=14191630&#14191630]. Also feel free to click on my name, and then on my History, and read all my responses to all post, and the advice, opinions and perspectives I project, you can debate them, or not agree with them, or suggest the contrary, thats what this forum is all about. If you judge me by this one post, you would see it is a anomaly that I question the motives and sincerity of the responses.

We sure would love to hear more about El Salvador thats for sure, few people go, and even fewer people post a report.

Great to have so many new posters that are familiar with El Salvador. Im wondering if any of them will bother to respond to http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=1787372&tstart=0

I would first of all like to acknowledge that yes, I registered with Thorn Tree exclusively to post about the D&D Brewery and yes, I'm biased; how could I not be about a place that I fell totally in love with, where I met some of the most generous people of my life and of my 6-month trip through Central America? Robert Dale showed the most incredible hospitality to myself and a friend who I was traveling with when we arrived in Penas Blancas after dark and with no transportation to the brewery; he picked us up himself and gave us a bed that wasn't even normally rented out. I chose to return to help out with the hotel for 3 weeks so that I could stay longer and learn some guitar skills from Bob, and experienced first hand how the business was struggling due to personal issues - since I was helping with reservations and customer service, it definitely got unpleasant. Most of the time, though, all the guests were having a wonderful time exploring the area and enjoying the beer (which is very, very good). This issue should not have ballooned like it has to affect a fantastic place to stay and a group of wonderful people who happen to be under a lot of stress - but as it is, I really hope that all the people I care so much about are back to happily brewing, birdwatching, and playing some wicked slide guitar pronto. That way, I can go back soon too.